Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

LO

I stop Caulder after he undoes the locks but before he pulls the door open, bringing him back and pressing him against the wall with my hands on his chest so I can kiss him again. He smiles against my mouth, but it quickly dissolves when I kiss him deeply. He moans quietly into my mouth.

Pressing my body against his, I drag my hands down his chest to his stomach before wrapping them around his waist. He's more confident in kissing me now. Maybe accepting that I'm going to keep his secret so he can let go with me. After all, we both have secrets that we've shared now. And we're not children.

After a few minutes, he gently pushes me off him. "We need to get downstairs," he says as I drop my mouth to his neck. He angles his face up, letting me have my fill even as he protests. I smile when one of his hands tangles in my hair. "Really, Lo. We need to…"

I sigh. "Yeah, we do," I agree, though I don't stop kissing and licking his neck. He shivers so deliciously.

Reluctantly, I force my mouth off his and look at his face. He's fucking sexy. Eyes half closed, lips parted and a little swollen, panting lightly. This is the look they should put on billboards. The world would buy whatever it is he's selling.

However, he's right. I'm hungry, and if I want to eat before we need to head to the arena, we should go downstairs. Still, I'm not in a hurry to get off him. After all, if we walk out of here looking like we were making out, there are going to be questions.

Knowing I have him to come back to tonight is going to make the day very, very long.

Eventually, we release each other and straighten our appearances again. Caulder opens the door and looks at me. I swear there's a little bit of a challenge there. Which is a mistake because I'll bring him back to bed right now.

He gives me a grin as he steps into the hall, as if he knows what I'm thinking. I will happily wipe that grin off his face later.

I fall into step beside him, letting our door close loudly behind us. He takes half a step sideways as we move to the elevator.

Caulder really is cute. When we're alone, he doesn't think much about how close he is to me or how he looks at me. Whether he's touching me or not. Not after last night. But once we leave the room, I can almost visibly see how everything he does is calculated. Maybe I see it now because I know he's gay and hiding it.

He walks beside me down the hall, but keeps exactly enough distance between us so our hands won't brush. When I step closer, he recreates the space. I try this twice and he does so both times. We step into the elevator and it's the same.

However, as I study him, I think maybe it's not consciously intentional. It's something he does out of habit. Caulder always creates just enough space between him and everyone else that's comfortable, but not obvious that he's doing so. I probably wouldn't have noticed if last night didn't happen.

If someone ever did point it out, he could easily say he's recreating his personal boundaries. He's not exaggerating the space between him and someone else. It's not like in high school where stupid kids are all ew cooties and try to put a room between you. It's subtle, but he keeps that bubble intact.

"What?" he asks as we step out of the elevator.

I look at him, raising a brow.

"You're watching me. Do I have something in my teeth?" He gives me a wide grin, showing me his teeth.

I like this Caulder. He's not stiff and freaked out like he'd been when I first stepped into the room last night. I'm not sure if it's my expert orgasm-giving skills or maybe the mutual secrets we share, but I really love this relaxed Caulder.

Chuckling, I shake my head. "No. Sorry. Just… observing."

His cheeks flush. "Well, don't. I'm already too conscious of you now…" He keeps his voice low, unable to be overheard.

After a glance around our immediate vicinity, I ask, "Because I know?"

He nods and shrugs. "And because of… other things."

I grin and that grin remains firmly in place as we drop our gear bags at the front in the pile with everyone else's and then step into the hotel restaurant. I'm ridiculously pleased that he's still thinking about it. Good to know that I'm not alone in that fact.

There are five tables pushed together and we take seats not next to each other, though I'm not sure we do so intentionally. Caulder takes the single seat next to the Buffalo trio, while I sit next to Max Latham.

"How did you score a room by yourself?" Drick asks Max with a scowl.

"I stood in line for almost an hour and listened to everyone yelling and demanding changes they didn't get. By the time I reached reception, they naturally asked if my partner would be arriving separately, I said yes, Deryke would be here later tonight. She looked at me perplexed and then tried to explain the situation to which I responded—calmly, I might add—that we wouldn't mind sharing a room, however, they'd have to explain to my roommate that they will be watching me get railed all night by my boyfriend when he got here. We're quite kinky and I know he's checked a bag just for our toys. Magically, I was no longer sharing a room," Max says, reaching for a breakfast roll.

Noah laughs. "That's basically what Lix said. Minus the kinky stuff."

Max tosses a roll at Noah. "Don't be shy. You can talk about the kinky stuff."

Noah's cheeks flush and he shakes his head. "There's nothing to talk about."

My gaze drops to the collar around his neck, but I don't say anything. A waitress stops by and takes orders from me and Caulder. Our eyes meet for a second before he looks away, a smile just barely touching his lips.

"I should have thought of that," Drick grumbles. "You suppose it would have had the same results if I said my wife was showing up?"

"Yes," multiple people say.

"Have you seen what the internet is calling this?" Lamar asks as he pulls up a chair. "The Hockey All-Star Great Bed Fuckery of 2022. There's already a whole bunch of memes and so many of them are ‘what turned that player gay?' ‘Forced proximity, one bed during the Great Bed Fuckery of 2022!'"

Laughter fills the table, and my gaze finds Caulder's again. That's exactly what would happen here. Oh, you're gay now? Must have been the shared bed during the All-Star that did it. There's laughter in his eyes and I have a feeling he's thinking the same thing I am.

"What about you, Lo?" Lamar says. "You get out of sharing, or weren't creative enough to do so?"

