In Every Universe

24. Zacky

TWENTY-FOUR

ZACKY

The stint in Allen passed. Zacky acclimated to being on a hockey schedule and not just living with someone on a hockey schedule. He got two games under his belt, a clap on the shoulder from Coach Carillon, and a warm welcome back from the Jackets when he showed up for morning skate before his first NHL game.

Morning skate was held at their arena and not their practice rink, and it was the first time Zacky had ever been on real NHL ice. But during morning skate at 10 a.m., the stands had been empty. There was serious weight on Zacky when they all headed out for warmups before the game. Cameron had sucked him off before their pre-game nap in an effort to calm him down, but nothing could calm the nerves he had when his skates hit the ice.

It took him a second to realize that he’d been shoved to the front of the line to get on the ice for a reason. He shot out of the door and onto the ice, taking a full lap of their D-zone before anyone else joined him. They gave him a fucking rookie lap. Because even though he had won a Stanley Cup, this was the first time on NHL ice he could remember. If he was any less in the zone, he would have cried.

Like in Allen, there were folks who made signs for him. He was nervous going through warmup drills and tossed as many pucks to fans as he could, hoping it didn’t look too cheesy. Someone would probably give him grief for it because it was far too easy to be labeled as cringe by your teammates. Zacky would worry about that later.

He stood in the bench for the anthem, and then the puck dropped and he was playing in the NHL.

“Holy shit,” he said to Cameron, who was sitting next to him on the bench as they were all lined up like sardines. Cameron shot him a yeah, this is fucking cool smile as the lines cycled down the bench until it was Cameron and Zacky’s turn to head out. Zacky hopped the boards like he’d done it thousands of times before, and then his skates were on NHL ice. He was getting paid an exorbitant amount of money to be doing what he was doing in that moment.

Back in the AHL, the guys who’d been sent up before, or guys who used to play in the show earlier in their career, always talked about how fast the game was compared to the A, and they weren’t wrong. Zacky was hustling to keep up. As soon as his shift started, it was over, and he was back on the bench, panting. He’d been doing conditioning for weeks, but damn, he used to do this all the time.

Cam was grinning like an idiot next to him, though, like Zacky’s one shift was more exciting than winning the Stanley Cup.

He played the game one shift at a time, trying to focus on not being a liability, even if he wasn’t a boon.

After the first period, he got a clap on the back from Coach and one from Eddie, even though he knew he wasn’t a rockstar out there—he was just getting through it. But it was all part of the process.

He made it through three periods slowly and was grateful when they went to overtime because he knew he wouldn’t be out there. Only the best guys played three-on-three. He got to catch his breath, then shout and jump over the boards with the rest of the boys when Javier scored the game winner.

He did post-game media, where he told reporters he was glad to have survived, and then followed the boys to a bar by their hotel. Since he was cleared to play, he was cleared to drink, and while most of the guys got beers, Zacky went straight to a vodka Red Bull.

“About to fall asleep on your feet?” Cameron asked, hand on Zacky’s lower back as they all crowded around one table.

“I’m fucking exhausted.”

“That’s too bad because I was thinking we could have an after after-party.”

“If I wasn’t anticipating that, I wouldn’t have gotten the Red Bull and would have let you carry my sleeping body back to the hotel.”

“Let’s toast to Zacky, who’s still fucking got it,” Eddie shouted, his voice booming over the loud music and the chatter they were all contributing.

Cheers exploded through their group, and Zacky pinked at being the focus of attention. He liked when people looked at him because he was good at hockey, not because he technically made it through one NHL game without losing it for their team.

“Plenty of hot guys on the dance floor,” Elliott said, nudging Zacky with his elbow. “Are you going to go celebrate?”

Cameron’s hand left Zacky’s lower back as he moved his arm to Zacky’s shoulder. They were going to have to give it up here soon and tell the boys.

“Not super safe to go hitting on guys unless it’s a gay bar,” Zacky said, watching Elliott’s eyes as they took in the possessive way Cameron hooked his arm around him.

“Sure,” Elliott said with a raised eyebrow. “Wasn’t thinking.”

“Being with the boys is plenty celebration.” He lifted his drink to clink it against Elliott’s beer before Elliott disappeared onto the dance floor with Shane to find girls to dance with.

“All right, you ready to go? Or do you need to bask in this?” Cameron asked. He sounded as impatient as Zacky was.

Zacky tipped back the rest of his drink. He wasn’t normally a lightweight, but it had been a while since he’d had a drink, and there was the barest hint of a pleasant buzz spreading under his skin.

“Let’s get out of here.”

