Unfair Game: A Gay Sports Romance Novel

by Cecelia Storm

  Kyle sighed and sat on the edge of Cade’s bed.

  “Hi,” he smiled, patting his arm.

  Cade took one hand down from his head and linked his fingers with Kyle. He could feel a blush rising, but sternly tried to tamp it down.

  They’d always had a very physical relationship. Kyle was a very touchy-feely person and things like holding hands had become so common, it wasn’t anything to think about. And, though he’d always enjoyed touching Cade, he’d never really reacted this way. But now that his secret was out, now that he knew Cade was aware of his feelings, everything seemed different.

  Cade wasn’t smiling at Kyle, just looking at him, knowing there was a speech to come. His fingers were rubbing Kyle’s slowly, the sensation heightened by his unhurried movements, almost as if he was taking comfort in it. Kyle took a deep breath.

  “How many are you planning to score tomorrow?” he said brightly.

  A ghost of a smile appeared on Cade’s lips. “3. You?”

  Kyle waved his hand dismissively. “Only a hat-trick? I’m going for 6.”

  Cade was smiling now. “Double mine huh?” His thumb was stroking the side of Kyle’s hand now, moving slowly back and forth.

  “Mm,” Kyle said, nodding. “I want the world to finally know I’m better.”

  Cade became serious at that. “You are.”

  Kyle rolled his eyes.

  Cade shook his head. “You’re better in all the ways that matter. You’re a much better person.” He moved their clasped hands towards Kyle’s chest and tapped it there. “You’re better here.”

  Kyle smiled. “You’re crazy. You’re the best everything to me.”

  Cade shook his head, dimpling a little. He tugged Kyle’s hand towards him. “Come here,” he whispered.

  Kyle felt his heart beating very fast. He leaned forward towards Cade until he could see Cade’s eyelashes, thick and soft and fringing his dark eyes. Cade let go of Kyle’s hand and slipped his palms up the side of Kyle’s chest, wrapping his arms around him tightly.

  Kyle felt his head swimming a little. The circumstances, their position, the bed - it was all so intimate. Kyle could hear Cade’s breaths puffing on his ear, almost like sighs. He pressed his face gently into Cade’s pillow, letting Cade pull him down completely, their chests pressing against each other.

  It was an uncomfortable position, to say the least, so after a few seconds, Kyle reluctantly pulled away.

  Cade tightened his grasp. “Why?” he asked.

  Kyle gestured towards his cramped position, sitting sideways on the bed, legs folded awkwardly on the ground. Cade scooted towards the wall, tugging on Kyle’s hand. “Come lie down then.”

  Kyle shook his head, ignoring the screaming voice in his head, pleading with him to say yes. “I can’t, Cade.”

  “Please,” Cade said, his hand on Kyle’s shirt, pulling gently. “Please, Kyle.”

  “Cade, I’m-” He shook his head. How could he say that he was already hard and he didn’t want Cade to feel it?

  Cade seemed to understand anyway. He glanced down at Kyle’s crotch. “It’s okay,” he said, cheeks reddening a little. “I don’t mind. Unless it’s a problem for you?”

  Of course it was a problem for him. Why would he want to get into bed and spoon with a guy who he wanted to fuck? Kyle sighed. Because he loved Cade more than he wanted to fuck him. Because Cade was his best friend first and his love second.

  Kyle slipped his shoes off. Cade immediately shifted inside, moving closer to the wall. His hand was still on Kyle’s shirt, fisting it tightly. Kyle lay down next to Cade, maintaining a small amount of distance.

  Cade’s hand was on his forearm now. “Why are you lying on the covers? Get in.”

  Kyle’s head snapped towards Cade. “Are you kidding?”

  Cade laughed sheepishly at this. “I’m sorry. Please, Kyle.” He squeezed his forearm gently.

  Kyle looked at the ceiling. What the fuck was his life nowadays? Why was God giving him this much but not giving him everything?

  Grimly, he cast up a prayer. I’d better win tomorrow for this bullshit.

  He sighed, raising himself up on an elbow. Cade willingly lifted the cover and Kyle slowly wriggled inside. Cade immediately shifted closer. They both lay on their backs, fingers touching. Their bodies were just lightly brushing against each other. Kyle could feel Cade’s warmth through his clothes.

