“Thank you, Oprah.”
“I was going for more Dr. Phil, but I’ll take it.”
Jasper lets out a shuddery breath. “I … I don’t think I can go back in there.” He shakes his head. “This was stupid, and—”
“Do you really think they’re fucking in there?” a voice echoes from down the hall.
“Pfft, please. Fuckstain probably paid Westly Dalton to be his date. I mean, he’s Westly Dalton. If he wanted dick, Ezra Palaszczuk was his teammate. Wouldn’t Westly be with someone like that? Someone who’s not a complete loser?”
“Shit,” I hiss and then lower my voice to a whisper. “Don’t listen to them.”
Jasper’s pale blue eyes widen, and I don’t think. I just act.
I step forward and push Jasper against the locker with a loud thud. My knee goes in between his legs, and I press in close.
“What are you—”
“Just go with it,” I whisper and lower my head until our lips are a breath apart. Footsteps squeak on the tiled floor, and I bring my mouth down on his.
He’s tentative at first, but with a flick of my tongue, he opens for me and then moans into my mouth when I deepen the kiss.
I want to take away his hurt and ease the pain in his chest that’s sat there for far too long.
With my mouth, I want to show him that he’s more than who he was in high school. He’s a hardass professor at a top college, and he’s living his life happily as an out gay man.
They couldn’t break him down, and this reunion won’t either. Because I won’t allow it.
I break my lips from his and kiss down his cheek and neck.
“West,” he pants, and fuck if it isn’t the hottest sound I’ve heard in a long time. I want to make him say my name over and over again.
Briefly, I forget where we are, and it’s easy to get lost in the moment. The man can kiss.
My suit pants were already extremely tight, and now they feel like they might burst at the seams with the way my cock is jutting forward, trying to break free.
Jasper grips the back of my head and pulls me back to his mouth so we go back to kissing, only now I’m groping all of him, letting my hands wander.
This was not the plan when I decided to kiss him, but hey, why waste an opportunity?
It’s the sound of someone clearing their throat that brings me back to the present.
I pull back and try hard not to chuckle at Jasper’s swollen lips and the shock and awe on his face. I lean in and kiss the top of his nose and turn to the two assholes at the end of the corridor with a smile.
“Sorry. Got carried away. I can’t ever get enough. You probably feel the same way about your wives.”
They share a look and then awkward nods. Happy marriages by the sounds of it. Not hard to imagine what it’s like being married to these two fuckheads.
“Anyway, I think we were going to head out.” I link my fingers with Jasper’s. “Right, babe?”
“Yeah. I’m done here.”
The guys block our path. “Hey, we’re sorry if that was crossing a line in there,” Dipshit Number One says. “You know how it is being around these same people. It’s like we’re in high school again. It was wrong.”
“I’m sorry too,” the other dipshit says.
“That’s very big of you,” I say without even a hint of sarcasm. Give me a medal, please.
“Uh, listen, we were, uh, well, Shaun Gallipse is the hockey coach here now, and he said we could have access to the hockey facilities. You know, for old time’s sake, and we were wondering …”
I can barely hold in my snort of hell no. They’re only apologizing to Jasper because they want to play hockey with me.
It’s no wonder Jasper hates jocks.
But on second thought. I imagine what making these guys look like fools on the ice might do for Jasper. “You could come watch,” I say to him.
I try to convey my plan through an over-the-top innocent face, but he either doesn’t understand or is confused. The line between his eyebrows is back, and I want to kiss it away.
I turn to the guys. “Let’s go.”
I’ll probably get into trouble for ditching him later, but if he comes to see why I’m doing this, maybe it will make him feel better about it.
For a brief moment, I think Jasper isn’t going to follow us, but then he does, even if his scowl doesn’t move.
When we get into the tiny arena with only three rows of stands on one side, I take my jacket off and hand it to Jasper.
“What are you doing?” he hisses under his breath.
I roll up my shirtsleeves. “Trust me. These clowns think they can handle being on the ice with a pro hockey player. I’m about to skate circles around them. Which ones were the worst?”