Page 49 of Cheap Shot

Crawford shrugged. “I dunno. Just fits. How far did you make it?”

“Juniors.”

“Why’d you quit? Injury?”

“No. I was a gay guy who was into flowers. It was pretty goddamn clear hockey and I weren’t a good fit long-term.” His words came out a little more snappish than he intended.

Crawford lifted an eyebrow. “I mean, there are lots of guys out in the league now.”

Sebastian sighed, the sweet mellow of his usual post-sex haze fading a lot more quickly than he’d like. “Yeah,now. But think about what it was like when you were sixteen. We’re pretty much the same age, okay? You were a draft year ahead of me.Youdo the math.”

“Huh.” Crawford looked at him with a frown. “You’re thirty-three?”

“Yes. My age was on my profile on the app where we, uh, met,” Sebastian pointed out. If they ignored the fact he’d spent a couple of years chirping Crawford relentlessly before that.

“Lots of guys on there lie.”

“Sure,” Sebastian agreed. “But how old did youthinkI was then?”

“I dunno. Never really thought about it.”

“Do you think about much?”

“Not if I can help it.” Crawford let out a groan and stretched, his shoulder popping. “I should get going.”

“Okay.”

But Crawford didn’t move. He squinted at Sebastian instead. “So, you quit because guys were … what? Hazing you?”

“No,” Sebastian said shortly. He got up and walked over to the kitchen, pulling the refrigerator door open. The cool air felt nice. He was still a little flushed and sweaty from the orgasm. “I mean some, yeah. But mostly it was just … I knew I didn’t belong,okay? I couldseeit. Feel it. I was the weird kid. The one who didn’t fit. I wasn’t—I wasn’t one ofthem.”

He rummaged in his refrigerator, scowling when he realized he had nothing but leftover Dan Dan noodles from the Chinese place down the street. Delicious, but he probably should eat a vegetable or two occasionally.

His diet had been kind of appalling lately. This was what happened when he got buried in work.

Sebastian pulled the takeout carton out anyway because his rumbling stomach really didn’t give a shit about what he put inside it. Just as long as it wassomething. Sebastian dumped the cold spicy noodles into a big bowl. Oh, hey, there was some bok choy in there. That was a green, leafy vegetable.

“You got any more of those?” Crawford asked.

Sebastian glanced up to see Crawford sprawled on his couch, arms stretched out along the cushions like he owned the place. “You want me tofeedyou too?”

“I wouldn’t turn it down.”

“I wasn’t offering …” Sebastian pointed out with a huff, then pulled out a bowl, dumping half the noodles into it. “There. Come get it if you want it.”

Crawford heaved himself up with a groan, then ambled over.

Sebastian had never really noticed it before but he kinda walked like a cowboy who’d been on his horse too long.

“You’re not even going to heat it up?” Crawford asked as Sebastian reached for chopsticks, then dug into his late-night dinner. Such as it was.

“No.” Hecouldheat them, but … meh. He liked them cold just fine and the microwave would take too long. Besides, this would annoy Crawford more, which was always a plus in his book.

“Cold, man,” Crawford said, reaching for the bowl.

“That’s the idea,” Sebastian said around another mouthful.

“You got something to eat it with?”