“Hey, Sanny?” Novy calls with a wave, popping his head inside the laundry room.
“Aww, what happened to Snuffy?” says Morrow. “I liked that nickname.”
I just roll my eyes as the guys both laugh. I’m standing at the big folding table, ironing jerseys for tomorrow’s game. This is only the third in a whole pile. And this is only task one of like twenty I have to complete today. “What do you need, Nov?”
“Not a thing,” he replies, leaning against the table, his eyes on my hands as he watches me work, crunching on his homemade granola. “Compton still around?”
“How should I know?”
Novy and Morrow exchange an incredulous look. “Uh…maybe because you live together,” Novy replies with a laugh.
“And you carpool in to work all the time,” Morrow adds.
“And you’ve got your weird DLP-ESP,” Novy finishes.
“That hasn’t been officially diagnosed yet,” I tease back, setting the iron aside to flip the jersey over. “We’re still on the waitlist for that study at Mayo.”
The guys laugh as Morrow snags the bag of granola out of Novy’s hands and races around the table behind me with it, shoving some of the crunchy mix in his mouth.
“Asshole,” Novy growls, hands flat on the table. “Give it back.”
Morrow steals another handful and zips the bag shut, tossing it back at Novy.
“I’ve been down here since I got in,” I explain, moving the iron over the back of Sully’s jersey, ignoring their antics. “I don’t know anything happening outside this room.”
They exchange a look, and Novy shakes his head.
I narrow my eyes at him. “What is it?”
Novy’s a good guy, even if he’s a bit rough around the edges. He’s the wild stallion type, always balancing a bevy of puck bunnies. Stays out too late. Parties too hard. Never really serious about anything but hockey. But he’s a good player and a loyal teammate.
Right now, he’s got a sober look in his eye. Something’s up. He needs to talk. He shares another glance with Morrow, still munching his granola.
“What?” I say again. “Come on, guys. I got a shit ton to do, so if you’re not gonna—”
“Are you with him?” Morrow blurts out.
My gaze tracks to him as Novy groans. “Dude, come on,” he says. “You’re not supposed to just ask a guy if he’s gay like that. That’s like, breaking the rules. Right?”
Now they’re both looking at me.
My stomach drops. Oh shit. “What are you assholes talking about?”
“You haven’t seen it then?” Novy asks with a raised brow.
“You haven’t heard?”
I groan, dragging both hands through my hair. “Fuck, guys. Drop the suspense, before I go looking for Colonel Mustard holding a candlestick. Now, what the hell are you talking about?”
“Aw, shit. It’s everywhere, man,” Novy says with a shake of his head. “The guys are all chirping with it online.”
“Chirping with what?”
“That you and Compton are together,” says Morrow. “You know, like…together. Like a gay thing.”
“Yeah, I get what ‘together’ means.”
“There’s all this footage from the game last night,” Novy adds. “Compton skating up to you on the ice, and you’re wearing his jersey and, like, smiling and shit.”
I know exactly what they’re talking about. God, it felt good in the moment. Rachel was by my side, and we were laughing, having fun. I had my girl and my…fuck—well, he’s not really my guy, is he? We fool around a bit with Rachel, but he’s given me no indication he wants anything outside the comfort her presence provides, the inhibitions she helps us all lower.
Visions of last night fill my senses, making my heart race and my palms sweat. I’ve been trying so hard not to think about it. Jake’s face so close to mine, his thumb on my lips, the smell of his cologne invading my lungs, filling me up. I wanted him to kiss me…but he didn’t. He pulled away.
But then he put me on my knees and popped my fucking cherry in the middle of an orgasmic four-way. I’ve never been filled like that before. Not even by a toy. I may love sticking my dick in asses, but I’ve never once considering having a dick in mine. Turns out it wasn’t even a question. He offered, and I couldn’t bend over fast enough.
And I want more. I want his cum in my mouth, my ass. I want to lay that man out and feast on him till he begs me to stop. I want Rachel to hold him down while I fuck his tight ass, riding him hard and long, edging him to within an inch of his sanity.
And I want kissing. More than sex, I want him to want me. I want the intimacy of my lips on his and I want it to be his idea. Until then, Jake’s not queer for me. He’s just a straight man having his cake and eating it too.
I clear my throat, snatching up the iron again and putting my eyes on my work. “So, all of this chirping is based on me wearing Jake’s jersey to the game last night and the fact that he skated up to the boards?” I move the iron down the sleeve, glancing up between the guys. “You know I was with Doctor Price and Poppy too, right? Did the footage catch that? Pretty sure Doc was in a jersey. Is she getting dragged too?”
My heart is silent in my chest, unwilling to beat. What the fuck am I doing? I don’t want to draw attention to Rachel, but I also need to try to deflect this for Jake’s sake. Her image with the guys is spotless right now. So is Poppy’s. This could work. I can buy us time and get Novy and Morrow to help me spread the ‘nothing to see here’ message far and wide.
“Yeah, some of the noise is tryna say you and Hot Doc are a thing,” says Morrow with a shrug. “But that’s just the celebrity news and stuff the bunnies spread around.”
