Breaking through the Bond (Espen Jetties #2)

2. King

2

KING

“There he is!” I yelled when I saw our star center, Devon, or as I liked to call him, D.

He took my outstretched hand and pulled me in for a quick hug. “I thought I was going to be late.”

“Well, you do look thoroughly fucked. I’m guessing that gorgeous man of yours gave it to you good.”

“Fuck’s sake, King,” Devon muttered as he ducked his head and a blush crept up his cheeks. I loved saying shit to embarrass him.

“Lincoln’s not coming?”

“Nah, it would be a lot for him.” Devon’s boyfriend was a Navy vet who was injured while overseas. Devon didn’t share a lot about their personal lives, but I knew Lincoln was still working through his PTSD.

I slung my arm over his shoulders. “That’s okay. You can hang with us.”

Hayes, Knox, and Kenna were in the back of a sleek black pickup with me. When we added Devon, we had a full bed of hockey players.

Some of the guys on the team and management brought their wives or girlfriends for the celebration parade. Husbands if they had them. I didn’t know if Kasper’s husband, Marcus, would be here. He played for our city’s baseball team, the Emperors. I forgot if they were home or away today.

We were getting ready to head out onto the parade route. There were convertibles, trucks, hell even a fire truck had guys from the team on it. When the city of Espen threw a party, they did it right.

We could hear the fans screaming from where we were waiting. Hundreds of thousands of people would be out there. They’d line either side of the route, then a lot would be at the stage the team put up in the biggest park we had.

Knox tossed me a beer. I didn’t wait to crack it open. Both Devon and Hayes waved him off. I wasn’t surprised. Devon wasn’t much of a drinker and Hayes only seemed to indulge when we went out. Which I had to drag Hayes to go. He was serious so much of the time. It worked well when we were playing. When we weren’t, I liked getting him to loosen up a little.

We had our jerseys on, some wore shorts like me. Others had on jeans like Hayes. We had hats on with the Jetties logo and Stanley Cup Champions written across it. The best part of our truck, we had the Cup with us. It was currently sitting in the bed between us but when we got moving, it would get propped up on top of the cab of the truck.

“You boys ready?” Pascal called out from the cab. He had the back sliding window open and when I looked down at him, I caught his gorgeous smile.

Pascal was a beautiful man. Tall, lean, hair as black as midnight. And he dressed in nothing but the best. When he was working in the Jetties’ office, he always wore a suit. He was Kasper’s assistant after all. He couldn’t work for a man like that and not look fine all the time.

Pascal volunteered to drive one of the trucks in the parade. Kasper loved to have everyone participate. I had no doubt he offered Pascal to ride in one of the vehicles like we were, but that wasn’t him. Pascal was someone who worked just as many hours as Kasper. While Pascal was currently smiling and acting casual, he took this seriously, like any other part of his job. I’d bet money he knew where every dip in the road on the route was so he could avoid them.

I slapped my hand on the cab and leaned down. “Get moving, gorgeous. Let’s get this party started.”

“Don’t flirt with the players, Paz. Ever,” he muttered then turned around to put the truck in gear.

I busted out laughing. It was a well-known rule that Pascal was never to date any of the Jetties players because he worked for the team. And we weren’t to pursue him. Pascal was a gay man who didn’t shy away from being who he was.

Then we were off. The fans were already roaring. We were only second in line. I stood and lifted the Cup to put in on the truck cab. Hayes stood on the other side and we both held it steady. We waved as we went. Kenna wasted no time jumping from the truck to greet the fans.

“Why did I say I’d hold this?” I asked Hayes.

He smiled and waved. “Because it’s the Stanley Cup.”

“Yeah, but we already got our day with it. I want to enjoy the fans.” Hayes and I got it for a day this week. Since we lived together, we shared our time with it. “D, hold the Cup for me.” I wasn’t letting Kenna have all the fun.

Devon switched places with me. I tugged on Knox to get his big goalie ass out of the truck and have fun. Beers in hand, he took one side of the street, and I took the other. We signed autographs, posed for pictures. Someone even handed me their baby to take a picture with. Another handed me their small dog. The fans were fucking amazing. I loved this city.

Eventually, I switched with Devon so he could greet the fans. Kenna switched with Hayes. Knox ended up in the bed of the pickup to get another beer. He got into a lot of fights during the regular season, but calmed way down on the drinking by the time we were in the playoffs. It was great to see. Now that the season was over, it looked like things were headed back to the way they were.

I wasn’t one to judge, but Knox was my friend, and I didn’t want to see him self-destruct in a pool of alcohol. I quirked my eyebrow in his direction. The last thing I would do was call him out in front of everyone. Especially since this was a huge party day.

Knox shook his head and started throwing championship T-shirts we had out to the crowd. Beer in one hand. Shirt in the other. Not a drop spilled.

Hayes was keeping pace with the truck while he greeted people. Never staying in one spot for long. He loved them; I knew that. But he didn’t soak up the attention like I did.

I watched him with a smile. My mind started drifting to where it usually did when I let my guard down around my best friend. Because unbeknownst to Hayes, I’d had a crush on him for a long time.

