Page 5

CHAPTER FIVE

MASON

A s I finished rinsing dishes and setting them in his dishwasher, I glanced at Jarvis, drying off a pan with a dishtowel and sliding it into a cupboard. We’d made quick work of the dinner dishes. “We make a good team in the kitchen, Jarvis.” I closed the door on the dishwasher and rolled out a paper towel to dry my hands. I needed to know more about him and fuck if he was getting rid of me already.

“Yeah, guess so.” He folded the towel and hung it on the oven door. “So, what now?”

I picked up my wine from the counter. “Looks like you have a nice little patio out beyond the main room there. How about we use it?” I glanced at the dark sliding glass doors with beige curtains hanging on either side. His place was stylish, black leather and marble tabletops with some iron work. And the dining table? Room for six to sit around, made of what looked like gray concrete, and paired with tall black leather chairs that were way more comfortable than they looked.

“Sure.” He plucked the wine bottle off the table, strode to the patio doors and flicked on some bare-bulb string lights hanging from the roofline of the covered patio. Sliding a door open, he said, “After you. ”

I glanced at the empty wine bottle sitting on the counter. “Got another bottle of this very delicious wine?” I raised my brows as I drank some down.

“Yeah, in the refrigerator.” Tsking through a huff, he stepped through the doorway and onto the patio.

I watched him go out and sink onto the end of an outdoor couch, and then opened his refrigerator and grabbed the wine. This was going to be interesting. I couldn’t remember the last time I opened a wine bottle. I eyed the top.

“It’s a screw top,” he called into the house.

“Oh.” Maybe it wasn’t as good of a wine as I’d thought. But it sure tasted good. I strolled out with it and slid the door shut behind me. The air was still warm but cooling nicely and his yard was landscaped with tall trees and a small patch of grass surrounding a pool. “I love it when fall hits the desert.” I perused the setup, a squared-off couch in fake wicker with two chairs on each end and a long table in the middle with a gas firepit inside. I set my glass on the edge of the firepit and screwed open the wine. “Screw top, huh?” I poured wine into my glass.

“It’s good wine. Some wineries stopped putting corks in their wines. Screw tops are all the rage.” He snickered. “Don’t worry, it’s a great vintage.” He set his almost empty glass of wine next to mine.

“I’m sure it is.” I poured wine into his glass and dropped in next to him. Yeah, I was doing my best to fuck with him. Okay, and I did enjoy being close to him. He wasn’t fooling anyone trying to tell me he was straight. Pfft.

As he blew out a breath, he shifted away from me, then picked up his glass and swirled the golden liquid. “So, what are we going to talk about now?”

With a hum, I glanced at him. Shit, I’d wanted to keep talking about what happened in Dallas, but I’d agreed not to. “Why are you still single if you’re not gay?” With a smirk, I sipped some wine .

“Don’t know, guess I haven’t found the right woman.” He tensed his mouth and took a long drink of his wine.

Why did that question make him look uneasy? “But I’ve seen you with all those women on Insta. None of them worked out?” I rounded my eyes. Shit, I’d blurted that out without thinking.

He swung his arm over me and laid it across the couch cushion behind me, his eyes twinkling and brow raising. “You been looking me up on social media?” He sipped more wine.

Holding my glass at my lap, I swirled the wine in it. “Yeah, guess so. Thought maybe I could figure out what the hell happened, you know, in Dallas.” Fuck, I’d brought it up again. I sipped my drink.

“You just can’t leave it alone, can you?” He leaned in close to me, his lips brushing my cheek. “Some of them were pretty good in bed. Others? Not so much.” He sat back with a sly grin.

A shiver ran down my spine to lodge in my balls. Fuck, what his mouth could do me. If he smelled so good, how good did he taste? Sneaking a peek at him, my gaze landed on his plump lips and drew away. “I’m a good lay.” Shit, I couldn’t help myself.

“Yeah?” He raked his teeth over his lower lip. “I’m sure you are.”

I snapped my gaze to his. “Want to find out?” As my dick swelled, I adjusted my shorts. Was it a good time for a boner? Maybe. “I bet I could show you a better time than any of those puck bunnies you’ve been with.” But had he really bedded them?

His green eyes darkened, and he parted his lips, his breath catching. “You’re lacking the proper body parts, I’m afraid.” He inched farther away from me.

