Goal Lines & First Times (CU Hockey 3)

“Fuck.” Richie breathes heavily.

“Uh-huh.”

He wraps an arm around me and runs his hand down my back. “We’re doing that again before we leave tomorrow.”

Hell yes, we are.

16

Cohen

Seth squirms in my arms as I step forward and wrap them around him from behind. “We have to meet everyone downstairs. Checkout’s in ten minutes.”

“Mm, no. I don’t want to leave this room. Can we live here?”

“No.”

“Can we stay a couple of extra nights? I don’t have to be back on campus until the fifteenth.”

“I have to drive everyone home.”

“Damn it.” I don’t want this to end.

I’m not ready to go back to Vermont because we haven’t talked about what it will mean for us.

Do we go back to how it was before? Are we dating now because we’ve met in person once?

Seth asked me what happens next after our first night, and I didn’t have an answer. I still don’t. That’s why I don’t want to leave this bubble.

Seth turns in my arms and smiles at me. “You know, I have my own apartment in Winooski …”

I narrow my eyes. “It’s me you’re talking to here. You need to spell shit out for me.”

I hope he’s saying what I think he is.

“When we get back, maybe you could come over?”

I pick up my bag. “Hurry up, we’re going to be late.”

I rush for the door, but Seth pulls me back.

“Wait.”

I cock my head.

Seth steps into my space and kisses me softly. “I wanted one for the road because it’s going to be a painful two hours in the car.”

“In that case.” I pull him against me. “We better make it a good one.”

I kiss him hard, and he groans into my mouth.

He was clean-shaven two nights ago, but now his stubble is scratchy and rough against my palm. The tingle sensation of arousal shoots down my spine and settles in my groin, my cock not understanding this isn’t leading anywhere.

I’m careful to make sure I don’t push him for more than he’s willing to give, but he hasn’t given me any indication he wants me to back off. In fact, he’s initiated almost everything so far. I don’t know exactly how this demi thing works, but I do know Seth is passionate as fuck.

“Damn it.” I break away from him. “That was not a good idea. Now I’m back to not wanting to leave at all.”

Seth’s hooded eyes and parted lips suggest he’s in agreement. He shakes off his kiss-induced trance. “It was a good weekend.”

“It was worth the wait.”

“I still can’t believe it’s you.”

“In a good way or a bad way?”

“Definitely good. Even though you’re my brother’s friend, I think being familiar with you made our connection stronger.” His eyes widen. “Holy shit. We were texting the day we literally slammed into each other.”

I chuckle. “Imagine if you’d seen what was on my screen when I dropped my phone.”

Seth’s brow drops.

“What’s that look for?”

He shakes his head. “I’m just wondering how many missed connections I could have had because I’m … me.”

“How many people miss out on dating someone because they’re three minutes early and aren’t distracted and don’t run into each other outside a café?”

Seth smiles, and even though he looks more like his brother when he does that, he’s no longer Grant’s brother to me. He’s Einstein.

“We need to go,” he says.

The sickly twist of doubt creeps back in and makes my stomach hurt because of what’s to come. Not just the two-hour drive with Beck annoying the hell out of all of us but after that.

I follow him out and down to the lobby, all the while nonstop thinking about what will happen when we get back to his place.

It has been months leading up to us meeting. There’s been a lot of doubt and searching for ourselves that I fear this Montreal trip could be a simple break from all of that.

Things between Seth and me aren’t suddenly happily ever afters and set in stone.

I’m not suddenly going to scream to the world I’m bisexual because I have experience with a man, and would Seth even want me to?

We’re the last ones to arrive in the lobby, though Zach’s by the entrance kissing Grant goodbye, so we aren’t that late.

“Ugh. I will never get used to seeing that,” Seth says, and I laugh just as we reach Beck and Jacobs. “Foster will be home for a week at the end of the month. They’re acting like it’s going to be years.”

Beck looks at Seth and me knowingly, and I backhand his stomach.

“What was that for?”

“You know why.”

I know he’s a decent guy deep down. I could see that before Jacobs could. I trust him when he says he won’t say anything to anyone about Seth and me—even to Jacobs—but anyone knowing about us adds even more pressure to the doubt in my head.