I Lost a Bet to My Hockey Rival, Now I Wear His Number novel · Chapter 16 of 24
Chapter 16: The Mark
Nash got the apartment door open on the third try, because Gaspard had a hand inside his shirt.
"Keys," Gaspard said, against his neck.
"I'm trying."
"You are not trying."
"You're breathing on me."
The door swung in, and they fell into a kitchen that smelled like old pizza and clean laundry.
It was a third-floor flat in a three-decker in South Boston, four streets from the rink where Nash had learned to skate.
Gaspard stopped on the mat.
He looked at the table piled with takeout menus, and the couch with a hockey bag on it, and the wall by the window.
A framed photograph hung there, crooked.
It showed a boy of eight in a jersey down to his knees, grinning with no front teeth, on the ice of an old rink.
"That is you," Gaspard said.
"That's me."
"You have always looked like this."
"Like what?"
"Like you are about to say something that will get you hit."
"It usually does."
Gaspard looked at the photograph for a long moment.
Nash watched him do it, and felt something lift in his chest.
Then Gaspard turned around and said, "Slowly."
"What?"
"Tonight we go slowly."
"We've never gone slowly."
"That is the problem."
"You said it into a microphone, you animal. Slow is the opposite of what you said."
"I said slowly." Gaspard crossed the kitchen and took Nash's face in both hands. "I meant it."
He kissed him.
It was the kind of kiss that asked for nothing, and got everything.
It went on until Nash forgot he was standing, and had to hold onto Gaspard's belt.
"Jersey," Gaspard murmured.
"The bet says in public."
"This is not public."
"You said every inch of day."
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–6 of I Lost a Bet to My Hockey Rival, Now I Wear His Number are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
← Chapter 15 · All chapters · Chapter 17 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend