Fic: A Good Education (Hockey, Danny Briere/Claude Giroux, 73000 words, Explicit) 2/7

[rsadelle]

Master Post - Part 1

"What are you doing for your birthday?" Claude asks when he calls from the road because he's bored. He doesn't say he's bored, but Danny knows both Claude and road trips well enough to know that's why he's calling.

"Cameron's here that week," Danny says, "so we'll probably go out to dinner or something."

"Can I come with you?"

Danny chuckles. "Are you inviting yourself to my birthday dinner?"

"I'm offering to spend your birthday with you," Claude says.

"Cameron and I both have to be at school in the morning, so we can't stay out too late," Danny says, "but, yes, you can come to dinner."

Danny picks the restaurant, and Claude drives, "So you can drink," he says.

"I have class at eight tomorrow," Danny says. "I'm not drinking much even if it is my birthday."

Claude hmms. "What would your drinking class say about that?"

Danny makes a face at him. "That class is not as interesting as it sounds."

Claude laughs. "I still can't believe you picked that one."

Danny shrugs. "I had to pick one of them."

"What about you, Cameron?" Claude asks. "How's school?"

"It's school," Cameron says, and he recounts the indignities of high school to Claude, which mostly consist of having to get up in the morning and go to school. He's more enthusiastic when Claude asks him about hockey.

The restaurant is one they go to often enough that aside from a few looks, they don't attract much notice, and they settle into a table and their usual discussion of the menu.

After they order, Claude pulls an envelope out of his pocket and hands it to Danny. "Happy birthday."

Danny opens the envelope to a card that mocks him for his age. He throws a glare at Claude before he laughs at it, and then he opens the smaller envelope inside the card. He tips the contents out into his hand.

"What is it?" Cameron asks.

"Tickets." Danny shows them to Cameron. "Saturday night Battle of Pennsylvania tickets."

Cameron takes them from him and scrutinizes them. "These are glass seats."

Claude smiles at him and at Danny. "Happy birthday."

Danny reaches across the table and squeezes Claude's arm. "Thank you."

"You never get us glass seats," Cameron says to Danny. "This is awesome."

Danny plucks the tickets out of his hand and puts them back into the envelope, which he tucks into his pocket. "Who says I'm taking you?"

Claude laughs and Cameron protests, and Danny grins at both of them.

They really can't stay out too late, but they don't rush through dinner. Either Claude or Cameron tells the waiter it's Danny's birthday so he ends up blowing out a candle on a piece of cake that he refuses to share.

"Give up now," Claude advises Cameron. "Your dad can be pretty stubborn. We'll have to order our own desserts."

They do, but they don't linger over them. Claude pays for dinner, and it's still earlyish by the time he drives them home.

Claude comes in with them, and hangs out in the living room with Danny after Cameron heads upstairs to finish his homework.

"So," Claude says after a while, "how about a birthday blowjob?"

Danny raises his eyebrows at Claude. "Is that the rest of my present?" He'll say yes even if it isn't, but he might as well push the birthday thing.

"I expect you to get me off too," Claude says, "but yes. It can be."

"Come upstairs," Danny says, and he locks the front door and turns out all the lights before he leads Claude up to his room.

Claude kisses him once they're in his room, backing him up against the door and holding him there. "Don't do anything," Claude says. "Just stay there."

Danny can agree to that, and he helps Claude get his clothes off but doesn't move away from the door.

Claude kneels down in front of him and licks his cock, warm, wet stripes of sensation that aren't enough to get Danny off but more than enough to make him feel really, really good. He doesn't try to rush Claude; it's his birthday, and as much as he wants to come eventually, he doesn't mind waiting, not when waiting feels like this.

Danny runs his hands through Claude's hair, not trying to do anything, just touching him. Claude stops licking him for long enough to smile up at him and turn to kiss his wrist. When he starts licking him again, he also brings his hand up and cups Danny's balls. It's enough to make Danny gasp and tip his head against the door.

Claude switches strategy, putting his mouth on Danny and sucking and mouthing at his cock. It's way more touch than the licking, and Danny gasps again, and puts one hand behind him, holding himself up against the door.

Danny loses track of time in the sensation of Claude sucking him. Claude still isn't working to get him off anytime soon, and Danny still doesn't care. He could stay here in this haze of pleasure all night.

Claude does change it up after an endless time of what he's doing, sucking him harder, teasing at the head of Danny's cock with his tongue. Danny knows he's making noise now, even though he's trying to keep it quiet. It's too good not to.

It builds and builds and builds until he's coming with what he distantly hopes isn't too loud a moan. Claude sucks him through it, until Danny's too sensitive for it and pushes him away. The slight push of his hand against Claude's forehead is all the energy Danny can spare for anything that's not leaning against the door so he doesn't fall down.

Claude stands up, crowding him into the door, and Danny looks up at him, trying to make his eyes focus on Claude's face.

"Happy birthday," Claude says.

Danny's still trying to catch his breath, so he doesn't say anything back, just smiles tiredly.

Claude kisses the corner of his mouth. "You're not going to be able to get me off, are you? I'm going to have to do it myself."

Danny would protest and offer to do something in a minute, a couple of minutes, whenever he can move again, except that Claude wraps his hand around his own cock and that's hot enough that Danny's willing to just watch him.

He alternates between watching Claude's hand move on his cock and the look of pure pleasure on Claude's face. He feels like he can move a little before Claude comes, and he leans forward, one hand still against the door for support, and kisses Claude.

Claude moans into the kiss and then kisses him harder, pushing him against the door and crowding into him. That makes it easier for Danny to put his arms around Claude and hold him close.

"Are you going to come for me?" he asks. "Is that part of my birthday present?"

Claude doesn't answer with words, but he groans and rests his forehead on Danny's shoulder. Danny looks down and watches him stroke his cock faster and faster, until he comes, making a mess on Danny's stomach and exhaling hard against Danny's shoulder.

Danny tips Claude's head up and kisses him, even as Claude leans heavier into Danny, making Danny hold him up with the help of the door behind him.

"Thank you," Danny says after a couple of minutes. "That was even better than my other present."

Claude huffs out a laugh. "Those are really good tickets."

Danny kisses his jaw. "That was a really good blowjob."

"I have practice," Claude says.

They make out for a few more minutes before Claude pulls away. Danny follows him into the bathroom to clean up.

"Do you want to stay?"

Claude leans over and kisses the corner of his mouth. "I was hoping you would ask."

