Face Offs & Cheap Shots (CU Hockey 2)

“No, because to make me laugh, you’d have to be funny.”

“Ooh, snap.” He spins to face me when we get to the chute, and his grin looks like it could split his face in half. “Did you jerk off after we kissed? Because you seem a whole lot more relaxed now.”

Of course that’s where his brain has gone, and of course I’m not feeling ridiculously awkward, because of fucking course that’s not exactly what I did. My jaw tightens. “Look at that, not relaxed anymore.”

“Glad to hear it. I thought I was going to need an EpiPen.”

“Get out of my way, Beck.”

He steps to the side, but before I get around him, his arm flies out and catches my chest. This time, it’s his voice in my ear. “In case you didn’t catch on, I’m not forfeiting shit. Better pucker up, buttercup. I’m all in this time.”

8

Beck

I pray for time to slow down. Or speed up. One or the other, I’m not entirely sure.

We’re already three weeks into this camp, almost halfway, and my time on the ice with the kids has been enlightening and fulfilling.

But my nights have been lonely and confusing.

Because as much as I’ve tried to get that kiss with Jacobs out of my head for the past week, it always comes back to that.

I can’t wait for tomorrow night to be over. The last challenge is happening, and once it’s done, I won’t have to deal with Jacobs any more than usual.

I swear I’ve spent more time and energy on him in the past three weeks than I have in the last three years.

Before, he’d scowl, he’d brood, I’d be an ass, but we’d stay clear of each other.

Life was easy.

Now he’s making my life hell, and he hasn’t even done more than kiss me.

Shake it off, Beckett.

If the last challenge was potentially life changing, I don’t want to think about what’s next.

I need a good night’s rest and to get my head in the game.

When trying to get to sleep doesn’t work because I’m too keyed up, I decide to go for a run.

I pull on shorts and don’t bother with a T-shirt.

Colchester U is a large campus with a continuous path right down the middle and around the outsides. The jock dorms overlook the quad, so I cross through campus and head for the arena.

My feet naturally take me in that direction. Like a hockey mothership calling home its babies.

Running works well at exhausting my body but not my mind. After two laps of campus, I’m nowhere near mentally tired.

I keep replaying that damn kiss.

Jacobs’s lips on mine. His tongue in my mouth. That groan …

I’d sell my soul to hear that again.

No! Head in the game.

I run until my lungs burn, but as I pass the team gym, I notice the interior lights are on. I can’t remember if they were on the last two laps or not.

Making my way inside, I stall at the sight of Jacobs on the treadmill.

He’s got long, muscular legs, thick thighs, that butt hockey players are famous for, and sweat dripping down a defined torso.

I try to swallow, but my mouth is dry.

Yeaaaah, I’m so not as straight as I thought I was.

He’s got earbuds in, so he hasn’t heard me. He hasn’t acknowledged me either.

I’m torn between turning around and heading straight back out of here or going and jumping on the treadmill beside him.

The only thing with doing that is I’d have to be normal Beck around him. I’d have to taunt him and pretend I don’t have a care in the world. I don’t think I have that in me.

Not tonight.

The longer this camp goes on, the more fun I’m having. Which is almost making me depressed. It’s a no-win situation.

Being on the ice gives me a purpose. Teaching those kids gives me something I’ve never had before. It might be that when it comes to maturity, we’re on the same playing field, but I think it’s more than that.

And that’s depressing because it’s going to end.

Then next year I will have graduated and moved on to become the intern everyone sucks up to at Beckett Enterprises because every employee knows I’ll be their boss one day.

“You gonna stand there and stare at me all night, or you gonna join me?” Jacobs finally turns his head in my direction.

I force a smile I don’t feel. “I haven’t decided yet.”

He gestures for me to come closer, and I relent.

We run side by side in silence that’s strangely comfortable for Jacobs and me. We’re either always at each other’s throats or ignoring one another with this weird tension pulled tight between us.

The animosity is absent, and for one brief moment, we’re peaceful.

It doesn’t last long.

Despite the comfort, the competitiveness is stronger than ever. I match his treadmill levels, and then he ups his. He smiles at me, so I up mine.