AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Following him out to the lake to make sure he was good was reckless, but I couldn’t resist. Just like I can’t resist now.
The risk isn’t the same now. It’s higher. Because every night we spend together with him telling me about the players he skates with and me sharing stories from my water polo season, every time he decides to try to teach me to cook something and then has to kick me out of the kitchen to save it… every time we fall into bed, tearing at each other’s clothes with a desperation beyond my imagination makes me see how perfect this could be…. If only everything about our lives was different.
I know the hurt is coming. I know saying goodbye again is going to wreck me. But after all the years of living in fear, maybe my reserves of self-preservation are exhausted. Or maybe being able to go all in with this man and having this month without holding back is worth whatever heartbreak comes after.
TREVOR
For a guy on break, I’m managing to keep damn busy… which is critical to ignoring the fact that I’m about one week from ripping my heart out and leaving it here in Wildren.
Don’t think about it.
In addition to catching up with old friends and the odd jobs I’m knocking out at Finch’s place, I got permission to use the high school gym to work out and the rink to offer a few free hockey clinics in the afternoons. Coach tells me there’s some real talent on the team this year, and it’s cool to be able to share my knowledge and experience with kids who have the same love of the sport as me.
But what makes my damn year is when Cam shows up with his cousin’s tiny five-year-old to the open skate for the mini-mites. She’s pink from head to toe, outfit, cheeks, even the strawberry-blond curls… and already you can see this little firecracker likes to win. She skates like a demon and makes no bones about picking the puck up off her kindergarten friend’s sticks. It’s hilarious and a little scary, but not nearly so much as watching my semi-secret boyfriend… who I’ve never seen skate for a reason… fall on his taut, perfect ass.
“What were you doing today?” I laugh, walking into Cam’s place a few hours later and finding him tossing back a couple ibuprofen.
“Probably fucking up my water polo match tomorrow night, but mostly looking for an excuse to see you.”
“I both love and hate that answer.” I take the bottle from him and put it back in the cabinet above the toaster.
“You’re awesome with those kids,” he says, sidling up to me and hooking a finger through my belt loop. “Betsy told her mom she was going to grow up and play on your hockey team. Which is bullshit, by the way, since last week she was planning to play water polo with me.”
Slipping my arms around his waist, I kiss the underside of his jaw. “Stings, huh?”
And that answering laugh rumbling against my chest is something else. It’s the kind of thing someone could get used to, even if he knows he shouldn’t.
“You really hurt?” I ask, hating that he might be.
He shakes his head and gives me a wink. “Nah. I’m tough.” And when he sees my concern is real, he adds, “Seriously, it’s nothing loosening up with a swim won’t take care of.”
“Practice tonight?” I didn’t think he had one.
“Tomorrow. Thinking about hitting the lake before dinner though. You mind?”
“Not even a little. In fact, I’ve got ingredients for chicken piccata in the fridge. Maybe I’ll head back and start it. Or”— I let my hands do a little shameless wandering over his ass, pressing into him in a tease I’ll absolutely be regretting until I get him naked again— “maybe I’ll meet you on our dock. Hang out a while, and we can save dinner for later?”
That groan is everything and, no surprise, we end up making out with my back to his fridge and him sucking on my tongue while we rock into each other. It’s too good, but I don’t want him swimming in the dark so I pull away, giving his hard-on a parting caress.
“See you in a few.” I start for the door.
“Hold up. I got a couple bottles that’ll go great with your dinner.”
I have no idea what pairs with piccata, but I nod and wait. He rustles around in the kitchen for a minute before coming out with a loaded reusable grocery bag.
This time the kiss is just a sweet peck that leaves me humming as I back toward the truck. “Swim fast, Captain.”
He hooks his hands on the frame above the door and leans out with a cocky grin. “State champ.”
So. Hot.
I drive home wearing a stupid grin I feel through every cell in my body. I’ll get the chicken out, grab my trunks, a couple towels. We could eat on the back terrace.
Talk.
Talk about whether this really needs to end when I leave. If maybe there’s a way we can—
I frown as I pull into my drive and catch a glimpse of another car through the trees. Being this far outside of town, it’s not a place people drop by unannounced. So who?
