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“Charlie!”
The cheer went up from the table in the corner before he spotted them, but he couldn’t have missed the table with half of his oldest friends around it. He slid into the booth, accepting a beer from someone while they all talked over each other to try and update one another about how life had been since the summer.
It wasn’t a normal sort of thing for Charlie to be out on Wednesday, but it was the day before Thanksgiving and the plan had been made to meet up with whatever Ducks were in town for the holiday. Someone else had picked the bar, a dingy one that looked better under the gaudy, mismatched Christmas lights than it probably did during daylight hours, because it was easiest to get to and none of their parents had worked or frequented the place. At least that was the excuse. Charlie had to guess it was more to do with the framed article about their Junior Goodwill Games win on the wall behind the bar than anything else. It’d been years and they were still local celebrities.
“No, I’m serious, he’s in town. Charlie knows, right?” Lester shifted his glasses on his nose and stared pointedly at Charlie, waiting for him to help.
“What now?” Charlie hadn’t been listening. He’d been leaning into the feeling of his friends, the warmth of their chatter, and didn’t fully clue into the conversation until someone said his name.
“Banksy,” Lester prompted. “You know, Adam. He’s in town, right?”
Oh, him. Charlie focused on his beer, taking a longer than necessary gulp of it and he was sure his cheeks were heating up. Hopefully the low light hid that. “M’not sure why I would know..” he started, mostly into his glass.
“Because you’re Charlie and Adam.” Lester waved a hand like this was old news, then others turned back to the rest of the table. “Either way, I heard he was in town and decided to let him know we were here.”
“More like I told you to and then actually made the call when you chickened out. And no one actually talked to him, just left a message.” That was Goldberg, rolling his eyes at Lester. The two dissolved into bickering over who was more responsible for inviting their former teammate and Charlie felt himself sink lower into his seat.
Despite what the team might think, he and Adam hadn’t stayed in that close of touch. Sure, they did at first, but Adam had signed with Boston College and Charlie was just at Minnesota, not far from the street he grew up on and where he’d met most of the people at the table with him. And yes, they both played, but Adam was main team, and eventually a starter while Charlie spent more time behind the scenes than actually on the ice. But he wasn’t there to play, he wasn’t there for the NHL. Well not in the same way as Adam had been. Charlie had used hockey and his prep school to get a good scholarship and fund his degree all while getting the experience he’d need to get a job with a team when he graduated. Adam had always had his eyes on the draft, a starting line, and the Cup.
So, while they'd finished high school tucked in one another’s pockets, a charged friendship that always felt like something Charlie hadn’t been able to name, the states between them had thrown off the connection. They hadn’t been in the same conference so their teams never played each other and hadn’t even been in the same time zone. Unanswered messages and missed calls eventually became less and less. It was embarrassing to admit that they’d not figured out how to make it work, even less so when Adam went into the draft and got picked by Boston. He deferred his start with the team for a year, supposedly to finish out his degree, but the rumors online were that it had more to do with his girlfriend. She was supposedly some daughter of a business mogul and according to sources, they were so in love. If Adam didn’t go into the NHL right away it left another year to take his team to the Frozen Four and a summer for the wedding.
Charlie hated everything about her.
It wasn’t fair, he didn’t even know the girl and she was hardly to blame for the fact that he and Adam had grown apart, but just thinking about her made Charlie clench his glass harder, fingers going white against it. Neither of them had actually said anything or done anything to cross that invisible line from friends to something else and Charlie had spent years thinking that was just how close friends were. That they consumed all your thoughts, that being close to them, alone with them, made your head spin. What else could it be?
It took a friend his second year at college laughing at him, elbowing him in the side on one of the first warm days of the spring. They were laying on the grass soaking up the sun, pretending to study when she started laughing. “Glaring at him like you’re mad he’s attractive isn’t the best way to flirt with someone,” she said, shifting her sunglasses to look at him. He’d jerked his head from the lanky blonde in a polo shirt and shorts tossing a frisbee with friends and stared at her. He opened his mouth to protest, but she spoke again before he could. “Don’t deny it, you absolutely have a type, preppy and fit, but seriously. Try smiling at him and it’ll get you a lot farther.”
