Page 6

CHAPTER 6

LATHAN

We were midway through the second period of our first game. I should be worrying about the game and how best to get the puck into the net. Instead, my entire focus was on a six-foot-four sunshiny asshole. Fuck.

Though, based on the scowls he sent my way, his happy-go-lucky nature no longer extended to me. Good. He needed to toughen up. Life would eat him whole otherwise. Not that I cared what life did to him. I didn’t care about other people. Especially him.

I just had a promise to uphold, and I took my promises seriously. It had nothing to do with thoughts of him consuming me. In fact, I was sick of that. I needed to fulfill my part so they would go away. He needed to move in and out of whatever hovel he currently resided in and away from Toby and Bell. They would distract him. That was the only reason I cared.

Once I got my way, my focus would return to hockey, and everything would go back to my status quo. I needed my equilibrium back. So, if he wouldn’t listen to reason, I’d take matters into my own hands. At the thought, a smile broke free before I could contain it.

“Shit, that’s scary,” Samson muttered.

“What?” I asked, my smile dropping when I noticed Bell and Miller huddled together on the bench.

“You smiled. I’ve never seen you smile unless it involved a goal. You okay?” He placed his hand on my forehead, and I jerked away.

“I’m fine. Don’t touch me.” He held up his hands in surrender and frowned.

“Okay, if you’re not sick, what’s with the smile? And why do I have a feeling it’s not a good smile?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Uh-huh. You’re scary when you’re happy.”

“Not happy. Just plotting how to get my way.”

“I feel for whoever is standing in your way.”

That made me smile wider, and Samson shuddered. “Seriously. You’re like that creepy, scary movie Smile .”

I rolled my eyes at his dramatics. A minute later, the line shift was called, and we took to the ice. My focus was back, and I fell into a serenity I only found on the ice. I could sense my teammates around me and intimately perceive their movements. One beat louder than the others, and I could discern him without even looking.

I ignored why and used it to my advantage, passing the puck back to him after one touch.

The movement was so fluid that Nashville didn’t catch it, and Miller absconded with the puck as the defense surrounded me, and our sticks clashed. A second later, the goal sounded through the arena, and they both froze, looked down, and realized too late that the puck was gone.

“You might want to get your eyes checked. I’ve seen Peewee teams track a puck better.”

The big defender shoved me into the boards but skated off before it escalated. I smiled the whole way to the bench. Miller got pats as he hydrated, and I took my own bottle and sat right next to him. He ignored me, something I’d typically welcome, but it annoyed me the more he did it.

“You’re welcome, Bambi .”

“Excuse me?” His head whipped around so fast that his helmet knocked into mine, and our gazes locked. I got lost as I stared into his hazel eyes, and the game, team, and fans ceased to exist. A shove to my shoulder as a line changed jolted me out of the trance, and I lifted a brow.

“I gave you that goal.”

“Whatever, Silver Spoon.” He scoffed and rolled his eyes. He turned toward the player on his left and ignored me.

Gritting my teeth, I focused on the game. When the second period ended, I skated into the locker room with a renewed vigor. I’d put him in his place once and for all.

With a few clicks on my phone, I set the ball in motion. Miller thought he was in charge, but he had it all wrong. I’d told him I didn’t like to be ignored. It was time I reminded him of the consequences. I wasn’t someone to be messed with.

A new energy saturated my body as I took the ice for the last period. I felt on fire and skated faster and cleaner than I ever had. I made two goals and two assists before the period ended, bringing us up to five points and winning over Nashville.

Not even the media or traveling dampened my mood. I was riding high as we stepped off the plane late that night. I watched as Miller climbed into his car and waved.

“See you later, Bambi.”

He rolled his eyes. “Only in your dreams, Silver Spoon.”

Smiling, I practically whistled as I slid into the car. I hadn’t felt this buzzed since my first year playing. I took my time as I unpacked and walked around my place. My phone had been vibrating for fifteen minutes, but I’d disregarded it. He’d figure it out.

I ignored the fact that I was more excited for Miller to submit to me than I had been for anything else in years. It was only because I enjoyed putting him in his place. He was too happy, too friendly, and too trusting. He was going to get eaten alive, and then my brother would be cross with me. It was better I taught him how the world worked first with my safety net in place.

My phone buzzed with another notification, and I smiled as I checked it. Finally, the front desk was alerting me to a visitor.

With bare feet, I padded over to the front door and opened the camera for the hallway. I wanted to see his face the second he stepped off the elevator. Triumph spread through me at the anger radiating off him as he stormed toward my door.

My smile widened, the muscles protesting at their overuse today, but I shrugged it off. I’d deal with the pain later. This was too good.

The thud against the door and the constant press of the doorbell did nothing to steal my smile. I waited for a good thirty seconds before I unlocked and opened the door.

“Bambi. It’s so good to see you. What brings you by this evening?”

Miller’s face was red, and his fists were clenched by his side. I’d never seen this side of him before, and something about that lit a fire in me. I wanted more of this—the raw and hidden parts no one else got to see.

“What did you do?”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“Cut the crap, Silver Spoon. I went to my apartment, and all of my stuff was gone, and the locks had been changed. So where’s my stuff? I know you had something to do with it.”

