Picks & Pucks by Teegan Loy

in the shin.
    “Ow, now I’m going to have a bruise, and when I find a boyfriend, he’s going to think I like it rough.”
    “Stop saying shit like that,” I begged. “If you’re trying to drive me crazy, it’s working.”
    Eli shrugged and stuffed a handful of potato chips into his mouth. “I’m curious, and not everything is about you.” He waggled his eyebrows and winked at me.
    “I will not be your experiment,” I said firmly.
    “How do you know I couldn’t teach you a thing or two?”
    “Can you?”
    He clicked his lip ring against his teeth again. “Maybe.”
    “Spill,” I said sternly. “Now.”
    He blushed and my mouth fell open. Eli never blushed over anything. It had been my lifelong ambition in high school to embarrass the shit out of him. All my plans had been failures and usually ended up embarrassing me. I’d finally decided he had some sort of weird disorder that kept him from blushing. And now, talking about boys, Eli was as red as a glob of ketchup.
    “Well, it was an accident really. I was at a bar and went to take a piss. A guy started talking to me. Normally, I fucking hate when someone strikes up a conversation when I’m taking care of business, so I turned to give him an icy glare, and fuck me, he had these brown eyes that made my knees go weak. I almost pissed on my shoes. Before I could think, I was leaving the bar with him and making out with him in his car.”
    “Holy shit,” I murmured.
    “Yeah, holy shit is right,” Eli repeated. “It was hot and heavy, and over before it got started. Came in my fucking pants dry humping some dude. Freaked me out. You weren’t here, and I didn’t know what to do.”
    “You could have called,” I said.
    “That’s not a phone conversation.”
    “And an ice arena is the place for this conversation?”
    “When is your next day off?”
    “Saturday.”
    “Great,” he said, stuffing the rest of his sandwich in his mouth. “Friday night we’re hitting it hard. I know once Marina gets here, you’ll be on a short leash.”
    I could already feel the choke chain tightening. The competitive season was right around the corner and my long program still wasn’t right. The short was okay, but needed some fine-tuning. The Olympics made everything more important this year, from the music to the costume to where my blade was on the ice.
    “Earth to Justin,” Eli said. He flicked my ear with his finger.
    “Hey,” I said, rubbing the spot he tweaked. “What was that for?”
    “You’re not paying attention to me,” he whined.
    “I’m in shock,” I said. “You just told me you liked boys. I’ve been home for a month and things are all weird. Marina will be here on Monday. I’m positive Janae told her my programs aren’t that great and I still don’t have the quads and, fuck, you like boys.”
    “You said that twice.”
    “I may need to say it a few more times before it seems real.”
    “You okay?” His voice sounded shaky.
    “Eli, I’m fine with whatever makes you happy. I’m here for you however you need me to be. Well, except naked. I really don’t think I could sleep with you.”
    “Oh, that’s okay. You’re really not my type,” Eli said. I didn’t know if I should be offended or relieved.
    “I always thought your type had boobs and other girl parts.” I snickered.
    “I think I like all parts. I’m an equal opportunity sort of guy.”
    “I can live with that,” I said, smiling at him. Noise on the ice drew my attention away from Eli and immediately I found number seventeen.
    “You’re staring again,” Eli said. He poked me with a banana. “Eat your fruit or I’ll tell your sister you’re looking at hockey boys.”
    He peeled the banana for me, and I leaned back in my seat, pretending to deep throat the thing when he put it in my mouth. Eli laughed and nudged me with his elbow.
    “You might have to give me some pointers,” he said. “The first time I tried that, I coughed my head off. Definitely a