The Easy Part Is Done （25）

January 17

Day 1

Stomach in knots, Hayes dropped his bags on the floor of his new bedroom at Regency Recovery Home and shut the door behind him. He'd just had his new resident orientation with Annelle, the house manager, to go over some of the rules and regulations of his stay here.

"We have rules for a few reasons, Hayes. They keep you and the other residents safe, they support your recovery process, and they help to encourage a sober lifestyle. This is a lifestyle change. You've gone through the detox and your inpatient stay. The easy part is done. The next 25 days? The rest of your life? That's the challenge. And we're here to help you but you have to play by the rules."

Absolutely no alcohol or drugs of any kind were permitted on the premises.

Attendance at weekly house meetings and completion of household chores were expected.

Residents had to have a plan in place to either go to therapy or 12-step meetings. Hayes had chosen therapy with Dr. Ozbeck, as recommended by Dr. Rosa.

Residents agreed to participate in random drug and alcohol screenings.

There were to be no overnight guests, and any guests must remain with the resident in one of the common areas.

Residents were responsible for their whereabouts when they left the property, and residents must adhere to the 8 p.m. curfew.

Finally, residents were required to sleep at the property at least five nights a week.

Which left two nights a week wide open for him to spend with Ryan.

Ryan.

He took a peek in the private bathroom in his room, and though it was small, he was grateful that he didn't have to share it with anyone. As he began to unpack his belongings, including all of his crochet materials and his bag full of completed little animals, he began putting his clothes into the dresser drawers as a wave of nervousness slammed into him out of nowhere.

Taking a deep breath, he began speaking aloud to himself. It still felt weird, but it was one of the coping skills Dr. Rosa had given him to deal with the anxiety that he'd begun to experience ever since coming off the maintenance meds.

"You can do hard things. This feeling will pass. You are stronger than whatever you are worrying about." He shook his head, closing the drawer. "You sound like a fuckin' whacknut."

He knew he should probably talk to Ryan about it, since he was sort of the expert in the field, but there was a problem: Ryan was exactly what was causing this particular round of uneasiness.

Yesterday was Ryan's birthday, so of course, as soon as 7:30 p.m. rolled around, Hayes called.

Ryan hadn't picked up, so he'd texted.

H: Happy birthday, Rook. I love you and I can't wait to see you soon.

Almost two hours had passed before Ryan responded.

R: Thanks. Love you, too. We'll talk soon, OK?

H: OK. Can you text me your schedule so we can plan my first escape?

The last text had gone unanswered.

Hayes had called Amara to see if maybe they were doing something for his birthday.

"No, I actually haven't seen him all day. This morning was the last I saw him. I know he had practice, but I'm not sure where he is. I know he leaves for a three-game road trip tomorrow. Minnesota, Chicago, and St. Louis, I think."

This morning, when he'd received his phone back before leaving White Oaks, he'd checked.

Ryan still hadn't responded.

And since this new place didn't take away phones, Hayes did exactly what he shouldn't have done: went on the internet to snoop around.

r/TampaBayLightning

He had to search around a bit for it, but when he finally found it, it knocked him on his ass.

The title of the post was, "What do we have here?"

And it consisted of two pictures: one of Ryan and Joss Koskinen entering Joss's apartment with the timestamp of 8:25 p.m. from yesterday, and another one of Ryan and Joss Koskinen leaving Joss's apartment at 6:37 a.m. from today. In both pictures, Ryan was carrying the same backpack.

Then he started reading some of the replies.

"Someone's sure getting cozy with his new teammate."

"Dude, he's new. Maybe he's just staying with him. Doesn't mean they're porking."

"Porking? What are you, 90, bud?"

"Baylor's definitely gay. I heard he's got a book or some shit coming out soon about it. Not sure about Koski."

"Please. Those two are so fucking."

"Honestly? I'd watch. #nohomo"

"Isn't Baylor with that bitch ass Tyler Hayes?"

"Bitch ass?" Hayes said disappointedly, then kept reading.

"Nah, I heard he ditched that druggie cuz he was fucking around with TK behind his back."

