Page 26

26

Caleb

“ F uuuck,” Nick groans. He throws his head back and a bead of sweat falls down his neck, and I’m sorely tempted to lick it. I would, if he wasn’t splitting me wide open and causing my thoughts to short-circuit. For a few seconds, I simply sit on him, panting.

When I think I’ve adjusted to him in me, I wiggle a bit, and he curses again and clutches tight at my hips.

“You’re killing me,” he whines.

I smirk at him as smugly as I can and lift myself up. When I sink back on him, Nick shudders—and that’s when I finally start moving. I go slowly at first, savoring the feel of his thick cock in me, and Nick impatiently raises his hips to urge me on.

It drives me wild that I can make him lose control like this. Nicholas Sandoval, the campus’s golden boy, the hockey team’s star player, and a man who has a reputation for his undeniable patience and pleasant demeanor. He’s so inhibited in every other aspect of his life, and I can’t believe I have the privilege of making him fall apart like this.

He shuts his eyes and grunts, and I trail a hand up his hard chest. I squeeze his throat gently before gripping his jaw.

“Look at me,” I demand.

He snaps his eyes open and meets my gaze.

“Good boy,” I whisper, not missing how he sucks in a breath at the nickname.

Always so damn compliant, even during sex. I grin at him and continue riding him, going at a pace that has him writhing and shuddering underneath me. Just as I commanded, he doesn’t take his eyes off me.

Nick suddenly bends his knees, causing me to fall forward a bit. The new angle is amazing though, and his dick hits my prostate, making me moan. Nick brushes my hair away from my face and smiles. It’s too tender and at odds with what we’re doing, which is something only Nick can get away with.

“Caleb,” he murmurs, and my dick twitches with how he says my name. Nick’s smile grows, and he reaches between us, wrapping his still slick fingers around my cock and pumping it. I ride him faster and deeper, and his hold on me falters for a second.

“Good?” I ask hoarsely, because sue me—I thrive on praise. It’s something we have in common.

“So good. You feel amazing.”

Pleasure sizzles through me and I feel light-headed, our groans filling the emptiness of our dark dorm room.

Nick writhes underneath me and he grits his teeth. I can tell he’s close to coming, and even if it drives me insane, I slow down to a stop to catch my breath. He swears and glowers at me, shifting his hips but not getting the friction he needs.

“Caleb,” he hisses. “You tired?”

I scoff at him. I’m a college hockey player with the stamina to show for it. Of course I’m not tired.

Once Nick goes slack beneath me, I move again.

“Yes, please,” he murmurs, trembling underneath me.

I don’t fuck him long enough. When he’s close to coming again, I sit still. Nick groans and looks as if he’s trying not to lose control.

“Are you teasing me?” he whines.

I grin. “Yes. I told you, remember? Said I was going to fucking edge you and drive you nuts?”

“Caleb, please .”

Despite my fake smugness, my dick’s also asking for release—but I’m not there yet. I want Nick to go absolutely insane while I fuck him. I want him to beg me, and I want to hear the desperation in him. I want this night to last as long as it can.

The next time I edge him, Nick lets out a disgruntled shout and grips my hips, trying to get me to move, but I sit as still as I can. His face twists in frustration and he curses under his breath.

More.

“Stop it,” he says, voice clipped.

“Beg to come.”

“Please. Baby, please. I want to come.”

He’s so out of it I don’t even think he noticed the nickname that slipped through his lips. Grinning wickedly, I ride him again, even faster and deeper than before. My thighs are aching, but I don’t care, because nothing matches the way Nick looks. He whines and rocks up against me, and when I see him biting his lip and arcing his back, I go still again.

“Fuck, Caleb!” he shouts.

“That’s it. A little more… you can do it.”

Nick’s dark eyes meet mine. “Enough,” he snaps, and he pushes me off. I wince as he pulls out of my ass and I fall on my side beside him, suddenly panicked that I’ve gone about this all wrong.

Fuck, did I mess up?

And just when I’m about to tell him I’ll stop teasing him, Nick sits up and roughly shoves me against the mattress. I grunt in surprise, and he holds me down between my shoulder blades, my face hitting the bed, and then he enters me from behind in one quick motion.

“Oh, god, Nicky,” I groan.

“You’re a menace,” he says, his voice angry and hot. He yanks me up by the hair and his other hand slides up my chest and wraps gently around my throat, and my dick leaks at how turned on I am.

This. This was the Nick I’ve been waiting for.

He snaps his hips against mine at a brutal pace, and when I almost buckle forward, the hand in my hair wraps around my waist. Holding me by the throat and my midriff, he keeps my back plastered to his sweaty chest and nips at my neck, his groans loud against my ear.

“I want to come,” I plead.

