Page 17 of Walking on Broken Paths

Surprised into a laugh—that wasn’t at all what Parker had expected him to say—he gave Jesse a shove backward. “And who were you planning to hook up with while you were here?”

“My right hand.”

“Pfft. I think we can do better than that. Strip.”

Jesse looked at him with amusement, but he did as told, shrugging out of his shirt. “Bossy.”

Parker barely heard him—all of his blood had rushed south.

Christ , the man was sexy. He just... walked around all day every day with that under his clothes?

Fuck.

Every one of Parker’s fantasies from now until the end of time would involve Jesse’s brown nipples, the definition of his pecs, and his cut abs. And his arms . Double fuck.

Parker had seen a lot of nearly naked athletes in his life—as a sports reporter, he’d been inside too many locker rooms to count—but none of those nearly naked athletes had the sheer magnetism that Jesse did.

“Did I break you?”

“Shut up,” Parker said, laughing. He pushed Jesse back another step, until the backs of his knees hit the edge of the bed. “You know what you look like.”

“Sure.” Jesse sat on the bed and pulled Parker between his knees. “But I’ve never been looked at like I’m a god before.”

Parker rolled his eyes. “A god. Think highly of yourself, do you?”

“If the shoe fits.”

They were both laughing when Parker ducked down to meet Jesse’s mouth again.

Jesse’s impatient fingers tugged at him until he was half on top of Jesse, one leg straddling his hip, the other awkwardly dangling off the bed.

Jesse grasped the bottom of Parker’s shirt, muttered an “Up” against Parker’s lips, and lifted the shirt up and over his head when Parker lifted his arms.

And then Jesse’s hands were on him, and being touched by this man was like being out on the ship under the summer sun for hours—invigorating, with a risk of sunburn.

Parker would risk all the sunburns for Jesse.

“Lube,” Parker demanded, disentangling himself from Jesse before they got carried away without the proper supplies. “Where is it?”

“Toiletry kit. Bathroom.”

Rotating on his heel, Parker zipped into the bathroom, slapped on the light, and rummaged through Jesse’s Dopp kit. Lube? Check. Condoms?

“Condoms, Jess.”

“Didn’t bring any.”

“You said you brought supplies.”

“I brought lube. That counts.”

Parker regarded the travel-sized bottle of lube and pursed his lips. In the end, he took it with him, then doubled back to grab a towel.

Jesse had removed his shoes and socks by the time Parker rejoined him in the bedroom, and he was in the process of unzipping the fly of his slacks.

Parker tossed the lube and the towel onto the bed and met Jesse for a kiss that made his toes curl.

He took over unzipping Jesse’s fly and shoved his pants down to his thighs, exposing the biggest erection he’d ever seen straining behind the tightest briefs he’d ever seen.

He lowered the briefs an inch, exposing the tip of Jesse’s cock, and swiped at the pre-come with his thumb.

“Fuck, Parks,” Jesse said on a groan.

As if in slow motion, his pants fell to his ankles and he kicked them off before doing the same with his underwear.

Parker didn’t wait another second before ordering Jesse to sit and sinking to his knees.

Holy mother... Jesse was long and thick, his erection straining toward Parker. The sight of him so turned on turned Parker on even more, and his own erection pulsed with need. He ignored it for now, because he wanted nothing more than to watch Jesse fall apart for him.

The second he wrapped a hand around the base of Jesse’s shaft, Jesse’s back hit the bed with a drawn-out moan that sent electricity up Parker’s spine. Was there anything sexier than having a man spread out for him, ready and willing to be pleasured?

Not when that man was Jesse Melnik.

Parker didn’t waste another moment—he took Jesse into his mouth, gratified when Jesse lifted a foot onto the edge of the bed to give him more access.

“Fuck, Parks. Fuck.”

Parker laved at the tip for a minute. Ran a tongue along the underside of his shaft. Used a combination of saliva and pre-come to jack him. The sounds Jesse made should’ve been illegal, and Parker had the passing thought that he hoped the walls were soundproof.

Of course, that made him chuckle with Jesse’s dick in his mouth, and Jesse swore a blue streak at the vibration.

Jesse’s balls had drawn up close to his body, and the hairs on his inner thighs tickled Parker’s cheek.

Jesse was close—had to be. He had both arms raised above his head, fists clinging to the bedspread.

His thighs trembled, his chest was flushed a hot red, and his hips began thrusting in short, sharp bursts.

“Nngh. Parks. Oh fuck, oh shit. Christ. Suck me. Yeah, like that. Like that. More. Ah!”

