Safe Harbor 2: Hiding in Plain Sight (3 page)

When he came back, Joe bit the inside of his cheek to concentrate on something besides how luscious Vlad looked in a tank top and a pair of sweat shorts.

“Thank you for making sure I got home.”

Joe nodded, still transfixed. Finally he roused himself out of his lust-hazed stupor and strode for the door. He needed to get the hell out of there. Vlad followed him. Before Joe could open the door, Vlad turned him around and caged him in as his hands slapped the door on each side of his head. Then Vlad was kissing him, his insistent tongue pressing into Joe’s mouth as he leaned his weight on him, crushing Joe between him and the door.
Holy hell
. Joe wanted to sink into the kiss, wanted to sink into the man.
I can’t. I can’t deal with a closet case. I had enough of that bullshit in the Army. Besides, the guy’s drunk. I’m the only gay guy he knows, and he’s experimenting. He’ll probably regret doing it tomorrow
. He pushed Vlad back and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

“I was bad?”

The guy looked crushed.

“No, no, God no. You’re frighteningly good at that.” He ran a hand through his hair. Vlad wouldn’t look at him. “Vlad, when you kiss a guy, I mean
really
kiss him, he should be someone great, someone you really like.”

Vlad nodded, but the misery was plain on his face.

“Hey,” Joe said softly. “I just want you to have the best experience you can.”
Even if I want you, I won’t go through that again. I’m finally free
. “I almost forgot. Before I leave, I wanted to give you my cell number. If you decide you’d like to talk some more, I mean.”
Definitely not fuck. Definitely.

Vlad turned and disappeared into his room, returning a short time later with his phone. “Put it in for me?”

Of course, a whole litany of things came to Joe’s mind with that question, all of them dirty. He took a deep, slow, calming breath and took the phone from Vlad’s large hands, quickly entering his information before giving it back. “There you go.”

“I’m playing the next two nights, but maybe the day after that?”

“Sure. Call or text me.”

“Okay.”

Feeling awkward, Joe pivoted and grabbed the door handle. He opened the door and threw a “See ya later” over his shoulder as he headed out, both excited for and dreading a call from the man.

Chapter Two

This must be what gay man’s hell looks like
. Vladimir sighed before lifting his beer to his lips and taking another sip. He hadn’t been able to connect with Joey in the past day, and now he was on the road with his teammates at a strip club. That would’ve been great, except that the strippers were female, and Vlad was about as excited as when he’d had a root canal after taking a puck to the face.

He was hoping he could slip away shortly, feigning tiredness, but when the guys were traveling, they were always rowdier, and it was harder to extract himself from their grip. All he wanted to do was go back to the hotel room, put on some comfy clothes, text Joey, and maybe watch a few of his favorite movies on his iPad.

Joey.

The man had been on his mind a lot. At first, Vlad had been mortified about that stupid move he’d made, but Joey hadn’t seemed freaked, at least not in the text messages they’d exchanged since. He’d readily answered Vlad’s texts and was friendly enough. Vlad remembered standing near the door with him and smelling Joey’s cologne. It was as if a switch had turned on, and Vlad had dived for the guy’s lips like a starving man.

Joey wasn’t what Vlad would call traditionally hot. His nose was crooked, so it had probably been broken. They had that in common, since Stephen had broken Vlad’s nose after the “fag” incident in the Olympics. His hair was kind of a nondescript brown. He’d been wearing a tight pair of jeans, which nicely outlined his package, and a Henley with a medium-weight jacket the night they’d met. No parka for Joey. Vlad smiled. He didn’t need it. Joey made enough heat all by himself.

If Joey was ex-military, he was probably one of those tough guys, never admitting to any fear or discomfort. He knew and understood. That by itself made him sexy as sin.

Joey was only a little shorter than Vlad’s six feet, and he still had some impressive musculature, despite being retired from the military. He must still work out. Even the Henley and jacket hadn’t been able to disguise the man’s body, and the jeans certainly hadn’t. He’d been packing a good-sized bulge in the front and what looked like an incredible ass in the back.

