You know, until the web I’d created tangled itself more and more.
“Gonna go out with her again?”
“Beats me.”
“Hold on. Timeout.” He made a T with his hands. “You said you had a magical date with this girl, and implied that she felt the same way. Even though you didn’t have sex, there’s a damn good chance she’ll be sitting on your face soon enough—and you don’t know if there’ll be a Date Number Two?”
“To be honest, the idea of a second date makes me feel like I might throw up.”
Jax didn’t arch his eyebrows this time. Instead, he regarded me with a you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me look.
“Excuse me,” he said, “if there’s a possibility of a second date, shouldn’tshebe the one ready to heave?”
Jax’s tongue lolled out of his mouth, razzing me. I punched his shoulder, which caused zero damage owing to all the padding we both wore.
“Fuck off, would ya?” I fired a few pucks into the net.
“Gee, Zane, you’re the one who can’t think about a date with a great girl without sticking his head in the toilet.”
Because it’s not about a girl,I desperately wanted to say. Oh yeah, I could imagine how that would go over. I hated thinking that Jakob could be a great catch, even if I were all-in when it came to guys. I couldn’t deny thinking it, though.
Listening to him talk about hockey caused it. Like I said, his passion shined through. I really wanted to know him better but worried about what would happen if I didn’t stop myself.
Like, how far would we take this thing?
“It’s not what you think,” I said.
“Oh no?”
“It would be a really big step for me. I’ve never gotten involved in anything serious before.”
“Dude, it’s a second date. It’s not like you’re going to be walking down the aisle with her or anything.”
Laughter broke up his sentence.
“There’s always the potential for that, isn’t there?” I asked.
“I guess so, but I’ve never seen you move so fast with anyone like that before.”
“And how long have you known me?”
His tiny shrug told me that a few years of playing for the same hockey team had taught him everything he needed to know about me.
I realized he was right, and also that he had a very different viewpoint in this conversation. My being a lying sack of shit didn’t help matters. Worse, the more I talked, the more my chances of screwing everything up grew.
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” I skated toward the exit.
Jax followed me because, well, of course he did.
“I’m happy to talk about this all day long,” he said.
“Yeah, I know you are.”
We headed for the locker room and removed our skates the moment we arrived. God, that felt so freeing after a long practice. Jax’s locker was right next to mine, which meant I couldn’t escape him no matter how hard I tried.
I removed my helmet, jersey, and pads in sync with Jax. This usually felt like the most normal thing on earth, and I’d never paid attention to it let alone analyzed it. When he’d removed his sweaty t-shirt, I studied the muscular body beneath. Jax looked good. Buff. In all the various stages of undress I’d spent with him, I’d never once paid mind to his body, but so much had changed for me lately.
I needed to know whether a guy other than Jakob Martin could get me all hot and bothered.