She’d dropped it there, and Charlie had done his best to ignore it, but two weeks later he’d lost a round in some silly drinking game and was supposed to be trading shirts with some equally preppy guy and it dawned on him that he’d much rather be kissing him than the girl trying to crawl into his lap and yeah, maybe he did have a type.
Russ finished off the pitcher and Charlie leapt at the chance to get away from all the talk of Adam, grabbing it. “I’ll get the next round,” he said, reaching for the pitcher and all but hopping out of his chair. Julie shot him a look, but he waved her off, booking it towards the bar. There was no way Adam was going to show up. He was on reserves for the NHL, he was dating someone impressive, and he was… absolutely standing at the bar.
Charlie stopped a couple of feet from him, frozen in place and not able to make a run for it when Adam looked over his shoulder and spotted him. Maybe he could still make a run for it, but then Adam smiled and he knew he was cooked. He let himself have one more breath before joining Adam at the bar.
“Hey you.” Adam’s voice was quiet, just loud enough to be heard over the shitty Christmas music, but only by Charlie.
“Hey back,” Charlie said, matching his tone, sliding the pitcher over when the bartender approached with Adam’s drink. “Heard you might be here,” he added.
“They did call,” Adam said with a small smirk, taking a sip of his drink and looking at Charlie over the rim of the plastic cup. He looked older, that was the first thing Charlie noticed. He’d already lost most of the softness of his features before they started college, but now he was gaunt in a way that graced magazine covers.
Charlie shoved his hands into his pockets to keep from reaching out for him. He didn’t think Adam would appreciate him pressing his fingers against those cheekbones to see if they felt as sharp as they looked. Or he might appreciate it and that might make everything worse.
“You don’t have…” Charlie went to wave a hand and realized too late it was still shoved into his pocket. It sent him banging into the bar, which he failed to make look like was intentional. The wince when his elbow hit didn’t help.
Adam managed to cover his laugh with the sleeve of his black coat, but the smile went all the way to his blue eyes. Then he reached out, catching Charlie’s unbruised elbow like he was going to keep him steady. “Still better on skates than your own feet?” he teased, squeezing his fingers against Charlie’s arm. Charlie could feel the heat of his touch through the sweater he had on.
“We can’t all be perfect,” Charlie shot back, letting that grip on his arm move him half a step closer to Adam.
Adam’s smile was checked by the way his teeth sunk into his lower lip and Charlie had the sense that he was trying to keep from grinning. And he was hit with the reminder that he loved that stupid grin. “Don’t sell yourself that short,” Adam said, voice even lower and it sent shivers down Charlie’s spine, and his cheeks heated up at the praise. Adam’s eyes dipped, catching the blush that Charlie couldn’t hide this close to him. He knew. He had to know. But why? Adam’s thumb pressed against Charlie’s elbow and he opened his mouth to say something but then the bartender was setting the now full pitcher between them.
Charlie jumped back like he’d been caught, but caught doing what? It was completely normal for him and Adam to be that close, they’d always been that close. Adam slid cash across the bar and nodded for Charlie to grab the pitcher.
“Careful with that,” he said, teasing back in his voice. “I like this coat.”
“Fuck you,” Charlie said, but there wasn’t any heat in it.
Adam tilted his head back and forth like he was thinking about it before he leaned in close to Charlie’s ear. “Maybe later.”
Charlie was lucky he didn’t drop the pitcher.
-----
There were a few more pitchers, at least two more arguments over the validity of a new Terminator movie and the other over how many years it would be until Adam won his first Cup (they landed on three seasons max). Charlie spent most of it pressed next to Adam in the booth, laughing and enjoying the warmth of the contact. But all good things had to end and usually with enough of a buffer to catch the last buses back home.