Vlad’s cock twitched, and he glanced around in panic, lest someone see and think they should help him do something about it. Thankfully his teammates were otherwise occupied. These strippers could smell money from a mile away, and they flocked to the guys like there was a magnet pulling them. One of the ladies went behind Vlad’s chair, brushing her tits on his neck. Vlad shuddered and hoped like hell he could flee soon.

His phone buzzed, and though it was only a text, Vlad pretended it was a call and made a show of pointing toward the door. One of his teammates, who currently had a blonde with huge boobs bouncing on his lap—
yuck
—spotted him and nodded. Vlad jogged for the door. He still had his jacket on, and with any luck, he’d be able to slip away.

He unlocked his phone and smiled. Joey.

How’s it going?

Vlad made a derisive noise.

I am at a strip club. With female strippers. What do you think?

Glancing back, he was glad to see his teammates were still occupied.
I should leave.

Another text came in.

Oh. Ouch. What a way to spend the night. Done that a fair number of times myself.

A heavy hand landed on Vlad’s shoulder.
Shit. Too late.

“You comin’ back? Who you talking to?”

The guy tried to make a drunken grab at Vlad’s phone, but Vlad quickly pocketed it. No teammate was going in there to get it, so at least Vlad was safe for now. The guy pulled him along toward the bar.

“Do a shot with me.”

“I was planning to go—”

“Oh, come on. How often do we all get to do shit like this? Let’s celebrate a little. The team’s doing great. And best of all, there are no pain-in-the-ass coaches chaperoning us.”

Vlad had noticed that this particular group of guys had seemed to take more of an interest in him since the Olympics and he had a feeling he knew why. They were homophobes.

Meanwhile, other guys he’d thought were friends were steering clear of him. Vlad wasn’t sure if it was because they were disgusted by what he’d done or if they might also be gay. He had absolutely no gaydar, particularly concerning guys like him. Guys who looked macho. Like Joey. If Vlad had seen him in The Strike Zone or met him on the street, there was no way he would have known that gorgeously built hunk of a man was gay.

It didn’t appear he had much of a choice about hanging around for now as a shot was thrust in his hand. His teammate clapped him on the back. As far as Vlad could tell, he was a pretty good guy. He was single, so Vlad at least didn’t have to watch him cheat on his wife like he’d seen a couple of his other teammates do during the three years he’d been in the NHL. None of these guys were bad men as far as he knew. But they weren’t people Vlad wanted to build friendships with, especially if they were homophobes.

I should have refused to come tonight.

“You know what? I, um, have a headache. I will get a cab and go back to the hotel.”

“You can’t leave yet. We got you a lap dance.”

Vlad was pretty sure he’d blanched. He put the shot back on the bar. “Oh, that’s okay. Let one of the other guys take it.”
Please, dear God, someone else
. “I am really not feeling well. I probably just need sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Seriously? You’re walking away from a lap dance?”

He was already a couple of steps away, but he turned back long enough to say, “Give it to Patson. Tell him it is to congratulate him on that sweet goal in the game the other night. Later.”

Vlad was on the sidewalk outside the club in record time, looking for a taxi. Finally the band around his chest was starting to loosen. Once he was in a cab on his way to the hotel, hopefully it would go away completely.

A taxi pulled up, and he dived in. The driver drove off, and Vlad was momentarily pressed against the backseat cushion. He hurriedly searched out a seat belt and fastened it, forcing himself to take a breath. He was on his way to the hotel, alone. Even better, he’d gotten out of that damn strip club before he’d had to pretend he liked having DDs thrust in his face.

That’s not what I want thrusting in
my
face.

Vlad grinned. It was only in the past couple of days that he’d allowed himself to think like that. It was very freeing. He remembered he’d never answered Joey’s text and fished the phone out of his pocket. There was another text from Joey.

Do I need to send in a search party? Are you getting suffocated by fake tits? Those things will kill you.

He laughed. Vlad couldn’t believe how easy it was for Joey to make him laugh.

No, sorry. I ran out of there and am in a cab.

Resting his head on the seat behind him, Vlad closed his eyes. A few moments later, the text notification went off.

Good for you. How’d you get into that situation, anyway?

Groaning, he thumbed in a new message.

Bunch of guys were going. Hard to say no and look like a normal, red-blooded man.

