Risking the Shot (Stick Side Book 4)

by Amy Aislin

  “Who knew you were cut like this under your clothes?” Tay said with a smirk. Leaning down, he nibbled Dakota’s neck, the underside of his jaw, one hand braced on the mattress, the other traveling south to cup Dakota’s sack.

  “Fuck.” Liquid heat exploded in Dakota’s veins, scalding and rich. Pressure built as Tay kissed his way down Dakota’s abdomen, laved at his hipbones, placed gentle bites on his inner thigh. Then he was licking the underside of Dakota’s cock before taking it into his mouth, the slurping sound so outrageously sexy that Dakota nearly came right there.

  “Fuck, Tay.” The tension in him was about to break. Hauling Tay up, he flipped them again, hand splayed along Tay’s jaw, holding his head back as he sucked along his collarbone.

  “Kota.” Tay’s hands grasped at him, one of them squeezing his ass.

  Jesus, Dakota was starved for him. It’d been much too long since his last meaningful relationship. Quick bar hookups were all fun and good for instant gratification, but he hadn’t realized how much he’d missed this—this connection to another human who was on the same wavelength as him. Someone he’d see again the next morning. Someone who was not only sexually compatible, but compatible in all the ways that counted.

  If he wasn’t careful, he’d get so lost in Tay he wouldn’t be able to find his way back. Part of him didn’t want to.

  He rolled his tongue in Tay’s belly button, making him chuckle and squirm. “Gah, stop,” Tay wailed, his thighs closing around Dakota’s back. “You’re so mean.”

  He was laughing; Dakota didn’t take him seriously.

  Tay stopped laughing when Dakota ran his tongue under the rim of his cock head and massaged his sac.

  “I take it back,” Tay said, voice thready, fingernails digging into Dakota’s shoulders. “You’re so nice. So, so nice.”

  Chuckling, Dakota left little nips on the crease where his thigh met his groin, not letting up on his massage. It left Tay a sobbing mess, clutching the sheet in one fist, heels digging into the mattress. Fuck, he was sexy, all slicked with sweat and gasping for breath.

  Reaching over him to get the lube and a condom from the night table, Dakota grunted when Tay reared up and bit his ear teasingly. Flopping onto him, Dakota met Tay’s smiling lips with his own, amazed at how Tay’s heavy-lidded eyes went honey-dark with lust and affection. Their kiss was wet and unhurried, tongues sweeping lazily. Warmth flooded through him when their erections nudged together, shooting sparks up his spine. Ripping his mouth away with a curse, Tay’s whispered, “Please. Please, Kota,” against Dakota’s lips had him grabbing the lube.

  When he’d stretched Tay out and Tay was clenching the pillow behind his head, spread open and dripping, chest heaving, Dakota licked his leaking erection from root to tip.

  “Kota, please.”

  He crawled up Tay’s body to kiss him hard. “You’re so pretty.”

  He half expected Tay to rebut, proclaim he was a butch hockey player; instead, he narrowed his eyes and swore at Dakota for making him wait even one more second. Busting Dakota’s expectations yet again.

  Flipping them over, Tay straddled Dakota’s thighs, dressed him in a condom, and added lube, biting his lip around a smile so fucking seductive as he met Dakota’s eyes that Dakota quivered. Fuck, that smirk was heady and irresistible. There was nothing Dakota could do but stare, hands clamped on Tay’s thighs while he slowly sank onto Dakota’s cock. God, oh shit. Throwing his head back, Dakota panted, toes curling, locking his muscles and forcing himself to remain still so Tay could get used to him.

  Hissing in a breath through his teeth, he said, “You have great ideas,” and ran his palms up Tay’s sweat-slicked torso.

  “Don’t make me laugh right now, asshole.” Tay braced a hand on Dakota’s chest and rose so leisurely it was excruciating. Dakota gritted his teeth. Shit, he could feel every inch of Tay as he slid almost all the way off his cock and then back down.

  A drop of perspiration slid down Tay’s neck. His eyes fell closed, a choked groan escaping his lips. “Okay.” He fell forward, arms bracketing Dakota’s head, face hovering an inch away. The heat radiating off him burned Dakota up. Bringing his arms up, he banded them around Tay’s lower back, one hand fastening on his ass. There came that salacious grin again. “You can fuck me into the mattress now.”

