I could definitely appreciate a beautiful body when I saw one, man or woman, and seeing him in a G-banger would be one hell of a sight, but that’s not what I’d said. He didn’t wait for me to explain, though.
“Sure, maybe having some company wouldn’t be so bad. But I might keep the shorts on.”
“Footwear, dude. Slides or flip-flops. They’re thongs here.”
Hux rolled his eyes and said, “No shit. I’m not clueless.”
A moment later he was ready to go, and we walked up the corridor together, Hux a step ahead of me. I shamelessly checked out the back of him. Those shorts highlighted his muscular ass beautifully. It was thick and round, and I could just imagine Cara’s dainty hand squeezing it. She’d leave a beautiful handprint there if she ever bent him over and spanked him.
“What’s the Entertainment Centre setup like?” I asked after clearing my throat and adjusting the semi that was tenting my own shorts. I needed to steer the conversation into safe ground away from what it’d be like to watch Hux and Cara together.
The only other thing I could think of was what went down in practice. I didn’t want the gossip, though, but just to knowwhether he was okay. Hux looked on edge, antsy and yet down at the same time, and I needed him to know that I’d happily listen if he wanted to talk.
“Not bad. The ice is good. The number of stadium seats is lower than I’m used to playing for—even my college arena was bigger—but I know hockey isn’t as big here, so I guess you’re repurposing a building used for something else.”
I nodded. “Yeah, it’s where they do most of the city’s concerts. Except the big ones, of course. They’re at the Cauldron.” Hux looked at me blankly, and I snorted out a laugh. “Sorry, I forget sometimes that people not from around here don’t know our names for things. The Cauldron is a football stadium. It’s sponsored by Suncorp, one of our banks, so it’s known as Suncorp Stadium now, but to us oldies, it’s still the Cauldron.”
Hux chuckled, and some of that cockiness that was missing reappeared. “You said it, old man.”
Cara opened the door a moment after Hux knocked, and she grasped his hand as she put her phone and keycard into the pocket of her denim jacket. She was wearing a cute little floral dress and Chucks, but what had me captivated was her hair. It was the first time I’d seen her wear it down—other than when Hux had brushed it, and she’d tied it straight back up after she’d fallen. The way the chestnut waves curled over her breasts had me wanting to reach out and run my fingers through it. Would it be as thick and silky smooth as it looked?
I paused, just wanting to watch the two of them for a moment. I liked what I saw—really liked it. While Hux was all cut lines and chiselled muscle, Cara was soft curves. He was guarded, and she was sunshine. She shot me a smile over her shoulder and held out her other hand, and I rushed to catch up.
We couldn’t stay like that out on the street, but while we were in the empty lift, it seemed that both Hux and I had the same idea. He pulled her into his arms and shifted her hair off hershoulder. Tugging down the collar of her jacket, he pressed a kiss to her throat.
I hooked a finger under her chin and leaned in close. The only place we were touching was our noses; I nuzzled hers with mine, our lips a hair’s breadth apart as I gave her the chance to pull away. But she did the opposite, pulling me closer, then brushing her lips against mine.
I groaned and deepened the kiss, tasting the sweetness of her strawberry lip gloss and the minty freshness of her toothpaste. She was addictive, and I wanted her too much to resist. I pressed her into Hux, wrapping my arms around her and finding Hux’s hip too. Cara’s breath caught, and I was instantly hard. I wanted to hear that noise coming from her when I spread her out on the bed and licked her delectable body all over. I reached for her hip, steadying myself from the lust-drenched head spin that enveloped me like I’d walked into a cyclone.
But she stopped me.
Cara pushed my hand back onto Hux’s hip, and I wasn’t sure whether the low purrlike rumble came from me or Hux. I hadn’t expected to like touching him... but I did. At least things wouldn’t be awkward when we took this further. Kissing her one after the other was one thing, but getting naked together would be a whole lot less awkward if we were all okay with accidental touches.
I staggered backward away from them at the announcement that we’d reached the ground floor. I blinked my eyes open and met Cara’s gaze. Her pupils were blown wide, her chest heaving as she sucked in oxygen. Her legs were crossed as if she needed to pee, but my guess was that she needed the friction as much as I did. Jesus H Christ, even a stiff breeze could get me off at the moment.
Hux looked like sex personified. His eyes were hooded, his lip swollen and wet from where he’d been biting it. His hands weresplayed high on Cara’s sides inside her jacket, touching the sides of her breasts. I groaned, wanting to do the same thing.
“You getting out?” someone asked, startling me from my reverie.
“Yeah, sorry,” I answered and led the way, knowing that Cara and Hux would follow. I led them onto the footpath, and we walked to the arcade in the centre of the city. Hux insisted on paying even though I’d asked him and Cara out. The little shit snatched my wallet out of my hand and went to stuff it back in my pocket. But the photo of Ash I carried must have fallen out. When I turned around, I caught Hux gazing at it with a soft look in his eyes. My heart squeezed at the gentle way he brushed his thumb over the bent edges aged from a decade of me pulling it out and staring at it.
He seemed to startle and hurried to pass my wallet and the photo back. The smile he shot me was apologetic, and I was like a deer in headlights, frozen to the ground.
I was out of sorts, distracted for long enough that the server processed his payment. A card was shoved into one of my hands, and Cara took my other one and led me to the air hockey table. Cara and Hux lined up first, and Hux sank the puck as he passed it to Cara so she could take the first shot.
“Goodness, this is going to be a quick game if that’s how good my reflexes are,” she complained with laughter in her voice.
“Best of three,” Hux reassured her. “It was a lucky shot.”
It wasn’t. Cara was terrible, her hand-eye coordination atrocious and her reaction times even worse, but no matter how many times she missed, she grinned and giggled, waving away Hux’s encouragement with a flick of her wrist, straightening her jacket and striking a pose that I was sure was supposed to look intimidating but had us in stitches. With a hand on her hip, she finger-gunned Hux and winked at him before shooting the puck in his direction. He batted it back, and instead of lettingit bounce off her paddle, she tried to hit it, earning a self-goal. After three games she lifted the paddle with both hands and held it out to me like an offering, bowing low at her waist as she handed it over.
“Teach me, Master,” she joked, and I snorted out a laugh.
“Hey, I might be just as bad against Hux. He makes winning look easy.”
Hux rolled his eyes but grinned at me, the challenge sparking in his eyes.
I did better than Cara. Barely.
