Between the Pipes (Offsides #3)

by J.J. Mulder

The rest of the week passes by in a blur of hockey and sex. I leave my house in the morning, and don’t return until the other side of midnight. Nico and I don’t go back to my place, but fall into a routine of going to his after camp finishes for the day. One would think, based on the sheer volume of orgasms alone, that I’d be satisfied, but I’m not. In fact, my want is only getting worse. A craving I can’t fulfill, no matter how much I eat. I’m sleeping like shit, despite being dead tired by the time I get home. The second my head hits the pillow in my empty bed, alone in my empty house, sleep is impossible. It’s not being alone that bothers me, per se, not when I’ve spent my entire adult life living alone. No, what’s bothering me is the fact that I really shouldn’t have to be alone. My relationship with Nico, three weeks strong, is the longest running relationship I’ve ever had. And it’s not even fucking real. Nico remains irritatingly steadfast, never giving me more than an inch. And even that, I have to work for. We go to practice, eat dinner, fuck a couple times, and I leave. Like goddamn clockwork. A tiny sliver of shame has lodged itself in my sternum, and every night of sleep I lose it grows a little bigger. This thing between Nico and I isn’t just a hook up, not to me. Sounds like you might be setting yourself up for heartbreak, Sam had told me. Looks like he’s going to owe me an I told you so, before this is through.