*

Danny invites his study group to come home with him to work on their econ homework. There isn't anything wrong with their usual space in Huntsman, but they're well into the semester and he thought they might like the chance to hang out in something that feels more like a home.

Sarah's leaning across the table to see what Hunter's done when the front door opens. Danny doesn't pay much attention to it because he's expecting Cameron home anyway and he's more concerned about his econ grade, but Sarah, Hunter, and Caleb all look up when the sound of the door closing is followed by two pairs of footsteps and the rustle of grocery bags.

"I thought you were getting a ride with Austin," Danny says when Cameron comes in followed by Claude, both of them carrying grocery bags.

"I was," Cameron says, "but Claude picked me up instead and took me to the rink to work on my wrist shot."

"I'm making grilled cheese," Claude says. He looks at Sarah, Hunter, and Caleb. "There's probably enough if everyone's staying."

Danny looks past him at the clock on the microwave. It is much later than they'd planned to work. "This is my son Cameron," he says, "and Claude, who thinks he still has rights to my kitchen even though he hasn't lived here for years. This is my study group. Sarah, Caleb, and Hunter."

Claude says, "That's no way to talk about the guy who's making you dinner," and there's a moment of confusion and handshakes.

"Do you want to stay?" Danny asks. "Claude's grilled cheese is really good. Or I can drive you back now."

"I vote for staying," Hunter says just after Danny stops speaking.

"Sure," Caleb says with a shrug, "if you're sure you don't mind."

"Of course not," Danny says.

"Oh, I'm in," Sarah says. "You're the one definitely donating a jersey to our fundraiser."

"That's me," Claude says. "You're all in Danny's management class, right?"

Danny gets up to help Claude unpack the groceries since Cameron put his bags down and disappeared from the kitchen.

"And econ," Sarah says.

"Right." Claude pauses and looks at her. "You do video games."

Danny is intimately familiar with how charming Claude can be, so he's not surprised in the least that Sarah beams at him. He is surprised by what he finds in one of the grocery bags.

"You brought chocolate cake into my house?" He holds up the evidence. "It's bad enough that we eat pizza all the time."

Claude grins at him. "It's perfect. Now we have dessert to serve your friends."

Danny puts the cake in the fridge. "And then you can take the leftovers home with you." Claude has a teenage rookie living with him; they can eat the rest of it.

"No way," Claude says. "Gregs would rat me out to the trainers for sure."

"Isn't this a charming domestic scene," Hunter says.

Danny turns to look at him. There's a mildly annoyed look on his face that Danny estimates is ninety percent faked, and both Sarah and Caleb look like they're on the verge of laughter.

"We played together for six years," Danny says, "and Claude lived here for a year, so we're pretty comfortable around each other now."

Sarah's look is skeptical, but the other two seem to accept that as enough of an explanation, and Danny turns back to the grocery bags he's unpacking.

"How's your fundraiser going?" Claude asks them.

Danny glances over at the others and lets them answer.

"Too early to tell for sure," Caleb says, "but I think it's going okay. Our group isn't a disaster, at least."

"Our group is really slow," Hunter says. "We should-"

Sarah rolls her eyes and cuts him off. "We're not going to do everything your way. You're just going to have to get used to it. How's your season going?" she asks Claude.

"Good," Claude says with a shrug. "We're winning more than we're losing."

"I read your rating is way better in this year's edition of the NHL game."

Hunter groans. "You're going to use a video game as a reference?"

"It's the only way I know anything about hockey." Sarah shrugs, seemingly unfazed by Hunter's disapproval. "I've only played it once, though. It's not really my kind of game."

"Not really mine either," Claude says. "I'm pretty terrible at video games."

Claude bought a lot of things, including Lucky Charms, which he knows Danny never keeps in the house, but he did at least also remember to get something slightly healthier to go with the sandwiches. Danny puts away the grocery bags and gathers up the salad ingredients while Claude arranges cheese, bread, and butter the way he likes them on the counter and gets out a cutting board, a knife, and a pan.

"Careful," Caleb says. "Sarah disapproves of people who don't play video games."

"I do not," Sarah says.

Claude laughs. "I didn't say I don't play them. I'm just not any good at them." He smirks, and Danny sees it coming before he says, "Danny's worse."

"Yes," Danny says. "I'm the usual video game tournament loser in this house, but I win two out of three at ping pong."

"He keeps stats," Claude says with a straight face, and now Danny's study group is staring at them again.

"That was only one season," Danny says, "because Schenner didn't believe Sean that I was that good."

Claude pointedly looks at the others. Sarah and Caleb grin at him, and Hunter says, "Why can't you be that competitive with our group?"

Danny shrugs. "We don't need to be. We have to work together, and there isn't anything we can do about the other groups except do our best. Which we can do by working together."

"You should listen to him," Claude says. "He's coached everything from Mini-Mites to Tier III Juniors, and he's been the captain of an NHL team. He knows about being a team."

Danny smiles at him, and he also says, "Stop interfering in our group dynamics."

"I think we can use the help," Sarah says. "Hunter's hanging on his every word."

Hunter glares at her, and she just shrugs at him.

Danny rinses vegetables and chickpeas and gets out a second cutting board while he lets them work it out.

"My brother," Caleb says, with an almost unnoticeable pause after the words, "played a lot of Little League. That sounds like the kind of stuff his coach used to tell them."

"There you go," Claude says. "It's not just me." He layers butter and cheese onto slices of bread and tosses butter into the pan.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Sarah asks, blinking at them like she just thought of it.

"Not with the food," Danny says, "but if you could move your books, we'll eat at the table." He finishes making the salad while they clean up in a loud rustle of papers, books, and backpacks.

"Where do you want your stuff?" Caleb asks.

"I'll get it." Danny finishes the salad and brings it to the table where he swaps it for his books and notebook, which he stuffs into his backpack and moves out of the way. He also puts the ketchup on the table and explains, "Claude likes grilled cheese with ketchup. He's got us all doing it now," to the confused looks.

"That sounds terrible," Hunter says flatly.

"Don't knock it 'til you try it," Claude says. "It's good."

Danny sets the table with plates and silverware, leaves a plate on the counter for Claude to pile finished sandwiches on, and gets drinks for everyone. Then he goes into the hall and calls, "Cameron, dinner," up the stairs and waits for Cameron's acknowledging shout before he goes back into the kitchen.