And thank god Nick’s not as mean as me because he nods and lets go of my throat. He wraps long fingers around my cock and strokes me in time with his thrusts, and I fuck his hand, feeling delirious.

“Goddamn it, Caleb,” he hisses. “You drive me insane.”

“You love it.”

He pauses his thrusts for a split-second, and my blood goes cold—what the fuck am I saying? Then he sucks in a breath and starts fucking me again, even deeper this time, and his hand tightens around my cock.

“I do love it,” he admits, and my heart stutters.

I come with a shout, spilling all over his hand and sheets. His thrusts become erratic, and he follows me not long after, shuddering against my back. Nick nips at my neck as he comes down from his orgasm, then he collapses to his side and brings me along with him.

Nick slips out of me, and I try not to groan at the feeling of emptiness. He rolls away and I hear him discarding the condom, and I press my face against his pillow and attempt to regain my breath.

Fingers run through my hair, and I turn to peer at Nick. He’s on his side, facing me, and has the dopiest smile. “Caleb,” he murmurs.

“Hey,” I say.

He smiles and kisses me, slow and tender, and I melt into it as he trails a hand against my back and rubs it.

“Thank you,” he says.

“Thanking me again?” I huff a laugh. “For what this time… sex?”

“No,” he says, also laughing. “Thank you again for coming back. I didn’t know I needed you until I saw you.”

I’m pretty sure my heart is about to burst out of my chest. “Jesus, Nicky. You can’t just say shit like that.”

He smiles at me and trails a knuckle down my cheek, then he rubs a finger against my bruised lips. My mouth parts automatically and he leans in for another kiss.

The afterglow of good sex has always made me dazed and out of it, but this is different. I don’t think I’ve ever felt like this before. It’s as if Nick’s slowly introducing me to new sensations that I never knew existed.

***

January

The incessant beeping of Nick’s phone wakes me up, and I groan and push at him. Of course, he doesn’t even budge. Rolling my eyes, I sit up and glare at his sleeping figure.

We were too tired to change his sheets last night, so after cleaning ourselves up, we crashed on my bed instead. Surprisingly, Nick didn’t assault me in his sleep this time. He was actually well behaved.

Maybe the secret to having Nick sleep peacefully was a good fucking. I smirk and catalog that thought.

He forgot to turn his phone to silent, though, and I could do without the damn beeping. He’s probably getting the onslaught of greetings that’s typical on the first day of the year. Grumbling, I climb over him so I can grab his phone off his desk and turn it off.

The preview of the latest message he received catches my attention, though.

Aleks Polinski (NHL Agent): Happy New Year, Nick. Hope you’ve given my offer some thought.

Ah?

I know I shouldn’t snoop, but my interest’s piqued. I know exactly who Aleks Polinski is—he was my uncle’s agent back when he played pro, and my uncle had mentioned him when he had spoken to Nick and me in his office. Why’s he texting Nick? And what offer?

Nick stirs. He yawns and blindly gropes at the space I left behind. When he realizes I’m not there, he sits up slowly and looks around the room. “Caleb?”

“I’m here,” I say. “Morning. How are you feeling?”

“Like we fucked until two in the morning.”

I choke on a laugh. “Who are you and what have you done to my prim and proper roommate?”

Nick cracks a smile at me and shrugs, and he swings his legs over the bed and gets up. He stretches and I’m greeted with the view of his bare chest and tight abs, and my dick twitches for another round.

“Want to go to the gym?” he asks me, shutting my dirty thoughts down.

Later, then. We’ve got the entire day, and I grin at the possibilities.

Once we’ve freshened up and are about to step out the door, Nick grabs my beanie and yanks it over my head. The gym’s in the student services building which isn’t a long walk away, but he’s quickly caught on that I can’t stand the cold. He smiles at me, all soft and gooey, and I watch as he slips his shoes on.

Then he grabs his phone, and I remember what I saw.

“Nicky?” I ask.

“Yeah?”

“Why is Aleks Polinski texting you? I saw the message by accident.”

He stiffens. For a moment, I think he’s going to ignore me, but then he shrugs. “Your uncle introduced me to him, and we had a quick talk. He wants to sign me as a client and says that a lot of teams would consider adding me to their roster.”

“When did you two talk?”

“Right before break.”

My chest twists. I hesitate to get my next words out, but I need to know. “You never mentioned it to me, because…?”

Nick stares at me, his lips a flat line. “Didn’t think it mattered.”

“I don’t know, Nick. This seems like a pretty huge thing.”

“Not for me. It’s not an option.”

“Anyone else would jump at this opportunity.”

He shrugs and opens the door, effectively dismissing me and the subject. Sighing, I follow him, and we have the most awkward and silent elevator ride to the first floor.

