“You thought you were so funny and clever, and youwere.You just weren’t playing with all the information.”
Nate shouldn’t resent that reminder. Hehadn’tbeen. Ramsey had made damn sure of that.
But like Ramsey knew he was edging towards annoying Nate, he pulled back, just enough. “But,” he continued, “now you are. It’s me and you, on the same side, now.”
Nate knew he should tell Ramsey to forget the whole insane idea. It didn’t even make that much sense. But the idea of being on the same side as Ramsey, of finally being in on the joke with him, was so appealing it was hard to imagine him deciding he didn’t want to. Because he wanted to, desperately. And then there was the extra temptation of getting Ramsey where he wanted him. Right in his space. Closer than anyone else had ever had him before.
“You’re crazy,” Nate muttered, which was emphatically notwe can’t do thisorwe shouldn’t do thisorthis is a huge mistake.
And Ramsey knew it, because he grinned, wild and free for a split second and Nate’s heart hiccupped.
“Yeah, okay. But you’re down, though?”
Itwasa huge mistake, clearly, if his internal organs were to be believed, but that wasn’t what he was saying out loud.
“Sure,” Nate said.
Chapter 6
Ramseyshould’vesensedthathe was riding too close to the edge. Should’ve predicted that in this kind of mood he’d do something inherently stupid that he couldn’t take back.
But suggesting to Nate that they fake date to get their friends off their back felt so inevitable, Ramsey wasn’t sure that even if he’d seen it coming from a mile away that he could’ve dodged it.
He and Nate had been on a collision path for so long it was probably a miracle that Ramsey hadn’t lost his mind and suggested something like this ages ago.
The next morning after, he sat at the kitchen counter, drinking his coffee and eating his eggs, watching Wes as he blended up his daily protein shake.
It still felt weird that he wasn’t bulking—had been specifically toldnotto do it, in fact, so he wouldn’t gain too much weight before he got back on the ice.
“You disappeared for awhile last night,” Wes said, not looking up as he worked the blender.
Ramsey knew that Wes would give him some kind of opening.
Last night Nate had wondered when they were going to start their charade. If they were going to walk out of the room and begin right then, convincing everyone they’d ducked into that private room specifically for some alone time.
But Ramsey told him no.
It made sense, sure, but it had been too fun to watch the flush rise on Nate’s cheeks when he’d retorted fondly, “Like I would ever let you pull me into a bathroom for our first hookup.”
Nate had cleared his throat and nodded along.
“I’ll go first and you can leave later. We’ll be in touch about our upcoming plans.”
Nate had mouthed along withupcoming plans, and had tried to say something about how Ramsey didn’t have his phone number.
Ramsey had only pulled his phone out of his pocket and texted him, the first actually sent text in the thread he’d been haunting for two months,Yes I do.
Nate’s expression had been priceless.
Ramsey wasn’t proud necessarily, but he was still thinking about it eight hours later.
“Yeah, I was chatting with Nate,” Ramsey said casually.
Wes’ head snapped up.
“What? You were justchattingwith the guy who’s been giving you shit since the moment you started coming around the team?”
“Yeah. He’s a cool guy, actually.” It was hard to fool Wes, because he saw through him in a way almost nobody else did, but he could easily paste a smug expression on his face and mean every bit of it. “Not sure he’ll keep giving me shit anymore, though.”