  Kyle closed his eyes, trying desperately to think of something unsexy. He decided Emerson was a good fit. He forced himself to think of Emerson naked in a hot tub. It worked a little.

  It was also highly disturbing.

  His eyes snapped open. He turned his head to Cade. Cade was already looking at Kyle, almost like he was waiting. “I feel better when you’re here,” Cade said quietly.

  Kyle didn’t know what to say so he opted for a joke. “Everyone does. I’m the life of the party.”

  Cade grinned at that. “You’re such a cocky moron.”

  “Well, you’re the one who wanted a cocky moron in bed with you.”

  Cade shifted even closer. He plucked at Kyle’s hand until he lifted it above his head. Cade closed the gap so that his body was lying flush against Kyle’s. They were quiet for a little while.

  Kyle felt like this was half-nightmare, half-fantasy. This was exactly what he wanted, except it ended with Cade’s lips over his, with Cade’s cock in him, with Cade’s hand pumping him until he came, moaning into Cade’s mouth as they kissed and kissed and kissed.

  He closed his eyes, trying to banish the thought from his head. He was achingly hard now and when he looked down, he could see it tenting the sheet. Embarrassed, he glanced at Cade and saw that Cade had looked too.

  Kyle groaned out loud, unable to stop himself. He heard Cade’s soft chuckle. “You owe me for this,” he said furiously to Cade. “You owe me big.”

  Cade was smiling. A part of Kyle knew that he did make Cade feel better. He always had. Cade relied on him emotionally. Kyle was his champion and his best friend. So he wasn’t really angry. He appreciated that Cade didn’t care that Kyle wanted him in that way, that Cade still wanted Kyle around despite it.

  “Okay. I’ll do whatever you want.”

  Kyle glanced sideways at him. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” he said, laughing.

  “Whatever you want.”

  Kyle looked at him fully. Cade was still smiling. Kyle raised his eyebrows, grinning. “Oh, really?”

  “Yup.”

  “What if I wanted you to run around the room, barking like a dog, on your hands and knees?”

  “Done.”

  “And if I said you had to howl like a wolf at the moon?”

  Cade chuckled. “If that’s what you want.”

  “And if I told you to dance the Macarena during dinner tomorrow?”

  Cade raised an eyebrow. “You have terrible taste in music, but all right.”

  Kyle laughed. “Oh, please. We both know you wouldn’t do everything.”

  “Try me,” Cade said, smiling.

  Kyle’s smile dimmed a little, his eyes growing more serious. “Don’t, Cade.”

  “I told you-whatever you want.”

  They were both staring at each other. Kyle felt his breaths coming faster, his heart picking up speed. Suddenly, he felt like Cade was too close. He could see his mouth so clearly it made him ache a little. “I don’t want it like that,” he said in a very low voice.

  “How do you want it?”

  It was too much. They had a match tomorrow and this wasn’t the time. Flustered and stressed out, Kyle sat up suddenly, extricating his hand from Cade’s.

  Cade sat too, putting his hand gently on Kyle’s back. Kyle flinched and Cade removed it. “What’s wrong?”

  “Don’t do this, Cade. We have a match tomorrow.”

  For a second, there was silence. Kyle peeked over his shoulder. Cade nodded. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring that up, it just came up.”


  Kyle turned towards him. “I’m sorry-”

  “No, Kyle. You’re right. We’ll talk about this after.” Cade smiled to show him it was okay. He pushed Kyle’s shoulder gently. “Go to your own bed.”

  Kyle felt a huge wave of relief. “If you want me, I can stay,” he offered.

  Cade shook his head. “I’m actually feeling better. I know you won’t be comfortable here. Go.”

  They smiled at each other. Cade gently leaned forward and brushed his lips against Kyle’s cheek. “Go.”

  Kyle went to his own bed then, cheek tingling and unable to control his smile. Cade switched the light off after that, and Kyle realized, as he drowsed in bed, that Cade had cheered him up too.

  ***

  The match was brutal and too fouls went uncalled, but they won. The mood in the locker room was euphoric. Everyone kept hugging everyone else and Mason kept giving speeches.