"Is there anyone TK hasn't fucked? Dude's a manwhore. Remember he fucked Yardy's wife in Nashville? Got himself traded."

"Jesus, does the entire Isles organization smoke pole? The fuck they doing over there?"

"A whole lot of anal. That's what. They prolly have a team expense budget for lube and butt plugs."

Hayes heard a knock at his door and bumbled his phone in his hands, startled. "Yeah? Come in."

It was Annelle. "Hey sweetie, your ride's here. You will leave every weekday at 9 a.m. for training. The expectation is that you return directly back here when your training is done and get right to your house chores. Also, your bags and person are subject to searches before and exiting the rink, as well as when you return here. This is a direct order from the NHLPA."

"Thanks," he said, grabbing his backpack, slinging it over his good shoulder, and heading outside to catch his ride. Once inside the van, he checked his text chain with Ryan one more time.

Nothing.

Maybe there was an explanation. Maybe he was blowing it out of proportion. Or maybe Ryan had moved on to someone better.

More worthy of being loved.

Someone who wasn't a broken, fucked up, worthless junkie.

"Knock it off," he said aloud softly. "You're none of those things."

He didn't want to do it, but he couldn't stop himself. He copied and pasted the link to the post on the Lightning's subreddit and sent it to Ryan, following it up with a few messages.

H: Looks like someone had a good birthday.

H: Sleepover party, eh? Shame I wasn't invited.

He watched as the message status turned to "delivered" and just as he went to set his phone down on his lap, it buzzed. A hot flash came over him as he picked it up, but the message wasn't from Ryan.

TK: Just got to the rink. You almost here?

TK: I'm so excited to see you, baby.

TK: Seriously could shit myself.

Hayes snickered at TK's messages, then decided not to reply since the van was pulling up to its destination.

Dressed in a compression shirt and tights with a gray hoodie thrown over, he entered the building, stopping at the front office to ask where to go. He was directed toward two men standing by the doors to the arena's foyer.

"Tyler Hayes? I'm Coach Belanger and this is Coach Campbell." Hayes shook both of their hands as he turned over his backpack to them for a search. "NHLPA rules, Tyler. It's not that we don't trust you," Coach Belanger said as he began searching through the bag as Coach Campbell had him empty his pockets and patted him down.

"Nah, I get it. It's fine," Hayes replied, taking his bag back. "Just Hayes."

"Nice to meet you, Hayes. We're gonna be working with you and Travis every day, getting you both back into playing shape. Every day will consist of either focused lifts or speed and mobility sessions, with possibly an extra conditioning session or two thrown in, depending on your areas of weakness. We'll follow that up with two hours of ice time, then finish with yoga. League thought it might be beneficial for you both not only physically, but mentally as well. Any questions, Hayes?"

"Uh, yeah. Yoga?" he asked, wide-eyed. "I'm about as flexible as that fuckin' bench right there, man."

Belanger laughed. "Well, that's about to change. Seriously, it'll be good for you. We're gonna be in locker 5 each day. All your gear's already in there. Meet us in the training room in about 15, OK?"

Hayes nodded, starting to walk away, but turning back. "Teek?" he called.

Belanger motioned toward the lockers. "See you in a few."

His heart racing, he headed through the foyer, past both rinks, and down the long hallway that led to the lockers. Finding the door marked "5", he slowly pushed it open, his breath hitching when he saw TK sitting on one of the benches. He had his AirPods in and his eyes were closed as he leaned forward, tapping his foot on the ground and nodding his head slightly to the beat of whatever he was listening to.

Hayes set his bag down on the bench nearest him and the movement caused TK to open his eyes and look over. He immediately put his phone down, took his AirPods out, and stood up, frozen.

Hayes also froze.

They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, with both of them finally making a move toward the other simultaneously. Before he knew it, Hayes was on the ground on his back, TK having jumped up onto him and wrapped his arms and legs around him, knocking them both backward. They embraced, both of them starting to cry as they were overcome with emotion after not having seen each other in person for over a month.

"I missed you so much, baby," TK whispered against his neck, as he backed away, stood up, and helped pull Hayes to his feet. "You look so good, Ty Hayes. Look at you!" He gestured toward him with both hands like he was presenting something. "Your eyes have life again, baby."