Sarah, Caleb, and Hunter have arranged themselves around the table, and Claude piles a couple more sandwiches on the plate and brings it to the table when he joins them. Cameron slides into the last seat and grabs a sandwich before anyone else can reach for them. He shrugs only somewhat apologetically when Danny gives him a look. He knows better than that.

"Dig in," Claude says. "We're not formal around here."

Sarah shoots a look at Danny that might have been unreadable if he hadn't spent an entire season having his teammates refer to him and Claude as a married couple, with lingering jokes that never quite died off. With that experience in mind, he ignores it and waits for the kids to pass him things.

There's a general lack of conversation for a bit while everyone wolfs down sandwiches and salad. Sarah's the only one game enough to try ketchup with her grilled cheese. She shrugs, says, "It's not bad," and eats the rest of her sandwich without it.

"Do you cook here a lot?" Hunter asks Claude after they've all satisfied their first ravenous hunger and are on to more leisurely seconds.

"More than Dad," Cameron pipes up. "And he's better at it."

Again, it's something Danny's used to enough that he doesn't do more than sigh and say, "I'm not that bad."

"You really are," Claude says, and Cameron nods his head in agreement.

"Traitors. Mostly we order in," Danny admits, more or less in answer to Hunter's question.

Cameron shrugs. "It's true. At least it means we don't have to eat weird experiments like Mom makes sometimes."

Sarah grins at him. "My mom does that. One time last year we spent a whole week eating nothing but variations on asparagus."

The disgusted face Cameron makes is so exaggerated Danny's hard put not to laugh.

"No," Sarah says, "it wasn't that bad. Some of it was good. She just overbought the asparagus and then had to figure out what to do with it."

There's silence for a second while they all take that in, and then Caleb says, "I'll bite. Why did she overbuy the asparagus in the first place?"

Sarah frowns. "I don't know," she says after a moment, "but it's a family legend now."

Cameron laughs. "Mom hasn't done anything like that. She did make a bunch of things from a crockpot cookbook someone gave her once. I think we ate stew at her house for like two months before Carson said he would rather not eat than eat another meal out of it. Uh," he says after a pause, "that probably makes more sense if you know Carson."

Claude and Danny both laugh, and Claude says, "I get it, buddy."

"Your turn," Sarah says to Caleb and Hunter. "Family food stories. Go."

"We don't really have any," Hunter says. "Not like that." He shrugs. "We just eat normal things."

Sarah rolls her eyes. "You're going to have to get some interesting stories, or figure out what you think is normal that actually isn't. Caleb?"

"Um. We always had pie for breakfast on Christmas." Caleb looks at them, looks down at his plate, and then says, "We don't really talk anymore, and that was a thing we started doing because I asked for it when I was four, so. I don't know if they'll keep doing it."

"Shit," Sarah says. "Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

Caleb waves a hand and gives her a smile that doesn't make it to his eyes. It's painful to watch. "You didn't know. I'm gay, and that wasn't okay with them, so." He shrugs again. "It is what it is, and this is nice." He gestures at the rest of them.

"We're happy to have you here," Danny says. "You're welcome anytime. All of you."

Claude starts laughing, and shakes his head when Danny turns to look at him. "And you were complaining about the parents at Caelan's party. You're just as bad. You hate having only one kid in the house."

"I'm not a kid," Cameron says, and Hunter glares and says, "We're his classmates, not kids."

Claude keeps snickering, and Danny sighs. "Please stop helping." To Hunter he says, "I played with rookies your age my whole career. I won't forget you're my team, not my kids."

Danny's not sure Hunter's completely satisfied with that, but he settles down. Cameron asks Sarah about video games, and the conversation changes track. Danny keeps an eye on Caleb, but he relaxes when they don't come back to the topic of his family.

"I see what you're doing," Claude says to him softly in French when they take the plates into the kitchen.

"I'm not doing anything," Danny says.

Claude laughs. "You really hate only having one kid in the house, and you always take in the rookie who needs a home."

Danny glances at the table, where his study group seems to be perfectly happy to hang out with Cameron. Even Hunter's lost some of his air of superiority in favor of enjoying himself. "I'm not adopting them."

Claude nudges him. "I'm going to start a pool. You'll lose."

Danny makes a face at him and takes the cake to the table. Four teenagers, a hockey player, and a retired hockey player can eat a lot of cake, which means there's less left over than Danny was worried about. He still divides it up into a couple of pieces on plastic plates that he gives to Sarah, Hunter, and Caleb. Cameron disappears upstairs after dinner - Danny calls after him to do his homework - and Danny gathers up his study group to give them a ride back to campus.

"I'll go with you," Claude says. He shrugs when Danny throws him a questioning look. "I don't have anything else to do tonight."

Danny goes upstairs and knocks at Cameron's door. "Claude and I are taking Sarah, Hunter, and Caleb back to campus."

Cameron barely looks up from his laptop. "Okay."

"Do your homework."

Cameron picks up the book sitting next to him. "Yeah."

That means he might or might not be working on something for school. "Forty-five minutes," Danny says, "and I'm going to check on it when I get back."

"Okay," Cameron says. "I'll do it. Don't worry."

Danny refrains from the "I'm your dad; it's my job to worry" line; Cameron's heard it enough and he's not really upset about any of it.

Claude gets along well enough with Danny's study group, and the drive back into the city has the same kind of light conversation as most of dinner.

"Thank you," Sarah says when Danny drops them all off, "for letting us hang out and dinner, and the ride. And the cake." She holds up her plate with a grin.

"You're welcome," Danny says. "I meant it; you're welcome anytime."

"Thank you," Caleb says, a little more subdued than Sarah. To Claude he says, "Your grilled cheese is delicious."

Claude grins at him. "Thanks. I've had a lot of practice."

Hunter also says thank you, and tells Claude to keep his head up.

"They're nice kids," Claude says when Danny turns the car toward home.

"They are." Danny grins. "But don't let them hear you call them kids."

Claude laughs. "They are kids, though. They seem even younger than the rookies."

Danny says, "They're the same age as John-Michael," but he knows what Claude means. There's a difference between guys who've been playing hockey away from their families most of the year for years and suburban kids living away from home for the first time. "They're a good group."

"I'm going to start that pool," Claude says. "There will be options for how many of them you're going to invite to live with you."

"I'm not inviting any of them to live with me," Danny says. "I let you do that for a year, and I never got rid of you."

"You love having me around." Claude reaches across the console and puts his hand on Danny's thigh. "Just admit it."

"I love the sex," Danny says, and he puts his hand over Claude's to keep it from moving any higher. "I don't love it when you bring cake into my house."

