Page 9 of Offside

“Kiss up,” Ash mumbled, side-eying Thayer.

Hm.

An app?

I mean, I had Hinder on my phone and the special version of it for celebrities and public figures, but people still acted like it was for actual connection.

An app where people were just honest and clear about what they wanted?

Why was that weirdly appealing?

Chapter 4

Sam

“Aw, you don’t want to cuddle with me, Ash?” I teased, annoying him the whole way down the hotel hallway to our rooms.

Rooms, because he insisted on having his own, as if I hadn’t been living with him for the last month.

“I’ll cuddle, but I sleep alone,” he joked, shoving my head away.

“I bet Thayer just loves that quality about you.”

“Thayer’s my exception,” he teased, tapping his keycard on the handle and opening it for us both.

He shut the door behind me, even though it was his room and that I’d return to mine next door in a bit–I just wanted to hang out, and so did he.

It was a little lonely on the road when he was my only friend, and I was apparently the only person he’d ever put effort into knowing since he got drafted.

And he missed Thayer–he only said it about a hundred times on the plane.

“Seriously, not that I’m complaining, but why didn’t you want to room with me? Thayer that territorial?”

“Couldn’t I just want to give you privacy to jerk off in peace for once?” he offered, dropping his bag on his bed with a huff.

He turned back to look at me, letting out a quick groan and an eye roll. “I don’t know why, but I can’t sleep in the same room as anybody but Thayer,” he admitted reluctantly. “I don’t even know why I could with Thayer–I could from the very first night with him, no issues.”

Fuck.

That was actually a really sweet answer.

It wasn’t surprising–a month of living with them, and that first night was nothing. Ash turned into a whole other person when we got home, especially once the season really started.

The season was already stressful, but coming home with Ash meant watching his whole attitude shift the second we crossed the threshold. He would burrow in Thayer’s side and shut up almost completely–let Thayer baby him and just…it was really nice.

That no matter how bad shit got at work, he was going home to something warm and comforting.

Pang.

“You gonna call him?” I asked, nudging my head at his phone on the bed. “I can head out so you can.”

“I should,” he sighed, smiling down at his phone for a second. “I’ll see you in the morning, yeah?”

“For sure.”

Over the last month, I’d learned the best way to deal with the longing feelings Ash and Thayer stirred up was to just exit the equation. Leave them be and get some space, usually jerk off and take a shower before forcing myself to sleep.

When I crossed over into my room, it was colder. I couldn’t explain why–it was the same room, but it felt emptier and quieter in the weirdest way.