I watched goosebumps rise on his neck. What the hell? I shimmied into him, tucking myself under his arm, his body heat tingling up my side. “Are you sure about that? Maybe you’re bi. You ever been curious?”

He downed his wine and jumped from the couch, combing his fingers through his hair and twisting around. “You know, it’s still a little warm out here. Maybe we should take it inside.”

That was the performance of a closeted man if I ever saw one. “Naw, I think it’s nice out here. Come on, sit back down.” I patted the cushion beside me. “I won’t bite. I promise.”

Shaking his head with a huff, he sank onto the opposite end of the couch. “Fine. Where were we…the puck bunnies.” He twisted his lips. “I’ve been too focused on my career to get involved with anyone. So, I’ve only dated.”

“No relationships, huh?” I peered at him. It was a fucking cop-out. Being a hockey player at his age without at least a longtime girlfriend who was about to become a wife was uncommon.

He turned to me, lifting his leg onto the couch between us. “Did you know that hockey marriages end in divorce, like, sixty to eighty percent of the time?”

I stared at him. “Uh, no.” Really?

“Yes. So, why do it?” He lifted his chin and drank some wine. “Guess I’m thinking long term.” He tapped the side of his head with his index finger.

“But don’t you want someone to come home to?” Not that I ever did, but now that I had my career in order, it sounded like a good goal to shoot for next. I studied him.

He pursed his lips. “I don’t know. Maybe someday, with the right person.” His gaze met mine and widened, then dropped.

“The right person, yep.” After a slow nod, I downed the rest of my drink. “No girlfriends? Ever?” Leaning over, I poured more wine into my glass.

“Not unless you include the girl I dated for six months in high school.” He tipped his wine glass from side to side and drank from it.

“Six months, huh?” I shifted to mirror him. “What happened?” You realized you were gay ?

“We grew apart. We were young, sixteen.” He blew out a sigh. “My hockey and school schedules got in the way.” His gaze crept to mine. “We ended it as friends. ”

“So, was she your first, uh, fuck?” My chest prickled. Why did I care? He was twenty-six and obviously not still a virgin.

“Yeah.” He tilted his head and drank some wine. “How about you? Who was your first boyfriend?”

“Never had one.” I slid my fingers over the lip of my wine glass. “Never wanted one.” I swept my gaze to his. “I was totally focused on getting to where I am now. I wasn’t going to let a relationship get in the way.”

“And so, the hookup app?” He hooked a brow at me. “Do you use it often?”

Quirking my lips, I said, “As often as I can get away with.”

He winced, pursed his lips and looked away. “I hope you take precautions.”

Interesting reaction. “Of course. I’m on PrEP. Then I can go bareback and don’t have to worry.” I leaned in, gauging his reaction.

The muscle in his jaw bulged. “Yeah, guess that’s a good idea.” He gulped some wine down.

“I top most of the time, by the way.” Oh, I had to rub it in. With a tick of my brows, I drank my wine.

He coughed on his drink and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Fuck.” After clearing his throat, he said, “TMI.” He shook his head and stood up. “Anyway, do you think you can drive home, or should I call you an Uber?”

I gazed at my glass. “I can drive.” Fuck if I wanted to leave my car here.

“Are you sure?” He studied me. “NHL coaches don’t take it so well when their rookies get a DUI. Or any players, for that matter.”

“I’ve only had, what, three glasses over a few hours, along with dinner? I think I’ll be okay.” I rose from the couch. “If I get a DUI, I’ll blame it on you.” I snickered, walked to the glass door and slid it open. Guess it was time to go. I’d fucked with him enough for one night .

“Of course you will.” With a smirk, he grabbed the half-empty wine bottle and followed me inside.

I brought my glass to the sink, rinsed it, and set it in the dishwasher. I wanted to be a good guest, just in case he thought about inviting me over again. Like that would happen without another bet. “Anyway, I’ll head out.”

“Sure, I’ll walk you to the door.” After setting the bottle and his wine glass on the kitchen counter, he strolled with me to his front door and opened it.

I walked through the doorway, onto a portico and turned. “It was a really nice dinner, Jarvis. You’re a great cook.” I focused on his mouth. Damn, kissing him right now felt so right. But no.

“Thanks. We can tell Volkov we’re best buddies now, right?” He lifted his hand to rest it high up on the doorjamb. His gaze fell to my mouth, and he licked his own.