Claude laughs, and turns his hand over so they're holding hands instead. "But you put up with it."

Danny says, "I don't know why," but he doesn't really mind that much, and Claude probably knows going by the way he grins and doesn't let go of Danny's hand. He doesn't leave when they get back to the house either. Instead, he takes the dogs outside while Danny goes upstairs to check on the state of Cameron's homework.

"I'm almost done," Cameron says as soon as Danny opens his door. Then he stares at Danny. "Is your homework done?"

"Almost," Danny tells him. "No video games until you're done."

Cameron rolls his eyes. "You either."

Danny grins and shuts his door. He does still have some reading to do for his art history class, so he drags out his textbook when he gets downstairs and settles onto the couch with the book and his notebook for the class.

"Notes on paper," Claude says when he comes in, the dogs trailing behind him, "very old-fashioned."

"Classic," Danny says. "I have to do this reading before I can hang out with you any more."

"Sure," Claude says. He sits down on the other end of the couch and tucks his feet under Danny's thighs while he pokes at his phone. Danny gives him a half-hearted disapproving look that does nothing to make Claude move, and finds himself resting his hand on Claude's ankles as he reads.

Danny closes his book when he gets to the end of the chapter he's supposed to be reading.

Claude looks up from his phone and asks, "Done?"

"For tonight." Danny puts the book and notebook down and tips his head against the back of the couch. "Just like hockey, a little every day."

Claude wriggles his toes under Danny's thigh. "There's probably a game on."

Danny's closer to it, so he picks up the remote, but hands it to Claude. Claude flips channels for a dizzyingly long time and only settles on a basketball game when Danny flicks his ankle.

It's not a great game, but Danny's spent most of the day on schoolwork, and it's nice to do something he doesn't have to think about.

Claude doesn't last long anyway. After they've watched most of a quarter, he nudges Danny with his toes. "This is boring. Wanna go upstairs and fuck instead?"

Danny snorts. "How can I resist an invitation like that?"

Claude grins at him and leans across the length of the couch to kiss him. "It'll be more fun than basketball."

"Lots of things would be more fun than basketball."

Claude stops just leaning and scoots his whole body down the couch. Then he cups Danny through his jeans. "I don't have to skate tomorrow. We can do whatever you want."

Danny tips Claude's head down and kisses him, slow and dirty. "You should have started with that."

"I'm saying it now." Claude's lips are red and full from kissing, and his tone is low enough to make Danny shiver.

Danny runs his hands over Claude's shoulders. "Upstairs. And be quiet. Cameron's here."

Cameron is still, going by the light coming from under his door, awake, but it's not that late yet, and Danny decides to trust him to go to bed at a reasonable hour. He's old enough to deal with the consequences if he doesn't.

"What are you going to do with me?" Claude asks when Danny all but pushes him into his room.

Danny rakes his eyes over Claude. He's in just jeans and a worn-soft long sleeve Flyers tee, but he looks unfairly good in it. "Take off your clothes."

Claude smiles just short of a smirk and strips. He's not quite making a show out of it, but he pulls off one piece of clothing at a time, which keeps it slow.

Danny's breathing is rough by the time Claude's naked.

"What about you?" Claude asks.

"In a minute." Getting naked himself isn't as important as getting his hands on Claude.

Danny runs his hands over Claude's chest, strokes down his arms, kisses him and presses close. The last makes Claude groan.

"Danny." Claude pushes his erection into Danny's hip. "You're killing me."

"You said we could do whatever I want."

"I didn't mean this." Claude gropes him, one hand on his ass and the other on his hip.

"Yes you did." Danny keeps touching Claude, but he lets Claude undress him while he does, until they're both naked and Claude's erection is pressing into his bare hip.

"Come on," Claude says. "You're going to do more than just kiss me, right?"

Danny laughs. "I like kissing you." He does it again to prove it. "But I want to fuck you."

Claude shivers and says, "Yes," like that wasn't what he was angling for in the first place.

Danny lets go of him and goes to the nightstand. When he turns around, Claude is on his hands and knees on the bed. Danny drops the condom on the bed and flips open the lube.

"You want me to fuck you hard?" he asks while he lets the lube warm a little on his fingers.

"Yes," Claude says. He keeps his hips steady but turns his upper body to look at Danny. "I don't have to skate tomorrow. You can."

Danny pats his ass with his free hand and then fingers Claude open carefully. He might want it hard, but Danny's not going to hurt him. Plus, he likes the way Claude fucks himself back on his fingers when he decides Danny's going too slow.

Claude only gets more insistent, and Danny's erection is no less so. Danny pulls his fingers out of Claude with an apologetic pat to his ass. It takes a minute to wipe his fingers clean and get the condom on, and then he presses slowly into Claude. Claude stays still until Danny's all the way in him. Then he shoves his hips back, not that there's anywhere for him to go.

Danny digs his fingers into Claude's hips. "Give me a second," he says, trying to hold onto enough control not to come right then, "and I'll do it."

Claude stays pressed as tightly to him as possible, but he doesn't try to make it happen beyond saying, "Hurry up."

Danny bends down and kisses the back of Claude's neck, and then he pulls back and pulls halfway out of Claude before slamming back in. Claude groans, but he does it quietly and he keeps the volume down while Danny fucks him.

Claude wanted it hard, so that's what Danny gives him, gripping Claude's hips tight and putting his weight behind every thrust into him.

When he's getting close, Danny wraps one hand around Claude's cock and uses the force of his thrusts to let Claude fuck his hand.

Claude comes with a choked off cry, and Danny thrusts into him a few more times before he comes too.

Danny pulls out of Claude, rubs his hip, and takes care of the condom, washing his hands, and bringing Claude a damp washcloth to clean him up.

Claude's already half-asleep when Danny gets back in bed.

"It's okay, right?" Claude more or less says.

"Yeah," Danny says. "I'm not going to kick you out."

*

Danny should probably have seen it coming, but he's still a little surprised when he meets up with his study group in one of the lounges in Huntsman and Sarah leans across the table and says, "You didn't tell us Claude was your boyfriend."

"He isn't."

"Really?" Caleb says. "Because that's not what it looked like."

"We're friends," Danny says. It's not like he's never heard this before.

"He picked up your kid from school," Sarah says, ticking it off on her fingers. "He bought you groceries, and don't think we didn't notice that it wasn't just stuff for dinner. He made dinner for you and all of us."

"We're friends," Danny says again. "We've been friends for a long time, and he lived with us for a year."

