They’d never ever hinted that they wanted anything but casual. I’d ignored it and let my imagination run away with me. I’d planned our fucking future together.
But the crushing despair that I thought would be front and centre from losing them just wasn’t there. I was hurt, yes, but the rest of me was just angry. If anything, it was their betrayal that hurt the most—letting everyone think I was the bad guy—rather than devastation at losing them.
The second thing that had occurred to me was that I wanted more than they were prepared to give. I would never have asked Minns to come out for us, but by hiding, he’d made me his dirty little secret. I was okay with doing things on the DL during my rookie year and even during this season—and probably the next—but one day, I wanted to live authentically. I wanted kids who were like me to see that they could achieve their dreams too.
I had no idea how the team would react—I certainly wasn’t the first out player, but I would be the first bi, polyam player. Would it be too much? Too controversial? Would they say thanks but no thanks to the media circus that would no doubt follow me around? If the way they swarmed on me when I was leaving the bus was any indication, the only reason those reporters were at the hotel’s front door was to try to get the scoop on me. Getting the hell out of Dodge was the only way I could stop it from turning into a feeding frenzy, and with Minns on the same bus, it would have been a bloodbath.
One day, I wanted to be able to be seen in public with my partners. I didn’t want to jump fences and escape down back alleyways like I was doing something wrong.
I hit the button for the lift, and the dude talking to Cara stepped up beside me. “Are you up or down?” I asked.
“Up,” he answered. “Look, I’m—”
“I apol—”
We stopped talking at the same time, and I snorted out a laugh and shook my head. The lift doors opened, and I hit the button for my floor. He did the same. I swallowed, my mouth going dry at how close we were standing.
I started again. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to take advantage of Cara’s hospitality. I needed off that bus, and I forgot my bag, that’s all.”
“I get it. But it’s not me you need to apologize to.” He raised a brow and waited for my acknowledgement.
“You’re right.” I nodded and held out my hand. “Alec Huxley. Everyone calls me Hux.”
He looked down at my outstretched hand as if deciding whether to take me up on the peace offering. When he did, his grip was tight and his palms rough. I wondered what he did for a living. Whatever it was, it was physically demanding. My hand tingled and my dick twitched.
“Monroe Stevens. But call me Roe.”
We pulled apart, and I adjusted the bag on my shoulder, fidgeting with the strap.
“You like her,” I stated, the words tumbling out of my mouth before I’d thought them through.
He nodded. “I do. What's not to like? She's beautiful, smart, sweet, and lovely.” The smile tilting the corner of his lips was small, but the warmth in his eyes spoke volumes. He was smitten.
“She’s definitely sexy,” I agreed.
He shot his gaze to mine, and I returned his stare, not backing down. It was the truth—one I wouldn’t deny no matter how possessive of her he wanted to be.
But his reaction surprised me. His pupils flared, and he licked his bottom lip with a quick swipe of his tongue. The movement had me mesmerized. My body reacted like his stare was a physical caress. My nerve endings sizzled, and my cock thickened, throbbing with the fantasy of pushing it between those lush lips.
My cock bucked, and I inhaled sharply.
Roe blinked as if the noise had startled him and looked down. He could have been staring at his shoes if they were the height of my dick currently tenting my suit pants.
“She’s my daughter's best friend. They’ve known each other for a year or so now, but I only just met her a few weeks ago. I don't know her well yet. But I'd like to.” His voice was filled with cautious hope. That must have been what they were talking about.
I muttered under my breath, “Me too,” just as the elevator doors opened at my floor.
Roe snapped his face back up and met my stare once more, and I stepped off, walking backward out of there. He followed me out and paused momentarily, looking at the sign directing the way to our rooms.
I gestured over my shoulder with my thumb. “I’m gonna go get out of this suit. I’ll see you round, Roe.”
He nodded and watched me silently as I turned and walked away. When I got to my door, I looked over my shoulder and saw him and that perfect ass of his retreat to his room.
My suitcase and gear bag were already there, and I stripped out of my suit, dropping it on the floor on the way to the shower. I needed to get the ick of the plane off me and get some fucking relief.
The water hadn’t even heated when I stepped under it, but the shock of cold didn’t do anything to deflate my dick. I was rock hard, throbbing and sticky with the precum dripping from myslit. My balls were drawn up close and my ass clenched tight. I wanted to be stretched until I was full to bursting, a hot body behind me and a soft one in front of me.
The woman three levels below us and the man on the opposite side of the floor had me captivated. I soaped up my hand and closed my fist around my aching cock. My knees almost buckled, and I slapped my free hand against the tiles to stay upright.
