18. Benny

EIGHTEEN

BENNY

I have to shake my legs and arms as soon as I climb out of the car.

"You okay?" Chris asks me with a frown. He's looking at me over the hood and since it's all I want, I walk over to him faster than normal.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just weird, you know?" I grab his hand and lead him up the driveway.

I've been thinking non-stop about this lunch since we planned it on Thursday, and one thing I realized last night as I was doing my best to fall asleep without Chris, is that things between Bates and I are obviously going to be different now.

He has Caroline, and I have Chris.

So I decided I wouldn't park in his garage, and I'll give him back his extra control when we're alone. I gave Chris what amounts to a key to my place. That's a pretty big step in relationships I think, and I can't help but think Bates probably wants to do the same with Caroline.

Just like when I came here to have that awkward conversation with Bates, it feels weird to knock on his door and not just go in like I own the place, but I do it and squeeze Chris's hand.

If Chris is at my place the most likely thing is that we'll be fucking or cuddling and kissing, so it's natural for Bates and Caroline to be doing the same thing. Knocking is important.

The door opens and they look like the perfect couple.

Bates stands almost a head taller than Caroline, his black hair contrasting with her blonde and his blue eyes and her brown ones shining with their smiles.

"Hey," I say dumbly. "Nice to see you again, Caroline." I nod and freak out for a millisecond when she opens her arms and goes right in for a hug.

"I'm so happy we could set this up!" she says, and yeah, she does sound excited.

"Me too," I murmur, and I see over her shoulder that Bates shakes hands with Chris. Both of them are smiling genuinely, which I'm glad to see. And it reminds me that this is simply the next step in life for us. It really will be fine.

I lean back and smile down at her. "This is Chris." I gesture at him, and she gives him the same big old hug.

The whole event is a bit mind blowing. Not because of the food or anything—though I do appreciate how Caroline made Bates buy a pizza oven so she could make me homemade Napolitan-style pizza, which was freaking amazing.

No, what's insane is that Bates calls Caroline bunny . I have to bite my lip to keep my laugh inside when I hear it for the first time, and I can see Chris is doing the same which only makes matters worse for me.

Why does he call her bunny ?

I'm not going to say anything about it, but to me, that's a cringy-ass term of endearment.

Then, when we finally sit down to eat the amazing pizzas and we all have full glasses of wine, they lean over their chairs and do this weird wiggle thing with their noses touching that makes me think of actual bunnies .

I know I stare open-mouthed at that strange show of affection, but I do my best to have a neutral expression on my face by the time they're done.

But when I turn and see Chris gaping at them, a snicker comes out regardless. To hide both of our reactions, I grab his cheek and plant a noisy kiss on his mouth. "Keep it together," I whisper at him in a warning.

"I'm trying," he tells me with wide eyes, and I burst out laughing.

"What?" Caroline asks us with a gentle smile.

"Oh nothing," I hedge. "Chris is just hilarious. Can we dig in?" I ask to change the subject.

"Of course," she says with a smile and nod.

Apart from the nickname and the weird nose-rubbing thing, the whole afternoon goes fine. Caroline, I discover, has a beautiful, big loud laugh and she's not afraid to let it rip. I'm delighted to say, she laughs at my crappy jokes when Chris and Bates groan.

We also learn that she works at a daycare and yeah, I get the maternal thing with her. She's kind and funny, playful even. I decide I like her, and that's more than I can wish for my best friend.

We help them clean up and stay there until four when Chris has to go to work. The general consensus is that we're doing this again, and I'm surprised when I hear Caroline and Chris's goodbyes.

"You going to the pre-season game here next month?" she asks him.

"I wouldn't miss it," he says definitely. I narrow my eyes at him but say nothing until we're in the car and moving.

"We'll get to the weird mating habit of straight people, but what the hell was that in the end? Were you going to tell me you were going to the game?"

He snorts. "First of all, keep your eyes on the road?—"

"Hey, my eyes are absolutely on the road," I protest.

"And yeah, of course I was gonna tell you. Jake told me yesterday that your first pre-season game isn't here, but the second one is. He told me we're going together."

"That's right." I nod and focus on getting on the highway back to the Strip. "So your brother is going to my game," I say and let out a big breath.

"It's fine, baby. If you don't want us to go?—"

"No, I do. I do. It's just . . ."

"Terrifying to meet the people who are important to your boyfriend?" he asks cheekily.

"You did amazing with Bates. He loves you already."

"You think so?" he asks, and I quickly look at him. His face doesn't scream relaxed and breezy like his voice did.

"I'm sure." I reach over the middle console and grip his thigh. "I promise, he likes you."

"Okay." Again, nothing to detect in his words, but he takes my hand, interlaces our fingers, and squeezes once.

"So I'm going to Bear's place later to watch some tape with him and the guys, but you're coming over after you're done at the club? "

"Are you sure I didn't disturb you last night, baby?"

"I'm sure, and waking up and seeing you there is the best, so don't even think about not coming over tonight, okay?"