Hunter narrows his eyes. "Did you hook up with him?"

Danny doesn't answer that, but his face must give him away.

"Seriously?" Caleb asked. "I mean, I know what it looked like, but I didn't know you were actually." He waves a hand. "You hook up with guys?"

"Don't we have a problem set to work on?"

"This is way more interesting," Sarah says.

Danny sighs. He's not getting out of this one. "I'm bi," he says to Caleb. "Friends and family know, but it's not public knowledge so please don't spread it around. Claude and I are friends."

"Friends with benefits," Hunter says. "And Claude's out - bi, not gay," he clarifies for Sarah and Caleb. "That puts the whole getting one of his signed jerseys thing into perspective."

Danny takes a deep breath. He's dealt with enough rookies and wannabe superstar kids on the boys' teams to be able to be calm about this. His voice is only a little tight when he says, "He would have donated it anyway. We're friends, and he does believe in giving back to the community."

Hunter opens his mouth, but it's Caleb who speaks first and says, "Lay off," to Hunter. To Danny he says, "Okay. We get that, but do you really think you're just friends?"

"That was not just friends," Sarah says. "That wasn't even just friends with benefits. That was total boyfriend behavior."

That at least puts Danny back on somewhat familiar ground. "He's not my boyfriend," he says as firmly as he can. "Now, we have a problem set to work on, and not that much time to do it."

They all look dubious, but Danny's used his best dad-captain-coach voice, and it works well enough that they spread out their books and notebooks and get to work on the problem set.

*

Danny calls Claude when he gets home from class, hoping to catch him between practice and his nap.

"Hey," Claude drawls into the phone.

"Hi," Danny says. "Did I wake you up?"

"I wasn't quite asleep," Claude says.

"Sorry."

"It's okay."

"Well," Danny says, "this might not be." He relates the conversation with his study group to Claude, who laughs at their insistence that they must be more than just friends; Claude has dealt with that just as long as Danny has. Danny winds down to the end of the conversation, and then asks, "Is it okay that they know we hook up?"

"Too late to ask that question," Claude says, "but yeah. They're your friends. You can tell them whatever you want."

"Your friends don't know," Danny says.

"My friends are assholes who would chirp us both forever," Claude says. "Most of them. Tony knows. And Jason, I think."

"You think?" Danny asks with a laugh.

"I was drunk," Claude says. "I think I said something about your ass, but I don't really remember."

Danny chuckles. "Of course you did. Well, I told them I'm not out publicly and asked them not to spread it around."

"I haven't told anyone who would do that," Claude says, "and I won't, even if I am drunk."

"I know you won't," Danny says, "and I won't tell anyone who would either."

"Okay, good," Claude says. His voice breaks into a yawn.

"Good," Danny repeats. "Now go take your nap."

"Okay," Claude says. "Watch my game."

"I will," Danny promises.

*

The semester grinds on, sliding into an endless series of papers, homework assignments, and tests. Not that Danny regrets it, but it's a lot of work, and his relationship with Claude continues to be his study group's favorite topic to bring up when they need a distraction. Danny mostly puts up with it, both because he has for years and because it often makes him laugh.

"What counts as a date with you two?" Sarah asks him one afternoon when none of them actually want to do any work but they're set up at a table anyway. "Do you go watch Cameron's hockey games together? Dinner and a movie? Grilled cheese at home?"

They have, actually, done all of those things in the last week. Danny admits to that, and also says, "But they weren't dates."

Sarah, Hunter, and Caleb all give him deeply skeptical looks.

"We're friends," Danny says. "We've done all of those things for years, even when we weren't hooking up."

"That just means you've been dating forever," Hunter says.

"Has it been forever?" Sarah asks. "Is this a romance for the ages?"

Danny laughs. "It's not a romance at all."

"It totally is," Caleb says. He leans his cheek on one hand. "I wish I had a romance like that."

"Really?" Sarah asks. "Wouldn't you want someone who could admit it was a romance?"

"Well, yeah," Caleb says. "But the rest of it." He waves a hand. "They obviously fit well together, and that would be nice."

"Maybe we should find you a boyfriend," Danny says. It's a good distraction from talking about him and Claude.

The half-dreamy look on Caleb's face closes off. "No," he says, "I don't think that's what I need right now."

Sarah and Danny exchange confused looks, but it's Hunter who cuts right to the heart of it.

"If they were shitty enough to kick you out," he says, his usual bluntness softened to something more caring, "making yourself miserable isn't going to make them change their minds."

Caleb goes absolutely pale. "You don't know-" he starts to say.

"I do know," Hunter says. "My best friend's boyfriend's family is the same way. It sucks, but sometimes you just have to face reality and find other people to love you."

Sarah says, "Shut up, Hunter," and gets out of her chair and goes around the table so she can put her arms around Caleb. "You're not helping."

Caleb leans into her hug. "He kind of is." He looks up at her with a watery smile. "That means he's volunteering to be one of those other people, right?"

The rueful look on Hunter's face is almost funny. "I guess so," he says.

"We all are," Danny says firmly.

Caleb smiles at him and pushes Sarah away gently. "Thank you," he says. He rubs his eyes. "Can we talk about something else now?"

They all look at each other for a moment before Sarah takes up the conversation. "Jeanette - she's the one doing story design - heard the most awful idea for a video game." The story makes all of them, even Caleb, laugh. Danny still makes sure to hug him before they part ways.

"You're always welcome to come over to my house," he tells Caleb when he does.

"Thanks," Caleb says. His smile looks almost easy.

Danny watches him go with a frown, and Hunter nudges his shoulder. "His parents are assholes. There's nothing anyone can do about that."

There should be something, but Danny doesn't answer, and Hunter waves as he walks away.

The house is empty when he gets home, Cameron at Sylvie's for the week. It's too quiet while Danny tries to do his reading, and he texts all three boys, nothing important, just checking in, so the buzz of his phone will interrupt the quiet.

He gives up after an hour of barely doing any homework - which he really needs to do since they didn't do any studying this afternoon - and calls Claude.

Claude is a good distraction; he starts the conversation with, "You won't believe what Hartsy did."

Danny laughs a little. "I know Scott. I probably will."

"No you won't," Claude says, and then he launches into the story.

Danny laughs in all the right places, and when Claude's finished he says, "I believe it."

Claude sighs heavily. "You're no fun."

"I'm lots of fun," Danny says, even though he doesn't feel like it at the moment.

"Fun enough to have phone sex with me?"

Danny laughs. "No."