It was a pile of hugs and a few sloppy kisses on cheeks before they started to spread out, two of them spilling into taxis, and the rest headed for the bus pulling up to the stop. Charlie waved as they drove off, turning to say goodbye to Adam before walking home, but Adam was giving him another one of those smiles. “Want a ride home?” Adam asked.
“Should you be driving?” Charlie asked. “You had…Why are you smiling like that?”
Adam shook his head. “Like four club sodas?”
Charlie laughed, rolling his eyes. “Sneaky.”
“It’s easier than explaining that I don’t drink.” Adam shrugged and nodded towards the parking lot. “Come on, let me drive you home.”
“My home is a fifteen minute walk,” Charlie pointed out, but he was still following Adam towards his car.
“It’s on my way.”
“It absolutely is not.” Charlie shook his head. “You know where my mom lives. And if your folks are still where they were…”
Adam turned back and caught Charlie’s arm, pulling him into the shadows of the parking lot. “Then let me drive you somewhere.”
Charlie hated that they were the same size. Not that he was sure who he wanted to be taller, but it felt like there should be a height difference when they weren’t in skates.
“My roommate…is back in Wisconsin,” he said, unable to stop looking at Adam's mouth. That was where this was going, right? Sure, Charlie had gone back to his mom’s yesterday and planned on staying at least through the holiday, but if his choices were his mom’s apartment or the crappy student housing one he was in, then the dorms were a better option.
Adam grinned, reaching for the door of the car next to him and pulling it open. “That works.” He pushed his hair out of his eyes and Charlie was desperate to do that for him.
He forced himself to stop looking at Adam’s hair and frowned at the car. “Wait…what is this?”
“My car,” Adam said, giving him a nudge. “Get in.”
“This is a Volvo.”
“Yes, my Volvo. Get in the car, Charlie.” Adam left him to do that and jogged around to the other side. Charlie did get in the car, impressed at how clean it was and sure it was nice, clearly newer, but it was a Volvo.
“Banksy…” He looked at Adam once he was also in the car. “You had to have gotten a signing bonus with Boston.”
“I did.”
“And you bought a Volvo? Could you get more fucking boring?”
“Shut up and enjoy your heated seat.” Adam hit a button as they pulled out of the parking lot. “Tell me where to go.”
Charlie laughed and leaned back into his now-warm seat and gave Adam directions to the university housing he was staying at. His roommate was another one of his teammates and had done a quick trip home before their back-to-back games that weekend. It was good that it meant the place was empty, but it had been in a state before Charlie left and he doubted it was much better.
He opened his mouth to apologize for the mess, the hockey sticks propped against most surfaces, the laundry everywhere, but Adam was pulling the door to his room shut and flipping the lock just in case. That had to mean something. Charlie tugged at his jacket, trying to get it off because it was suddenly way too hot in the small space. He was half tangled up in it, when Adam’s hands slid around his waist and he crowded into Charlie, whose legs bumped against his bed.
“Can I kiss you?” Adam asked, eyes moving between Charlie’s eyes and his mouth.
Charlie jerked a nod, then Adam was kissing him and every bit of unbalance he’d had a moment before left. It was like skating on fresh ice, like the perfect shot. It just made sense. They’d always made sense. Charlie shoved his hands into Adam’s hair, longer than the last time they’d done this and Adam let out the softest of whimpers against his lips.
It wasn’t the first time, though it was the first time in a long time, but it was the first time since Charlie had realized what this meant about himself. What Adam had always meant to him. And it was the first time that he knew that letting himself have more than this kiss and losing it would ruin him.
He pulled back, hand strong on the back of Adam's neck to keep him from chasing the kiss. Adam let out a needy sound, and it almost broke Charlie, but he forced himself to not give into it. “You’ve got a…aren’t you supposed to be getting married this summer?” he asked, hating how fucking breathless he sounded after one damn kiss. He pressed his forehead against Adam’s when Adam whimpered again, but this one sounded pained.