  Kyle was on a high. He’d scored the winning goal, and even though he’d hurt his shoulder a little, it didn’t matter. He felt completely, wholly happy. He watched Cade, who was laughing and hugging Mason who himself seemed a bit keyed up.

  Kyle grinned at Perry who slung his arm around him, hugging him. He wondered how to celebrate. He glanced across at Cade and suddenly remembered their talk last night.

  His stomach flipped. He turned around, took his things and went to shower. As he stood under the water, he considered what Cade had meant. What did he want to talk about? What did he mean he would do anything Kyle asked?

  He knew what Kyle wanted to ask. Was Cade really okay with that?

  But Kyle hadn’t ever wanted it to be like that. Maybe it was naïve of him, but he wanted Cade to do it of his own free will, not because he owed Kyle.

  Not that Kyle would ever even ask, because that was just weird. He wished he could, though. He wished he could just ask for one night with Cade. One night and that would be enough.

  But it was wrong. Their friendship was more important than Kyle’s unrequited love. Kyle felt tired suddenly as the hot water beat down on his sore shoulder. He wanted something tonight. Human contact. He wanted… sex.

  Just plain fucking. No emotions, no love, just fucking.

  He considered. It was against the rules and Emerson would surely find out if he snuck a girl - or a guy - into his room. He sighed. There was no way except fucking one of his teammates. And he wasn’t going to do that to Cade. Or himself. Not when that could ruin things in the tournament later.

  He emerged from the showers, wearing just boxers. He felt a little refreshed, but exhausted. His shoulder was still aching and he just wanted to sleep. He saw that Cade had already showered and dressed, was sitting on the bench and probably waiting for Kyle.

  He looked up as Kyle entered. “Hi, goal-scorer.”

  Kyle preened a little. “Thank you, thank you, autographs later.”

  Cade smiled, but frowned when he saw Kyle opening his locker with his left hand. “Is your shoulder still hurting?”

  Kyle nodded. “It’s just a bit sore. I think it’ll be okay by tomorrow.”

  “I could rub it for you.”

  Oh, how he’d longed for those words from Cade. He grinned, unable to stop himself. “No way, keep your hands to yourself, mister.”

  Cade rolled his eyes. “You’re a pervert.”

  Kyle waggled his eyebrows. “You like it, baby.”

  Cade shook his head, but said nothing. He went back to looking at his phone and called Andrea. She immediately put Sam on. Kyle smiled, looking over his shoulder. He could hear Sam’s high lisping voice and suddenly missed his own son, Jack.

  He had had a slight fever yesterday so was probably already in bed. Kyle decided he’d call tomorrow morning.

  He struggled a little with his t-shirt, working it slowly over his aching shoulder. Cade made as if to help him, but Kyle shook his head. The less touching they did today, the better. Cade sat back down, eyes shrewdly assessing Kyle as he kept chatting with his baby.

  Kyle sprayed himself with his cologne lightly and brushed his wet hair. He glanced at Cade and saw that he was waving goodbye to Sam. When he ended the call, he looked up at Kyle.

  “Can’t accept my help, huh?”

  Kyle grinned. “I don’t need anyone’s help, Mr. Cadence Grayson.”

  Cade rolled his eyes. “Are you ready? Finally?”

  Kyle tsked. “I think you should be more respectful towards the goal scorer, your savior, your very own genius teammate.”

  Cade had started snorting halfway through the sentence. Kyle grinned, shut his locker and gestured for Cade to start walking. He followed behind, admiring Cade’s bottom. Had there ever been such a magnificent ass?

  As they walked by, Perry asked him what the fuck he meant with that loopy smile. Kyle just laughed.

  ***

  Come to my room. I want to talk to you.

  Kyle frowned at the text, staring at his phone. He really didn’t want to go, not when Cade was still in the bathroom and in such a good mood. But if Perry had something important to say-Kyle sighed. He rose and tapped the bathroom door.

  The water stopped.

  “What?” Cade called, his voice muffled.

  “Perry asked me to go to his room. I’ll be back in a while, okay?”

  There was silence. Just when Kyle was about to repeat the question, Cade said, “What does he want you to go to his room for?” Cade’s voice was a lot louder now, almost as if he was just next to the door.

  “He said he wants to talk.” Kyle paused, frowning. “Do you want me to say no?”