“Only some of the noise, huh?” I say, setting the iron aside as I slip Sully’s jersey back on its hanger and hang it up. “What does most of the noise say…”
Novy sighs, leaning against the table, arms crossed over his barrel chest. “Inside the League, the news is that you and Compton are finally out.”
I let out a breath, trying to control this sick feeling in my gut. Distracting my hands, I reach for the next jersey. Fuck, it’s Jake’s. “Finally? What, like we’ve been trapped in the closet lookin’ for a key to unlock the door?”
The guys offer me weak smiles. They’re not buying my deflection.
“Come on, man,” Morrow mutters. “You gotta know you guys have a reputation from the other teams, right?”
I say nothing, eyes on my work as I smooth out Jake’s jersey.
Novy clears his throat. “Yeah, apparently some of the guys from the Pens and the Kings are chirping about it. And some of our guys share chats with them. They were all talking about it up in the PT room just now. Avery goaded them on—”
“Which is totally not cool,” Morrow says, voice firm.
“Yeah, we’re not gonna tolerate any Rays chirping about our guys,” says Novy with a reassuring nod. “The jerks talking about it upstairs got their asses handed to them, so don’t even worry about it.”
I glance up sharply from my work. “Wait—by who?”
“Kinnunen,” Morrow replies.
“Who knew Mars was such an ally, huh?” Novy laughs. “Most I’ve heard him talk all season. He told Perry what he could do with the weight he was lifting.”
“Yeah, but then he switched to Finnish,” Morrow adds.
“Made the poor kid cry. I never want him to yell at me in Finnish,” Novy said, eyes wide as he shakes his head in horror.
“And I don’t know what the deal is with Avery,” Morrow mutters.
“Yeah, that guy is such an asshole,” Novy huffs, arms crossed. “I don’t know why they hired him, honestly. I wish they’d can him and just hire Price.”
I glance between them. Rachel hasn’t said anything, but I know Avery’s reputation. And I’ve seen them interact a bit at games. He’s always putting her down and leaving her hanging. I think he might feel threatened by her. “Wait—was he chirping too?” I say, eyes narrowed at the guys.
“Nothing Mars couldn’t handle,” Novy replies with a shrug.
“He needs to learn his place, or the guys are gonna turn on him,” Morrow adds. “I don’t want my head of PT ribbing my teammates in front of me. That’s not gonna fly.”
“And hey—Sanford,” Novy mutters, stepping around the table to stand by me.
I glance over at him, trying to control my breathing, giving nothing away.
“The point here is that if you ever do want to tell us anything…you can. You or Compton. Because this is a team. It might be a new team, but the way we see it, we’d like to stick around a while.”
“Yeah, totally,” Morrow adds. “Team means family.”
“We want a good atmosphere here,” Novy goes on. “We don’t want bullshit and drama. Jokes is one thing. We all love jokes. Chirping on a guy for being gay is another,” he adds, his face solemn. “You just tell us which end is up, and we’ll make sure the next guy who chirps you is the last guy.”
I nod, surprisingly touched by this unexpected show of support.
“So…you telling us anything right now?” Novy asks, one dark brow raised.
I shake my head. “No,” I mutter, trying not to let disappointment lace my words. “There’s nothing. Jake and I are just friends.”
“Best friends, right?” Morrow adds with a grin. “Live-in best friends who sleep in separate beds but finish each other’s sentences. Total Bert and Ernie situation, right?”
I roll my eyes as he laughs.
“And if Jake ever pulls his head out of his ass and realizes you’re a catch and a half?” Novy teases. “You still gonna be just friends then, Bert?”
I shake my head. “Listen, assholes. If Jake and I ever become more than live-in best friends, you two will be the first to know, okay? For now, I’ll be sucking my own dick. But only if I get through with ironing all these first, and you’re both distracting me.”
Novy steps forward, slinging an arm around my shoulders. “As long as you’re distracted, come help us find Compton. We’re gonna lay the heavy on him too over breakfast.”
“And make sure he gets the tab,” Morrow adds.
Flipping the iron off, I follow after them. I won’t be able to focus until I deal with this. I need to talk to Jake. But first I want to find Rachel. She’s the one with the unparalleled experience handling online gossip. She’ll know what to do.
“Hey,” I call. “Have either of you seen Doctor Price this morning? I uhh…need to ask her something about an order shipment.”
“Yeah, we saw her when we came down,” Novy replies, leading the way out of the room.
“She was at the coffee cart looking cozy with some guy,” Morrow adds, his eyes on his phone as we walk towards the stairs.
I halt in the middle of the hallway. “What guy?”
Morrow just shrugs, eyes still on his phone. “I don’t know, some hunky guy.”
“He was a hunk, huh?” Novy says with a laugh. “God, not you too. Am I the only straight man left on the Rays D-line?”
“What? He was all tatted and cool.” At my blank stare Morrow quickly adds, “I mean, you’re tatted and cool too, Sanny. Don’t think we’re out here tryna replace you.”
“Yeah, Snuffy. You’re the coolest guy we know,” Novy teases. “Hot Doc wishes her arm candy was as cool as you.”
Well, if I thought I had no jealousy where Rachel was concerned, that just went out the goddamn window. A tatted cool hunky guy is acting as my girl’s arm candy? Forget Jake. He can take care of himself. I’m officially tracking a hurricane.