“It’s not, that’s not what it is.”
“Did you break up?” Charlie asked, feeling hope spark in his chest.
Adam shook his head, rolling it against Charlie’s forehead. “Please, Char, it’s not.”
Charlie jerked back, unconsciously tilting Adam’s head so he had to look at Charlie. “We can’t do this if you have a girlfriend, Adam. I’m not that kind of asshole.” He wanted to be, but he really couldn’t bring himself to do it. He didn’t care how good Adam looked, how much he’d missed him.
“No, it’s not,” Adam said again, then pulled away, running his fingers through his hair and tugging on the blonde strands with a frustrated growl. “I do have a girlfriend,” he said, not looking at Charlie.
Charlie made a move to get away from him and wound up just sitting hard on his bed, dragging his coat around himself like it might protect him.
“Adam, no. No.” Charlie ran his hand over his face.
Adam turned away, looking just as hurt, and Charlie wondered if it was weird to run away from his place just to get away from a terrible situation. Probably not smart to leave Adam there, but what else was he going to do? He was half up again when Adam finally spoke. “It’s just for show,” he said so quietly Charlie wasn’t sure he heard him correctly.
“Just for what?” Charlie froze, half off the bed, eyes on Adam.
“For show.” Adam took a breath, a big one that looked like it hurt before turning to face Charlie. “I’m not like you,” he said, holding up a hand when Charlie narrowed his eyes. “You like…” He frowned and waved a hand at the poster on his roommate’s side of the room. It was a black and white photo of two girls kissing, something that was sold at a poster sale at the beginning of the year and was on the wall of one in five guys’ dorm rooms.
“What? Lesbians? I don’t think I’d say that specifically. Kinda pointless,” Charlie said, shaking his head.
“What?” No. Girls, you idiot.” Adam gestured at the poster again and Charlie shrugged.
“Sure. You do…” he started and then saw Adam’s face, the way he seemed to want Charlie to get there so he didn’t have to say it himself. “You…don’t.”
Adam’s shoulders and head sank. “No.” It was barely there.
Charlie was more sure he saw the way Adam’s mouth formed the word than heard it. He waited, hoping Adam would explain more, but he just stayed that way, silent and looking pained. Like he needed Charlie to guide him through this.
Charlie reached for him, cupping his cheeks to tilt his face to Charlie’s so their eyes could meet. “So it’s for show,” he concluded. “And you don’t want to be with her.” He drug the words out, walking through them slowly.
“No.”
“Does she know?”
“Yeah,” Adam said with a little more confidence than the other answers. He tilted his head back, flicking his hair out of his eyes. “So the whole thing is just a--” He held his hands up looking for a word and not finding it.
Hope was an awful thing. It was building in Charlie’s chest, warm and desperate, wanting so badly to be what Adam wanted. There wasn’t a chance of it leaving this room, leaving this moment, but Charlie had never claimed to be reasonable. He’d been tossing himself into dumb situations his whole life. What was one more?
“And me?” he asked, finally working his way out of his jacket, tossing it aside.
“The first person I really ever wanted.”
I want to be the last. What an awful thought. Ruined, he was going to be ruined, but Charlie still stepped forward and pulled at Adam’s jacket, the black wool feeling expensive between his fingers. “Do you still want me?” he asked, pushing the jacket off Adam’s broad shoulders.
Adam’s face said that was obvious, but Charlie just arched a brow at him.
“Yes,” Adam admitted finally, sounding exasperated. “Desperately.” He pushed closer, nose against Charlie’s as he slipped out of his jacket and brought his hands back to Charlie’s waist. “You were the reason I came tonight. I needed to see you.”
Why did it feel like there was a ‘before’ in those words? Adam had said that the relationship was a front, a sham, but that didn’t mean that the future the media talked about wasn’t true. Wasn’t a thing that could happen.