  “No. It’s okay. You go.”

  “Okay, bye!”

  There was no reply, only the sound of the water again. Kyle wondered whether Cade was angry. Maybe he had wanted to talk to Kyle about last night? Kyle felt his heart speed up a little at the thought. In a way, maybe going to Perry’s room was a good idea. He certainly didn’t want to have to talk to Cade about… that.

  He was so lost in his thoughts, he didn’t even realize that he had arrived at Perry’s door until he was just outside. It was ajar, held open by a shoe. He tapped the door lightly before pushing it open.

  Perry was lying down on his bed, watching the TV. He was shirtless and looked like he had just taken a shower.

  “Hey,” he said, smiling.

  Kyle wandered over, noticing that Aiden’s bed was made up neatly. “Where’s he gone?” he said, jerking his head towards the bed.

  “He and Hector are watching some movie.” Perry patted the bed. Kyle sat down next to him, stretching his legs.

  “You were good today,” Perry said, sitting up a little and turning towards Kyle.

  Kyle grinned. He flexed his arms. “I know.”

  “Don’t you feel like celebrating?”

  Kyle sighed a little, his head dropping back on the pillow. “Of course.”

  “You know what I want?”

  Kyle turned his head and was startled to find Perry very close. He’d somehow moved in as they were talking and now he was only inches away.

  “What?” Kyle said, though he was starting to feel he already knew the answer.

  Perry smiled and moved in very slowly, giving Kyle the time to move away if he wanted to. Kyle didn’t. He didn’t know why he let Perry kiss him, but somehow he wanted it. He wanted a distraction, wanted a celebration. All his reasons not to sleep with a teammate somehow disappeared as Perry’s mouth touched his.

  For a second, Kyle didn’t kiss him back, just let himself be kissed. He let Perry move his mouth gently over Kyle’s in soft brushes, and when Perry slowly let his tongue run over Kyle’s lower lip, he parted his lips just a little.

  That was enough for Perry. He cupped the back of Kyle’s neck and let his tongue slowly brush the inside of Kyle’s lower lip. Kyle shuddered, his hands coming up to gently hold Perry’s sides.

  He was returning the pressure just a little now, his tongue coming out to touch Perry’s. But a small voice was starting to speak up in the back of
his head. A small voice saying Cade.

  Kyle tried to ignore it for a little while. Perry was a good kisser and when his head slanted to one side, going deeper and harder on the kiss, Kyle felt a moan escape him. Correction, he was a great kisser.

  But the voice was insistent. And just as Kyle was about to pull away, Perry lifted his head, looking towards the door.

  “Oh, hey, man!”

  Kyle was still a little disoriented from the kiss, but he turned to look at the door and felt his heart stop. Cade was standing inside the room, his eyes so cold they were like ice.

  “Sorry,” Cade said grimly, “I knocked, but no one replied.”

  Kyle realized that he hadn’t removed the shoe holding open the door when he’d entered. The door had been ajar all this time. His heart was pounding. How much had Cade seen?

  He felt his stomach swoop so hard it made him nauseous. Cade wasn’t looking at him, only at Perry. Look at me, Cade. Look at me.

  But Cade simply smiled - a very forced one - and said, “I’ll leave you two. Have a good night.”

  He kicked the shoe inside the room and closed the door behind him. Frozen, Kyle simply sat there as Perry chuckled. Perry leaned towards him again and Kyle was so shocked, he let Perry kiss him again for a few seconds.

  Then he pulled away. “No, Perry. I - I can’t do this. I have to go.”

  Perry sighed. He eyed Kyle as he scrambled off the bed. Kyle stood awkwardly by the bed, feeling guilty. “I’m sorry.”

  Perry shook his head, smiling wryly. “It’s okay. I figured. Go.” He waved towards the door. Kyle flashed him a grateful smile and hurried out the door.

  He had to make this right with Cade.

  ***

  He knew it was bad when he came into their room and Cade was sitting on Kyle’s bed, facing the door.

  “Cade-” he started, raising his hands.

  Cade laughed harshly, standing up. Fury was emanating from every particle in his being. “Who the fuck do you think you are? What the fuck was all that bullshit about doubting you? You made me feel so guilty. And here you are lying to me the whole fucking time.”