Open Net (Cayuga Cougars Book 2)

by V. L. Locey

  An hour later I was driving home to Sal and feeling down in the mouth as my dad would say.

  “Hey, I was trying to call you.” Sal met me at the door with a saucy kiss and two tickets to something. I couldn’t read what it was, because he was too busy kissing me to let me see the tickets, which was okay. His fingers dancing over my side sent small ripples of pleasure through me. Then he broke away, smiling so brightly I felt warm just from seeing his happiness. “Did you not turn your phone on, or is it dead?”

  “One of the two. What are they for?” I asked, and grabbed for the tickets. He danced in reverse and spun around neatly to avoid my second attempt to get what he was holding.

  “This is why I whip you at hoops,” he taunted, then flipped the tickets at me.

  “Yeah, well, we’ll put you on skates and see how salty you are,” I said while plucking the tickets out of the air. I flipped them over and smiled. My gaze went to Sal, looking as hot as hell in a pair of torn jeans and nothing else. “Are these legit?”

  “Yep.” He popped the P with sass. “Some guy at work had them. Said he and his son were going to go but something came up, so he wanted to know if we’d take them. You up for some Buffalo Bengals baseball tomorrow afternoon? I thought maybe it would cheer you up after getting your ass chewed.”

  “For sure.”

  Sal whooped in glee, his smile majorly infectious.

  “You always make me feel better.”

  He danced just out of reach, slipping backward until he’d led me into the bedroom. “Bet I can make you feel even better,” he said, then reached for the band of my slacks.

  With a tug on the belt, we were chest to chest, his mouth over mine, his hands roaming under my dress shirt. I wanted him so badly my body pulsed and ached. My clothes were quickly peeled off, as were his jeans. He slid between my legs. His lips moved over my throat, and his cock, sheathed in latex and slick with lube, nudged under my balls. I clawed at his shoulders and sides.

  “Hurry,” I growled after an ungodly amount of time had passed and he still wasn’t inside me. I arched up.

  He pressed me back onto the bed, letting all his weight settle on my chest. The head of his cock bumped against my ass, but it was his slippery fingers that entered me. I groaned and cursed. Sal kissed my throat, then ran his tongue into the divot under my Adam’s apple. He stroked, rotated, pulled a finger out then pushed in two. Over and over, until he had a trio inside me.

  “You’re so beautiful, Aug,” he purred, lapping at my nipples as he softly stroked my prostate. “Tight and hot, slick, horny, beautiful man,” he said, the words falling out to moisten my damp chest. I grunted his name as I fisted the bedding. “You want more of this, or you want my cock?”

  “Your cock, your cock,” I replied in short gasps. He pulled his fingers out slowly, then cupped my balls. “Hurry, shit, hurry.” His prick slid downward, resting for just a second at my entrance before he rotated his hips. “Fuck,” I said on a fast exhalation. He paused, waited, then moved deeper. Muscles stretched and pulled, burning pain mingled with exquisite pleasure.

  “Slow and easy, Aug,” he murmured, his face buried in my neck as his ass began to rise and fall.

  I turned my head, took his earlobe between my lips, and started to suck. I felt the tremors roll through him. He said something short, hot, and Spanish. I suckled harder on his ear. He pumped in and out of me with more speed, then threw his head side to side, yanking his ear from my teeth. Balls slapping, hands grasping, toes curling, he fucked me across the bed. I snaked my hand downward, fisted my fingers around the base of my cock, and began stroking myself. Sal’s eyes locked with mine. I watched as his orgasm drew closer, then overtook him. I pumped my dick hard and came with him. Sal pulled out quickly, then lay over me, hands on either side of my head, chest plastered to chest with semen, and he kissed me with gentle passion.

  “Wow,” he huffed before I put a hand to the back of his neck and pulled him down for more tongue action. “You sure do like baseball tickets.”

  “You should see what I’d do for tickets to the final round of the Stanley Cup,” I teased, then nibbled on his kiss-swollen lower lip.

  “I bet we see firsthand in a couple years when you’re playing in it.”

