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Colby Kessinger cannot take that from me. Ah, I hope. He had me under his spell once, but I was young and reckless then. I’m much smarter and better prepared to handle him if it comes to that.
I’m the reason I’m so fucked-up? Sounds like a scam.
“I speak some Russian too, you dick. And it doesn’t matter which language you imply I’m exhausting in, you’re still wrong. Now, spill. Why the call?”
“It was one season a billion years ago. He didn’t even remember me until I reminded him. I don’t hold it against him. As well as old knees, he also has an old brain.” “You have old face,” Novi grumbles some more.
“You’re still the same old Novi. You act tough and joke about being a delightful ray of sunshine, but the truth is, you’re not joking at all. Deep down, you’re a gentle sweetheart who wants to be loved for who he is.”
“You’re drunk,” he whispers. “You don’t know what you’re doing.” With a heated look, I reach into my pocket and pull out another three quarters. I take aim for my hat and bounce all three perfectly into it. Colby’s mouth is hanging open. “You …” He looks back up at me, and when his gray eyes meet mine, I decide they might be my favorite color I have ever seen.
Kissing Colby might be better than hockey.
“Ezra gave you advice about me?” “He is very wise. He got someone as hot as Anton to love him, even with his annoying personality.”
“I have thought about it.” “That wasn’t long enough.” “Yes it was, because the answer is simple. I want you. I want you now. And if I have to face the reality I’ve been hiding from for the last seventeen years to have you, then I will. Because I didn’t let this happen once before, and I’m not going to make that same mistake again.”
“You couldn’t keep your eyes off me.” Colby’s eyes shine with amusement, but he keeps that flat, professional expression. “That is my job.” “Did you check out my ass?” He chokes on an inhale and glances around. “What happened to keeping this on the down-low?” “My voice is down very low.”
He’s so pushy, and if it was any other guy and not Novi, I would think he was being way too clingy, but just like I can see his actual bubbly personality under his I-will-kill-you face, I know he’s only trying to tempt me.
“I should be flattered that you went to such lengths to see me, but you’re being reckless again.” “Not reckless. Romantic.”
“You know that’s not the right phrase, and I’m not going to play your game anymore. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you writing notes in your phone whenever anyone corrects your English.” Novi unleashes one of his amused smiles, which is really only the quirk of his lips on one side. “Now, that’s romantic.” “What? No it’s not.” “Not me keeping score, but you noticing that I do it.”
“I’ll go. If you want me there.” He scoffs. “Now who speaks bad English?” “How was that bad English?” “Because it makes no sense. I want you everywhere with me.”
“So we talk. Compromise. Then if one of us is firmly no, we say …” “Anaheim.” “Anaheim?” “Yeah. From now on, it means I love you, but I’m overruling this one.” I’m thinking it over when Colby finally smiles. “And no. You don’t get to Anaheim everything. Let me win sometimes.” “You have me.” I cup his face. “You’ve already won.”
If I could go back and tell that scared kid with the pressure of the world of hockey breathing down his neck that pro hockey is not in his future—at least not in the way he thinks it will be—and that he’ll find himself in an NHL locker room one day talking about how much he loves a man and that his team actually supports it … Past Colby would probably cry. Because this is the world I want to be living in. It’s the world every queer person should be living in. We deserve happiness too, and I’ve found mine. With Novi.
