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Eli desperately wanted to meet him.
Nerves evaporating in a puff of excitement, Eli made his way toward Nolan and King, the latter of whom smiled at something Nolan said. Or, wait, he was smiling and frowning?
Maybe that was just the way his face was arranged.
King noticed him first, and he raised one imperious eyebrow. “Eli Parker.”
Nolan turned then and spotted him, and his smile was worth all the sweat Eli had poured into tonight’s game.
A bout of uncertainty had Eli almost missing a step. He and Nolan hadn’t discussed their . . . whatever they were. Were they in a committed relationship? Just hooking up? Could he kiss Nolan in public? Should he hug him instead? Offer a fist bump?
The decision was taken out of his hands when Nolan rose and extended an arm out toward him and twined it around his waist. Nolan drew him closer and placed a quick kiss on his mouth. “Sorry about the loss tonight.”
“I don’t even care about that.” Eli bounced on his toes. “Nole, I got an assist.”
“Isn’t that a normal occurrence for hockey players?” King asked mildly.
Wait, did he not know . . .
Eli leaned closer to Nolan and whispered, “Does he know about my sophomore slump?”
Nolan shrugged. “I didn’t mention it. So unless he read about it online . . . He’s a Toronto fan, though, so I doubt he would have.”
Eli cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, “Boo, Toronto.”
“Hey!” King’s scowl was altogether something else, but Eli wasn’t scared. If Nolan was friends with this guy, then he was obviously a decent human being. “Toronto’s awesome.”
“I mean, a lot of your best players retired in recent years.”
“Yeah.” King grimaced. “We’re rebuilding, but we’ll get there.” He held out a hand. “Kingston Raine. Good to meet you.”
“You too.”
What would King think about him? That he was too young? Too extra? Way out of Nolan’s league?
Maybe all of that was true, but fuck it. Nolan wanted him, and Eli was going to milk that until kingdom come or until Nolan broke things off, whichever came first.
Hopefully, the kingdom-come thing.
Eli slid onto a stool at the table. “What brings you to Burl— Wait, did you seriously buy the souvenir cup?”
“Nope.” Grin showing off straight white teeth, King waggled the cup. “Nolan lost a bet and had to buy it for me.”
“You didn’t have to bring it in here,” Nolan said. “You only get free beer at the arena.”
“Nolan’s not wrong,” Eli said. “I’ve seen people try to get that filled for free here, and they always get shot down.”
King winked at him. “Those people weren’t me. Excuse me a minute.” Glass in hand, he strode purposefully to the bar, long jeans-clad legs getting him there in only a few strides.
“He’s going to come back with a free beer, isn’t he?”
Nolan’s sigh was fondly amused. “And probably the bartender’s number.” A pause, then, “Both of them.”
Eli looked toward the bar, where a guy about his own age wearing black-framed glasses worked a martini shaker like he’d been born to it, and a woman with pink-streaked bangs and biceps to rival King’s flipped her blonde hair over one shoulder as she took a customer’s order.
Leaving King to it, Eli leaned toward Nolan and grabbed a deeper, longer kiss that had him sighing into Nolan’s mouth. “Hi.”
“Hi,” Nolan responded with a smile that made Eli’s heart stutter.