  “Okay, I know I said I loved you earlier, but I really love you now,” I said, then tugged him down for another kiss.

  Sal laughed into my mouth, then wiggled free, leaving me in the bed feeling loved, a little sore, and much happier than I had been just an hour before. As he attended to the condom and washed up, I drifted off on his side of the bed. When I woke up, I was still there, and the sun had just started to peek into the bedroom window. I glanced over to see him sitting there, fully dressed in a Buffalo Broncos baseball jersey and a matching cap, jeans, and sneakers.

  “Man, someone’s excited,” I said, and was then rolled out of bed by one very impatient baseball fan.

  I showered, ate something light, and rolled out the door for morning skate, Sal accompanying me. Mario gave my guest a short look when I introduced him around to the team as my boyfriend. Everyone else was super cool about another gay player. Guess after Vic, Dan, and Mario, what was one more LGBT dude in the mix? Relief surged through me.

  Concentrating on paddle drills was hard, knowing that Sal was bouncing around in his seat. Coach Dewey worked me and Mitch hard, and I put everything I had into the drills. I’d fucked up once. It was not happening again. Nothing was going to keep me from playing each and every postseason game I could.

  After a fast shower my boyfriend and me were on the road to Buffalo, New York, to catch the triple-A Buffalo Bengals taking on the Rockport Rockets. I let Sal drive my car. Again. Pretty much anything he asked for I would give him, obviously. The drive took about two hours. We spent some time just strolling around Buffalo before we headed to Myron Feeds Field. The park was a big one, seating around eighteen thousand people, but a weekday afternoon game had brought in maybe twelve. The grass was real, the food good, and the people friendly. And wow, did folks in Buffalo know their hockey. I must have signed a hundred autographs and taken two dozen selfies. Sal sat at my side, smiling like a goober as fan after fan asked if I was feeling better and when I’d be back in net.

  “I didn’t think people in Buffalo would care about a minor-league goalie in Cayuga,” I told Sal during the seventh-inning stretch. “Thanks for bringing me here. Today has been the best day. I love you.”

  I kissed him square on the lips, right in front of all twelve thousand Buffalo Bengals fans. Sal looped his arms around my shoulders and kissed me back. I guessed August Miles was really out now. The fans around us clapped. Well, most of them. The ones who didn’t like two men kissing could just sit on their hands.

  Even though the home team lost, the day was just amazing all around. Hours had flown past without me even thinking of hockey, which was something truly incredible.

  A text came in during the ride home. It was from Lila. I read it, looked at Sal, then cleared my throat. He threw me a quick look, then turned down the Front Porch Step CD we’d been listening to.

  “Lila says Mario wants us to come to dinner tomorrow night,” I informed him.

  “Tell her we’ll bring wine,” he replied. I thought maybe I should mention Mario’s continuing resistance to us dating, just as a warning. When I sat there not texting, he tossed me another peek before getting his gaze back on the road. “Aug, maybe this will be what Mario needs to see that I’m not some Latino heartbreaker.”

  “Okay, but if he says anything stupid about you, I’ll punch him in the face.”

  I sent Lila our happy acceptance reply as Sal cranked the pop / punk back up to eardrum-destroying levels. Just the way I liked it.

  Have you ever looked at a person and wondered what you did to deserve them? As Sal and I drove to Mario’s house the next night, I couldn’t help but wonder, while he talked away about this game or that song. He acted like he hadn’t just been part of a big, demonstrative kiss at
a public sporting event.

  We pulled up to a stop sign just as the newest hit pop song of the week wound down. I was about to tell him my feelings when the DJ jumped in on the tail end of whoever had been singing and started talking about me and Sal at the ball game. I stared at Sal. He stared at me. The DJ said some very cool things about us, about how happy he was that gay athletes were coming out, and wished us and the Cougars well.

  “How about that?” Sal said, then smiled. “I thought for sure the blowback would be bad, but aside from the inevitable bigots here and there, people have been pretty epic about that kiss.”

  “Yeah, I’m glad we did it; came out as a couple that way. It felt natural, you know? Not at all like that nightmare Dan and Vic went through.” My car smoothly rounded the corner onto Mario’s street. “You having any regrets about it? Or me?” I asked as we slid into McGarrity’s driveway.

  Sal unbuckled his belt and leaned over the console, his breath hot on my cheek. “I have zero regrets.”

  I gave him a shy sideways look.

  “It should be me asking you that. You still good dating old, seropositive me?”

  “Zero regrets,” I said.

  He kissed me so softly it tickled slightly. I reached for him to deepen the kiss, because kissing him was amazing and made me feel wonderful. He tipped his head to the left, his lips soft and needy. I tasted the seam of his mouth with the tip of my tongue. A hot groan rumbled from deep within his chest.

  “Hey, you two want to cool it? We got neighbors, for shit’s sake,” Mario shouted from his front porch.

  Sal and I flew apart instantly, heat pinking my cheeks.

  “Sorry,” I mumbled when we were out of the car and facing Mario on the stoop.

  He gave my head a soft cuff, then held out a hand to Sal. It was great to see them shaking hands, even if it was strained. I stepped into the modest but well-decorated home and breathed deeply. The rich scent of something Italian filled my lungs.

  “Lila’s fiddling around with some sort of weird sauce in the kitchen,” Mario informed us, then motioned us to head in that direction.

  We skirted around the living room and dining room, both done in bright colors with unique and tasteful furniture.

  “Seamus, just because the sauce isn’t red doesn’t mean it’s weird,” Lila chimed in as we walked into the spacious kitchen.

  Lila was grating cheese. She looked nice. Of course, she always did, but sometimes it struck me how beautiful she really was. Her hair was up off her neck, and she had gold earrings dangling from her lobes. A bright red apron covered a blue-green dress that sparkled when she moved. Teal, I think is the proper name for the color of her dress. She dusted her hands off on her apron after laying down the cheese and grater, then came around the massive island separating us.

  “Lila, don’t fuss over the boy,” Mario said from behind me, but it was too late. Her arms were already around me.

  “I am so glad you have found a special someone,” she cooed beside my ear, her hands moving in small, soothing circles on my back.

  Lila smelled pretty and feminine, and felt soft against me. I kind of melted into her, reveling in how being held by her felt. It was similar to being cuddled by Heather, only Lila was considerably taller. Women were comfy to cuddle with. They’d never replace the sharp angles and hard planes of a male body, but there was something comforting about their round softness.

  She pulled back to look into my eyes, her arms still tightly around me. “I do mean that, August. Seamus and I just adore you. We are both so happy for you.”

  She placed two fingers to her lips. Her long fingernails were the same color as her dress. No, one was white and the others blue-green. Her long lashes rested on her dark cheeks for a second. When they fluttered up, her brown eyes were misty with tears.

  “I cannot think of a word descriptive enough to convey just how happy I am for you two. Come into this here, Salvatore.” Lila beckoned and held up her right arm.

  Sal, face bright red, stepped into the hug. Lila kissed his cheek, then mine, and then wet her thumb to clean the lipstick off our faces.

  “Pretty soon we’ll be foster parents for the whole damn team,” Mario said.

  Lila sniffled and giggled while waving a hand at him. “You just shush now,” she told him, then returned to grating a block of cheese.

  A small TV beside the stove was playing oldies music. Sal, Mario and I slung our legs over some stools and sat down to watch Lila cook. Over our heads, the steady thump-thump-thump of a killer rap bass played.

  “Let’s talk of something less tear-inducing,” Lila said. “Do you boys like alfredo sauce?”

  “Love it,” Sal and I said at once.

  “Look how adorable they are, Seamus! They’re just a new couple, and already they’re speaking as one.” Lila reached over the island to pat my cheek. If my face grew any hotter it would combust. “I had a great aunt on my mother’s side who met her husband in March and married him in May. They were together for fifty-seven years and died within three months of each other. So do not let anyone,” she shot a pointed look at Mario, who was reaching over the island to steal a pinch of grated cheese, “tell you that love at first sight cannot be an everlasting love.” Mario had the good manners to look slightly uncomfortable. “You boys will be just like my Aunt Maisie and Uncle Robert. They were slightly less adorable than you two. Aunt Maisie had a little facial hair problem, but Uncle Robert never seemed to mind.”