Charlie gave him a chance to pull away, ridiculous considering Adam had done the kissing to start, but this was different. This was him giving Adam a chance to change his mind.
But Adam didn’t pull away as Charlie cupped his cheek, not when Charlie drug his thumb over Adam’s cheekbone like he’d been dying to do since seeing him, and not when Charlie pressed their lips together. There was an instant, a breath, where they didn’t move. It felt like one final point, a last opportunity to not fall down this rabbit hole, but neither of them took it.
Adam breathed a sigh against Charlie’s mouth and fisted his hands in Charlie’s sweater. Charlie went for broke and slipped his tongue into Adam’s mouth, deepening the kiss from the jump. He could taste the hint of lime, the cold, and the desperate Adam-ness of it all and he was sure he’d never wanted anything as badly as this.
Adam pushed closer to Charlie and just like at the bar he lost his footing, banging the backs of his knees against his bed and falling with an incredibly undignified yelp. Adam toppled with him, laughing, then straddling Charlie’s legs. “How are you so clumsy?” It was murmured into another kiss that Charlie arched up to answer.
“You’re the one that pushed me, Banks,” he grumbled, but Adam had his hands in Charlie’s curls and it tapered off to a moan. He shoved his own hands up under Adam’s shirt, pushing at it until Adam reached behind his head to pull the shirt off and toss it aside.
He ran his hands up Adam’s torso, reveling in the feel of hard muscles under his fingers. He leaned in and pressed kisses to his pecs, working up his neck until Adam groaned and pulled him in for another aggressive kiss.
They fell back against the bed, and Charlie felt himself sink into the mattress, the warm weight of Adam against him and between his legs. He could feel Adam was hard against his hip and made him grab at Adam’s hip to chase that friction between them.
“You’re way too dressed,” Adam murmured, kissing his way down Charlie’s neck and shoving up Charlie’s sweater.
“Not sure there’s as much to see,” Charlie said, but he did help pull at the fabric.
Adam bit down hard enough on one of his nipples to make Charlie yelp again before rolling his eyes up to look at him. “I like all of this.” Charlie wanted to point out that, sure, they both were on teams, but he didn’t play as much as Adam did, and while he was in excellent shape, it didn’t show in the same movie poster way Adam’s did. But Adam liked it and that was enough to send another thrill up Charlie’s spine. Then Adam was working his way down Charlie’s chest and he fell back against the bed again, hands tangling in his hair.
Adam pressed a line of kisses against Charlie’s stomach, then hooked his fingers into the waistband of his jeans. He pressed the heel of his hand against Charlie’s dick and it made Charlie groan, aware that he should have been embarrassed at how hard he was from just kissing, but could anyone really blame him? His hips arched up into the touch and then Adam’s breath, his mouth, was pressed against the fabric of his boxers.
Charlie bolted up, pushing at Adam’s shoulder, breathing heavily and shaking his head. “No!”
“What’s wrong?” Adam pulled back as far as he could while still kneeling between Charlie’s legs, hands propped on his hips. “Is that not okay?” He looked anxious, worry creasing his features. “Are you okay?”
Charlie sat up more, reaching for Adam, then realized he was half in his sweater. He fumbled with that for a moment, getting out of it and tossing it aside. “It’s okay,” he said, getting his hands on Adam’s cheek. “It’s just not okay. You’re okay. That’s just…” Charlie let out a breath and pulled Adam to him. “If you put your mouth on me this will be over before it even starts.” He ran his fingers through Adam’s hair, kissing him lightly. “I don’t want this to end that quick.”
“You still have a hair trigger?” Adam teased, because Adam teased now and it was insanely perfect.
“Oh god, fuck you,” Charlie groaned again, but Adam was kissing him, guiding him back towards the bed.
“I’d rather the other way around, actually,” Adam murmured against his lips, before ducking to kiss at Charlie’s jaw.
