Page 79 of Game Misconduct

“I won’t. But how doyouknow that?”

“Nico told me at the tourney.”

“Oh. Makes sense. Well, I’d be glad to have Manning back on the ice. At least he alwaystriedto make the right calls.”

“Yeah, he seems like a good dude,” Tanner agreed. “The whole romance with Nico was super cute too. Hey, I saw your post-game interview last night, by the way. Love it when you go tarps off.”

A little flush appeared high on Leif’s cheeks. “Is this your way of flirting?”

“Why? Do youwantme to flirt with you?”

“That is what we’re doing here, right? I mean, I’m not making these calls because I want todateyou.” Leif’s tone was disgusted.

“I knowthat. But they’re still fun, right? I mean, I’m having fun. Even when we’re not getting off together.”

“I’m having fun.” Leif sounded like he didn’t want to admit that.

“I’msoglad I wore you down into being friends with me.” Tanner beamed.

“I think that says something about you that you have to wear people down to make them be friends with you.”

“Not everyone is that difficult,” Tanner pointed out. “Most people love me immediately.”

“Most people have bad taste,” Leif shot back.

“I think maybe you’ve been hit in the head too many times.”

“Seriously, you arebadat flirting.”

“I am not!” Tanner squawked. “Dude, I pulled thehottestcouple at the bar the other night.”

“If you think telling me about other people you’ve slept with is the best way to flirt with me, you really are terrible at it.”

“You could tell me about that guy you mentioned before. Sergie or whatever his name was.” Tanner shrugged.

“Sérgio. But no, I’m good.” Leif said flatly. He looked away.

“Okay, so back to tarps off. How about you go tarps off now?”

Leif huffed but he pulled his shirt off and settled back against the padded gray headboard. Tanner could really only see a slice of the white wall above it and a couple of fluffy white pillows, and he wondered what the rest of Leif’s bedroom looked like. Tanner would bet Leif had a sweet place. He should make him give him a video tour sometime.

“Better?” Leif asked.

“Much.” Tanner let his gaze wander down Leif’s chest. “Goddamn, how do you have abs like that?”

“Genetics?” Leif said. He glanced down at his stomach. “I naturally have a very low body fat percentage, good core strength, and a dialed-in nutrition plan. I’m also probably a little dehydrated right now too.”

Tanner rolled his eyes. Leif was so fucking literal sometimes.

“I wanna lick them,” Tanner said. “Hey, have you ever done the chocolate sauce or honey thing?”

Leif wrinkled his nose. “It sounds messy and like it would get horribly sticky.”

“It’s a really good thing you’re so fucking pretty,” Tanner said with a sigh. “Because I don’t think I’m the one who is bad at flirting here.”

“I’m not bad at flirting!”

“Okay, so tell me this,” Tanner said. “If we were in a gay bar, you saw me dancing, thought I was hot, and wanted to take me home, how would you do it?”