It started right after he moved in with me. Hell, it had been brewing before that, but I kept pushing it aside. Hayes and I became tight once he came up to the NHL. He needed a place to stay, I had the room.

Then I was seeing him day and night. It was brutal and fantastic at the same time. I’d hung on for a while, thinking maybe Hayes might not be as straight as I thought. But it was always women for him. Never a guy. So, I took my crush, swallowed it way the fuck down, and never let it see the light of day again. Though, right now, with Hayes looking so happy, that crush tried to break out of the steel cage I put it in.

Not today.

It was about the fans, the city. As I looked up and around, people were hanging out of windows, holding up signs. A truck a few back from us was shooting out more shirts from a T-shirt cannon. Confetti was falling. I looked at Knox and thought fuck it. I needed another beer. It wasn’t every day you got a party like this.

The parade ended in the park where we got up on stage with the Cup. Speeches were made. Fans cheered. I wasn’t even buzzed but I had enough in me that it added a little extra to the party.

Next to me Knox swayed slightly. I wrapped my arm around his waist and brought him in for a hug that was really me trying to keep him steady without everyone else noticing.

“You good, Knox?” I asked.

“Hell yeah. We’re going out after this, right?”

A drunk Knox at a bar was a recipe for a fight. I caught Devon’s eyes and he came over to hug us both.

“Hey, Leslie,” he began, “My mom’s making dinner tonight and she specifically asked if she’d see you there. I told her I’d find out if you were free. She knows it’s a huge party night. But she hasn’t seen you in a while.” Man, Devon was laying it on thick.

Knox slapped Devon on the back and leaned away. I kept my arm on his waist to be sure he stayed upright. “Yeah, I’ll be there, but you’re going to have to pick me up.”

I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. Devon patted my shoulder. I doubted he was considering going out tonight with the rest of us. Hell, I hardly asked him anymore now that he and Lincoln were solid. Hayes I wanted to drag out. Kenna and a handful of other guys were going. We had a few clubs we wanted to hit. I was sure I’d find someone of interest at one of them. The only thing to make this day better was amazing sex.

Day turned to night. We went our separate ways to go home and change then were meeting at a club downtown.

“You’re coming, right?” I asked Hayes when we were back at our condo.

He shook his head. “It’s been a long day. I don’t want to go anywhere.”

“Come on. Just one club?”

“I’m exhausted. Have fun for both of us.”

“We don’t start training yet. I’ll let this slide tonight, but you’re not getting out of every adventure.” If I let Hayes be, he’d become a hermit, only leaving to work out.

“Didn’t think I would.” He grinned though it wasn’t full of happiness.

I’d known Hayes long enough to recognize his moods. Knew when he was down. I didn’t press the issue tonight. Not when I had a buzz going and wasn’t thinking with perfect clarity. He would eventually talk to me. I was one of the few people he confided in.

In my room, I ordered a car, changed out of my jersey and shorts, put on a pair of jeans that showed off my ass and a shirt to showcase my chest and arms. I wasn’t vain, but I wanted to get laid. Tight clothes would help with that.

In my bathroom, I took care of business then made sure to tend to my beard. I was keeping it for a bit, unlike Hayes who shaved his off the day after we won. I did like him clean shaven, although a bit of scruff was good on him too.

I shook my head. No need to think about my best friend and his boy next door good looks. And in my case, he was the boy next door. Literally. His room was across the hall from mine.

Hayes was on the couch in a pair of shorts and a T-shirt when I left. I asked him again if he wanted to go, to which he said no. I couldn’t and wouldn’t force him to leave. If he was even slightly in the mood to, he would have caved and gone with me.

The first bar we met at; we were there for about an hour. Kenna was obviously over his ex-girlfriend and found someone to dance with. We left him there and went to two other clubs. More guys stayed at the second club. It was only me and another who hit the third one. I slapped him on the shoulder when we got inside and wished him good luck. I was going solo on this one. It was getting late, and I was getting horny.

Twist and Turn was one of the gay nightclubs in Espen. It wasn’t seedy and gross. They kept the place clean. The bass was thumping through me as I made my way to the bar. A few feet from it, I stopped in my tracks.

There was a guy with his back to me. White jeans. Holy hell, how did he move in them? They were painted on. My dick liked that very much. His shirt was black mesh. I could see he was lean but not skinny. I took a step toward him like there was an invisible rope pulling me in his direction.

He turned around. His dark eyes immediately found mine. I let mine drop to his lips then his jaw. To his chest and his cut abs. I wanted to drag my tongue over every inch of him.

I didn’t find anyone at the other clubs. Now I knew it was because this guy was here, and he was going to be mine tonight.

A smirk lifted the corner of his lips when I finally let my gaze travel back up his body, only getting caught on his considerable bulge for a few beats of the music.

“See something you like?” the guy asked loudly enough so I could hear him.

I stepped closer until he was within reaching distance. “I do.”

“I’m surprised you don’t have someone else latched on to you tonight.”

“Why do you say that?”

“You’re Espen royalty.”

“You know who I am.”

“I do.”

“How about I buy you another drink and I find out who you are?”