Cameron leaned over to Millsy. “Z’s about to fall asleep on his feet here. I’m going to go back with him, so no one worries about us.”

“No one would,” Millsy said with a quick friendly smile. “Get him back safe, Ves.”

Cameron threw a few waves goodbye across their table as they took their exit.

The bar was close enough to walk back to their hotel, the crisp, cold winter air bracing. The tip of Zacky’s nose got especially cold, and as soon as they were in the hotel elevator with the doors shut, he tucked his nose against Cameron’s neck.

“Fuck,” he huffed, wrapping his arms around Zacky tightly, giving him a good squeeze before the doors dinged open. Cameron held his hand on the way back to the room, and the short distance down the hall, hand in hand, was triggering the cozy feeling of the life he left behind, where he and his best friend were married, and it was safe to be out.

Zacky could barely look at Cameron without wanting to take both of their pants off, but he wasn’t in a rush. To begin with, he was exhausted. And they didn’t need to hurry through anything. What they had wasn’t temporary. They would belong to each other forever.

Their room had a big armchair in the corner, and Zacky pushed Cameron into it, straddling him as Cameron’s hands slid up his thighs to cup his ass. Zacky took Cameron’s face in his hands.

“I was so worried I would never get to play hockey with you again,” Cameron whispered.

“I never would have thought I would get to experience an NHL game with you.”

Zacky kissed Cameron softly, sensually. Cameron pulled him closer, which made it more difficult to kiss. Zacky didn’t care. He knew Cameron would kiss him a thousand more times by the time they had to get on the plane in the morning. He was concerned with something else at the moment.

“We’re celebrating, right?” Zacky asked. He had to consciously keep his grip on Cameron’s face light. Every time they were close, Zacky had this urge to grab on and not let go.

“Yes, babe, celebrating you.”

“I want to celebrate by getting fucked.” Cam’s soft, relaxed eyes widened. Zacky felt pretty good about his chances.

“Do we have condoms?”

“Do we need condoms? I just got tested.”

“Yeah, me too. Or, I haven’t had sex with someone who isn’t you since. I’m good to go.”

“Okay, no condoms, then,” Zacky said, pressing a long kiss to Cameron’s mouth.

“Bed bed bed,” Cameron chanted, nudging Zacky off his lap so they could make progress toward getting naked. They had one more game on their road trip, so they were careful not to wrinkle their suits as they hurried through undressing. Zacky dug through his duffel for lube and tossed it to Cameron before grabbing a towel from the bathroom.

“Why is the towel forethought sexy?”

“Because you’re obscenely easy for me,” Zacky told him, giving his bare ass a smack that didn’t hurt but made a nice sound. Cameron had pulled the covers back, and Zacky put the towel down, then pushed Cameron onto the bed on his back. He pulled Zacky on top of him, and Zacky straddled him. Cameron’s confident hands on his hips made him weak. Cameron was shy from inexperience at the moment, but Zacky knew what he was like when he was confident, and he couldn’t wait to see him shed some of his inhibition.

For now, Zacky was content to savor getting to watch the love of his life explore his body for the first time again. This was the silver lining—being able to fall in love with Cameron twice.

“Are you going to show me…?” Cameron asked, a familiar blush coloring his cheeks. It wasn’t as deep as the blush he wore the night he let Zacky finger him, but it was in the same family.

“Yeah, baby. And don’t worry, you’ll be good at it.” Eventually. Cameron was detail oriented and observant, and it made him an excellent lover. But Zacky didn’t want to give him a complex about it. “Here, let me…”

“Fuck, baby,” Cameron said as Zacky carefully flipped around, straddling Cameron once more, but this time facing away from him. He bent forward, resting his hands on Cameron’s ankles to give him a front-row view of his ass. “We should have started doing this years ago.”

“Hey, I did start doing this years ago.”

“I’m not happy about your head injury, but I’m glad you woke up horny for me.”

Zacky laughed, and Cameron got a good grip on both his ass cheeks to give them a squeeze. “Please find the lube.”

Cameron found the lube. He took what he learned from getting fingered by Zacky and went slow, using his other hand to stroke Zacky’s erection, or tug on his balls. Zacky relaxed into it, listening to the string of dirty talk coming out of Cameron’s mouth. It was nonsensical but added up to welcome vocal enjoyment of what was happening.

“See? I already knew you’d be good at this,” Zacky said, pushing himself up from his bent-over position to get more control and ride Cameron’s fingers. “Slick yourself up.”

“Are you going to do it like this?”

“Just to start, so you can see what’s going on.” Zacky had the unfair advantage of knowing what Cameron thought was sexy, and he was a big fan of reverse cowboy.

