“Micah,” Dex said in greeting as he took a seat.
“Dex.”
He waited for Blake to say something, and when he didn’t, he did what he told his students to do. Be bold.
“Blake.”
For what felt like eternity, Blake didn’t say anything. “Micah.”
“What can I get you gentlemen?” he asked.
“Two Rolling Rocks.”
He pulled the beer bottles from the fridge under the bar and unscrewed the caps before placing them on the bar. He kept his gaze away from Blake and on Dex.
“So how long you worked here? I thought you were in the military?” Dex said, breaking the silence that had started to become uncomfortable. At least for him. Because as hot as Blake had looked on TV and across the room, it was nothing compared to how he looked up close.
“I was. Got out a couple of years ago. I’m a teacher now.”
“So what are you doing tending bar?”
“My brother-in-law owns the place, and I help out now and then.”
Dex took a long drink, and Blake filled in the silence, the deep cadence of his voice washing over him. Just like it had when they were teenage boys fumbling around in his bedroom under the guise of studying.
“Where you teaching?”
“Basic.”
“No shit!” Dex exclaimed. “How’s that?”
Micah laughed. “The first time I walked the halls as a teacher was a little surreal, but now it feels like coming home.”
“So what are you teaching?”
“History and government.”
“That’s cool, man. You were always good at those subjects. If it wasn’t for your tutoring, I doubt Blake and I would have passed those fuckers.”
Unable to keep eyes off him any longer, he glanced at Blake. Thinking about those tutoring sessions and what had and hadn’t happened between them, had all the blood in his body rushing to his cock.
Back then, he hadn’t known what to do with his attraction to the quiet, exotic looking boy. Now though, was a completely different story. He knew exactly what he wanted to do to Blake and what he wanted Blake to do to him.
The biggest issue he could see was getting Blake to not only look at him, but also agree to talk to him away from Dex and anyone else who might try to interrupt them. A customer at the other end of the bar waved him over.
One of the things he’d learned in the Army was how to make and execute a plan. Glancing down the bar at Blake, the beginnings of one began to take shape. There was no way in hell he was letting the man walk out of his life a second time.
Chapter Four
“WHAT THE FUCK, man?” Blake growled at Dex.
“What?” he asked, innocently. Too innocently. “I was just making conversation with an old friend from high school. One who helped both of us graduate.”
If he’d known when he started this trip down memory lane that he’d be running into the person who’d had a starring roll in the epic disaster that had been his last night in town, he’d never have started it. Micah had also held a starring roll in every single one of his sexual fantasies back then as well.
“Fuck you, Dex.”
“Think about it like this…this is a new start for both of us. A chance to fix the things in our lives that we fucked up. Me with my career and you with Micah.”
“I’m not the one who fucked up.”
God, he could go his whole life without ever going through what he’d gone through that night again. The only good thing had been that the people involved that night hadn’t known a damn thing about hockey or who anyone was.
As much as people were happy about the whole Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell being gone from the military, it was still very much present in professional sports. At least for men. While he didn’t flaunt or advertise his sexuality, it also wasn’t a secret. Not that anyone cared. It was one thing to be a coach, and another thing to be a player.
But that night, the secret he’d kept so guarded that not even Dex, his best friend, who knew everything about him, had known, had blown up in his face. Thanks to Micah.
BLAKE HAD NO intention of going anywhere that night. He was leaving in the morning and wanted to make sure he’d packed everything he was going to need. He wasn’t ever coming back to this house. Everything was boxed up and waiting for him to load it into his Jeep in the morning.
The yelling downstairs, however, had reached the point he had to escape. Grabbing his keys, he tiptoed down the stairs, sticking to the walls as much as possible. Clearing the last step, he ran for the front door on the balls of his feet, careful not to make any noise. Reaching the front door, he pulled it open an inch at a time, until there was enough room for him slide out and onto the front porch.
Jogging across the lawn, he let the screaming match inside fade into the desert night. He was inside his Jeep and pulling away from the house when his cell phone rang.
“Dude, you need to get over to Pac Out. Everyone is here,” his best friend, Dex, said.
“Who is everyone?”
“Micah, Brandon, Kristy, Stephanie, Myra, Rod, and a shit ton more people. I shit you not, half of our class is here.”
Hearing Micah’s name, a thrill went through his body. He had it so bad for the guy. And from the make-out sessions they’d had during the time Micah had been tutoring him, he hoped Micah was just as hung up on him as he was on the guy. Not that he could tell anyone he had feelings for him.
While he knew he was one hundred percent gay, Micah wasn’t. And there was no way in hell he was going to fuck up his future in the military. It didn’t take him long to reach the fast-food joint that was as much a part of Henderson as Basic High School was.
Seeing all the cars and teenagers hanging around inside and out in the parking lot, he knew Dex hadn’t been lying. Everyone was there. He found a parking spot and climbed out. Waving hi to several people, he made his way through the crowd to where Dex was holding court. He had his arms around his girlfriend, Amy, telling some story based on the laughter from everyone around him. Reaching them, he listened in.