“Yeah, we can tell him that. It was um…pleasant and maybe even a little enlightening.” Because now I was sure he was queer. No doubt in my mind.

“Okay. Have a good night. Text me when you get home, so I don’t worry…” He sucked in a breath. “You know.” He tapped his fingers on the doorjamb.

“Yeah, sure.” Lifting the edge of my lips, I twisted and fished my keys out of my shorts’ pocket. “See you at practice on Monday.” I waved behind me.

Saturday night, I drove to the new squad house in Tempe, ready for a night of video games and fun with my old buddies. Their hockey games wouldn’t start for another week, so we could get together a little earlier.

I drove to the house, a smaller brick bungalow than we’d had last year but in the same neighborhood. I spied Archer’s Honda SUV on the street and parked behind it. He had the same mentality I did—keep the college car until our spots in the NHL were cemented.

After climbing out of my car, I grabbed a twelve-pack of canned beer and headed up a walkway under a large mesquite tree for the front door.

The door opened and Ace came running at me, his maroon athletic shirt pulled wide over his chest and nylon shorts showing off his thick thigh muscles. “Mason, my man!” He wrapped me in a bear hug and lifted me up and smacked a hard kiss on my cheek as my feet returned to the ground.

With a chortle, I said, “Jesus, dude. You’d think I hadn’t seen you in years.” Instead of, oh, about a month.

“I miss having the whole squad here. It’s different.” He patted my back as we strolled together into the house.

“Yeah, sort of sucks Jonah is all the way up there in Toronto, but I’m happy for him and Ryan.” As I entered the house, my gaze landed on a table full of pizzas, Myles grabbing a slice and stuffing it into his mouth, his wavy blond hair a little longer than the last time I’d seen him and his brown-eyed gaze cutting to me. “Hey.” He waved and strode to me.

“Look at all this pizza. How am I supposed to stay on my nutrition plan?” I patted my belly and wrapped an arm around Myles for a quick hug. “How you doing, man?”

“Great. The offensive line isn’t the same with you and Jonah gone.” He took another bite of pizza.

“It’s time for you to shine and be the star player for the Devils.” A wide smile tugged at my lips. He was sure to get a contract soon.

“Yeah, Coach Finley has me on first string.” He beamed at me.

Archer turned around from the old green sectional. “About time you showed up with the beer.” He held his hand up. “Please?”

“Of course.” As I walked to him, I tore the package open, fished one out, and handed it to him. “Where’s Tyler? ”

“I was taking a piss, if you must know.” Tyler walked out of the hallway bathroom, his dirty-blond hair falling to his shoulders, his brown eyes focused on me. “Dude, beer.” He held his hand up as he passed by, and I slapped a can into it. “Good to see you.” He pressed a quick kiss to my cheek and gave me a sly smile. “I hear you’ve got a hard-on for Jett Jarvis?” He snicked his can open.

“Oh, news travels fast.” I swung my gaze to Archer, who shrugged a shoulder, and then picked up a plate of pizza and bit into a slice.

Setting pizza slices on a plate at the dinette by the kitchen island, Ace said, “The guy is hot as fuck, so I’m not surprised.” He licked sauce off his fingers. “But Archer says you think he’s queer?”

Here we go. “Yeah.” I strolled into the kitchen, taking in the stainless-steel appliances, white shaker cabinets, and granite tile countertop. “Damn, dudes, this place is an upgrade over last year’s squad house.” I nodded and set the twelve-pack into the refrigerator next to another one. “Makes me want to move back in.”

“No room, and I’m not sharing the primary with you.” Ace huffed a laugh.

“Why not? We could cuddle every night.” As I left the kitchen with a beer in my hand, I passed by Ace and slapped his ass. God, I missed these guys. Having my own apartment was nice, but it was also a little lonely.

“So, sit and tell us about Jett fucking Jarvis.” Myles, now seated at the end of the sectional, patted the cushion next to him.

Ace dropped in next to Myles, plated pizza and beer in hand. “Yes, we have to hear it all, every detail.” His eyes twinkled. “I heard you had dinner at his place last night?”

“What?” Tyler stared at Ace, sank in next to Archer and set his pizza and beer on the black coffee table in front of him.

“How long have you been here, Archer?” Damn, he’d probably told them everything already. I slid pizza onto a plate, then rounded the couch and sank into a spot in the middle, putting my beer on the table and my plate in my lap.

