Page 9 of Tough Call

“Huh.” I sipped my wine. “I mean, I’m glad to hear they’re addressing it, but it would be nice if they took it this seriously when the sports betting overlords weren’t putting on the pressure.”

“I know, right?”

“Somehow I don’t think you have too much to worry about, though.”

His eyebrow flicked up.

I smiled. “You’ve been the most by-the-book official in the sport since you were refereeing kids’ games.” I made a mock toast with my wineglass before bringing it up for a sip. “Whoever got assigned to investigate you had the easiest job ever.”

Oh, God. That bashful smile… That blush…

How do I make you do that again?

Holy fuck. Do you have any idea what you’re doing to me?

All too soon, we’d paid the bill and were heading out into the snowy night. The weather was cold but not unpleasant, with snowflakes drifting down and swirling around us.

My heart pounded as we walked. As dinner had wound down, I’d started having this strange now-or-never feeling. The kind of feeling that happened during hockey games when I saw opportunities for scoring chances or takeaways. Like there was no time to think or second guess—just do it before the opportunity evaporated.

Except what was I supposed to do right now? Ask him to get dinner again? Invite him up to my room? Or, well, see if he wanted me to join him in his room, since I had a roommate? Grab him and see if he still kissed as perfectly as he had when we were clueless teenagers?

The thought almost made me stumble. If Connor noticed, he didn’t say anything, which I appreciated. We continued walking, and my heart continued pounding as if some opportunity were slipping through my fingers.

Before this morning, I’d gone an embarrassingly long time without thinking about Connor at all. Now he was all I could think about, and I didn’t know if it was nostalgia, horniness, or some mix of the two, but I wanted him.

I tried to tell myself I was being ridiculous, but fuck me. I couldn’t stop thinking about how much I’d loved kissing him back then. Except that was stupid. We’d been kids. We were adults now.

Adults who were together in this city.

Alone on this street without another soul in sight.

What was stopping me from taking his hand, touching his face, and claiming that gorgeous, talented mouth?

Well, aside from the part where we were in public. Alone for now, but still in public. And while Prague was queer-friendly, not everyone was, and I didn’t like to take chances.

And I had no idea if Connor would even want me like that. It was fun in our past life, but we’d been kids back then. For all I knew, Connor had a boyfriend. Maybe even a husband or something. During dinner, I’d tried to suss out if he was single, but I was too much of a stupid coward to just ask. Because asking might imply that I was interested in him that way. Which I absolutely fucking was.

I just didn’t know if he was interested, and I didn’t want to make this weird.

I also didn’t want to let this evening end without some kind of connection. We had each other’s social media, which was a start, but we’d be in the same city for the next week. This couldn’t be the last time we saw each other.

Finally, I blurted out, “My teammates and I are going to the Bone Church tomorrow. You’re welcome to join us.”

I had no idea what they’d think of a referee joining us, but they’d get over it.

Connor blinked. “The… the what?”

“The…” I fumbled for an explanation, then stopped walking and did the same thing Mish had on the plane: took out my phone, looked it up, and handed it to him.

Obviously puzzled, Connor peered at the screen, but then something seemed to connect, and he straightened. “Oh! I’ve heard about this place!” He nodded to himself as he scrolled the photos. “I saw something about—I don’t know. On social media or something I guess.” He looked up at me with a smile that lit up the whole street. “I didn’t even realize it was in Prague.”

“It’s… I guess it’s in another town, but it’s not far.”

He nodded again as he handed back my phone. “Sounds like fun. Do, uh…” He cringed a little. “Do you think your teammates will mind? If I join you?”

I couldn’t give a fuck less what they mind. I want you there.

I waved his concern away. “Nah, they’ll be fine. The more the merrier.” I paused. “I’m not sure how we’re getting there, though. It might be an organized tour or something.”