Jesse scratched at Parker’s head. Taking the hint, Parker pulled off and took him in his hand, jacking him until Jesse’s release coated his fingers.

“Holy...” Jesse let out a weak laugh. “Shit, Parks.”

“Good?” Parker asked, rising to lean over Jesse. His belt hung loose from when Jesse had unbuckled it earlier, so Parker yanked it free of his belt loops and tossed it aside so he didn’t scratch him with it.

“Good?” Jesse repeated incredulously, chest heaving. “Sure, yeah. It was passable.”

Parker couldn’t help but laugh. “Passable? Fucker.”

In a move too quick for Parker to grasp, Jesse wrapped his legs around him and flipped them over. Parker suddenly found himself on his back with two hundred and twenty-plus pounds of muscled hockey player hovering over him.

Well. He couldn’t argue about the view.

“Your turn,” Jesse said.

Parker wouldn’t say no to that.

* * *

“Does being here remind you of living in Montreal?”

Jesse watched as Parker investigated a pretzel with the kind of regard one would usually reserve for oddly shaped moles.

“Not really,” Parker said. “The two cities have totally different vibes and cultures. It’d be like comparing Toronto and Vancouver.”

“Fair enough.”

They sat on the bed in their underwear, seven pretzels divided between them on two squares of toilet paper.

Jesse hadn’t eaten the tiny package of pretzels he’d been provided on the flight from Charlottetown, and when Parker’s stomach had rumbled, Jesse had fished them out of the pocket of the hoodie that he’d worn on the plane.

They had three and a half pretzels each, which wouldn’t satisfy either of their hunger, but there was a serious lack of open food joints in the middle of the night, even in a city like Toronto.

Parker finally deemed the pretzel worthy and popped it in his mouth a whole minute after Jesse had eaten all three and a half of his.

Parker sat cross legged across from him, his dark hair totally mussed.

The hair on his chest matched his hair in shade, but it had been coarser, rougher against Jesse’s fingertips.

Parker wasn’t muscled like Jesse, but he was toned, and the muscle definition of his arms and stomach had Jesse salivating despite having very recently come all over Parker’s hand.

Jesse especially loved Parker’s hairy thighs. He couldn’t say he’d ever noticed another man’s thighs before, hairy or not. But there was something about Parker’s that screamed of masculinity, and for whatever reason, that turned Jesse’s crank.

What didn’t turn Jesse’s crank was the beginnings of a farmer’s tan on Parker’s torso. That was just funny.

A niggle of alarm poked insistently at the back of his brain, warning him that assholes like him didn’t deserve guys like Parker, but he set it aside for now. Mostly because he was still trying to figure out how they’d gotten here.

Parker had been jealous of Gavin—Jesse would bet his hefty NHL contract on it. But he’d quickly chilled out, no doubt realizing that Gavin had less than zero romantic interest in Jesse.

But it had become glaringly obvious over the course of the evening that the person who did have a romantic interest in Jesse was Parker.

It was in the small touches to Jesse’s arm, his thigh, his shoulder.

The secret smiles Parker sent his way. The way Parker’s entire body seemed to reach for him—and Jesse didn’t think Parker realized it.

What else was Jesse supposed to do but let the inevitable happen? He couldn’t fight his attraction anymore, was tired of pushing back against it.

So here they were, possibly making a huge mistake.

But with a nearly naked Parker sitting across from him, Jesse couldn’t bring himself to care. Maybe it was selfish, but he wanted everything Parker was willing to give him for as long as Parker was willing to give it to him.

“Do you miss living in Montreal?” Jesse asked him, desperate to make up for the lost time between them.

“No. I miss friends. I miss the work. I miss writing something I actually enjoy, but I don’t miss the city.”

Jesse cocked his head. “You don’t enjoy the work you’re doing for the agency?”

Parker blew out a breath that made his cheeks balloon. “I think the agency’s about to fire me.”

“Why the fuck would they do that? You’re an amazing writer.”

“And how would you know that?” Parker asked, a slow grin overtaking his face.

There was no sense beating around the bush. Jesse might as well own it. “Because I looked up your work online. Obviously.”

“Curious about me, were you?”

“Don’t change the subject.” Jesse poked him in the knee with his toe. “Why is the agency going to fire you?”

Parker sighed and picked a second pretzel off his toilet paper square.

“Because I’m terrible at writing fundraising copy.

I had this assignment for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, and.