“You…what?” Charlie dislodged Adam by propping up on his elbow. “You’d…I thought…”
“Are you basing my preferences off of a hook up from four years ago?” Adam arched a perfect brow at Charlie, then shifted to press kisses against Charlie’s shoulder. “You do know that’s how long it’s been, right?”
“You said you liked it!” Charlie was astonished. Sure, they hadn’t done that, but everything about Adam had been him topping. His fingers buried in…well it was all Adam.
“I did,” Adam confirmed, reaching to pull Charlie into a kiss as he laid down next to him, tangling their legs together. “You were so hot,” he said between kisses. “But I like it both ways and I’m guessing you would too and I really want that tonight.”
Charlie felt his skin go cold, and his dick flag a little at that. “Have there been so many others?” he asked, sure he didn’t want to know the answer.
Adam cupped his cheeks, kissing his nose, then his mouth again. “Four years, Char,” he said.
And yes, Charlie expecting to be the only guy in four years, and for someone who was only into guys, was extreme, but it still hurt, to think of who Adam might be comparing him to.
“I know you weren’t waiting around for me. I would have told you not to.”
“Well, yeah, but I didn’t really figure out that this was a not-just-you thing until later.”
“And?” Adam gave him that look again, that arched brow that was seeing through Charlie’s avoidance.
“And I like guys with an affinity for polo shirts,” Charlie gave in, pushing at Adam to straddle him this time. “And I like both.” He was flushing, he could feel it, all the way down his chest.
“Polo shirts? Conway, do you have a type?” Adam grinned, open and carefree and Charlie felt his heart fall into it. He was doomed. He was going to fall even harder for this man than he’d been before.
“Oh so none of your guys had curly hair?” he shot back and Adam grinned more.
“Too many of them. Can you blame me for chasing a specific high?”
Charlie kissed him again, harder, taking them back to where they started. “So you want this?” he asked, rolling his hips forward.
“Yes,” Adam breathed, hips canting up to meet Charlie’s. He twisted his hand in Charlie’s curls and pulled him closer. “However I can have you.”
However. That was an ego boost if there ever was one. “Take these off,” he told Adam, tugging at his waistband before crawling off of him and squatting to look under his bed. He had to reach farther back than he remembered for the shoebox with his supplies, but he guessed maybe it had been that long. When he emerged, Adam was tossing his socks off the side of the bed and Charlie almost dropped the shoebox at the sight of him. “What are those?” he asked, eyes zeroing in on the tiniest pair of boxer briefs Charlie had ever seen.
Sure, he wore compression shorts under his uniform, but his everyday underwear, the ones half hanging out of his jeans now, were just random plaid things he’d bought in a pack of four. Adam’s were black, painted on, and far too short to be useful to avoid any chaffing issues.
“What are what?” Adam asked, moving to pull the box out of Charlie’s hands and set it aside as he pushed Charlie’s pants down the rest of the way off his hips.
“These,” Charlie clarified, reaching for the waistband of the tiny underwear that Adam was wearing. “They’re like…guy lingerie.”
Adam laughed and pulled Charlie down for another kiss. “I wanted to see you, remember? Can you blame me?” Charlie shucked his own jeans the rest of the way off and pulled off his socks while he was at it. “And they’re normal. I think they also come in lace.”
Charlie stumbled getting back on the bed at that image. Lace. They came in lace. “Lace would be…” he trailed off, not sure how to finish that statement.
“Something you’d be into?” Adam suggested, pulling Charlie back down with him and kissing his throat. “I wouldn’t have thought that about you,” he murmured. “I like that you can still surprise me.”
“You don’t know everything about me.” Charlie’s argument was lost when he tilted his neck to give Adam more access. He reached across them for the abandoned shoebox, flipping the top off, and digging around in it until he found what he wanted. He was pretty sure the condom was still good, even if it was buried under the bottle of lube and other things. He held the bottle out to Adam, who grabbed for it, and moved the box away before Adam could see what else was in it.