  Dakota flipped them again and did as told. Whether he fucked Tay into the mattress or until kingdom come, did it really matter? They were the same in the end. It was hard and fast, Dakota pistoning his hips, every inch of his cock ready to go as it slid against the walls of Tay’s channel. A flare ignited at the base of his spine, racing up his back in a shower of bright flashes. He’d blow any second, but he wanted to take Tay with him.

  Tay was incoherent beneath him, head thrashing, muttering under his breath. God damn, had he ever seen anything as stunning as Tay begging for release? Dakota took his leaking erection in one hand and pulled, eliciting a sobbed breath from Tay that turned into a drawn-out groan that reverberated in Dakota’s bones. When they came a minute later, it was together, Dakota’s face in Tay’s neck and Tay digging nails into Dakota’s back.

  Five thirty was much too early of a wake-up call.

  Yawning, Dakota leaned back against the counter in his kitchen in nothing but old sweatpants, waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. Next to him, Tay bopped his hips along to the music streaming on Dakota’s Bluetooth speakers, some pop number Dakota vaguely remembered hearing on the radio, while scrambling the eggs and chopping fruit at the same time.

  Oh, the vigor of youth.

  Dakota had been like that too at twenty-three—able to stay up having sex all night and then be ready to go before the sun came up the next morning. He was certainly feeling invigorated today; didn’t mean he couldn’t use a power nap before work.

  “Stay in bed,” Tay had murmured into his neck when Dakota’s alarm had gone off much too soon.

  “I’m up,” Dakota had mumbled, forcing his eyes open, wanting another hour alone with Tay before he left for morning skate. Tay kissed the back of his neck, up to his ear, and over his jaw, tiny barely-there kisses that sent delicious shivers coursing down Dakota’s spine.

  Reaching an arm back, Dakota hooked it around Tay’s neck, urging Tay to lean over him so he could kiss him, unbrushed teeth, morning breath and all. Tay chuckled into the kiss, scattered little ones over Dakota’s stubbled cheeks, then bounced out of bed. “Do you have breakfast things?” he asked, arms up over his head in a languid stretch.

  Never mind the alarm; a naked Tay with sleep creases on his shoulder and cheek, sporting morning wood and morning scruff, dried come in his pubes, was a better wake-up call than incessant beeping.

  “Just don’t eat the Paw Patrol yogurt,” Dakota said.

  Paw Patrol yogurt, Tay mouthed. Then he shrugged, pulled on his briefs, and disappeared downstairs.

  For a moment, Dakota had lain in bed, smiling at the ceiling, the covers bunched around his waist. Tay was fun. When was the last time Dakota had fun of the adult variety? The last time Andy had stayed the night at Fiona’s? That was . . . last September? And his fun adult night out in The Village with Calder had been cut short with a phone call from Andy just after ten, begging his dad to come pick him up. Andy loved spending the night at Calder’s. But at his mom’s? Not so much.

  The coffee spurted, finally finished brewing, pulling Dakota to the present. He poured them each a cup and handed one to Tay. “Do you need to go home and get your gear?”

  “Nope.” Tay grinned at him over his shoulder. “It’s in my car.”

  Dakota paused with the mug halfway to his mouth.

  Tay smiled wider. “Brought it with me. I was hopeful.” He went back to the eggs. “Plus, I overheard Calder say that Andy was staying with him, remember?”

  “Doesn’t mean you had to stay,” Dakota teased.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. Did I look reluctant?”

  Chuckling, Dakota kissed the back of his neck, then set the t
able. Cutlery, butter for the bread Tay popped in the toaster, jam, salt and pepper, hot sauce, maple syrup.

  “What’s the maple syrup for?” Tay asked, turning off the burner. He plated the eggs and brought the plates to the table.

  Dakota grunted. “Habit.” He put it back in the fridge. “Andy likes maple syrup on his scrambled eggs. On everything, really.”

  “Ooh, that sounds good.”

  Opening the fridge again, Dakota removed the syrup and handed it to Tay when he walked past with a plate of toast. Ass muscles clenched and released, clenched and released as Tay headed for the breakfast nook, and his back muscles moved sinuously, like rippling water. Dakota swallowed hard and let the fridge slam closed. Did they have time for a quickie before Tay had to leave?

