“Just go,” I rasped.
“You sound weird. I’m not going to leave you here. What’s—” He crouched low, scanning me, and his eyes popped comically wide. “Oh! Are you—” He bit his lip, trying not to laugh. His smile grew quizzical. Then hopeful.
His face was so expressive that I could see the progression of his thoughts to the inevitable eyebrow-raising conclusion that my erection was a reaction to him. Perhaps drowning myself was the best option, because surely I was going to die of embarrassment.
Yet his surprised laughter wasn’t cruel. Thinking back now to that horrifying moment in the shower room in Croatia when I’d been similarly aroused by him… Perhaps his laughter then hadn’t been cruel either. Only teasing. We’d both been young, after all. He likely didn’t even remember that fleeting moment that had haunted me far too long.
But here I was making a fool of myself again.
“Oh!” He ducked his head, smiling shyly in a way that made my heart skip a beat. “Hold on.” He returned with my towel, thrusting it out.
All I could do was leap up to grab it and wrap it tightly around my waist to hide my shame. I practically ran to the changing room, flip-flops slapping as I bypassed the shower, chlorine be damned. I grabbed my T-shirt and keys and escaped.
“Henry!”
I jabbed the elevator button repeatedly with my thumb, dripping all over the floor. It was very inconsiderate to the cleaning staff, but I had to get away.
The ding finally sounded, but of course Theodore barreled onto the elevator after me, shirtless too with his towel around his hips and a cloth tote bag in his hand.
“Don’t you think we should talk about this?”
I stared at him in mute horror as the elevator rose. This had to be some kind of cruel nightmare. It was bad enough how pathetic I was, and now Theodore was trying to be nice about it, which was so much worse.
When we reached my floor, I lunged past him. And he followed, because naturally he did. Still talking, because naturally he was.
“It’s okay.” We reached my door, and he grinned cockily. “I’m tough to resist. You’re only human.”
I glared at him as I jammed the key in my door and shoved it open. I tried my best to close it in his face, but he was halfway in and I might really hurt him, the wood thick and heavy. He was trespassing, and I shouldn’t have cared about hurting him. Frustration surged.
I need to hate him again. Throw him out. Now!
I kicked off my flip-flops, fisting my hands and close to hyperventilating. “Go ahead. Mock me.” Please. I could process that. That was familiar. That I could resent and cling to.
“I’m not here to make fun of you.”
Pity was worse than mockery, but there was something in his low tone that made me shiver. Goosebumps rippled over my bare chest, still damp in the cool air. My nipples were hard, and my groin throbbed.
“We agree we have to keep this separate from competing.” Theo stepped closer in the little foyer. The red light from the rice cooker illuminated the space just enough. Esmeralda appeared to investigate before disappearing again.
“I haven’t told anyone about our dinners. Have you?”
I shook my head.
“And I know no one at the rink has a clue or my mother would have found out, flown to Toronto, and banged down your door during House Hunters to drag me out of here.”
I almost smiled at that.
Theo did smile, a devilish grin in the red glow. I could only stare as he closed in. Slowly, he loosened my towel and tugged it free.
“It’s always the quiet ones. Or what’s that other saying? Still waters run deep? I bet you run really deep.” Biting his lip, he ran a fingertip down the center of my chest. My breath seized, my cock swelling fully again simply from that. “No one has to know about what we do together. And we’ll stop before we go to Calgary. It’ll be all business during the Olympics.”
I panted shallowly through my mouth, torn between squirming away and throwing myself into his arms.
He drew his index finger down over my sensitive belly, making me flinch, the muscles jumping. Then over my shaft through the wet, clingy material. All I could do was tremble, biting my tongue so I didn’t make any embarrassing noises.
“You really are a dark horse. That’s another saying, right? I bet that’s been an answer in one of your crosswords.” Without warning, he grasped me with his whole hand, rubbing and sending shockingly pure bolts of pleasure through my whole body.
Somehow, he was still talking about crosswords. “You know, I tried the Monday one the other day. It’s the easiest, right?”
My knees were weak as he stroked me, and without the wall behind me, I would have collapsed. He was laughing now, but not with derision, and as he leaned in, I almost let him kiss me.