Riley scooped him in a hug that threatened to push the air from his lungs. “You’ve stolen three from me already. I’m going to run out of clothes at this rate.”
Hockey players were always so fucking dramatic.
“I bet Kingston would let me keephissweater,” Allen teased. “I bet he wouldn’t even ask for it back in the first place.”
There was a long pause, and then Riley sighed. “You’re such a petty jackass sometimes.”
Allen tilted his head back and grinned at Riley’s scowling face. “I think you mispronouncedpretty, Riles.”
“Prettyfucking sure I didn’t,” Riley shot back.
But even after all of Riley’s grumbling, Allen left the gym still wearing his new hoodie a minute later, with Riley muttering behind him.
16 /RILEY
Riley heldthe container filled with warm food in his shaking hands as he stood outside his apartment door. He hadn’t moved for the past six minutes, and he knew he had to go inside soon or risk explaining his shifty behaviour to a neighbour, but he was scared.
Why? Why did everything have to be so goddamn complicated?
Riley had been doing just fine living his straight, uncomplicated life until Kingston Sloan hadkissedhim and toppled every belief he’d had to the ground. And it wasn’t the kiss—Riley had kissed Jake tons of times when they were teens, so he wasn’t unaccustomed to making out with a guy.
With Jake, lines hadn’t been blurred because Riley had only been helping his friend on his self-discovery journey. It never made him feel anything beyond a fuzzy, warm feeling that he always associated with his best friend. Kissing Jake never made him question his sexuality because Rileyknewwho he was.
So why did memories of Sloan aggressively bullying his tongue into his mouth send Riley’s blood singing through his veins? Why had his skin tingled when their lips brushed? And why had the taste of blood made his cock so fuckinghard?
Riley crushed his bottom lip between his teeth to stifle a sound that he would never admit was a whimper. Knocking his head angrily against the door, he glared down at the leftovers Jake had given him and contemplated finding a window to toss them out of.
What was it about Sloan? Was it possible for someone to have magic pheromones strong enough to override a person’s sexuality, or had Riley always been like this?
Fuck, he hoped he was a newly emerging bisexual. Being bisexual meant Riley could be attracted tomen, not justSloan.
He knocked his head against the door for a second time, making it throb angrily.
Liking guys, he could handle. Riley had Allen and Jake as a support system, and he trusted them with every fibre of his soul. But if the attraction stopped at Sloan, he would never forgive his dick.
Riley groaned, feeling pathetic as he lifted his head to bump it again—only for the door to swing open to reveal his furious roommate.
“Have you lost your goddamn mind?” Sloan hissed, his nostrils flaring as he let out a harsh breath. “What is it with you and hitting your head on things? Do you know you’ve been standing out here for half an hour like a fuckingpsychopath?”
Thirty minutes? Had it really been that long?
“How did you know I was here?” Riley asked, fighting to keep the anger from his tone. “Do you have X-ray vision?”
Sloan’s perfect, plush lips parted slightly before his mouth fell open. Riley was too distracted by them to register the shock on Sloan’s face until a barking laugh startled him.
“You have a fucking ring camera that you gave me access to,dumbass,” said Sloan, thrusting his phone into Riley’s face so he could see the camera feed. “Get in here before someone sees you and calls the cops here for a welfare check.”
Riley choked on his next breath, suddenly terrified to step over the threshold, but Sloan had apparently run out of patience. He grabbed Riley by the shirt collar with a growl and yanked him inside, nearly tripping him in his haste.
“Dude—”
Riley stepped out of hitting range, staring mournfully at the door as Sloan slammed it closed and turned on him.
“Thought I told you to stay at your friend’s place tonight,” said Sloan. He leaned against the door, giving off an air of superiority as he folded his arms across his broad chest. “You got a death wish?”
Riley stared at Sloan, drinking in the sight of his messy, white-blond hair, spattered freckles and bare chest. His lack of a shirt made it easy for Riley to ogle Sloan’s cut figure and tapered waist, all of which he had noticed before, but it felt different now that he knew what his rival’s vicious mouth tasted like.
Sloan must have been napping because he looked sleep-rumpled and tired, and his eyes were red like he had been rubbing them. No—because he had been crying.