  Only if Tay sacrificed breakfast, and given he was about to go skate for however-many hours and then probably work out for however-many hours, that didn’t seem like a good idea. In fact, he should be eating more than eggs, fruit, and toast.

  “Are you a steak and eggs kind of guy? I have leftover steak from last night.”

  “Only if you want to get rid of it,” Tay said. He looked like an overgrown child sitting at the breakfast nook without a shirt. “I saw it in there but didn’t want to assume I could take it.”

  “My fridge is your fridge.”

  “Except for the Paw Patrol yogurt.”

  Dakota turned the burner back on and used Tay’s discarded pan to heat the steak, throwing Tay a smile. “Andy’s generally a pretty easy-going kid, but God forbid someone eats his yogurt.” Once the steak was warm, he placed the pan on a trivet on the table and sat across from Tay.

  Before he got distracted by Tay’s wide shoulders or his erect nipples, he shifted on the bench seat and cleared his throat. “About Andy.”

  “I’ll be out of your hair before he gets back,” Tay said, waving his fork in the air. “Unless he’s going to be back in the next half hour or so?”

  Dakota stared at him. “Uh, no. Calder’s dropping him off at preschool straight from his place.”

  “Okay. What about him then?” Tay’s brow scrunched. “Is he okay?”

  “Yeah, he’s fine. Just . . .” How did you tell the guy you were seeing that you didn’t want your kid to know about him yet? “I haven’t told him about us.” Apparently, blurting it was just fine.

  “I figured.” Tay put his fork down, crossing his forearms on the table and leaning forward. “He won’t hear it from me. We’re on your timetable for that.”

  Dakota slumped back against the seat, the leather of the bench cold against his back. “Why are you so understanding?”

  “I never meant to date a single parent, you know?” Shrugging, Tay picked up his fork and pushed his eggs around on his plate. “But like I said last night—I like you. A lot.” He shrugged again, smile lopsided, pink dotting his cheekbones. “And you happen to come with a kid. I’m okay with that. I like Andy too. I’m actually kind of bummed I won’t get to see him this morning, but I get it.”

  “Do you want kids?”

  Pouring a little bit of maple syrup onto a portion of his eggs, Tay took a bite. “Damn,” he said, eyes wide as globes. “That is good. Hats off to the little man.”

  Dakota forked a slice of apple off the plate of fruit in the middle of the table, unaccountably disappointed that Tay hadn’t answered his question.

  “Yes,” Tay said. “To answer your question, I do want kids.” Oblivious to Dakota’s slight pause, he continued. “Not, like, a gaggle of them or anything. But I always thought I’d have one or two. Did you and Fiona plan on having more? Before the whole . . .” He waved his fork around again as if that would encompass the whole not-wanting-to-be-a-mom thing.

  “We had wanted two, close in age. Or, at least, Fiona did. She had a few friends who were single children, and she thought they were all self-absorbed and lacked a certain degree of empathy. She didn’t want that for our kid.”

  Tay frowned. “That’s some messed up logic. I’ve known single children who were awesome. Besides, Andy’s not like that. He’s great.”

  Dakota’s chest grew two sizes. “I think so too, but I’m biased.”

  After breakfast, they cleaned up quickly, and in no time, Tay was dressing in last night’s jeans and sweater, declining the use of Dakota’s shower. “I’m going to be so rank in a couple of hours that I’m going to need another one anyway.”

  “You say the sexiest things.”

  It made Tay laugh, and Dakota did so love seeing that smile on his face.

  In the foyer, Tay dressed in his outerwear while Dakota propped himself against the wall.

  “What are you going to do now?” Tay asked. “Get some work done?”

  It was barely six. Not having to drop Andy off at preschool meant that he didn’t need to leave for the office for another two hours. Two and a half if he really pushed it. One if he wanted to hit the gym before work.

  That wasn’t looking likely.

  “Don’t judge, but I’m contemplating a nap.”

  “I don’t judge.” Finished lacing up his boots, Tay planted a small kiss on Dakota’s lips. “I take naps all the time before a game.”

  “Yeah, but you probably also spend the entire morning at practice or working out.” Winding his arms around Tay, Dakota nipped his nose. “All we did was have sex.”

  “Oh, all we did.” Tay’s teasing eye roll was massive. “Should we perform an acrobatic routine next time?”

