Spite Crush (Rock Hard #2)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

~Zak~

“No, I’m not mad at you,” I insisted, blowing an irritated sigh into the receiver as I answered Kellen’s question for the fifth time since he’d called. “We were going to go public soon anyway. Yeah, I wish it could have been on our terms, but I don’t blame you for this.”

“You should,” Kellen said. “I misread everything. I just never thought Ford would do this to me.” He sighed. “How pissed is your coach? ”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “He told me to stay home and not talk to anyone.”

“Do you still want me to come out there?” Kellen asked. “I understand if you don’t.”

“Fuck that,” I snapped. “Yes, I want you here. I’ll have to send someone to the airport to pick you up though. I don’t know if it’s a good idea for me to go out right now. I don’t want Sutherland more pissed at me than he already is.”

“That’s fine,” he said. “I can get an Uber. ”

“No, I’ll send someone,” I insisted. “Just…get the next flight out, okay?”

“I have an appointment I can’t miss in an hour,” he said. “But I’ve got a charter scheduled for this afternoon,” he said.

“How rich are you?” I asked him. I mean, I’d seen his net worth when I’d Googled him to find out if he really did have more money than I did, but I’d kind of assumed the number on the screen was a gross over-estimation. But this was the second time in a month he’d chartered a private jet like it was no big deal.

“I do okay,” he said, and for the first time since he’d called, I could hear a smile in his voice.

When we disconnected I opened the app to read Ford Jones’ post again.

Kellen Fox disbands HSF to devote more time to fucking Zak Dempsey.

The bitterness in the post was almost enough to discredit the whole thing. And for a minute, when Naomi had sent it to me, I’d considered doing so. She’d offered to publish a rebuttal statement for me on Hockey Tonight’s site, but I’d wanted to talk to Kellen first.

As soon as I heard his voice, I knew that I didn’t want to deny it. If we did, how would we ever have the courage to backtrack the lie?

So, it was time to face the music.

“Naomi, we don’t want to make a statement at this time,” I told her when she answered her phone. “But, I do need a favor.”

“Anything,” she agreed immediately .

“Can you pick Kellen up from the airport tonight?”

“Ugh.”

“I need someone he knows, someone he trusts, and Sutherland won’t let me leave the house,” I said. “Please?”

“Fine,” she said. “But I want the exclusive when you guys are ready to talk.”

“Who the hell else would I talk to?”

“Text me the flight info.” Then she hung up on me .

That was fair. No one wanted to do an airport run. Well, I actually did want to, but couldn’t.

Kellen texted me his flight information and I forwarded it on to Naomi, with another note of thanks which she didn’t bother responding to. And then I found myself with seven hours to kill and no clue how to fill them.

****

“There’s a ton of press out there,” Kellen said as he dropped his bag in the hall, then moved aside to let Naomi in behind him. “Have they been bothering you?”

“I didn’t even know they were there,” I admitted. “I haven’t been online at all since Ford’s post went live.”

“Well, I have,” Naomi said. “And most of the response is incredibly positive, so there’s that.”

“And what did Hockey Tonight have to say about it?” I asked, trying to keep my tone neutral.

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I refused to report on it and they fired me. ”

“Naomi,” Kellen said softly, turning to give her a hug. “You didn’t have to lose your job to protect us. If you’d told me I would have said something.”

“I didn’t just do it for you,” she said. “I’m not a martyr. I just felt that a reputable station like HT should focus on actual hockey, and not gossip. They disagreed.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. Considering she’d been the one to inadvertently cause the original feud between Kellen and I, it would have been easy to argue with her stance. But as a friend, I couldn’t help but be flattered by her support.

“I’m going to get out of here,” she said. “I’m sure I’ll see you guys at the game tomorrow.”

Kellen hugged her again and thanked her for driving him, then walked her to the door, closing it gently behind her then leaning against it and staring at me.

“How was your day, dear?” he asked finally.

“So much fucking better now,” I told him before wrapping my arms around him and kissing him. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he insisted. “I never wanted to be in the closet in the first place. You’re the one whose life just got turned upside down. And I know you disagree, but it is my fault. I honestly didn’t think Ford would do something that…cruel.”

“Kellen,” I said, gripping his chin in my hand and forcing him to hold my gaze. “It was going to come out eventually.”

“On your terms,” he said firmly .

“Well, that didn’t happen.” I shrugged. “Can we try to focus on the upside here?”

“Sure,” he said. “What’s that?”

“We don’t have to hide anymore,” I reminded him. “No more lies, no more secrets. We can just…be.”

“Well, that is an upside,” he agreed. “But you’re forgetting one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“You’ll never get rid of me now.”

“That had better be a fucking promise,” I growled, pulling him hard against my chest. “I mean it, Kellen. I’m all in here, and if you have any doubts, you need to tell me right now.”

He pushed away from me and reached for the hem of his shirt, tugging it up and over his head then tossing it to the floor at my feet.

“Where are you doing?” I asked him, before noticing a large black bandage taped under his left pec.

Kellen pulled at the corner of the bandage, his gaze locked on me as he removed it completely .

“What the fuck is that?” I whispered, stepping closer to inspect his new tattoo.

“That’s the appointment I couldn’t miss,” he explained. “It has to stay completely clean for a couple months, by the way.”

