AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hey, no, that’s hot!”
He licked it, then winced, then licked it again.
“Making hot chocolate?”
“Yeah.”
“Can I get some?”
I plucked my spoon back and rinsed it clean, then I made us each a mug of piping hot chocolate. Spencer took a big slurp of his and groaned at the burn.
“Impatient,” I said.
“Never was much for waiting.”
I shot him a narrow look, searching for subtext, but he seemed absorbed in enjoying his drink. He took a slower sip and licked his lips. A shiver ran through me, and I willed it away. Last night had been fun, but I knew Spencer. It didn’t mean anything. It didn’t need to. I was moving on too, getting on with my life. If anything, last night had been a sort of goodbye, not to Spencer himself, but to this phase of our lives.
“Where’s Leon?” he said.
“Working late, I think. Some office party.”
Spencer nodded at that, and sipped more hot chocolate. “He’s always home late from those. It’s all the cleanup.”
“I’ve told him a million times, he should let his crew do the scut work. He never sleeps anymore. He’s got to be exhausted. Speaking of which, great game tonight.”
Spencer puffed up and broke out in a grin. “You came. I saw you.”
Warmth flared in my chest. “I thought you might have. I couldn’t tell if you were waving or adjusting your helmet.”
“Waving,” he said. His gaze had gone distant. He scratched at his chin, and I almost snickered — thoughtful wasn’t a look I saw much on Spencer. I guessed he was trying to decide what to say, how to touch on last night without hurting my feelings. What we did last night, it can’t happen again. It might make things weird. Mess up our friendship.
Spencer frowned. “What?”
“Huh?”
“You’re making a face.” He pulled one to show me.
“I forgot cinnamon,” I said, but made no move to grab any. Spencer was studying me, head cocked, half-smiling.
“Last night was great,” he said. “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but for me, it was awesome. I think maybe us being together got me out of my head.”
I stared, surprised. “Out of your head?” Of all the things he might’ve said, I hadn’t foreseen that one. Was he saying our hookup had, what, saved his game?
“I went into that game today tense as all hell, same way I’ve been since the start of this season. Nothing was clicking, and then, I don’t know. I looked up and saw you, and I thought ‘oh, hey, Izzy.’ I thought how much fun we had, and I thought, man. When’s the last time I had that much fun? When was the last time hockey was fun?”
“It’s not fun anymore?”
Spencer stirred his hot chocolate. “It hasn’t been lately. I’d started to dread it — not the game, but the fallout. What it would mean for me if I couldn’t win. But I saw you tonight and I got this, this flash. This mental image of me as a kid, me playing street hockey, and…” He shook his head. “You might not believe this, but I felt this excitement. This anticipation, like I felt back then. And I think once I felt that, it spread through the team. Man, that sounds stupid.” He let out a chuckle.
“It doesn’t,” I said. “Moods are contagious. Like when Leon gets grumpy, and soon we’re all sniping.”
“Leon,” said Spencer, and his mouth turned down. He sipped more hot chocolate, as though to clear a bad taste. “Listen, about last night — you had fun, right?”
I bit my tongue. “Yeah.”
“So it was good for both of us. Good for my game. No downside, really, if we were to…” His handsome brow furrowed as he searched for the words. “What would you think about, uh, if we?—”
“You want to be fuck buddies?”