Nick’s sullen now, his hands in his pockets, and he’s avoiding looking at me.

As soon as we get to the gym, he gets on the only free treadmill without a word to me. While a lot of people are still off-campus, the gym’s more crowded than usual. All determined to stick to their resolutions on the first day of the year, I guess.

Goddamn it. I know Nick well enough by now to know he’s the master at pushing down his feelings, but this is ridiculous. I knew he didn’t want to play hockey after college because he wants to work with his dad, but I’ve never really been convinced. Now that we’ve been fooling around for a while, I thought he’d actually talk to me about it if I asked—not just brush me off like this.

The whole time we’re working out, separately, I watch his hard shoulders. He glances back at me a few times and his face is blank and emotionless.

But when a girl he knows greets him, he plasters on his fake smile as if nothing’s wrong. Lo and behold, Nicholas Sandoval, ladies and gents.

When we’re done and head out of the gym to a massive hallway, I look around to make sure the coast is clear. Confirming that it is, I grasp Nick’s wrist.

“Nick,” I say. “This conversation is happening.”

His face twists and he pulls away. “Please leave it.”

“I can’t. I know how much you fucking love hockey, and I don’t understand. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and—”

“I need to be useful to my dad.”

“What do you mean?” I snap.

“I owe it to him to help him.” Nick’s jaw ticks and he scrubs a hand down his face. He’s quiet for a long time, and I wait. Finally, he says, “Caleb, I was a mistake.”

“What?”

“I… I was the outcome of a stupid, drunken night. Dad was already married when he got Mom pregnant with me. He wasn’t present when I was growing up, but that’s because Mom preferred it that way. But when she got really sick, he stepped in and took care of all her medical bills.”

Nick pinches at the bridge of his nose, and I can tell it hurts for him to talk about this. But I need to understand.

He says, “When she passed away, Dad and Dianne took me in. They put me in a private school, gave me my room in their penthouse, even put me in the most prestigious training camps because they knew I was into hockey.” He pauses for a moment, staring at me blankly. “Imagine being Dianne and having to take in the woman’s kid your husband cheated with. I was suddenly in their lives messing it up for them, and not once did they make me feel like shit for it, but of course, I still feel like shit. That’s why I keep my head down and stay out of trouble.”

“Nicky…”

“I don’t want to be a burden to them more than I already am.” Nick forces a smile. “The one thing my dad’s ever asked of me is to help him with his business. He’s never asked me for anything else. And yeah, of course I want to play in the NHL. God, I really, really want to—and watching you talk about it, it kills me. I’m so envious of you, but I made this decision a long time ago.”

“Baby,” I murmur. “You’re not a mistake. What your parents did has nothing to do with you.”

“You said yourself that nothing good comes out of cheating.” He gestures at himself. “You were right.”

“When the hell did I say that?”

“When you were telling me not to get back together with Jessie.”

My eyebrows clash together, and my heart sinks when I realize this was why he was so ready to forgive Jessie. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

He shrugs.

“You’re not a mistake,” I say, my voice hard. “And you don’t know how your dad feels about you going pro. If you talked to him about it—”

“He’d tell me to go for it, because he’d give me anything I want. You don’t understand. That day he asked me to come work for him after college, I was so happy. I just want to pay him back somehow.”

“But would working with him make you happier than if you played in the NHL?”

Nick throws his head back and sighs. “Caleb, please.”

“I’m only saying—”

“Please stop trying to change things for me. I was perfectly fine with how things were. Then you came along and messed everything up.”

I take a step back, stunned. “What the fuck?”

Nick winces and meets my eyes. “That’s not what I meant to say—”

“I messed everything up, did I?”

“No. No, of course not.”

“Jesus fuck, Nick.” I scowl and raise my hands. “I’m sorry for caring, I guess.”

“Listen—”

“Message received. I’ll stop caring.”

“Caleb.”

I grumble under my breath and turn away, and he yanks me back abruptly. Pissed off, I move to shove him away, but he cups my nape and kisses me hard.

Here, in a hallway in the student services building. Right outside the crowded gym. Where everyone can see. My anger and surprise melts, and I sag in his hold.

“I’m sorry,” he says, and I think he’s pleading. “I didn’t mean that. Shit, Caleb, I’m sorry. You changed things for me, but in a good way.”

I bite my cheek and frown at him. He looks and sounds so fucking broken that I can’t even find it in me to be angry right now, so I simply nod.

Doesn’t mean I’m not hurt, though. It’s no secret how much I like Nick, and how I enjoy making him happy. These last few weeks have been amazing, and it made me forget just how different we both are. These last few weeks actually made me think that we fit pretty well together.

But… I messed everything up for him? Seriously?

That quickly, the fever dream of how we could ever work shatters, and I don’t know how to fix it.