He could practically see Joey nodding. They’d been able to talk some but not get together, and Vlad had come to realize how similar the military and professional sports were in how they treated homosexuals. Joey really had been through a lot of what Vlad was experiencing. But the lucky bastard had come out on the other side and was now living the life he wanted. Vlad was jealous as hell.

Yeah. Sucks. Anyway, just wanted to check in. I’ll let you get some sleep. Or watch gay porn.

Vlad’s cheeks heated. Already Joey had him pegged.

Later.

He locked his phone and stuck it in his pocket again. After paying the cab driver and making his way up to his room, he stepped in the shower to wash the stink of the strip club off. Vlad idly wondered if all female strippers wore the same perfume. In his thankfully limited experience, they seemed to. He made a face. It was becoming more and more difficult to even pretend to be into women. He couldn’t let anyone in his world discover his secret, though. It would end him.

With a soapy hand, he reached down and cupped his balls with one hand and pulled on his shaft with the other. Normally when he was jerking off, he’d bring up one of the scenes from his extensive collection of movies, but those images were interspersed with ones of Joey now. Vlad wasn’t stupid—he knew he might very well be fixating on Joey because he was the only other gay man he knew, but that didn’t stop him from lusting over him.

Just in the past few months, he’d gotten adventurous enough to try a few small toys in his ass. It had felt really weird. For about the millionth time, he wondered what a cock would be like. They were way bigger than any toy he’d dared to play with. The guys in his movies seemed to love getting fucked, but would he? Vlad was pretty sure he’d like getting blowjobs, since that was something he’d been able to enjoy with women. Vlad didn’t hate women; he just wasn’t attracted to them sexually. But when your eyes were closed, it didn’t matter if the person sucking you off was male or female.

Would Joey let Vlad fuck him? He thought he might like that better than the other way around. Some of the stuff in those porn videos just looked…strange. The guys seemed to go nuts when they were getting their asses licked, but Vlad didn’t see how that could feel good. An image of him and Joey flooded his brain, with Joey bent over the bed and Vlad pounding into him from behind. Joey was moaning and begging Vlad not to stop. Vlad’s dick was at full mast now, and his hand sped up. It felt so good. For years he’d really let himself believe he just didn’t like sex. Now he knew what he liked, and he wanted it.

The image morphed into one of Joey on his back, his knees way up by his ears as Vlad bent him in half. Joey’s head was thrown back, his mouth open as Vlad worked Joey’s dick in time with his thrusts. He had always held back whenever he was with a woman, afraid he’d hurt them. There was no worry of that with Joey. He could definitely see liking rough sex.

Focusing on his fantasy again, Vlad tugged harder and faster, his hand flying over his hard-as-nails dick. He tilted his head back, biting his lip. Soon the base of his spine tingled, and his back arched. Vlad’s mouth opened. “Joeyyyyyy…” His release tumbled over his hand onto the shower floor.

He forced his eyes open, breathing hard. Vlad knew he needed to get this growing fixation under control before he did something stupid—well, more stupid than kissing Joey the night they’d met. Joey was his only real friend in the world, the only one who knew his most intimate secret. Vlad couldn’t regret going to Reggie’s that night. He’d been humiliated by the reception he’d gotten, but he’d also met Joey, and he couldn’t afford to do anything to screw that up. With that sober thought, he finished up in the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist.

Out in the room, he grabbed a pair of shorts and then flopped onto his bed. Did he have time to watch some movies before his roommate came home? Tyler had gone to a movie with some of Vlad’s other teammates. Tyler had been avoiding him for months now, only speaking to Vlad when necessary, and Vlad wondered if Tyler had a secret too. It was exhausting, trying to hide his true nature and figure out the motives of his teammates. Vlad yawned. Bed sounded like a pretty good idea.

* * * *

Joe pulled his phone from the pocket of his coveralls. It was disgusting how often he checked it, considering that when he wasn’t checking it, he was reminding himself why he couldn’t get involved with Vlad. Plus, the damn thing had a notification sound Joe responded to like Pavlov’s dog, and he was always afraid the noise in the hangar would drown it out.

He’d never had a real relationship, and Vlad didn’t seem like the best choice to try to have that first one with. Of course, for all he knew, Vlad wasn’t even interested, despite their awkward lip-lock. That would really be for the best.