  Lila chattered away, but my sight lingered on the man in the kilt seated beside me.

  “Crap,” Sal said. We all looked at him “I left the wine in the car. Be right back.”

  Out of the kitchen he jogged.

  “Did you enjoy the game, August? Mario said he, Langley and I might go sometime. I confess that while I’m not a sports aficionado, I do enjoy men in tight uniforms.” She giggled impishly and continued grating away. “Time is our biggest enemy now. See, I’m hoping to open up a small online shop featuring adult toys for those with discriminating tastes. Seamus is quite thrilled with the idea, and has vowed to personally test all the glass—”

  Mario coughed in embarrassment. “Baby, there are some things that should not be discussed over the cheese.”

  My eyes rounded, and I turned my head to look at him.

  “Oh yes, of course. Forgive me. My mouth just flaps when I’m cooking.” Lila laughed lightly, then reached for another hunk of cheese. There were at least ten on the island. Sal reappeared and handed the bottle of red wine to Mario, who opened the bottle to let it breathe, his expression tight.

  “Can I help with the cheese-grating?” Sal offered. Lila gratefully accepted and hustled around to find him an apron. “I’ve never made alfredo before.”

  “You like to cook?” Lila asked as Sal tied a purple apron covered with pink cupcakes around his lean waist.

  “I love to cook,” he replied, and off they went, lost in cooking talk and cheese-grating.

  “Glass plugs?” I enquired of Mario as a song about some dude leaving on a train bound for Georgia at midnight played softly in the background.

  “Why don’t we go for a walk and see what’s holding up the newlyweds?” Mario suggested, then pulled me out the back door.

  The neighborhood was a nice one, quiet and filled with middle-class normalcy. We walked in silence as I chewed on something that was pressing on my thoughts like a pebble in my shoe.

  “Why did you invite Sal if you’re going to be ignorant to him all night?” I asked point-blank.

  “I’m not being ignorant. The man is in my house talking to my woman while grating my cheese. That sounds pretty damn accommodating to me,” he quickly replied, and gave me a dark look. A car crept past, then pulled into a driveway a few yards ahead of us. “Maybe you should stop looking for fucking nits to pick.” He picked up his pace, head shaking and kilt flouncing out with each long stride. “Your head cooks up the stupidest things at times, Augie.”

  “Hey, my head isn�
�t cooking up anything. I saw how you looked at Sal like he was a cold sore or something.” I quickly caught up.

  Mario stopped dead, then leveled the most cutting look I’d ever gotten from anyone at me.

  “If I was that dead set against him, he wouldn’t be in my house, Lila’s insistence or not.”

  He started walking again. I danced around a bike some kid had left on the sidewalk. Mario was walking with purpose. I jogged to catch up. A dog behind a wooden fence yapped at us as we passed his yard.

  “So this whole meal was Lila’s idea?”

  Again, he stopped. I almost ran into him, the stop was so sudden. He stared hard at me. He glanced around me at the house with the barking dog. A kid was yelling off in the distance. He started walking again. The answer hit me like a fallen tree.

  “You didn’t want Sal here at all, did you?” I shook off my paralysis and hustled to catch him. I grabbed him by the arm and tugged him around to face me. “Tell me the truth.”

  “Sal coming with you is fine by me.” His expression gave nothing away. He didn’t look scared or guilty or concerned or even upset. He grasped me by the neck and squeezed lightly. “Let’s just drop this whole discussion, okay?”

  “But…”

  “August, I’m trying here, buddy. Let me get to know the man.” He bumped my forehead with his, released my neck, then resumed his brisk stroll to the Kalinski-Arou house on the next block.

  I fumbled along in his wake, trying to make my brain stop being so defensive. We knocked, then walked right into Victor and Dan’s house. It looked a lot like Mario’s—same size and layout, nicely decorated, but lacking the tiny touches that Mario’s house had. Like doilies and little statues, stuff like that.