“Oh, that. Your stuff is in your room.” I stepped back so he could enter my place.

“You had no right.” He brushed by me, and his arm grazed my naked torso. It was then I realized I’d miscalculated. I’d been so eager for him to arrive that I’d zoned out and gone about my routine, including stripping down to nothing but a pair of boxers.

Suddenly, I was the one off-kilter and about to lose.

He stormed into my place but spun around. “I don’t get you. First, you tell me to stay away from you and pretend like we don’t know each other. Then you interrupt my conversations and demand I stay with you. You’re giving me whiplash!”

“I told you. It’s a favor.”

Miller stalked forward, and I covered my chest and stepped back until I hit the wall. He didn’t stop until he pinned me against it and I hated how he towered over me. Those extra four inches gave him a slight advantage.

“I don’t need your charity, Silver Spoon. I had it worked out.”

The use of that name set my blood boiling, and I unfurled my hands from my chest and pushed him back, but he didn’t budge. Fury, confusion, and vulnerability clouded my mind, and my muscles shook. Feeling trapped, I lashed out like the scared porcupine I was.

“Did you? Was sucking Toby’s cock for his spare room the price, or was that an added bonus?”

Miller’s jaw twitched. “Why do you care whose cock I suck, Silver?”

“I don’t,” I croaked.

“Uh-huh. Sure seems like you do.” He leaned closer and brushed his nose across the sensitive skin beneath my ear before he whispered, “Is that what you expect? Me to suck your cock?”

A shudder rushed through me before I could hold it back. Fuck. Why did those words wreck me?

“You wish,” I choked out and prayed he couldn’t hear the need in my voice.

My cock was hard and tenting my boxers, the tip leaking and leaving a wet spot. What was going on? I didn’t have this kind of reaction. But I couldn’t get my dick to listen.

Miller shifted, and that was when I felt it. A hardness brushed against my tip, and I moaned at the absolute pleasure that one move had given me. Miller froze, and he started to move away.

I had to be exhausted from the game because it was the only explanation for what I did next. My hands slid down his chest and gripped his hips. Instead of pushing him away, this time, I pulled him forward. His jean-clad dick rubbed against mine and sent a million tingles racing up my body. I could feel him everywhere, just like I had on the ice. My senses buzzed alive, alighting every atom in my body.

I shifted my hips in a tiny circle, and sent pleasure zipping up my spine. I didn’t know what I was doing. I couldn’t even remember how we got into this position, much less my name. The only thing on my mind was chasing this. It had me in a chokehold, and I had no intention of letting go.

Miller moaned and pressed harder into me. The contact of our hard dicks against one another was otherworldly. His head fell between my neck and shoulder, and I lost it. His lips brushed against the sensitive skin, and his hot breath ghosted across it was too much.

I was unhinged as all thought left me, and I chased this high.

“More,” I gasped and tightened my grip on him. I circled my hips quicker and dry-humped my teammate against my entryway wall. But I didn’t care about any of that. The only thing that mattered was seeing this until the end.

“Lath,” Miller whispered, and my toes curled. Tilting my neck up, I let my body move with him against the wall as the most intense pleasure ever erupted through me.

Sounds assaulted my ears, but I couldn’t tell who they were coming from—me or him. Nonsensical words fell from my mouth, but I didn’t care. The only thing that mattered at this moment was the connection of our bodies.

“Mills,” I moaned.

Quicker than I thought possible, my balls drew up, and an orgasm smacked into me so hard I blacked out at the sheer force of it.

The world around me returned in small doses. First, it was the feel of the warm body pressed into me and rubbing my arms. Second, it was the soft reassurances whispered into my ear as he cradled me against his chest. My body was light and tingly, and it took me a while to realize why.

Miller. Against the wall. Dry humping.

Fucking hell. What had I just done? I wasn’t gay! Nor did I cave to sexual arousal! Not once in my life had I ever been led by my dick.

My body tensed, and I pushed him away. I didn’t need his coddling. Miller straightened as he assessed me. I didn’t like it. He saw too much.

“That didn’t happen.”

“Right.” He scoffed and shook his head before running his fingers through his curls. The wet spot on his jeans and my boxers belied my statement, but I couldn’t admit it. “Listen, it’s late, and I just want to sleep. I don’t have the energy to keep fighting with you. So show me where my stuff is, and I’ll figure the rest out in the morning.”

I ignored the last part but turned and headed down the hallway. I opened the door and showed him the room I’d had the movers place his stuff in. They’d even unboxed it and organized it.

“What the fudge?” he gasped.

“Everything is there. I only hire the best.”

“Of course you do. You wouldn’t be a silver spoon if you didn’t.”

I ignored his comment. “You have an ensuite through that door. I run at seven and eat breakfast at eight. I expect you to join me. Good night.”

I walked fast to my room and didn’t take a breath until I was enclosed behind my door. I thought having him here was what I wanted, but I wasn't so sure based on the slip of judgment in the hallway I’d just displayed.

Miller Fahn was dangerous, and there was too much at stake to risk. In the morning, I’d get back to my routine and forget about this lapse in judgment.

It was better that way. Being anything other than enemies would lead to disaster, and like hell, I would lose this close to having everything I wanted.

Then why did it feel like I was losing the wrong thing?