“Fine. I sat on my ass all night.” He put a hand to the small of Caleb’s back, letting his body mass shield the action from view. Any other time he wouldn’t bother, but this was a very mixed crowd of people in the central city tonight, and not every visitor was from a place that was totally friendly.
But he wanted to get Caleb inside and get him warmed up. In fact, he even looked for a bar or maybe a gelato shop that they could duck into for a moment, but everything was packed.
By the time they made it back to the hotel, he hustled Caleb inside, wanting him to be more comfortable, as the limp had gotten worse. Hell, his knee was aching too.
“Shower?” Hawk asked. “I have a bottle of wine in the room. One of the Italian broadcasters gave it to me a couple of days ago.”
“Sure. Heated water and natural painkillers.” Caleb waited until they were in the elevator to grab the zipper of his fleece and pull Hawk down to him to steal a kiss.
Hawk kissed him right back, but he tried not to get his engine revved, though, because he could tell how sore and tired Caleb was.
It worried him.
They got to the room, and he took off his coat and gloves. “Get in the shower, baby. I’ll get the wine open so it can breathe and join you, huh?”
That got him another soft kiss and a squeeze to his ass. “You’re good to me. You know that?”
“I like it. I may be socially awkward, but I’ve always liked doing nice stuff for people I care about.” Was that too much information? Was it too much in general?
Caleb laughed, the sound tired but pleased, he thought. “Ilike it too, babe. I’m happy to be spoiled.” Stripping off his team USA uniform as he went, Caleb dropped his clothes on the floor, and soon enough the shower came on.
Hawk picked up Caleb’s clothes and draped them over a chair before he opened the bottle of wine with the opener the hotel had provided.
After setting it and a couple of hotel glasses next to the bed, Hawk stripped off as well before heading to the bathroom to see Caleb through the steamed-up glass, just standing under the spray from the rain bath showerhead, eyes closed, head tilted back.
“Okay if I come in?” Hawk wasn’t a little guy. He couldn’t slip into the shower easily without Caleb moving.
“Fuck, yeah.” Caleb moved toward the tiled wall, and Hawk stepped inside, reaching for his shampoo.
“So, how did this opening compare to the last two?” Hawk asked as he lathered Caleb’s hair.
“Uh… It was good. I mean, both PyeongChang and Beijing were cool, but, you know, Beijing was during Covid, so that was weird…”
“Yeah. Like I said, it’s different from the booth, but I enjoyed it. Having to keep talking, though, that was a lot of pressure.”
“I thought you did it all the time?” Caleb blinked water out of his eyes, then stared at him curiously.
“Hockey is different. It’s easy. They give us a sheet of stats and shit, and we toss those in while we talk about what’s happening on the ice. But trying to color commentate something like the opening and make sure there’s no dead air… Ugh.” He’d felt the pressure. Thank God for Casey.
“Huh. Well, I’m sure you did amazing.” Caleb grabbed the shower gel from the shelf, getting his hands all soapy. “You’re way less awkward that you think, you know.”
“Am I?” Hawk hummed when Caleb began washing, starting with his shoulders and arms, then his chest.
“Yeah. I mean, I can see where some shit makes you uncomfortable, but you got me all charmed.”
He laughed, massaging Caleb’s head for a moment, which made Caleb seem to lose words. He moaned, instead, leaning toward Hawk.
“That just means I’m good at hiding it. So yay.”
Caleb pinched his nipple, making him jump. “Don’t put yourself down.”
“Ow!” He rinsed Caleb’s hair, smiling. “Okay. I’ll do my best, huh?”
“Good.” Caleb scrubbed his chest, then his hips and ass. God, he loved those hands on him. Caleb had calluses in a totally different pattern than his own hockey ones, and his touch was firm and strong.
They washed each other, and his cock was half-hard the whole time, but it never got urgent. Hawk reminded himself that Caleb was exhausted, and he was pretty damn tired too.
They could be acrobatic in the morning, maybe, before Caleb had to leave. But now could just be wine and bed and being together.