The large, block number thirteen inked over his ribs looked red and raw around the edge, but I still ached to touch it.

“How could you even think that I wasn’t all in?” he asked softly.

“I can’t believe you did this,” I whispered .

“I made the appointment a week ago,” he admitted. “Today was the first opening my guy had.” He ran his hands up my chest as he held my gaze. “I love you.”

“I love you more,” I told him.

“Well, judging from your lack of meaningful tattoos, I’m calling bullshit on that,” he argued.

“My number is inked next to a raccoon in a top hat,” I reminded him. “So maybe watch your tone with me.”

The truth was though, that I fucking loved it. He’d permanently etched my number on his body. I wasn’t sure there was a more romantic way to show how important he felt I was to him. Even if I had to wait months before I could see it covered in my release.

He reapplied the bandage over the new ink, then reached for his shirt, but I grabbed his hand, using my leg to sweep his out from under him and lower him to the floor.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I asked as I climbed over him, careful to keep my weight off of his chest .

“I don’t know,” he said. “Why? What did you want to do?”

“I want to ride your cock.”

“That’s going to be difficult with our jeans on.”

“Is everything a fucking joke with you?” I asked, rolling my eyes as I climbed off of him.

“Not everything,” he assured me, as he stood up as well. He walked over to his bag and rummaged inside for a minute, then tossed me a bottle of lube. “Do you want to go upstairs? ”

“No.” I dropped the bottle to the floor then reached out and snagged the waistband of his jeans, tugging him into my chest and kissing him firmly. “I want you right here.”

I popped his button and lowered his zipper, reaching my hand inside his boxers and gripping his erection firmly.

Kellen moaned, his head falling back as his fingers dug into my shoulders and his hips jerked into my hand.

When I released him he let out a soft whine of complaint, but I meant what I’d said. I wanted him and I wasn’t about to let him come in my hand instead.

We stripped quickly, tossing our clothes all over the foyer before crashing back together, naked and hard, our hands and mouths desperately seeking each other’s skin.

I knocked him to the floor again, following him down as I kissed him, our tongues sliding against one another as I blindly reached for the lube I’d dropped .

When I found it, I moved down to sit on his thighs as I opened the bottle and poured a generous amount over my fingers. Then I lifted to hover over him, my hand shaking as I roughly prepared myself, my gaze locked on his eyes as he watched my hand move between our bodies.

“God, I can’t wait to feel you inside of me,” I whispered as I pulled my arm free and leaned over him.

“Well, come on then,” he said, slapping his thighs with both hands. “Giddy up. ”

“Giddy up?” I lowered myself to straddle his hips, gripping both of our cocks in my hand and jerking us together with the remaining lube on my fingers. “Maybe let’s leave the talking to me.”

I lifted up once more, positioning his tip at my entrance before taking him in, lowering myself slowly, enjoying the burn of being stretched open by his cock as I made my way to his base.

“Holy fuck,” he whispered, his eyes widening as he stared up at me .

“That’s better.” I squeezed my ass muscles around him, making him cry out in surprise, his fingers digging into my thighs as his back arched off the floor. “You like that?” I raised myself up and lowered myself again, slowly a few times, then a little faster, a little harder. “Or do you like that?”

I found a rhythm quickly that had both of us panting and moaning together, and I could already feel the tightening in my balls that had pleasure sparking up my nerves, but I wasn’t ready to finish yet, and I hoped he wasn’t either .

“Let me see it,” I begged him, my gaze drifting to the bandage on his chest.

“No,” he said firmly.

“I want to see it again.”

“I don’t trust you,” he admitted.

“I’m not going to touch it,” I promised him as I rolled my hips harder into him.

“That’s not what I’m worried about,” he said, reaching out to grab my cock in his fist as he bucked his hips up into me .

“Fuck!” I fell forward, slamming my palms onto the floor to catch myself. “That’s not fair.”

“Sit back up,” he whispered. As I did, he used his free hand to pull the bandage away. “It’s your turn to be a good boy.”

“I’ll be so good,” I promised him, rocking into him, taking him harder and deeper. “It’s beautiful. You’re so fucking beautiful.”

My gaze locked on the number thirteen, bold and raw. The physical proof of his love for me, his commitment to me, to us, emblazoned on his perfect skin.

Kellen’s hand tightened around my shaft as his breath hitched in his chest, puffing his ribs out, raising the tattoo a fraction of an inch closer to me and I cried out, my entire body spasming as I came. He flattened his palm over me, directing my release up my own chest and over his fingers as his cock jerked inside of me, flooding me with his own wet heat.

I lifted myself off of him, sliding over to collapse on the floor next to him .

He rolled onto his side, holding my gaze as he lifted his fingers to his lips and painted them with my cum before licking the fluid away.

“Jesus Christ,” I hissed as he repeated the motion, his perfect, pink tongue gliding slowly over his mouth. As hot as it was, I couldn’t keep my gaze from drifting back to his new tattoo. “A few months ?”

“At least,” he said, chuckling softly. “But I have plenty of other tattoos you can practice with until then.”

“I love you so much. ”

“I love you, too,” he promised me.

Outside, our worlds might be going to hell. But in here, laying on the cold marble tile next to Kellen…everything was absolutely perfect.