“Okay.” Once more, Cameron followed instructions, finding the lube that he’d lost in the sheets and covering himself. Zacky reached behind himself to line Cameron up with his hole and slowly sank down on him, going a bit at a time.

“I missed this so much,” Zacky said, breathing deeply and concentrating on relaxing his muscles.

“Still can’t get over the fact that we have sex every day.” Cameron was zoned out, and that’s how Zacky knew he was focused . He took Cameron all the way in, letting him take his weight. Cameron couldn’t keep his hands off Zacky, and Zacky let him explore for a moment, giving him time to get his bearings. Zacky didn’t want it to be over too quickly.

The feeling of having Cameron buried inside of him was emotional, and he composed himself, grateful for the semblance of privacy he had. Emotional or not, it was still incredible, and he let himself savor a few brief bounces until Cameron let out a helpless, cracked moan.

Zacky couldn’t wait any longer. He pulled off Cameron and turned around so he could face his love. Cameron may favor getting to see his ass bounce when they fucked, but Zacky was a romantic and a sap, and while he liked giving Cameron a show, he also wanted to look at him, see what was happening in his eyes.

Zacky went just as slowly this time as he remounted Cameron and got to watch as pleasure flickered over his face. The hands that had been openly worshiping Zacky’s ass pulled him down into a kiss, hot and desperate, as Zacky rocked his hips, groaning into Cameron’s mouth as he hit Zacky just right.

“Zachary, I’ve never had to focus so hard on not coming in my life. You are…this is…”

“I know, babe,” Zacky said, appreciating Cameron’s inability to articulate himself when he was balls deep in Zacky.

He arched his back and planted his hands on Cameron’s chest, not only because it felt so fucking good for him, but also because he knew it looked hot. Listen, it had been months since he’d had Cam’s eyes on him like this—this was the first time this Cameron was looking at him like this—and after months of feeling broken and injured, he felt beautiful. Cameron’s face wasn’t concerned. He was looking at Zacky like he was trying to catalogue every inch of him.

“Fuck, okay, we gotta—” Cameron said, getting an arm around Zacky’s waist before flipping them over. He knew Cameron was close, and Zacky savored the fervor Cameron had as he pounded into him, curled over him close. He kissed Zacky again, and it was soft in the face of how hard Cameron was fucking him. Like he wanted to form this tender connection through this moment of desperate pleasure.

Cameron was making love to him.

“I want you to come inside me,” Zacky said, his voice already rough. Cameron had a sheen of sweat across his forehead, and Zacky smoothed a hand over his buzz. As much as he wanted Cameron to fill him up, he also never wanted this to end.

It was the final straw, though, and Cameron tipped his head to rest on Zacky’s shoulder as his hips lost their rhythm and his orgasm pumped into Zacky. Feeling the pulse of Cameron’s orgasm sent Zacky over the edge right after, as he jerked himself fast and hard, his own orgasm splashing up his chest.

“You’re good at making me come really hard,” Zacky said. Cameron peppered kisses to his neck and across his collarbone. He hadn’t pulled out yet, like he knew Zacky wanted him to stay for as long as he could.

“Oh, we should get back on the towel.” Cameron laughed, one arm sliding under Zacky’s lower back, and the two of them slid over to the spot on the bed where they started. They took a few breaths as they rested before Cameron pulled out of him. Zacky could feel how wet Cameron had left him and knew what it looked like as his seed dripped out of him. Cameron’s fingertips ghosted over Zacky’s pucker, and Zacky gasped.

“In a different situation, this could make us parents,” Cameron said, staring intently at Zacky’s hole.

“Yeah, well, that will have to be a really conscious choice. There are a few more steps.”

“I think…maybe I want that.”

“To put a baby in me?” Zacky joked. It’s what his Cameron had started saying when they had sex, and at one point he had been so, so desperate to get back to that Cameron. His Cam. But he was with his Cam now. Every Cameron was his Cameron.

Cameron stretched out next to Zacky and pulled him into a kiss. “I don’t see the harm in maybe trying to have a baby. Skip birth control and condoms and if an oopsie happens…” Cameron’s big hand spread over Zacky’s belly, and while he didn’t have any actual desire to carry a baby, something about thinking about it, talking about it, “trying” for it, made him hot.

His baby fever was boiling over. He was one short refractory period away from wanting to go again from the possessive way Cameron’s hand was on his stomach.

He covered Cameron’s hand with his own.

“We’ll keep trying and see what happens.”

He had hockey back. He had Cameron. And in the future, who knew what else he’d get?