“So there we were, lined up with all the other kids on the ice, competing for a spot on the team and scholarships, when out of the tunnel skated the captain of the team. He skated to the net and told us if we made the team, we could expect to have our asses kicked daily in practice, to be pushed harder than we’ve ever been pushed before, and to suffer extreme humiliation if we caused them to lose a game…wearing a bikini, his gloves and skates, and nothing else. After he finished his speech, he skated back to the tunnel and left us there.”
Blake laughed at the memory. That had been a good day. He snagged a fry from one of the trays on the table near him. The crowd ebbed and flowed as their classmates came and went, stopping in to say goodbye to those who were leaving for college or the military, and heading off to parties with their families.
They all knew the odds of them seeing each other after tonight on a regular basis were slim. He hadn’t thought he’d miss any of them, but being with them now, he admitted to himself there were some he was going to miss.
Someone jostled him, and he felt a hand on his ass. A hand his body recognized. Micah. He forced his body not to react to him. No matter how much he wanted to.
He knew if he came out to his classmates, it wouldn’t be a big deal; most of them had older siblings or family members who’d gone to Basic when Mr. Ball had been the music teacher. They’d all watched as he’d battled AIDS and died the night the class of ’93 graduated. Back then, most of those dying from AIDS were gay.
That didn’t mean he intended to tell them, or anyone really. Because as much as he knew his classmates here wouldn’t have an issue with it, he was worried about his teammates in college and how they’d handle a gay teammate. The hand on his ass disappeared, and he felt the loss deep inside where he kept everything hidden. He was so fucking gone over Micah it was scary. He was only eighteen; he shouldn’t be having these kinds of feelings for anyone.
/> Determined to enjoy the night, he pushed those feelings back into the box and joined Dex in telling everyone how they’d managed to get full-ride hockey scholarships when their high school had no hockey team.
At midnight, the owner of Pac Out started kicking everyone out. As he and Dex had a long drive ahead of them starting the next day, Blake knew it was time to call it a night. Excusing himself to use the john before they left, he made his way down the short hallway to the restrooms.
He paused at hearing Micah’s voice coming from inside the bathroom.
“That’s right, baby, come all over my cock.”
What the…before his brain had to register what he was hearing, Micah continued.
“That’s it, baby, just like that. Squeeze me. Fuck yeah.”
Micah stopped talking, allowing him to hear what his voice had covered: The sounds of bodies slapping together and the mewling of a girl.
“Shit, man, is Micah still in there fucking? This is the third girl tonight. Or is it the fourth?”
He couldn’t look at Brandon, who’d come up behind him, needing to use the john as well. If he did, the guy would see everything Blake wanted to keep hidden. Namely: his feelings for Micah. He nodded. He knew Micah dated girls and had slept with them. But to do it, here, where he could…
The door opened, and ReAnna flashed a smile at them. “Hi boys, next time, why don’t you come in and join us, instead of listening at the door.”
Blake watched Micah’s head jerk toward the door where he was standing. Because he was watching him so intently, he caught the look of…he wasn’t sure what it was on the guy’s face. Not that he cared.
Nope, he was done. Done with hoping that maybe they could... He shut down those thoughts and turned around. He didn’t say anything to anyone as he walked out of the restaurant and headed to his car.
“Blake, wait.”
He ignored Micah as he reached his Jeep and opened the door. Micah slammed into him, pushing him into the side of his Jeep.
“Get the fuck off me, Micah,” he growled, pushing back enough so he could turn around.
Over Micah’s shoulder, he could see a crowd of their friends gathering, staring at them. He didn’t need this. For a few hours, he’d been able to enjoy the night and be a carefree teenager, one who hadn’t snuck out his house to avoid his parents fighting.
One who’d hidden the fact that his dad was beating the shit out of him instead of his mom, by claiming all the bruises on his body were from hockey. Hits he’d purposely gotten on the ice.
Looking into Micah’s face, he realized that his feelings for Micah didn’t matter; the guy had zero intention of ever returning them and had probably been using him to experiment.
“Blake…”
He didn’t let him finish. “You know what, Micah, fuck you. Now, move so I can leave.”
“No. We need to talk.” Micah pressed into his body, trying to trap him.
He shoved Micah back. “No, we don’t. If you don’t move, I swear to fucking god, I’ll hit you.”
Blake had never hit anyone off the ice, and the thought of doing so now had his stomach threating to purge everything he’d eaten. The fact Micah was forcing him to do it ratcheted up the hurt and anger that was already a drum beat inside of him.
“No,” Micah shouted and smashed his mouth down on Blake’s. For thirty seconds, he let himself enjoy the sensations that always flooded his system when Micah’s lips were on his. Then everything came crashing back. He shoved him back, and the tight rein he’d held on everything snapped, and he swung. His fist connected with the underside of Micah’s jaw, snapping his head, and forcing him to move back. Blake took advantage of this and climbed into the Jeep. By the time Micah had recovered, he was pulling away.
