Page 13 of Little Treat
He kissed me and squeezed me just the right amount of tight. “Say less. I’m doing it.”
7. LOGAN
It was a rough fifteen minutes, waiting for Jamie to pack an overnight bag. I stood in the family room above the chocolate shop—my fault, he told me I had to come and wait upstairs out of the cold.
His father, Richard Cooper, gave me a firm handshake and immediately started to tell me all the plays he wanted the team to make. He had a lot of ideas, and most of them involved benching the star players to see what the younger players could do, considering the veterans weren’t doingshit.
His mother, Rachel Cooper, on the other hand was sweet, offering to have me over for dinner. I declined that swiftly, and wished I could’ve stayed because there was an incredible smell coming from the kitchen. I just wanted to not deal with work right now. It was kinda the whole reason for me being here—no work—and it was killing me, but not literally.
“So, how much fun is it being in that big stadium?” Rachel asked. “I heard it was owned by Russian billionaires. Do you have a lot of Russians on the team?”
I shrugged. “I don’t deal with the business or scouting,” I said. “I’m just there to coach on defense.”
“You tried going pro, right?” Richard asked, and perfectly timed, Jamie arrived with a large yellow duffle bag, stuffed and stretched out.
“Dad, stop it,” Jamie said. “He’s on vacation. Just search him online if you wanna know.”
I waited until after we left the house to ask him. “You searched me?”
Jamie had a dreamy giggle, one that could put me to sleep with its softness—or at the very least forget the question I’d just asked. “Obviously. You can never be too careful.”
“That’s true, actually,” I said, pulling the strap of the duffle from his shoulder. “I’m carrying this.”
“Oh, okay, well, I’m not gonna stop you.”
It was heavy but soft as it pressed against my ribcage. “You packed all your onesies in here?” I asked him.
There he went again with that giggle. I couldn’t ask him everything, but at least I knew he had a tell. I liked that he’d packed his things, and I was excited to get to play—more so because he had several spankings coming his way, alongside some other funishments.
It was my first vacation in... who knows. There had been so many player evaluations, meetings, interviews, and training. The off-season was just as busy, if not more-so. Athletes were always encouraged to take vacations, especially the players who needed the rest for their bodies—I knew all about that , being a failed NHL pro. I lasted one season on the ice playing for some conference out west I didn’t even want to think about. But I had to get my head out of my past, because it was needed here, with Jamie, as he told me that he was really happy I wasn’t mad and had come in to see him.
It was refreshing. He was refreshing. There were gay guys on the team... and my mind was once more way back twenty years ago when coming out was practically a nail in the coffin of your career.Stop it, Logan.I knew a spiral would be coming on if I wasn’t careful.
“How long do you have left in town?” Jamie asked.
“Well, I arrived yesterday, and I leave in—not including today—five more days.”
Jamie came to a halt, almost making me yank him forward since he was so lightweight. “You’re here for Christmas?”
“Yeah,” I said, forcing a big smile.
“Not with family?”
“Well, I usually spend it alone, or with the team,” I told him.
He stared at me with a puzzled look. “And you’re not doing that this year?” he asked. “And why aren’t you doing that this year?” he continued to question at my silence.
“I’m—I’m having time to myself,” I said, and as soon as it came out, I knew it wasn’t the right thing to say.
But he giggled harder than before, snorting with laughter. “You’re doing a really bad job of it,” he said between laughs. “I mean, like, areallybad job at it. Because I’m quite literally with you, meaning you’re not alone.”
I pulled him into my arms, and as we stood under a streetlight, a breeze of chunky snowflakes came down and landed on our faces. I pressed my face against his, letting the cool of the snow melt between the heat of our attraction.
We didn’t waste a single second once we were in the hotel suite. Jamie had started unzipping the moment we were in the elevator, but I couldn’t. I was keeping all my secrets inside my coat, and I knew the moment I opened it up, they’d fall out.
“I love the view from this place,” Jamie said, bouncing out of his snow boots and hopping over to the large window. I had a pretty decent view since the resort was on a hill. It overlooked most of the town, including the large ornate Christmas tree in the center.
I unzipped my coat and made sure everything was still in the inside pockets. I had the entire tray of chocolates left that he’d given me slotted into my left side—I didn’t know if they’d all melted by now, but there was no way I’d been able to eat them all. And in the right-hand side, there were peppermint candy canes of varying thickness. I pulled them out carefully, making sure they weren’t broken. Jamie was still occupied with the view and the teddy he’d brought with him. I noticed a trail of clothes from the duffle bag, as if he’d had a fight with it.