"You got it. I'm eating with Jake tomorrow, then work again." He raises our hands and kisses the back of mine. "And if you still love waking up to me tomorrow, then I'll stay again. I'm taking you on our date on Monday right after I wake up."

I bounce a little on my seat. "Are you gonna tell me where we're going?"

"Nope, same rules you set, baby Benny."

"Aw, man. I knew that was going to come back and bite me in the butt." He bursts out laughing right as I park the car in the driveway of the Winner. I turn to see him. "I really like your laugh." I cup his cheek just to see his eyes turn tender.

"Well, you're really good at making me laugh." He leans in for a lingering kiss. "Have fun with your friends, baby. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"Bright and early," I say with a smile. "And I'll get you some good tickets for that game, handsome."

"Appreciate it, baby." He winks as he unbuckles his seatbelt, and then he's climbing down and walking into the hotel. I sigh like a lovesick puppy.

It's what I am after all.

I decide to park at home and walk to Bear's place. The déjà vu is déjà vu-ing as I stand in front of his door and ring the doorbell.

Turns out I'm the last to arrive.

Not everyone is here. Bates, of course, said he'd stay home today and chill with Caroline, and Eagle is also not coming since he's visiting his mom and only flying back tonight. But everyone else managed to get here.

Bear looks annoyed—probably at having so many people in his space, but hey, he offered. I nod and pat him on the back then go sit next to Fire, our German defenseman.

"How's it going, Benny?" he asks as he stands to give me a bro-hug. It's good seeing them all. The last few days that I've been going to the rink there has never been a full house, but since training camp is starting officially on Tuesday, I guess more and more are coming home.

Jules comes over and I ask the obvious question.

"Why aren't we at your place?" We would all fit more comfortably there.

"Well, there's the baby, but also... Sterling's just having a hard time."

"Ah," is all I can come up with to say to that. Even after he helped me get Chris back with our awesome rendition of Celine, he's still hung up over the whole thing. "I'm sorry, captain." I pat his shoulder.

"He's being a baby, and an asshole."

"Sounds like it," I agree with a wince.

"I knew he was a bit of an asshole when I married him," he tells me unapologetically and shrugs. "Here's hoping he gets over it soon."

"He will." I nod with complete—unfounded—certainty.

The afternoon passes like thousands of others have before—with beers and soft drinks for the younger guys, all of us roasting the players on other teams, and lots of laughter.

Later that night when I get back home, I fall asleep quickly, confident in the knowledge that Chris is coming home to me.

Monday

"Morning, baby," Chris's sleepy voice comes from the doorway of my room. I pause my game and look at him, standing against the frame of the door in only his underwear. I may get a little bit tongue tied. "See something you like?" he teases.

I bite my lip and nod, then throw the controller away and beckon him closer with a finger. He comes without thinking twice about it. I spread my legs so he can stand between them and tilt my head back to get a good morning kiss.

A truly filthy good morning kiss that gets me all kinds of worked up, especially when he slides his right hand from my cheek to my neck. Yup, I'm gonna blow him.

"Do you think you can keep holding my neck while I suck you off?" I ask as I yank his briefs down.

"Probably not," he says, already sounding worked up.

"Then please, by all means, will you choke me on your dick?"

"Jesus, baby," he hisses. "Fuck yes, but show me how you snap your fingers." I roll my eyes but do as he says, even snap them three times so he gets the message. "Good, then open up, baby."

I suck gently the second he thrusts the tip into my mouth and stroke down with my tongue. He's fully hard in less than a minute, and I drag his hand to the back of my head, signaling what I want .

Once he's got a good grip on my hair, I take all of him in until he bumps against the back of my throat. I do that a few more times to relax my throat. "How the fuck did I not know you can deepthroat like this, baby Benny?" he murmurs conversationally, as if he's not that affected. But I've got my hands on his thighs and can feel the tension there. He's holding back, and I want him to stop that immediately.

"C'mon, handsome. Fuck my mouth," I goad him.

His only response is a feral growl, and then my head is snapped back and my scalp tingles from him pulling my hair.

All I can do is moan in pleasure and he takes advantage of that by shoving inside me, then quickly out again. I do what I can to suck hard when he's thrusting in, or circle his length with my tongue, and it's less than a minute before he's groaning louder.

"Coming," he warns, a second before he shoves my head forward until my nose is pressed to his groin and he's coming in the back of my throat. I cough a little, but nothing too bad, and make sure to lick him clean before he pulls back.

"That's the best way to start the day," I say, still savoring him.

Next thing I know, he's straddling me and invading my mouth again, but this time with his tongue. He gets my dick out of my sweatpants and jacks me off like he's trying to win a race. Thankfully I'd been leaking come for the whole time, so it's not too rough. Just enough to make me tremble and shake at every pass he makes over my tip. I grab, squeeze, and scratch at his back, desperate to come. I'd beg if he'd let me come up for air, but he doesn't until I'm spilling all over his hand .

"Ready for our date?" he murmurs against my lips, even before I get my breaths back.

I sputter out a laugh. "Uh, no. I think we need a shower."

"Yes, we do, what a shame. I get to grope you all naked and wet."

I smirk at him. "And I get to do the same."