We heat up food and arrange platters and bowls on the island. “There’s enough food here for the whole team,” I say.
Layla laughs. “You can never have too much Thanksgiving food.”
She even roasted a turkey, which Igor carves and arranges on a platter.
Everyone helps themselves, loading up plates and sitting in various places around the apartment. Easton and I snag seats at the dining room table and dig in. I notice he has a huge serving of the corn casserole I made, and my heart bumps.
“This is really good,” he says, after tasting it.
“Thankfully it tastes okay, because it doesn’t look very appetizing.” I tasted it myself at home—oops, I mean at Easton’s place—before bringing it here. If it was horrible it would have gone in the garbage and we would have stopped at the Superette on the way here for bags of chips.
“It looks fine. It has bacon. You can’t go wrong with bacon.”
I laugh. “True.”
We chat with Igor and Nadia, and Owen and Wendel, who sit with us at the table. I love watching Easton interact with his teammates, relaxed and at ease, joking around. They even tease him about his skate lace getting caught in Jamal’s skate and Easton laughs about it. Nobody mentions their coach.
After dinner, we play a game of Never Have I Ever.
Layla explains the game to Igor and Nadia. “If you’ve done what the first player says, you have to drink.”
Igor nods and lifts his glass of vodka.
Owen goes first. “Never have I ever faked an orgasm.”
I didn’t expect this to be the sex version of the game.
I take a sip of my wine.
“Hey.” Easton nudges my shoulder. “What is that?”
“Not with you,” I assure him.
“Okay, good.”
Igor tosses back his vodka.
“No, no,” Nadia says. “You drink if you have done it.”
He meets her eyes.
“What?” Her mouth drops open.
“We talk later,” he says, grinning, to much laughter.
Nadia shakes her head.
It’s Jamal’s turn. “Never have I ever…had sex in public.”
We all watch everyone else expectantly. Then Nadia and Igor drink.
“This game. I will be…hammed,” Igor says with a laugh.
“Hammered,” Jamal corrects him, grinning.
Nadia’s turn. “Never have I ever had sex on a boat.”
Hoots of laughter greet this. I swear almost every guy here takes a drink. I shoot Easton an amused glance.
“Long time ago,” he says.
Now it’s his turn. “Never have I ever had sex with someone twice my age.”
Igor drinks.
“Oh my God!” Nadia cries.
“You Russian dog!” Owen says, laughing.
Igor shrugs and stands. “Need more vodka.”
My turn. Eeep. “Never have I ever had a threesome.”
Igor and Nadia drink, and I nearly fall over laughing. They are quite the couple! Also drinking are Owen, Colton, who gets a glare from Layla, and…Easton.
“It was a long time ago,” he says again.
“You have quite the wild past,” I say.
I have to drink as I confess to getting caught watching porn (by Carlin, so it wasn’t that bad) and after the question about anal sex, Easton whispers to me, “We’re both anal virgins.”
I slide him an amused glance. “Yes.”
“Maybe we need to get more adventurous.”
I smirk. “Maybe we do.”
“Maybe we need to leave right now.”
I shake my head, laughing.
It’s not a late night because the guys are traveling to Boston tomorrow. I’m not sure how Igor is going to play after all the vodka he’s consumed, but he actually seems fine. I myself am a wee bit tipsy and I’m glad I have Easton to hold on to as I trip down the sidewalk along Riverside in the dark.
“That was so much fun,” I say with a happy sigh. “I like your friends.”
“Good. That was fun.”
“You had a threesome, but you’ve never had anal sex?”
He laughs and tightens his arm around my waist. “Forget that.”
“Was it two women?”
“Yes. And that’s all I’m saying.”
I’m not sure how I feel about this. Intrigued…but also, ugh. “Do you want one again?”
“No.”
“Really?”
He laughs softly. “Really.”
“Maybe I want a threesome.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Maybe. Also, I may be a little bit drunk. Hey, you know what rhymes with drunk?”
“What?”
“Sex.” I jump him, wrapping my legs around him.
Luckily he’s strong, because it’s a little awkward with us both in jackets. He braces himself with a step back and slides his hands under my ass to hold me up, and he’s laughing again. “Jesus. Let’s go get some sleep. Are you going to be too hungover for morning sex?”
I snort. “I’m not as think as you drunk I am.”
He groans, lowering my feet to the sidewalk.
“I totally said that on purpose.” I give him a cheeky grin and slide my arm through his.
“Right. So I’ll take that as a no.”
“I like morning sex. Especially with you.”
We both take Otis out when we get back to his place. The fresh air has made me less tipsy. When we get into bed, I snuggle into him and touch his tattoo. “What is this ink? It looks like a hockey logo.”
His body tenses and he doesn’t reply right away. Then he clears his throat. “Yeah. That’s the logo for the Swift Current Warriors. I played for them when I was a teenager.”
“Oh. That’s nice.” I sense he’s waiting for more reaction from me. “Is that who you played for before the NHL?”
“Yeah.” He pauses. “You haven’t heard of them before?”
I frown a little, my fingers still tracing the tattoo. “No. Why?”