Page 100 of Over the Line

The heat in his eyes made me pulse soar. He licked his lips. “Well, damn. Now I can’t decide.”

I shrugged, pretending my dick wasn’t getting hard. “Sounds like we both win either way. I mean, you’ll still lose at Uno, but⁠—”

“You’re awfully confident you’ll beat me.”

“You’re awfully confident I won’t.” I shifted a little to accommodate my hard-on. His devilish little smirk wasn’t helping at all.

“Won’t know until we try,” he said with that smirk still firmly in place. “So…dads’ trip?”

“You’re on.” Why was I out of breath?

He grinned. “Not sure if I’m gonna be able to concentrate on Uno or hockey with you along on that trip.” He shifted the same way I had a moment ago, and from the way his shoulder moved, he was adjusting himself outside the frame. “I’m going to be distracted as hell.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

He quirked his lips again and shook his head. “Nah. I’m always up for a challenge.”

I laughed. “Well, I’m happy to help keep things interesting for you.”

“You always do.” His little grin somehow managed to be both wicked and sweet, and it was doing absolutely nothing to help me pull myself together.

“So do you,” was all I could say.

He laughed softly. Then he glanced off-camera and sighed. “I should get some sleep. Kids will be up early to open presents.”

That gave me a pang of sad nostalgia, remembering all those years of getting up stupid early on Christmas morning to watch my kids tear open their gifts. “Sounds like fun. It was nice to talk for a few, though.”

“It was. Do you, uh…” He bit his lip. “Do you want to chat again tomorrow? After all the festivities are over?”

“Definitely,” I whispered. “I’m looking forward to it.”

His smile warmed me all over. “Me too. Good night, Garrett.”

Good night. And Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas.”

We ended the call a moment later, and I closed my eyes as I sat there in my silent bedroom. I was still turned on, still uncomfortably hard, but not as frustrated as I thought I’d be after our conversation hadn’t turned into getting ourselves off on-camera. I was admittedly still kind of shy about doing that—though another of those long road trips and I’d probably shake off that shyness in a hurry—but tonight, I’d just wanted to see him. Even if we couldn’t be in the same space, even if we couldn’t have sex, I wanted to hear his voice. I wanted to share some of that banter with him.

We’d get into bed together again soon enough. I could wait, even if it was a challenge.

But getting to chat with him, even for a few minutes…

That was everything I needed tonight.

CHAPTER 24

LIAM

Oh God. Mistakes were made.

I drank as much as the next hockey player—okay, maybe not that much, but I did drink. Christmas Eve with my folks, though, always tested what my liver could handle. They weren’t even heavy drinkers and neither were my brother or his wife, but tonight and New Year’s, we all made exceptions.

Which meant Christmas morning was always a subdued affair in the St. Clair house.

Sitting on my couch with a thumping head and an enormous cup of extra strength coffee, I watched my nieces and nephews opening their gifts from Santa Claus. Though I wasn’t fond of being hungover, I honestly couldn’t complain.

My brother, Brock, was here with his wife, Heather, and their four kids. The older two were happily diving into some new electronics from my parents and me while the younger kids played with the toys they’d received. Dad was helping my older nephew, Caden, set up his new iPhone. Mom and Heather watched while the little ones scattered Lego bricks and markers all over my living room. Brock and Ella were focused on the TV as they tried to outmaneuver each other on Mario Kart.