"Come on," Claude says. "I know you called because Cameron's at Sylvie's and you're lonely."

"Talking about my son and my ex-wife is not the way to convince me to have phone sex with you," Danny says, still laughing a little.

"So what is the way?"

"Not happening," Danny says. "Don't you have to go to dinner soon anyway?"

"Yes," Claude says, "but I would be late for you."

Danny laughs at him again. "Very flattering. Go have dinner. We can have sex when you're back in town."

"I'm going to remember you said that," Claude says.

"I'm good for it," Danny promises. He feels better after he says goodbye to Claude. It was a good distraction, although he does recognize the irony in using Claude to distract himself from a conversation that started with his study group teasing him about Claude. He also has a couple of texts from the boys, which makes him feel even better. At least he can make sure his kids have parents who love and support them unconditionally.

*

Claude doesn't bother to call when he gets back into town, just shows up at Danny's house one afternoon, hair still wet from his post-practice shower.

"Hi," Danny says. "What are you doing here?"

"Cameron's still at Sylvie's," Claude says, "so I know you're lonely, and you promised me sex when I got back."

Danny laughs. "I did promise you that." He stands up and takes Claude's hand. "Come upstairs."

Claude doesn't move, pulls Danny back by his hand. "What's wrong with right here?"

Danny leans up and kisses him, licking into Claude's mouth and not letting up until he has to breathe. "I want you to fuck me."

"Let's go upstairs," Claude says, starting for the stairs and tugging Danny along with him.

"I thought you'd go for that," Danny says with a laugh.

Claude lets go of him once they reach Danny's bedroom, and they take their clothes off separately. Danny wants to be naked with Claude more than he wants to get Claude that way.

They crash together once they're naked, biting into each other's mouths and letting their hands wander over bare skin. Danny pulls away first and settles onto the bed.

"Just fuck me."

Claude looks at him for a long moment before he blinks and gets the lube and a condom out of the nightstand. "How do you want it?"

Danny spreads his legs. "Like this."

Claude opens him up slowly, only moving on from one finger to two when Danny insists on it. By the time Claude pushes into him, Danny's panting and his hair is plastered to his forehead with sweat. He moans, soft and low, at the way it feels, Claude's cock barely a stretch after how thoroughly Claude fingered him, but filling him up anyway.

"Fuck," Claude says when he's all the way in.

"Uh-huh," Danny says back, not up to forming any more words than that. He kisses Claude for long minutes, and then nudges at him until Claude begins to move.

It's good, and just what Danny wants, not to have to think, to just feel. He pushes his hips up against Claude's, urging Claude on without words until Claude fucks him harder, going so far as to get up onto his knees and pull Danny along with him so he has better leverage.

Danny comes hard, with his own hand wrapped around his cock while Claude's fingers dig into his hips as he fucks him. He stops touching himself when it becomes too much, but doesn't stop Claude, relaxes into being fucked, into the way it overwhelms his senses.

Claude comes with a shout and a couple of last out of rhythm thrusts. He leans over Danny, breathing heavily, and kisses him before he carefully pulls out and throws away the condom. He lies down next to Danny, and this part is good too.

After a minute, Claude kisses his cheek and asks, "Okay?"

"Mmmhmm." Danny shifts so he's touching Claude a little more.

"You sure? That was pretty intense."

"Are you complaining?"

Claude laughs a little. "No." He kisses Danny's temple. "Just wanted to know what brought that on."

Danny tenses, already losing some of his relaxation from what they just did.

"Mmm," Claude says, kissing Danny again. "Never mind. You can tell me about it later."

He does leave it alone, and they lie there for a long time, dozing and kissing occasionally, until Claude gets up because he needs something to eat.

There's no one else home, so they go downstairs in just their underwear and cobble together sandwiches from whatever's in the fridge. They sit at the counter to eat, and Claude kicks Danny's ankle lightly.

"Want to talk about it?"

Danny sighs, but tells him about the conversation with his study group. Claude puts his sandwich down to listen, then leans over and kisses Danny lightly.

"I'm starting a pool," he says, "and betting that you're going to adopt Caleb."

That makes Danny laugh, and he relaxes so his shoulder is against Claude's. "I'm not adopting anyone, but I am going to try to get him to come over sometimes."

"I don't know why Gregs is living with me," Claude says. "You're the one who should still be taking in rookies."

"You're doing all right," Danny says. "He's playing well, and everyone says he's a good addition to the team."

"When were you talking to people about my rookie?"

"I watch press coverage," Danny says. "And you're not the only Flyer I talk to."

Claude shakes his head fondly. "Of course I'm not. Everyone likes you."

Danny slides his hand up Claude's thigh. "Not the way you like me."

Then it's Claude's turn to laugh, and he picks up his sandwich. "I need to eat this first, then I can show you how much I like you."

Danny lets go of Claude's thigh with a last squeeze. "I know how much you like me."

Claude smiles at him. "Do you? I'm not sure I've demonstrated it well enough."

Danny smiles back, the flirtation easy and comfortable, fun without denying how he feels about Caleb's situation. "I might need another demonstration."

Claude nudges him with an elbow. "Then finish your sandwich. You're going to need the energy."

*

Danny doesn't lose his temper with the workload of being in college until they hit midterms. He's doing his best to focus on his work, which isn't easy with a bunch of teenagers having something not quite organized enough to be a video game tournament in his living room. The kids are at least not actively interrupting his concentration, which can't be said for the pair of hands that drop onto his shoulders.

Danny turns his head and stares at Claude.

"You don't look like you want me here," Claude says.

Danny glares at him. "I don't. I don't want you here. I don't want all these kids here. I don't even want the dogs here. I just want some peace and quiet so I can finish this essay and my management homework and start on my econ problem set." Danny says it all in a furious whisper that won't reach the living room full of teenagers; as much as he doesn't want them in his house right now, he does know it's better for them to be here than some of the other places they could be.

Claude's, "Are you done?" is an ocean of calm in contrast.

Danny considers it for a moment before he says, "Yeah, I'm done."

"Okay. You work on your essay. I'm going to take the kids out for pizza. We'll be gone at least an hour. I'll bring you back something to eat."

Danny can feel himself deflate with the sudden lack of tension. "Thank you. You can take my car. There are a lot of them."

Claude nods. "First, come here." He cups the back of Danny's head in a familiar gesture.

"The kids."