"It didn't occur to me to tell them I had someone meeting me here," I admit, shrugging. "So yes, I'm sharing."

"Who'd you get?"

"This sounds like a trading card game," Max says, shaking his head.

I look at Caulder and nod in his direction. "Haines."

The attention turns to Caulder, and he continues to chew on a roll. "Yes, he snores and wakes up a bear in the morning. Ask me how I know."

Snickers follow his comment, and the conversation moves on, polling the table to find out who was paired up with whom. My gaze remains on Caulder as I eat. Not entirely on him—I'm not staring obviously to the point where I'd be called out—but I'm definitely paying attention to him talking to Creed in favor of literally anyone else around me.

It's not that his conversation is particularly riveting; they're just discussing the events planned for today. Which events they're competing in, and who they think is going to win each. I'm not entirely surprised Ethan and Caulder don't think they're going to win their particular events. Neither are particularly arrogant players.

My money is on Caulder for fastest skater, though. I've always thought he was ridiculously fast on the ice. Or maybe Max. I glance toward Max. Yeah, he could totally take fastest skater. Then again, it's not always the shorter guys that are the quickest.

Caulder's voice has one of those tenors that I could listen to all day. He could talk about cotton, and I'd still be riveted. At this point, I'm not even sure what he's saying. I'm just listening to him talk. The words may as well be foreign.

"Yo, Lo."

Blinking several times, I glance up and look at Link J?rdik.

"I only talk for my health, it seems," he deadpans, Austrian accent thick this morning.

I laugh. "Sorry, man. Just zoning out."

"Mmm," he says, giving me an assessing look. "You trade roommates, yeah? You bed with Drick."

Glancing up, Caulder's eyes are on me. His eyebrows are knit together as he stares. At the end of the table, Drick flips off Link.

"Nah, man. Sorry. Caulder is a very clean, quiet roommate. I think I'm good." Looking beyond Caulder at Drick, I continue, "No offense, dude."

Drick rolls his eyes, glaring at Link.

"There's going to be an enemies-to-lovers serial now," Lamar loudly mutters. "I'd love to see how this goes down."

"No," Link says. "Just incompatible behaviors. I speak to reception again, though useless." Sighing, he gets to his feet and leaves the restaurant.

I look at Caulder again and he gives me a shy smile before turning toward Creed and taking up conversation again. I'm going to lick that smile off him. Yep, that's what I'm going to do later.

More guys come and go over the next forty minutes or so before there's an announcement that the bus is here. Like a herd of animals, we get to our feet and head for the door. There are several minutes of unorganized chaos as we sift through the bags for our own, which is kind of dumb since we're going to be playing this game again once we get them from under the bus later. Right now is the time to just grab one and go; they're all going to the same place.

Eventually, we're loaded on. I'm not sitting with Caulder, which I'm internally a little bummed about. He's within view, though and of course I can't stop watching him. I still remember what he feels like against me. Wet in the shower and slick with sweat on the bed. His mouth against mine as I held him to the wall just inside the door.

We did strip the bed, didn't we?

I swear, there's still the phantom taste of his cum on my tongue. That man is going to haunt me all day. Right there within reach and yet, untouchable.

Wonder if I could convince him of a quick shower blowie in the middle of the day. Probably not. He's far too careful about anyone seeing him in any other way than just a hockey player. He might as well be invisible.

Pity. He's far too gorgeous to be invisible.

I'm still staring at the back of his head when we arrive at the arena and pile off the bus. This is where we end up waiting around for our individual bags to come out. I think mine is toward the back so I have some time.

Caulder steps next to me as I wait, a few feet away from everyone else since I know it'll be a few minutes. "You keep staring at me," he murmurs, hands in pockets as he squints up at the clear sky and bright Florida sun.

"I'm remembering?—"

"Don't," he cuts me off, laughing. "Jesus, Lo. Keep it to yourself!"

I know he's not referring to what I was just going to teasingly say. But anything I say might inadvertently hint at the precious information he's shared with me. Me and only me.

"Remembering that we didn't strip the bed," I finish, though yeah, that's not at all what I was going to say.

"Ah," Caulder says. "Might have to sleep on top of the blankets tonight."

"Why?" Max asks as he hands Caulder his bag.

"Spilled soda last night," Caulder answers, shrugging indifferently. I'm impressed with the conversational response without hesitation. Well practiced.

"If they can't see that the sheets should be changed, I think you should call them up when we get back," he says. "This hotel is already on everyone's shit list."

"The Great Bed Fuckery of 2022!" Lamar calls out as he heads for the door.

"Who's he rooming with?" I ask, amused.

"I… dunno. Did he say?"

"Lo. Bag," someone calls from the bus. I step away from Max and Caulder to retrieve it from where they placed it on the pavement. I'm not sure what his answer was when I rejoin them and we turn for the door to follow Lamar inside.

"Pacific and Atlantic in home locker room. Metro and Central in visitor," a woman is saying as we step inside. She repeats it when the door opens behind us for someone else. That must be a boring job. We part ways with Max and follow the woman's directions.

I look at Caulder as we walk down the hall. He shakes his head, and a smile spreads across my face. I expect him to move away from me when we choose cubbies so I'm pleasantly surprised when he drops his bag next to mine and sits on the bench, his head lowered, as if he's hiding his face.

Or maybe a blush.

I have a feeling I'm going to be spending a lot of time watching Caulder Haines today. Hopefully I can figure out how to keep it covert.