  “Hm.” Dakota’s blood heated, and he let it, despite knowing he was teasing them both unnecessarily. But it was oh so fun. “I bet you’re plenty flexible.”

  Tay’s voice dropped to a rough whisper. “Oh, you have no idea how bendy I can get.”

  When Tay’s mouth met his, it was slightly minty from the glob of Dakota’s toothpaste he’d run over his teeth with his finger. Tay’s hands ran over his bare chest, and Dakota shivered, wanting more and more and more, wanting Tay writhing beneath him again, knowing it couldn’t happen. At least, not right now.

  With a groan that vibrated into Dakota’s chest, Tay wrenched his mouth away. He was back a second later for one, two, three quick kisses.

  Chuckling, Dakota pushed him toward the door. “Go.”

  “I’m going, I’m going.” Tay pulled the door open. “Tell Andy I said hi,” he said over his shoulder. “And that I’ll come make that castle with him soon.”

  “He’ll love that,” Dakota said, all casual-like, as though Tay’s words didn’t make him ache with too many feelings he hadn’t felt in a long, long time.

  Tay was gone with one last flash of a smile, closing the door behind him.

  God. Sinking against the wall, Dakota ran his hands over his face. From casual dinners to first date to sex in only two weeks. It wasn’t fast, not really, but given Dakota hadn’t dated since Fiona, it felt like warp speed.

  And a part of him couldn’t bring himself to care.

  This month’s family dinner landed on a Thursday, four days after Tay’s date with Dakota, three days after a win against Edmonton, two days after his interview with Sandy at Dakota’s office for their fundraising letter, and one day after an epic loss to Boston. Part of the blame for that loss lay squarely on Tay’s shoulders: he’d had the perfect opening—no D-men in his way, the goalie distracted by a loitering Stanton—and Tay had shot. Only his elbow had locked, and his slapshot turned into a tiny poke, the puck drifting lazily into a waiting Boston player’s hands. Or stick, as it were. The perfect breakaway.

  Oh, and family dinner was also three hours after an email from his professor with his mark from the last biology test.

  Sixty-four percent.

  And he’d been bemoaning the seventy-three he’d gotten on the previous test. He should’ve been celebrating.

  Maybe he should get Grey to tutor him. Ugh. All Grey had done was read the stupid textbook—in record time—and already he was smarter than Tay. Why was it so hard for Tay to grasp concepts that were so damn easy fo
r Grey?

  Oh, because biology was fucking hard. He’d rather perform hockey drills all day than learn about transcription and signal transduction and gene expression.

  And that said a lot about how he felt about his program, huh?

  He’d come straight from campus, where shit had gotten real in today’s pre-hospital care class—this week’s labs involved actual real-life case studies. The practical portion would begin next week. Sitting in his parents’ living room, Tay stared at a blank page on his drawing app on his iPad and contemplated the pros and cons of dropping out of school.

  Pros: no more studying, no more questioning if this was the right path for him, and he’d get so much time back.

  Cons: pity from his sisters, two years wasted, two years’ worth of tuition squandered.

  He was a failure if he stayed but wasn’t smart enough to get better grades, and he was a failure if he dropped out.

  “What are you working on?” Mom dropped down onto the couch next to him. Tay had arrived early to help her make dinner, which meant that his dad and sisters were in charge of after-dinner cleanup.

  Tay turned his tablet around to show her the blank screen.

  She mock gasped, hand flying to her chest. “My baby. He’s so talented.”

  Snorting a laugh, Tay flipped the cover over his tablet and put it back in his bag. His mom sunk into a corner of the couch, socked feet on the coffee table, head back, coffee mug clasped between both hands. Tay and his sisters got their hair, eyes, and skin coloring from their dad: gold and gold and wintry pasty. From his mom, Tay had gotten her rounded nose, her chin, and her height—she was almost six feet tall compared to his five-foot-six dad.

  “So, tell me,” Mom said. “Where’d you end up taking your guy on your first date? Your dad told me,” she added at Tay’s questioning look.

  “Nowhere fancy. Just the Wildflower Café in High Park.”

  “Oh, they make good scones.”

  Tay mimicked Mom’s position, feet on the coffee table, and crossed his arms over his chest. “Do you think I should’ve taken him somewhere more . . . high-class?”