In the rear-view mirror, he could see everyone around him. He kept waiting for his phone to ring, for one of those friends to call and see if he was okay. By the time he got home, most of the anger had burned off, but the searing hurt that no one had called to see if he was okay, that wasn’t going anywhere.
He was halfway to the front door when tires screeched and a car door slammed. “What the fuck was that?”
He turned and met the furious gaze of his best friend. “What the fuck was what?”
Dex shoved him, “Back at Pac Out with Micah, what the fuck happened between you two?”
Blake stared at Dex, “What do you think happened?”
“I’m thinking I saw my best friend get kissed by the boy he’s been crushing on for last several months and then punch him. So what the fuck?”
Blake stood there stunned. That wasn’t the reaction he’d expected from Dex.
“Did you seriously think I’d have an issue with you being gay?”
“Yeah, I did.”
“EARTH TO BLAKE.”
He shook the memory away as his eyes met Micah’s over the bar, and he knew the guy was remembering that night as well. Over the years, he’d gotten better at reading the emotions on people’s faces. A necessary skill for a coach to have. He didn’t need that skill to read Micah’s face though.
He didn’t know how the man had survived in the military since everything he was feeling was on his face. Shame, regret, and…
A cheer from the crowd had Micah shifting his attention away from him, allowing Blake to really take in the changes in the guy. His hair was long, he couldn’t tell how long since he had it pulled it up and in a bun. The t-shirt he was wearing was stretched taut across his chest and arms, emphasizing how fit he was. His biceps were covered in colorful ink, and he wondered where else on his body there might be ink.
Damn it. What was it about this man that ten years after he’d ripped his heart out of his body and stomped all over it, he could still get a physical, and if he was honest, emotional response from him.
Micah turned back to him, a huge ass grin on his face. He moved around the bar, and Blake figured he was going over to the guys who were cheering at the game on the TV. He swiveled to see what was happening, and Micah stepped in front of him. Warning bells sounded in his brain.
“What are you doing, Micah?”
“Something I should have done a long time ago.”
Blake chanced a glance at Dex who was watching them with trepidation. He didn’t blame the guy. He’d had to pick up the pieces after the night everything had gone to shit. With getting his own shit together, he didn’t have time now to help him do it all over again.
“What was that?” he asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer.
“This.”
Micah slid between the space his legs had naturally left. One hand clasped his neck, holding him in place, and his mouth was on his.
He was in so much fucking trouble. It was the last thing he thought before his mind blanked, and his body responded to Micah’s assault.
Chapter Five
MICAH WAS GOING up in flames. He’d been kissed by, and kissed countless people since he’d discovered sex and joys of kissing, but none of them compared to feel of Blake’s lips under his. It was like walking off the plane after his last deployment and seeing all of his family there. It was like eating a piece of his mom’s awesome chocolate cake.
It was like coming home.
He didn’t care what he had to do, how much groveling he had to do, but he was going to make sure that Blake was a part of his life.
He pulled back enough so he could look at Blake and gauge his reaction to the kiss. What he saw had him leaning in for another one, when a hand on his chest stopped him. It took him a minute to realize it wasn’t Blake’s hand, but Dex’s.
“Whoa man, what the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“Dex,” Blake started.
“No man. I didn’t do anything the last time and had to pick up the pieces. He doesn’t get to lay one on you and then walk away.”
He hadn’t walked away. Blake had left him after he’d kissed him in front of their friends.
Micah watched as Blake and Dex had silent b
attle of wills. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but he was sure he was at the center of it. He couldn’t blame Dex for wanting to protect Blake. He could imagine how hard it would be to be in professional sports and be gay. While he hadn’t had to hide his sexuality while he was in the military because he slept with men and women, he’d had friends who had, and it had killed a part of them to hide who they were. They’d done it so they could serve, but Blake, and every other gay athlete had to hide so they could do what they love and that was play.
It might have been ten years since he’d last seen Blake in person, but the one thing he was sure of was that Blake wasn’t now, nor had he ever been, interested in girls.
The silent conversation between the two best friends over, Blake looked back at him. Fuck, but the guy got to him.
“Look, I know I fucked up years ago, but I’d like the chance to talk to you.” He glanced around the bar. “But not here.”
There was no way he wanted to have the conversation he needed to have with Blake in a public setting. Especially, not after that kiss.
Blake was silent for long enough that Micah was afraid he’d say fuck you and walk out the door. Something he didn’t want to happen, and would try to prevent no matter what he had to do. Blake finally nodded and pulled out his phone.
“What’s your number? I’ll text you my address and you can come by Friday night.”
Micah would have preferred to have the conversation tonight, but beggars couldn’t be choosers and, at the moment, he was the beggar.
The door to the bar opened, and his little sister walked in. Just the person he didn’t want watching him make a fool of himself over someone. Though he was going to take great pleasure in telling her that regardless of who won the game, the bet was off.
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