“I used to.” Adam’s voice was wistful, but it tapered off into a gasp and Charlie rolled to see that Adam had started without him. His tiny boxer briefs were shoved down his thighs and he was giving his cock lazy strokes.
You could again. Charlie wanted to scream it at him, sear it onto Adam’s skin. They could go back, they could be it, end game. But Charlie knew he was lucky enough to have tonight. “Want me to help?” he offered, hands curling around the inside of Adam’s thighs to spread his legs farther apart.
“No,” Adam gasped, hand already drifting lower and his eyes falling shut. “‘M’pretty sure I won’t last if you touch me.” His breath hitched again and his hips arched. Charlie moved so he could watch Adam finger himself open, pulling the other man’s underwear off the rest of the way. “If I’m going to I want...” He groaned again and Charlie rested his chin against Adam’s knee.
“I know,” he said, wanting the same thing. He wanted to come with Adam, buried in him and surrounded by him. He kissed Adam’s knee, his thigh and reveled in just getting to see this much. “You’re beautiful.” Because of course he was. Adam was hot, he was handsome, he was all of those things, but like this, hips shifting off the bed as he fucked down on his own fingers he was absolutely beautiful.
“Like you have room to talk,” Adam said in a rushed breath. “Come on, I’m ready, this isn’t the first time I’ve done this today.”
Charlie faltered, looking up at Adam. “With someone else?” he asked, his brain going to that immediately.
“No, you idiot,” Adam said, sitting up to tug at Charlie’s boxers and kiss him. “I told you, I wanted to see you tonight.”
It took a moment for that to fully sink in, for what Adam was saying to register, but when it did Charlie surged forward, kissing him hard. For him, Adam had been desperate to see him.
There was a bit of scrambling, losing the last of clothes and sorting out the condom, but then Adam was pulling Charlie closer. “I want you like this,” he murmured, one leg hooked around Charlie’s waist. Charlie nodded, pushing Adam’s other knee up towards his chest. He lined up and moved as slow as he could, pressing against Adam’s entrance, waiting for him to breathe before sinking into him.
It was easier than expected, Adam’s body adjusting and his back arching in a way that made the slick slide into him simple. Charlie had that sense again, of blades on smooth ice, of a perfect shot. Things that were made for each other, things that just worked. And bottoming out against Adam’s hips was one of those things.
He leaned forward to press a kiss at the corner of Adam’s mouth. “Okay?” he asked, needing to check in with him. Needing to hear that this was just as perfect for him as it was for Charlie.
“So okay,” Adam breathed, turning to catch Charlie’s mouth in a real kiss. “Please,” he said when the kiss drew to a natural close. “I need you.”
Charlie nodded, pushing up on one arm and gripping Adam’s hip with his free hand. He moved, shallow thrusts at first, but once they had the rhythm, the way their bodies moved together, he was able to pick up speed. Adam’s body arched, and when Charlie hit the right spot, he cried out, blunt nails digging into Charlie’s shoulder.
“There, that,” Adam urged, meeting each thrust with his hips and Charlie had to bite down on his lower lip hard enough to taste the copper of blood so he didn’t lose it right there. He changed his grip to reach between them and wrap his fingers around Adam’s cock, but Adam swatted his hands away, taking over himself.
Charlie leaned back, getting a better grip and yanking Adam’s hips to the angle that had made him cry out as he pounded harder, wanting to get them both there. “C’mon,” he urged, panting and desperate. “A. You need to--”
“Charlie!” Adam shouted it, hand moving faster and then he was coming, spilling over his hand, stomach, and even his chest. His ass clamped down on Charlie’s cock in a way that made Charlie cry out, thrusting erratically before he was hit with his own orgasam, burying himself deep in Adam as it rocked through him.
