Chapter Thirty-Three

Ian took the cup, skated off on his own brief stint, and Dan felt panic rise in his throat. Kayla and Helena were hovering behind him, both looking guilty and hopeful. Dan wanted to be angry at them, wanted to skate away, but there had always been a pull toward Bobby that he couldn’t ignore.

“Hi,” Bobby said.

Dan stared at him, trying to make his mouth work, but didn’t know where to even start. Without waiting for a prompt, hoping the fact that Bobby was here was proof enough, he dragged Bobby into a hug.

Bobby held on just as tight, huffing a breath into his neck, something that sounded like a sob breaking through the noise of the stadium.

“You’ve won the MVP trophy,” Bobby said into his ear.

Dan didn’t want to leave, wanted to stand here and make sure he wasn’t dreaming, but pulled back, torn between pride that he’d won tournament MVP, and desperation to get back to Bobby as he skated toward the Commissioner.

Ian caught him as he was heading back to the crowd, dragging him into a one-armed hug. “So proud of you, bro.”

There was so much more to be said, so many things Dan had to apologize for, but Ian just shrugged, grinning, and Dan realized that whatever happened, they would work it.

“Congratulations on finally winning the cup,” Dan said, grinning.

“Fuck off,” Ian said, shoving him away.

Dan made sure the MVP trophy was safe, passing it off to Kayla—knowing she’d take care of it—so that he could wrap his arms back around Bobby. “Do you care who sees?”

“Daniel,” Bobby said, dragging Dan’s face down close to his. “If I cared, I wouldn’t do this.”

They kissed on the ice, Dan’s arms trapping Bobby against him, Bobby gripping the front of his jersey. He didn’t seem to care how sweaty and disgusting Dan was, how loud it was around them, how many people seemed to want their attention. He just wanted Bobby.

Later, once the celebrations in the locker room are done with, family and friends wandering around the room and screaming and crying, Dan managed to extricate himself, begging out of going out for the night. Rafael and Ian both gave him knowing looks, and Alaric walked out of the building with him.

“You all right?”

Dan thought he meant more than just the obvious, so he smiled slowly, nodding. “Yeah, I think I am.”

“Good,” Alaric said, squeezing Dan’s arm and walking away toward his car.

Kayla and Helena were in the parking lot with Polly, Max, and Bobby, the five of them waiting on Ian and Rafael.

“Think they’re going out,” Dan said, accepting a kiss from both Helena and Kayla. “You going too?”

“Yup,” Helena said, rocking on her heels, rubbing her hands together. “We’re going to introduce Polly to the delights of BC. Any tips?”

Dan snorted. “Find out for yourself, I’m not your tour guide.”

“Bro,” Max said, looking put-out. “You’re not coming?”

“No,” Dan said slowly, dragging the word out.

Bobby was grinning at him, almost coy, and Dan didn’t want to outright say that he was going to be with Bobby, but thankfully Max wasn’t an idiot.

“Oh,” he said when Kayla nudged him. “I get it.”

Kayla laughed at him, before tugging on Dan, moving away from the group slightly. “This is all I wanted for you, Dan.”

“I know,” Dan said with a sigh. Like Ian, he just wanted to fix things, didn’t have the energy to keep being mad. “Promise you won’t make assumptions about what I need next time?”

“All right,” Kayla agreed, leaning up to hug him tight. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Dan said easily. “Thanks for getting him here. I know you and Helena managed it.”

Kayla shrugged like it was no big deal when they both knew it was. “Rafael gave me a ticket. That gave me a spare. Helena helped me convince him it was what you needed.”

“We’re gonna talk about it,” Dan said, looking back to Bobby. “I want to make sure we both want it.”

“I think you’ll be satisfied,” Kayla said, looking hopeful and happy.

Dan let her hurry over to Helena and Polly, then letting Polly pull him into a hug and a kiss, smirking as she told him to get his guy.

“I’m trying,” Dan said helplessly, glad when the others moved toward the stadium where the guys were starting to filter out of the building.

“So,” Bobby said, hands in his pockets and looking oddly beautiful in the lights of the parking lot. “Wanna get out of here?”

“I have a hotel,” Dan said quickly, then flushed. “If you want—”

Bobby grabbed his hand, tangled their fingers together. “We do have to celebrate your new trophies.”

They tumbled through the door of Dan’s hotel room fifteen minutes later, Bobby shoving him against the door. He was already working at the button and fly of Dan’s dress pants, sucking a bruise into his neck. Dan whined low in his throat, it had been so long since he’d had Bobby under his hands, touching him. There hadn’t been anyone else since Bobby.