Claude says, "It's funny how you think Cameron's friends don't all know," and kisses him. It's not quite like any other kiss he's ever gotten from Claude. It's not leading to anything, it's not following anything, it's not trying to talk him into anything. It's just a kiss, warm and comfortable and more cheering than he would have guessed.

It becomes even more so when Claude rounds up the kids and they all leave.

Danny gets the rest of the way through the draft of his essay and halfway through this week's management assignment before Sarah texts him.

This econ pset is going to kill me.

Danny sends back, I haven't even looked at it, and isn't surprised when his phone rings ten seconds later.

"No, seriously, this is awful," Sarah says. "I don't think this is a one-person job. I know it's a drive, but please say you'll come to the library and work on it with me."

"I can't. I have Cameron this week."

Sarah makes a frustrated noise. "You're a good dad and a terrible study partner. What about tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Danny says. "After management, or after three. I have class at two."

"I'm going to see if everyone else can make it," Sarah says. "I'll text you details." She hangs up without ceremony, and Danny makes it almost to the end of his management homework before she texts him back. Caleb and Hunter are in. Three in Huntsman.

Danny texts her back an acknowledgment and keeps working on his management assignment. It's not quite done by the time he hears the front door open and one set of footsteps bound up the stairs - Cameron, no doubt - but it's close enough that he doesn't stress about pushing his work to the side when Claude brings a pizza box to the table.

"What do you want to drink?" Claude asks.

"Water."

Claude brings a glass of water and a beer for himself to the table, and flips the pizza box open. It's still hot enough for Danny to feel the warmth even before he picks up a piece. There's no one he has to be an example for, so he doesn't even bother with napkins, just eats carefully enough not to let toppings fall everywhere.

"Didn't you eat with the kids?" he asks when Claude takes a piece too.

"Some."

Danny lets go of the topic, because he doesn't mind sharing with Claude. He practically inhales his slice; Claude is still taking bites of his first one when Danny picks up a second.

Claude talks while they eat, telling Danny about what the kids were up to at dinner, a few stories he hasn't heard yet about practice or the guys on the team. It's easy enough a conversation that Danny doesn't have to do anything more than just make acknowledging noises in the right places.

He does reach over halfway through one of Claude's stories to steal a sip of his beer.

Claude gives him a look, but doesn't call him on it, and Danny slides the bottle back to him with a slight smile that he knows is enough for him to get away with it.

Danny flips the pizza box closed when he's done - he'd been hungrier than he thought - and watches Claude finish off his beer.

"Better?" Claude asks.

"Yes." Danny puts his hand over Claude's. "Thank you."

Claude turns his hand over and squeezes Danny's. "Do you still have work to do?"

"Some."

Claude squeezes his hand again, and leans over to kiss the top of Danny's head when he gets up. "I'll be in the living room, taking advantage of your TV." He puts the leftover pizza in the fridge on his way out of the room.

Danny watches him go, then shakes it off, washes his hands, and gets back to his homework. He finishes his management assignment, reads the rest of the chapter for his art history class, and looks over the econ problem set just so he knows what they're up against tomorrow. It is that bad, and he spares a moment to be thankful for Sarah rounding them all up to work on it together.

There's still some reading he needs to do this week, but there isn't anything else that has to be done before tomorrow, so he packs up what he needs to take with him tomorrow and neatly stacks the rest.

Danny takes the dogs out before he goes to find Claude in the living room.

"Done?"

"For now." Claude isn't taking up the whole couch, so Danny lies down and puts his head in Claude's lap.

Claude runs his hand through Danny's hair. "I thought school was supposed to be fun for you."

Danny sighs. "Sometimes it is. It's just a lot of work right now. And it's all in English."

Claude keeps running his hand through Danny's hair. It's nice, and Danny half-watches whatever it is Claude's watching without really taking it in, until a particularly loud commercial wakes him up.

Danny squeezes Claude's knee, and then pushes himself up. "I'm going to bed."

"I'll come with you." Claude turns off the TV, locks the back door while Danny locks the front door. Upstairs, Claude continues down the hall, and Danny stops to check on Cameron.

"We're going to bed," Danny says, when Cameron invites him in at his knock. "Homework done?"

"Almost." Cameron holds up the book he's reading. "Just finishing my reading for English."

"Okay." Danny crosses the room to press a kiss to the top of Cameron's head. "Don't stay up too late."

"I won't."

Claude is already in bed when Danny gets to his room. Danny throws his clothes in the hamper in the closet before going past him to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He turns out the light and gets into bed where Claude is holding up the blankets for him.

Claude kisses him, finding him easily in the dark when they've done this so many times before. It's like the kiss from earlier, comforting and warm without asking for anything, and Claude's hand strokes through his hair again.

Danny kisses him back, kisses him again, and says, "I'm glad you're here."

*

Danny wakes up just as his alarm starts to beep, and turns it off as quickly as he can. It's not quite fast enough to keep it from waking Claude up too.

"Sorry," Danny says.

Claude grunts and turns his head into his pillow. "I have to get up anyway. Game day."

Danny kisses the tiny bit of Claude's forehead still showing. "I'll take the first shower." He does, and nudges Claude when he gets out. "Get up if you want breakfast."

"Not if you're making it."

Danny ignores him, gets dressed, and stops to knock on Cameron's door before he goes downstairs to let the dogs out and start the coffee.

Claude joins him before Danny can do more than open the fridge. "Get out of there. I'll make eggs. You can make toast."

Danny says, "Not funny," and cedes breakfast making to Claude.

"Still funny."

Danny puts bread in the toaster and pours two cups of coffee, takes the milk from Claude to add it to their coffee, and puts sugar in the cup he hands to Claude.

Claude takes the coffee and rests the spatula in the pan so he can grab Danny's wrist.

"What?"

"Come here." Claude tugs at his wrist.

Danny lets Claude pull him close, and wraps his free arm around Claude when Claude kisses him. This is not like the kisses from yesterday. This is a kiss asking for something, starting something they really don't have time to finish right now.

Claude stops kissing him for a moment, long enough to stir the eggs, and then draws him in again.

Danny stops them this time, rests his forehead against Claude's cheek. "We can't. Cameron-"

"Isn't coming down until you yell at him at least twice." Claude kisses his way across Danny's cheek to his lips, then down his jaw to his neck. "And we're leaving right after tonight's game."

Danny steps back before Claude can do something to his neck that will make his classmates give him looks he'd rather not have directed his way. "And I have class and a study group today."

Claude sighs and stirs the eggs. "Are you going to watch my game?"

Danny smirks at him. "Are you going to win?"