“Long enough to get the story started.” Archer chuckled and ate some pizza.

I looked around me at all the guys. I’d shared so much with them. What would the next few years hold for us? Coming here, being with them, was like coming home. “It all started when I set up a hookup with this amazingly hot guy.” I picked up my beer and sipped it. “The guy dissed me on the app, but Archer here noticed this funny little birthmark by his belly button.”

“Looked like a hockey stick.” Archer chuckled.

“Seriously? Sounds sort of prophetic.” Tyler bit into a pizza slice.

“Yeah, well, the guy was a real ass. He ditched me and dumped me. Didn’t even want a rain check and shit.” I bit into my pizza, one with everything on it, all melted cheese, spicy sausage, and pepperoni, mixing with flavorful onions and green peppers. “Damn, good pizza, guys.” I pointed at it.

“Don’t get off the subject.” Ace smirked at me. “What does this hookup have to do with Jett Jarvis?”

“I’m pretty sure the guy in the app was him. Turns out, Jarvis has a very similar, if not the same, birthmark.” I glanced at Archer. Would he agree or try to dismiss it again? I thought back to the messages. “Plus, the guy on the app knew what chirping was.”

The guys’ attention was all focused on Archer, and Myles asked. “So? Did you see it?”

“Uh, yeah, but I don’t know.” Shaking his head, he tsked. “I mean, it was similar, but I couldn’t tell if it was the exact same.”

“Whoever the guy was, he deleted his profile, so we couldn’t compare them.” I should move on. There was so much more to tell. I licked grease off my thumb. “Anyway, Jarvis was traded to the Coyotes because of some crap that went down in Dallas. The word is he wasn’t getting along with his team, and if you look at the footage of him on the ice, you can see there was bad shit going down. It was like the whole team shut him out. No cellys for his goals, nothing.”

“Shit, that’s terrible.” Tyler pursed his lips. “I can’t imagine a team pulling that shit on one of their best players.”

“Yeah. Anyway, I get major gay vibes from him.” I bit into my pizza, my gaze roaming the guys. Might as well cut to the chase.

“Yeah?” Ace lifted the edge of his mouth. “You’re never wrong about that.” He fingered the pull tab on his beer. “You must have found out some shit at dinner with him last night.”

With a shake of my head, I said, “He refuses to talk about what happened in Dallas.” I twisted my lips. “And believe me, I tried to get it out of him.” I thought back over the evening. “He doesn’t seem like a bad guy once you get to know him. He just…” What was it I couldn’t put my finger on? “I tried to give him an out, you know? I told him if he was queer, Archer and I would be there for him. But he kept insisting he was straight.”

“Why do you think he’d do that?” Tyler lifted a stringy piece of melted cheese from his plate and popped it into his mouth.

“I don’t know. His social media account is filled with photos of him with these beautiful women, but they all look too staged.” I knitted my brows. Shit, was I only seeing what I wanted to see? Maybe the guy was straight?

Ace picked up his phone from the coffee table, and then tapped and swiped with his thumb. “Yeah, I see what you mean.”

“So, I’m not crazy here?” I focused on Ace, then Archer. “What do you think after this week, Archer? You’ve seen him with everyone.” Please tell me I’m not crazy. But if I were right, what was I going to do about it? Because last night, he was all up in my dreams, and fuck if I wasn’t feeling like I couldn’t wait to see him on Monday.

“I think…” He chewed his lower lip. “Yeah, I think you might be right.” His gaze flicked to mine and a slow grin worked over his mouth. “He definitely watches you a lot. ”

My heart flickered in my chest. “Yeah?”

“Yeah, I don’t know. Maybe something’s there. I mean, outside of needing to know your moves on the ice, so we can all play well together.” He lifted his brows.

Ace scoffed. “Dude, he made dinner for you last night and nothing happened?” He set his pizza on his plate.

“Nothing happened except to say I think I made him nervous.” I chuckled. “More than I normally do with straight guys.” That meant something, right? Especially the way his body reacted to me when I’d gotten close to him.

“Well, just kiss him and find out. If he decks you, he’s probably straight.” With a snigger, Myles drank some beer.

Shaking my head, I laughed. “Or he’ll report me for sexual harassment.” But it wasn’t a terrible idea. I skimmed my fingers up and down my beer can. But if I did kiss him, would I be able to stop? “Anyway, let’s quit talking about Jarvis and cue up this game.”