“I haven’t done it in a while,” Dan admitted, and at the look on Bobby’s face, ducked his head. “I wanted you.”

“Dan,” Bobby muttered, but there was an awed expression on his face, and he pushed up to kiss Dan hard, biting at his bottom lip.

Dan wrapped an arm around Bobby’s neck, held him tight and groaned, head tipping back against the wall as Bobby went back to kissing the line of his jaw, drawing the skin between his teeth. There would be a nice bruise on his skin, reminding him of the Olympics. It had hurt, still did a little, but the good times had been such a lift for Dan before that he gave himself over to it, relished the touch of Bobby’s lips, his hands, his body.

When he tugged Dan’s dick out of his boxers, long fingers wrapping around the shaft, Dan grunted, head knocking against the wall as he jerked. “Fuck.”

“I’ve got you,” Bobby said like he had the first time and so many times after.

He hadn’t for a while; he had left Dan in the dark, not knowing whether he cared, but Dan didn’t want to focus on that. Bobby was digging in his pocket, pulling something out. When Dan heard the click of a lid, he wanted to laugh. Bobby carrying lube wouldn’t have been ridiculous during the Olympics, both wanting to be prepared, but it had been so long, and Dan worried that it was because Bobby would have found someone—

“I hoped,” Bobby said, easing his fears. “That you’d let me do this, Dan. Just you.”

Dan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, didn’t have to come up with anything when Bobby’s slick hand curled around his cock, thumb sliding over the head. He wasn’t fully hard, but it wouldn’t take long to get there, and he ducked down, tugged Bobby in for a kiss, tongue sliding against the back of his teeth.

Bobby groaned, fingers twitching against Dan’s cock. He picked up a steady rhythm, Dan growing hard in his grip. Everything seemed to melt away, leaving Dan with the touch of Bobby’s hand on his dick, the noises he was making into Dan’s mouth, the hard lines of his body pressing Dan against the wall.

It wouldn’t take long, pressure building at the base of Dan’s spine, memories tumbling over him of Bobby on him, in him, everywhere and overwhelming, and it was all Dan could do, hips rolling up to meet Bobby’s grip, panting in Bobby’s ear, to hold on.

“God, Dan,” Bobby managed. “I missed this, missed you.”

Dan whined, buried his face in Bobby’s shoulder, the fingers of Bobby’s free hand buried in his hair.

“You feel so good.”

Dan groaned Bobby’s name, felt his balls draw up, the pleasure building into a wave; he let it crash over him, shuddering under Bobby’s hands, mouthing at his neck. Bobby was kissing his neck softly when he managed to stop shaking, whispering words in his ear that Dan couldn’t make out.

“How did you know?” Dan asked, nudging the lube that had fallen to the floor.

“I didn’t,” Bobby admitted slowly. “I was prepared for you to kick me out, but I hoped for this.”

Dan turned them around, ignoring his dick softening between them, and bracketed Bobby’s body with his own. It wouldn’t take much to have him hard, and he wanted that, wanted Bobby in every way he could. “You hurt me, but I would never have turned you away.”

“I know that now.”

“That woman—”

“She skates with Katarina,” Bobby said slowly, looking regretful. “I wanted to explain, but you wouldn’t let me.”

Dan shook his head, trying not to let the anger blossom. “When the pictures of us came out, I thought you were ashamed of me.”

“I didn’t want to make it hard for you,” Bobby protested, touching Dan’s face. “You had just finished telling me it was awful.”

“I needed someone with me,” Dan said, the hurt still buried in his breastbone. It was easing, now that he had Bobby, that Bobby was staying with him. “It was hard because I was alone.”

“I’m sorry,” Bobby whispered, kissing Dan’s jaw, fingers cupping the back of Dan’s neck. “I’m not leaving. Not again.”

Dan huffed out something suspiciously akin to a sob and buried his face in Bobby’s neck. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Bobby said with so much certainty it was startling.

Dan had waited so long to hear those words, to have Bobby here with him, that he almost couldn’t believe it was real. “I can’t believe I’m here. That you love me back.”

“You are,” Bobby said, smiling gently. “You have a gold medal, a Stanley Cup, and you’re paving the way for gay hockey players. How does it feel?”

There were so many things Dan could say to that, but all he could focus on was Bobby’s smile, his eyes, the touch of his hand to Dan’s face. “Nothing compared to having you.”

It might have been cliché and ridiculous, but Bobby laughed, happy and bright, and Dan felt as if his life was in the right place for the first time in years. And, it was only going to get better.

 

 

*fin*

 

 

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