"You too, Teek. Your eyes. They're…different." They stood in close proximity and Hayes swallowed, feeling TK's gaze land on his Adam's apple. "Beautiful, man. You're a certified fuckin' beauty now. Not that you ever weren't."

"You, uh…you back with pretty boy yet?" TK asked curiously, leaning in ever so slightly.

Hayes shook his head.

TK nodded.

Hayes leaned in.

TK bit his bottom lip.

Hayes closed his eyes and waited.

"I need to hear you say it, baby," TK whispered, their mouths almost touching, his breath pulsing against Hayes's lips with each word.

Hayes exhaled, realizing he"d been holding his breath. The pictures of Ryan and Joss Koskinen leaving the apartment together this morning flashed across his mind as Hayes slid a hand around the back of TK's head, closing the remaining gap. "Fuck it. Kiss me."

The kiss started off slowly and tentatively, their lips brushing against each other slightly as TK brought both hands to Hayes's waist, Hayes gripping the side of TK's ribcage with his other hand. TK was the first to go for it, sliding his tongue out and tracing Hayes's bottom lip with it as he squeezed his hips. Nervously, Hayes flicked his own tongue against TK's and the moans both of them let out were nothing short of celebratory.

This was a long time coming.

Given the green light, TK opened his mouth and teased Hayes's tongue inside with his own. As their tongues played, he clutched Hayes's hand, pulled it off his ribcage, and forced it down between them, placing it on his rock-hard cock. "See what you do to me, baby?"

"Can you get off quick right now?" Hayes panted against TK's lips, grabbing his waistband and nodding toward the bathroom stalls.

"I'm already, like, two seconds away from a mess in my pants."

"Good. Come on."

Hayes pulled his friend behind him, kicked open the door to one of the stalls, and pushed him inside. Before Hayes even closed the door, TK's tights were around his ankles and his ass was on the toilet.

Hayes shoved his own tights down and straddled TK, wrapping a fist around both their cocks and beginning to jerk them off together, planting his feet firmly on the ground and rocking his hips forward. He grabbed a fistful of TK's hair before crashing his lips into his again, pulling his supple bottom lip between his teeth and biting lightly. "You have no idea how bad I wanna feel these fat lips slide down my dick, Teek."

"Fuck. Baby, fuck." That was enough to send TK over the edge, his hot cum coating Hayes's hand and his cock while he whimpered through the pulses of his orgasm.

"That's right, cum for me. Cum all over my big cock." Hayes used TK's release to lube himself further, gave a few quick tugs, and shot off. "Shit. Teek."

TK ripped his compression shirt up and stared between them, watching as Hayes came all over his chest and abs. "That's it, baby. God, I love watching you cum."

When the clarity hit and both of them realized they were sitting together on a hockey arena toilet covered in each other's load, they both started laughing, Hayes letting his forehead fall forward against his teammate's.

"Guess we should get goin', eh?" Hayes said, reaching for the toilet paper dispenser, pulling off a huge wad, and mopping up the mess they'd made.

"Think the NHLPA would approve?" TK joked, as he spread his legs so Hayes could throw the toilet paper into the bowl. "They just paid us a lot of money to jizz on each other."

They both stood up and pulled their clothes back on, and as Hayes reached for the door lock, TK stopped him. "Hey," he said quietly, bringing a hand to Hayes's cheek. "Ty? I, uh…I love you. You don't have to say it back. I know you're in love with Ryan. And it's not…I'm not in love with you. But I do love you. And this? Means something to me, OK? I…I don't know. I just wanted you to know that. You're not someone who, like, deserves to be used or hurt." TK nodded. "You deserve to be loved, worshipped. And if he can't see that? Then fuck him." He removed his hand from Hayes's cheek. "But that's what you deserve, baby."

Hayes nodded, his lips trembling as he blinked rapidly to no avail, as a few tears found their way out. He was unsure if he was crying because of TK's beautiful post-nut speech or because he missed Ryan Baylor more than he could even begin to put into words.