.. let’s just say it didn’t go well. In fact, the fundraiser at the hospital was so unimpressed with my work that she asked the agency to take me off their account, so. .. that felt great.”

“Damn. Sorry, Parks.”

“I don’t even blame them. I wouldn’t hire me either.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. It’s hard to be good at something you’re not passionate about.”

“Thanks,” Parker said with a smile that lacked its usual wattage but not its warmth. “I think I needed to hear that.”

Jesse squeezed the ankle closest to him. “What are you passionate about? Would you go back to sports writing?”

“In a hot minute.”

“In Montreal?”

“Not necessarily,” Parker said around the crunch of his pretzel.

“I wouldn’t say no if that’s where the job was, but in this day and age of virtual meetings and working from home, I could probably work from anywhere.

Plus, if I wasn’t working for the agency, I’d have more free time for my personal project.

I swear, this agency gig is more demanding than my job at the Gazette . ”

Jesse raised an eyebrow and leaned forward. “What’s your personal project?”

Eyes brightening, Parker gestured with his third pretzel.

“I’m writing a book. Non-fiction. It’s about the evolution of LGBTQ acceptance in professional sports.

People have written blogs and articles on the topic, of course, but nobody’s written a full account.

I want interviews with athletes, coaches, front-office staff, and anyone else who’ll talk to me.

First-hand accounts on how the locker room has evolved since Ashton Yager came out. ”

Yager had been the first out queer NHL player in the league, and that had been more than fifteen years ago. He’d opened a door previously cemented shut and other athletes had come out—across multiple sports—since then.

“That sounds like an awesome project. Who have you talked to so far?” Jesse asked.

“No one. With Dad being sick, then taking over his business and starting work with the agency, I haven’t had much time to work on my own stuff.

All I’ve written so far is half an introduction.

I tried reaching out to Yager on Instagram—I want to interview him first and foremost—but that was months ago, and I haven’t heard anything back. ”

“Probably because you reached out on Instagram, where there are a whole bunch of weirdos.”

Jesse mentally thumbed through his roster of every player he’d ever met.

Yager’s life partner’s younger brother played for Toronto, and although Jesse had met Mitch Greyson a few times, he wouldn’t call them friends.

More importantly, one of Jesse’s former teammates—the very same Emery Stanton who’d tattled to Coach Vernier about Jesse’s bullying—was best friends with a former Toronto player who’d played with Greyson.

Hockey was a small fucking world.

“I can help.”

Parker ate his last pretzel and a half, then turned the empty package upside down. Nothing emerged except crumbs. “How?”

“I can get you an introduction to Ashton Yager.”

If Stanton was willing to help him. Jesse didn’t add that part, not when Parker’s eyes lit up and his mouth dropped open.

Jesse grabbed his phone off the nightstand and started typing. Sure, there was bad blood between himself and Stanton, but he could at least try. Right?

“What are you doing?” Parker asked, craning his neck to peer over the top of Jesse’s phone.

“Texting an old teammate to see if he’ll help facilitate an introduction.”

“Now? Jess, it’s three in the morning.”

“He lives in Vancouver,” Jesse said absently. “It’s only midnight there.”

And if Stanton was asleep, he could reply in the morning.

Except it only took a moment for Stanton to answer back.

Stanton:

Let me see what I can do. I’ll get back to you tomorrow.

Huh. Maybe all of that bad blood was in the past and what existed now was neutral blood.

Jesse relayed Stanton’s message to Parker, and if his chest puffed with pride when Parker gawped at him...

Well. He was only human.

“Damn, I wish we had condoms,” Parker said, apropos of nothing. “I’d fuck you into the mattress in thanks right now if we did.”

The image that conjured sent the blood rushing in Jesse’s ears. He shifted uncomfortably as his dick hardened impossibly fast. “I can still zip up to the twenty-four-hour Shoppers Drug Mart.”

“Meh,” Parker said now just as he had thirty minutes ago when Jesse had first brought it up.

“We’ll just have to get creative. Although.

..” He narrowed his gaze. “Do we need condoms? I was negative at my last test and I haven’t been with anyone since.

And it’s not like I’m going to be sleeping around—if I’m with you, I’m with you. ”

Jesse swallowed hard. “Ditto.”

Parker’s smile turned naughty. “Well, hot damn.” He tossed the pretzel package aside. Of course, because it was a tiny plastic wrapper, it simply landed gently on the bedspread. Parker stared at it. “That was less dramatic than I wanted it to be.”

Laughing, Jesse pounced on him.