Page 34 of Tough Call

I couldn’t lie, though—I liked it. I liked being this ridiculous and giddy over someone. Even if it was just a little fling while we were in the same city, it was fun, and I liked it, and I liked him, and apparently I’d been single too long because I wanted more.

So… maybe it was stupid, but I wasn’t going to argue with it. Instead, I was going to get my ass to the restaurant and spend as much time as I could with the grownup version of the boy I hadn’t realized I’d been missing.

Shortly before our reservation, I took a cab into the Old Town. The restaurant was a gorgeous place tucked into an old building on Žatecká, and I could see why he’d insisted on reservations; there were people shivering outside as they waited for a table.

I didn’t have to wait, though, and in minutes, I was once again seated across from Madars at an intimate table for two in a warmly lit restaurant.

It could’ve been a triple-Michelin-starred restaurant or a dumpy old diner for all I paid attention to my surroundings, though. I was far too focused on the man sitting opposite me.

His face lit by the tiny lantern on our table, Madars smiled at me. He looked tired—I think everyone involved in the Games was exhausted by this point—but his smile was sweet and soft. He’d worn a jacket and tie tonight, same as me, and my God, he made it look good. The near-black fabric had a few damp spots where snowflakes had landed and melted, and a few strands of his dark hair were ever so slightly mussed from when he’d taken off his hat and finger-combed them

He had to be the most gorgeous thing I’d ever seen.

It didn’t hurt that the soft, warm light illuminated little hints of the kid I’d known back then. Of course I didn’t find a sixteen-year-old attractive now—God, no—but those hints and flickers made me nostalgic for that time when I’d thought two years might just last forever.

“Have you ever kissed a boy before?” he’d shyly asked me one day in the hot tub when we’d had the house to ourselves.

I’d shaken my head as heat had bloomed in my face. “No. You?”

“No. Never.” He’d swallowed, struggling to hold my gaze. “No girls, either.” Something in his eyes had made me both curious and bold in ways I’d never known before.

“Do you… Do you want to kiss a boy?”

Biting his lip, he’d nodded. “Do you?”

To this day, I couldn’t remember what words my nervous teenage mouth had managed to say. That memory was lost to time and, more than anything, to the overwhelming gentleness of my lips cautiously touching his for the first time.

And now here we were, two adults sitting across from each other. That lantern dropped hints about our past, but it also lit up his eyes, and in those beautiful eyes was a degree of heat our teenage selves had never explored. It was everything we’d done in my bed and against the wall in that alley, and everything I couldn’t wait to do again once we could truly be alone.

A shiver went up my spine, and I couldn’t mask it.

One corner of his mouth rose as his eyes narrowed slightly, as if he saw right through to my thoughts and my ascending body temperature. “You all right?”

I nodded and reached for my water glass. “I’m good. I’m good. I, uh…” I took a quick sip, not that it helped. “Just, um…” Hell, why be shy about it? We’d both been on the same page so far. Locking eyes with him, I rasped, “Just really wish we both had the energy to meet for more than dinner tonight.”

His eyebrows flicked up and his lips parted, and now he squirmed in his seat as he picked up his own drink. When he put the glass back down, he sounded breathless. “Do you think that’s why the games are so close together? So no one has time to fuck?”

I barked a laugh that was a little louder than I’d intended. A couple of heads turned, and I stared into my drink as my cheeks heated. Meeting his mischievous eyes, I said, “Maybe? I thought it had to do with not forcing the NAL to have a huge break in the season, but… you could be on to something.”

Madars laughed. “We have time to fuck at the Olympics, so…”

Both jealousy and interest twisted in my chest as I imagined him hooking up with someone at the Olympics. “You have experience with that, hmm?”

He half-shrugged, and even the dim lighting couldn’t mask the color in his face. “I mean, there’s only so much time I can spend practicing, playing, and watching hockey, so…”

I grinned as interest nudged jealousy out of the picture. “Do tell.”

He cocked a brow. “You want me to tell you about hooking up with other people at the Olympics?”

“Why not?” I picked up my drink and absently swirled it like wine. “I feel like you’ve got some stories.”

Madars laughed as his cheeks darkened even more. “A few, yeah.”

“A few? Oh, come on.” I nudged his foot beneath the table. “Tell me.”

“Um, well…” He stared at the table between us for a moment. Then he took a breath and looked at me through his lashes. “There was a figure skating duo. I won’t say what country, but they’re a couple.” He chuckled. “The man was bi and had never been with another man before, so… we ended up having a threeway.”

“Oh, really? I didn’t think you were into women.”