But he didn’t try to toss me off like a judo throw this time. In fact, he didn’t do much of anything. He paused like he wouldn’t move to the next step no matter what…like how this little romp had ended so suddenly.
You know how I know?
He reached over to the light and switched it on.
For real. Things were about to get scorching hot in my bedroom, as always, and Mister Erik De Ruiter had to squash everything.
I know I’ve gone to a lot of trouble to keep this guy happy, but this was ridiculous.
“Okay,” I said, “what is it now?”
My teammate knitted his eyebrows like he was taken aback by my question. What the hell was I supposed to say? Thank you so much for getting me all excited and then cutting me off?
“You make it sound like I’m being annoying,” he said.
“I’m sorry if I’m smart enough to learn from history, bro.”
He rolled his eyes like he, too, wondered if I was worth all the trouble.
Here’s the easiest and smartest answer: Of course I am! Didn’t I just say I’m Kayden Preston?
“Why do you have to act so stupid?” he asked.
“It’s all part of my charm, bro. And shut up.”
“Look, let’s not get into an argument here. Something’s bothering me, so I’m just going to tell you what’s on my mind.”
“Okay, Erik, tell me because I’m just dying to know.”
“I’m really enjoying the sex. It’s totally hot.”
“I knew you’d like it.” I couldn’t stop a smile from appearing on my face.
Erik drew a deep breath like he hadn’t expected me to take that moment to congratulate myself. The dude really should’ve known better by now.
“That’s what makes what I’m about to say even harder,” he said.
“Oh, God…”
“You don’t have to give me an ‘Oh God’when we’re not in the middle of having sex. I just want to tell you I think it’s time to think about the future.”
“You mean like winning a championship?”
“Not hockey, Kayden. Nothing about the team. I’m talking aboutusandourfuture together.”
“I hadn’t thought about that.”
And I really hadn’t…much. Look, the only thought I’d given to our future was to acknowledge the fact that we would soon cross the point of no return. I might’ve wanted to enjoy the moment, but I’m not stupid. We’d inched closer and closer to that threshold every time Erik wanted to take another step.
“I know I said that we wouldn’t have any more sex until we’d at least had a real date,” he said, “and now we’ve done that.”
“Hell, we’ve had two.”
“Right. And we’ve slept together more times than we’ve ever gone on dates.”
“What’s your point?”
“My point is that we’ve got to figure out what the next step is. We’ve fucked a lot, yeah. I’ve gone on a date with you and didn’t hurl. What’s left to do?”