When it was over, when he felt like he’d returned back to his body, Charlie felt like something inside his soul had stilled. Adam kissed him lightly and Charlie cradled him close in those kisses, until he had to break away to deal with the mess. They both hurried through clean up, helping one another and then Charlie had his hands on his boxers, not sure what happened next. “Do you need to go?” he asked, hating it and knowing it needed to be asked.
Adam was still in his bed, propped on one elbow and watching him. “Do you need me to?”
Yes. Because if Adam stayed, Charlie knew full well he’d want him to stay forever. He opened his mouth to say as much but it came out sounding like “no.” He climbed into the bed that was definitely too small for both of them, kissing Adam’s shoulder as he settled next to him. “I don’t want you to either.”
Adam ran his fingers through Charlie’s hair, pulling him in for a searing kiss. “Then I won’t. I’ll give you a ride home later.”
“It’s still out of your way,” Charlie reminded him, but let his head settle on Adam’s shoulder.
“You know that doesn’t matter.” Charlie felt Adam’s kiss in his hair and closed his eyes.
------
The car rolled to a quiet stop outside of Charlie’s mom’s place and Adam put it in park, but Charlie still wasn’t ready to get out of the car. They’d napped, kissed more, fooled around in the too-small shower, and then finally left student housing at a time that was so late it could probably be considered early.
“Do you leave tonight?” Charlie asked, reaching across the center console to run his fingers along Adam’s forearm.
“Saturday. We don’t have a game this weekend.” Adam turned his hand to catch Charlie’s fingers with his own. His hair was curling at the edges, damp from the shower earlier. “You?”
Charlie let out a sigh. “Double header. Friday, which is tomorrow I suppose, and Saturday.”
“Should I come see you play?” Adam asked with a smile and Charlie felt his insides do a stupid swoopy thing. How amazing would that be? Adam in the stands cheering for him. He’d loan Adam his hoodie, the one with ‘Conway’ on the back of it. There was only one problem.
“I don’t think I’ll actually play,” Charlie confessed. “I’m like fourth line, and I’ve been doing more support than actual game time.” He would warm up with the team, but then wind up on the bench, probably not even in gear when the game actually started. It was a bummer, but at the same time, they let him do more as staff and that was the role he was looking to do after school. “Plus,” he added, trying to sound casual despite not feeling casual at all. “Can’t have you stealing the spotlight.”
“Last thing I need is them seeing me cheering for you,” Adam teased, reaching across the console and brushed his thumb against Charlie’s jaw.
“We are supposed to be friends,” Charlie pointed out, eyes fluttering shut with the touch.
“Pretty sure everyone would be able to tell otherwise.”
Charlie opened his eyes, watching Adam watch him. If Adam was going to look at him like he was right now? Yes, everyone would be able to tell. He smirked though, watching Adam’s eyes narrow. “That you hate me?” Charlie teased, biting his lip to keep from grinning.
Adam rolled his eyes and shoved his hand in Charlie’s face, making Charlie laugh. “Yes. That. You’re so annoying.”
Charlie pulled Adam’s hand off his face and leaned across the console. “You love it.” He shouldn’t have said that, not when Adam froze at the word love.
“I,” he started and paused.
“Not like that,” Charlie jumped in, not sure he wanted to hear Adam say he didn’t care about Charlie.
Adam’s features softened and he leaned in to kiss Charlie lightly. “I’m going to miss you,” he murmured and Charlie felt his heart shatter. This was worse than Adam not caring. He’d known the moment he let Adam pull him into bed that he wasn’t going to survive this part.
You don’t have to. You could stay.
“You too,” Charlie said instead. He was going to point out that he was just a phone call away, that all Adam had to do was ask. But that wasn’t going to happen. Adam was going back to his life.
Charlie leaned in and pressed his forehead against Adam’s, breathing him in before shifting all the way back. He put his hand on the door handle, opening it. “Thanks for the ride.” Before he could stop himself, he got out of the car and headed inside.