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Jeff doesn’t regret the decision he made choosing hockey over figure skating.
It made sense at the time. His heart was set on making it to the NHL and while winning a bronze at the Canadian Championships wasn’t terrible, he wanted hockey. Eight years later and he’s playing for the Carolina Hurricanes, pretty much having the best time of his life and he’s only twenty. It also helps that he’s on a great team, with a great Captain (yeah, he’s not going to go there too much), and he’s playing pretty damn well himself. He’s less angry than he used to be, only because having to have another awkward conversation with Eric about his behavior on ice which neither of them really wanted to be participating in, is absolutely not happening again.
He’s starting to make it a habit to get to the rink early, even before Eric, because he likes to have the ice to himself for a little while. It gets him some good-natured chirping from the guys about his dedication to the game and his untoward relationship with the ice but Jeff lets it roll off his back. He’s more than willing to take it if it means he gets a few minutes of privacy before practice.
It has absolutely nothing to do with being able to indulge in a little figure skating before the guys get there.
He’s obviously wearing the wrong kind of skates but most of the time he doesn’t care. It’s weird being bulked out in his gear and he’s definitely not as smooth at skating as he would be in different skates but it works well enough. It’s taken some practice to get used to spinning on hockey skates but it’s effective enough that the next time he’s doing it, eyes closed and no doubt a stupid smile on his face, he comes to a stop in time to see half of the team standing on the sidelines, whooping and cheering him on. Jeff feels a blush creep up the side of his neck and he rubs nervously at his arm. “Um.”
The guys flood onto the ice, each of them punching him lightly on the arm or roughing up his hair. Yeah, they dig it in a little but whatever, Jeff’s feeling pretty good about himself. It only gets worse when Eric passes with a ridiculous expression on his face, smiling like Jeff’s awesome or something. (Which, duh.) They’d mocked him a lot when he first joined the team, pinning pictures of him with his bronze medal and mid-spin onto his locker but they’ve wound down a lot. He’s not even particularly worried about them starting up again after this because he’s pretty much going to deserve it.
Practice passes quickly after that. Jeff manages to throw in some spins, skating a little like he would in a free skating programme so much so that it riles the guys up a little bit and even Cam mutters a quick, “Damn, Rookie,” at the tail end of another spin. Jeff tries not to think too much about the way Cam seems to zone in on him for some reason, or that he still calls Jeff a rookie but yeah, that feels pretty good. It only gets better when practice is winding down and he and Eric are the last guys left on the ice. Eric’s picking up the discarded gloves because he feels like it’s his duty or whatever, and Jeff’s trying not to let on that he’s lingering.
“You waiting to show off some more?” Eric asks, but he’s grinning.
Jeff thinks I could jump but that would just be stupid because he isn’t wearing the right skates. He’s not sure he could handle the embarrassment of having to tell everyone he can’t play hockey because he broke his neck figure skating at practice. Still, the idea has some merit and gets more and more appealing the longer Eric just smiles at him. Jeff has to jump before he does something stupid like skate forward and kiss Eric full on the mouth. That would be pretty terrible. “Okay watch this.”
Eric’s brow furrows a little in the middle but Jeff’s already skating away from him, propping his stick up against the bench and tugging off his own gloves. He doesn’t think about what he’s doing too much because he’s getting really good at talking himself out of things (mostly Eric-related things) and just skates back towards Eric. The expression on Eric’s face has morphed into amused curiosity and Jeff takes that and skates with it, turning on his heel and skating backwards for a while. It’s been a long time since he’s attempted a Salchow but he’s pretty sure he can still carry this off. He used to be pretty good at himself, according to a bronze medal and years drilling them over and over, so he’s confident as he pushes off from the ice, spinning effortlessly through the air. It’s all going perfectly until he remembers that yeah, he’s not wearing the right skates and landing is probably going to be-
He lands wonky and tips backward. He doesn’t windmill his arms, something that he’s definitely going to be thankful for later, but he also doesn’t hit the ice. There are strong arms under his armpits and as Jeff drops his head back, he finds himself staring up into Eric’s face. This close, Jeff can see Eric’s eyes are a brilliant blue and oh shit, this was such a terrible idea. He should probably be straightening up and thanking Eric, blushing all the while but neither of them is really doing anything that could be considered pulling away.
“Ten points,” Eric says, mouth curving up into a smile.
“Um,” Jeff replies, definitely blushing now. “I can pull that jump off.”
Eric laughs and Jeff thinks oh shit. Most of the time, Jeff has this little thing for Eric under control. Most of the time he shoves it down and it’s okay and brilliant and he can work with it. He’s twenty and he’s pretty sure if he did do anything, then Eric would laugh it off or put it down to Jeff being so young. The way Eric’s looking at him now though is an expression not unlike the one he himself must wear sometimes. It’s making his heart beat a little bit too fast.
“You wanna?” Eric asks, flexing his fingers a little against Jeff’s sides. He doesn’t move, though, and Jeff’s pretty sure this angle is going to give him back pain or something but he’s entirely too fixated on Eric’s face.
Jeff shakes his head a little but Eric rights him anyway, keeping one hand fisted in Jeff’s jersey as he spins him on one skate. They’re facing each other and Jeff’s pretty sure the air just got way too think because his chest is a little tight. “Um.”
Eric blinks slowly and he puts his free hand on Jeff’s shoulder. He looks torn between shoving Jeff away and pulling him closer so Jeff makes up his mind for him. He pushes forward and up a little, curling his fingers in the front of Eric’s jersey. They’re pressing way too close and Jeff feels a flush of heat through his body. He doesn’t move, just waits Eric out because he wants this but he’s not going to take it unless Eric does too. Eric swallows thickly. “This is such a bad idea.”
He’s not moving away, though, and Jeff takes that as a good sign. “Please.”
There’s a beat or two when Jeff thinks it’s not going to happen, that Eric’s going to shake his head and skate away. He needs to have a little bit more faith in Eric, though because Eric lets out a slow breath and curls his fingers into Jeff’s hair. It’s gotta be sweaty and disgusting but Eric doesn’t seem to care, tugging Jeff up so that he can kiss him. It’s not slow or careful or anything that Jeff thought that it would be. It’s hot and wet and definitely full of tongue. It’s been a long time coming and it’s like Eric’s putting everything into it. The dancing they’ve been doing around each other, the flirting that they pretend isn’t flirting, and months of being careful and shutting down anything that wasn’t completely platonic. It doesn’t matter now because they’re kissing and Jeff can’t help whining a little in the back of his throat, refusing to break away even when the need to breathe is getting kind of important.
Eric pulls away from him, keeping a hand on Jeff’s face as he does so.
“Still a bad idea?” Jeff makes himself ask, grinning kind of stupidly. He relaxes into Eric’s grip a little when he shakes his head, returning Jeff’s grin with one of his own. It kind of makes Jeff a little weak in the knees which is just another thing on a long list that Jeff’s not going to have to keep a lid on anymore. Sure, he’s probably not going to be able to grin quite so stupidly in the locker room or public or anything, but when it’s just him and Eric? He’s sure that’s allowed.
“Come on,” Eric says, tugging Jeff along by his jersey. “I’ll give you a ride.”
Yeah, Jeff thinks. Figure skating is definitely something he’s going to keep indulging in.