Page 124 of Two for Roughing

Luca melted away into the crowd. Kilian elbowed Breezy lightly and gave him a questioning look. Breezy didn’t answer, but the way his entire face flushed was enough.

“Really?” Kilian couldn’t help but ask. “Him?”

“I know he’s way out of my league—”

“Dude, no.” Breezy had appeal if you were into absolutely massive dudes, which Kilian was. “Is he…nice to you?”

An absolutely sickening expression took hold of Breezy’s face. “He—”

“Hey, um, Howie? Could I talk to you for a minute?”

Kilian turned toward the source of the question: Tom, shuffling from foot to foot. Never had there been a more welcome interruption. “Sure.”

He followed Tom to the patio, glancing over his shoulder to find Damir watching him go. Kilian shot him a smile to reward him for being at least 50 percent less grouchy than Kilian expected after a loss. The recent orgasms must have mellowed him. Either that, or he was trying very hard to act normal to avoid the meaningful pep talk about their relationship Lissy had been trying to catch them alone for all day. Or maybe, just maybe, he was happy to be officially dating Kilian now.

Lissy would have to deal.

Kilian was not giving up Damir now he had him.

The air outside caused Kilian to wrap his arms around himself; it was cold by San Francisco standards. String lights decked the patio, where small groups of people with vapes stood around, exhaling a sickening mixture of sweet, fruity scents.

“Who chose this bar?” he asked.

“Jax.”

“Of course.” Jax tended to be trendy enough to be obnoxious. He even wore a pair of those incredibly wide-cut suit pants. “So, what’s up?”

Tom rubbed the back of his neck. “I wanted to say I’m sorry. And thank you.”

Kilian ran his tongue over the shape of his left incisor, trying to think of the words. “You don’t have to apologize to me.”

“I want to.” Tom stuffed his hands into his pockets and looked up at the sky. “The last time we talked about it, you said you wanted a role model, and I told you I couldn’t be one. But if I had tried, I might have been able to save you from…well, you know.”

“You didn’t know I was going to gay clubs, and I didn’t know I was being photographed, so I don’t think you could have helped me with that.”

“I’d have told you not to go.”

“I would have done it more if you had.”

They both laughed.

“If you had come out earlier…” Kilian sighed. “I don’t know. It might have put me off ever doing it, seeing all the media attention. Especially all the shit people are saying about the Sea Lions now they know there’s more than one queer player on the team.”

Tom sighed heavily. “Yeah. I just want to play hockey, you know? I wish they’d quit asking.”

Kilian pulled a face. “Can’t relate. I don’t just want to play hockey. There are more things in life, you know?”

“You sound like Jax.” Tom narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Have you been talking to him?”

“Not really.” Jax had texted Kilian a few times since Christmas, most notably to call his walk-in outfit in Los Angeles “fire.” Kilian appreciated the compliment since he’d had to stop reading the comment sections on Instagram and had no idea what the rest of the world thought about him wearing a lace shirt.

“Well, anyway,” Tom said. “I wanted to thank you for everything you’ve said and done over the last week. It means a lot to me.”

Tom looked so forlorn standing there, his arms straight down by his sides as if he didn’t know what to do with them, trying to earnestly thank Kilian for making the best of being outed. Kilian stepped closer and hugged him tightly.

“Thank you,” Kilian said when he pulled away. He pressed a smacking kiss to Tom’s cheek for good measure, leaving a tiny smudge of lip gloss. “You might not have been ready to be out, but you were ready to be the kind of leader who didn’t let me get away with being a dick, and that made me a better person. I would never have been able to make it through this if you hadn’t been my captain.”

Tom made a sound suspiciously close to a sob.