“I’ll get you a Pepsi.” Cross had turned for the bar before Rusty realized Cross still remembered his favorite pop from last summer. That was nice, a bit less lonely. No one on the Gryphons knew even that much about him, except maybe his road roomie.
Cross returned and set a glass in front of Rusty before pulling out his own chair, sitting, and sipping the foam off his beer. “Too much head. Must be an inexperienced bartender.” He set the mug down. “How do you want to play this?”
“I don’t know.” Rusty hated the whole thing. “Can I just leave town?” He ran a hand over his face.
“Must be tempting. Hard to play hockey without a team, though.”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, tell me about Tyler first. How did you meet? What’s he like? Can I beat him up?”
Rusty had to chuckle, in a strangled way. “I’m sure youcan.” Cross didn’t do a lot of fighting on the ice, but from the videos Rusty had watched, when he did drop gloves he often won. “We met at a party the first time. I’m not sure who picked who up, it was kinda mutual. We went to his place and…” He glanced around. No one was paying them any attention, but he lowered his voice. “We, you know.” He made a jerk-off motion with his hand. “Quick and easy. But he asked if I wanted to stay for a second round so I did.”
“And you started dating?”
“He said—” Rusty cut off because he wasn’t going to repeat the bullshit praise that had him following Tyler around like a puppy. “He pretended he liked me. So yeah, we went out a few times. Places like this, nothing too public, a bunch of parties with his friends.” They were mostly older and Rusty had felt like a real grown-up being included. More fool him. “Went back to his, afterward. The sex was hot.” He felt his face flush, saying that to Cross, and hoped the lighting was low enough to hide it.
“But you wanted to call it quits?”
“Yeah. He was, you know, not kind to people, liked to make fun of the barista or the overweight guy next to us. All his jokes were kind of mean. Not to me, directly, but I wanted to pretend I wasn’t with him when he pulled that shit. He was bossy too, started telling me what we were going to do instead of asking. And the sex wasn’tthatgood.” Rusty managed to say it easierthat time. Maybe practice helped. “But when I said I was done, no hard feelings, he laughed. He said we were made for each other and I was too young to know when I had it good. He kept calling, telling me to come over, talking sex stuff, even when I kept hanging up. And then, you know, he came by the arena.”
“Bastard.” Cross took a long swallow of beer. “So what’s he like, besides being a total loser?”
Rusty winced, because hehaddated the guy for two months, although half that time, the team had been out of town. “Blond hair, perfectly groomed scruff, cheekbones like a model, really hot. He’s taller than you, a lot slimmer but he does work out, a bit older.”I’ve got a thing for older guys. Not silver foxes, not like Mike did.A momentary ache tightened his throat.Guys in their thirties who know what they’re doing.Another thing he wasnotgoing to tell Cross. “He works as a salesman in an appliance store, drives a big SUV, loves movies, sci fi and thrillers and horror.”
Rusty liked the sci fi and thrillers too, probably another reason he’d stuck with Tyler that long. “The only sport he ever watched was football. He asked if I’d make forty million a year in the NHL, like some quarterback.”
“Ha.” They exchanged looks that acknowledged that top hockey players made a fifth as much as the top football players, while playing eighty-two games instead of eighteen.
Not that there was anything wrong with earning even one million dollars, especially from Rusty’s ECHL five-hundred-bucks-a-week point of view. “When we were first going out, he used to expect me to pay for things, till I showed him my paycheck.” Tyler had huffed, then said Rusty could pay him back when he got rich.
Cross straightened, staring toward the door. “Blond and hot with a permanent sneer just walked in the bar. That him?”
Rusty looked over his shoulder, then stood and waved. “Yeah, that’s Tyler.”
“I’ll follow your lead, kid.”
Start by not calling me kid?But there was no time to say that, as Tyler stalked their way.
Chapter 3
Cross didn’t get up as the blond approached their table. For one thing, he knew his wide shoulders looked more intimidating sitting down than showing off his lack of height. For another, fuck that guy.
Tyler paused by the empty chair, eyeing Cross. “This man’s mine.” He jerked a thumb at Rusty. “Go chat up someone else.”
“He’s here with me,” Rusty said.
Tyler raised a manicured pale eyebrow. “Trying to make me jealous, babe? Ofhim?”
Wow, he is a loser.Cross tipped his chin up. “Don’t call him babe. He said you’re through. Time to bow out.”
Tyler glared at him, then turned to Rusty. “What does he mean, we’re through? You cheating on me?” His voice rose.
“I’m not cheating.” Rusty flinched, glanced around, then waved at the empty chair. “Sit down.” When Tyler didn’t move, he added, “Please.”
Cross winced but said nothing, even when Tyler smiled. This was Rusty’s call.
Once Tyler was seated, he squinted up at Rusty. “You invited me here, you gonna at least get me a drink?”