Claude throws him a dirty look. "Yeah, now that I'm all sexually frustrated, I'll have to do something with that energy."

Danny laughs and kisses him fast and hard before he goes to stand at the bottom of the stairs and yell, "Cameron, breakfast."

*

On his way into his writing seminar, Danny sends a text to his study group: I'll bring coffee. What do you want? and turns off his phone. When he turns it on again, he has three texts with coffee orders and a fourth one from Sarah telling him where in the lounge she's staked out a table.

Danny gets a couple of muffins and some cookies with their coffee, and manages not to drop anything before he finds where Sarah, Caleb, and Hunter are.

"Thanks, Dad," Hunter says, words heavy with sarcasm, when Danny puts the muffins and cookies in the middle of the table.

"Ignore him." Sarah grabs one of the cookies. "We're all stressed out and badly behaved. I stayed up until three playing Assassin's Creed last night because I didn't want to do my homework."

"I called my brother," Caleb says, and shrugs. "He lives at home. At least it wasn't my parents."

It's the kind of thing that could make for an awkward moment, if it weren't for Hunter, who bulldozes through it with, "I was mean to the very nice guy who bought me coffee and a muffin."

They all relax, and they all look at Danny.

"I yelled at Claude."

"No way," Sarah says. "What did he do?"

"Took Cameron and his friends out for dinner so the house would be quiet enough for me to do my homework."

Sarah lets out a low whistle. "Boyfriend."

"He's not-"

"He's your boyfriend," Hunter says. "Dudes who are just friends don't do that."

"Let me ask you this," Sarah says. "Did you even hook up?"

"No," Danny says, "not that it's any of your business."

"This is college," Caleb says, "and we're your friends. You're supposed to gossip about your sex life."

"Did he stay over?" Sarah persists.

"Yes." Danny breaks a piece off of one of the cookies, but having something in his mouth does nothing to discourage Sarah.

"So to recap: he came over, you yelled at him, he took your kid and his friends out to dinner, you didn't hook up, and he spent the night anyway. That, my friend, is boyfriend behavior."

Danny swallows his piece of cookie. "Can we please stop talking about my sex life and work on this problem set?"

"Yes," Sarah says, "but only because the problem set is so terrible. This is not over."

"Not even close," Caleb says, and then, when Danny shoots him a look, "I have no sex life. I have to live vicariously through you."

*

"Are you busy?" Danny timed his call so he could catch Claude when he probably wasn't busy, but it's better to check.

"No."

"Are you alone?"

"Yes," Claude says. "There's a Mario Kart tournament in the video room that everyone else is playing in. Why?"

"What are you wearing?"

Claude's silent for a beat before he catches on. "Phone sex? Really? You never agree to that!"

Danny grins. "You took care of the kids and bought me dinner so I could do homework. I've been told that goes above and beyond the call of duty. It seems like behavior worth rewarding, so what are you wearing?"

"Nothing I can't get out of easily. What are you wearing?" Years of hotel rooms mean Danny can easily identify the sound of locks clicking firmly shut, the only definitive way to keep nosy or prank-inclined teammates out.

"Nothing."

Claude makes a choked off noise. "What were you going to do if I was busy?"

"Put my clothes back on and do some reading for class." Probably jerk off, too, but they're having phone sex; they'll get to that part of the conversation.

Claude laughs. "Hang on. I'm putting you on speaker and taking off my clothes."

Danny switches his phone to speaker and puts it down. "I wish I could do that for you." He flexes his hands. "I want to touch you."

Claude groans. "You're torturing me. Why aren't you here?"

"I'm retired. You have to come home to do this in person. Tell me what you want."

There's a rustle, and Claude breathing, and then he says, "I really want to fuck you. I would have the other day."

Danny slides a hand down his chest. "Do you want me to fuck myself?"

Claude swears. "You would do that?"

"I'm naked in bed. The lube is right here. Do you want me to?"

"Yes," Claude breathes.

Danny grabs the lube off of the nightstand and squeezes some into his hand.

"Wait," Claude says. "Jerk yourself off first."

Danny says, "I promise you I'm into this," but he wraps his slick hand around his cock anyway and gives it a few strokes to spread the lube around.

"Maybe I just want you doing something I don't have to think so hard about while I find some lotion." Claude's voice gets fainter, while he's walking away, Danny guesses.

"I'll just be waiting here," Danny says, "with real lube and a hand on my dick."

"If you can figure out a good way to travel with lube without getting chirped or pranked," Claude says, and then, "Why is this stuff always scented? My dick's going to smell like lemon."

Danny laughs and stops touching himself. "This is least sexy phone sex I've ever had."

"But I'll bet it's the most fun," Claude says. "You should finger yourself now."

That makes Danny stop laughing. "Yeah," he says, "okay." He squeezes more lube into his hand. "Slow or fast?"

"Fast. I really want to fuck you."

"This is getting a lot sexier." Danny pushes one finger into himself.

"I've been wanting to fuck you," Claude says. "I would have the other day. If you didn't have all morning classes, you could have taken Cameron to school and then come home and gotten fucked."

Danny pushes a second finger into himself, which makes his voice waver when he says, "I'll keep that in mind for next semester."

"Afternoon classes," Claude says. "Tell me what you're doing."

"Two fingers," Danny says, and it gets a hiss out of Claude.

"Does it feel good?"

"Yeah." Danny squeezes lube onto his stomach with his free hand, then scoops it up and strokes his cock. "Not as good as when you do it. The angle's weird. And your fingers are longer."

Claude groans. "I really wish they were my fingers. I'm so hard."

Danny moves his fingers, stretches himself open a little more. "Even with your lemon-scented lotion?"

"Lemon-scented lotion is nothing compared to you with your fingers in your ass. Tell me you're jerking off."

"I am." Danny moves his hand over his cock with more purpose, faster, squeezing tighter.

"I would do that, too," Claude says. "Finger you open and then fuck you and jerk you off until you come all over yourself."

Danny barely breathes out Claude's name. He doesn't have the breath for anything else.

"Yeah, Danny," Claude says. "Jerk yourself off. I want to hear it."

Danny lets the hand around his cock go a little loose, so it makes more noise. "I want to hear you too."

"I'm so hard." Claude moans a little, and it's so good that Danny lets himself make some noise too. "I'm thinking about what you look like."

Danny can picture it, Claude naked and hard with his hand on his dick and the phone next to him. It's enough to make him moan and tighten his grip again. "Thinking about you."

"Yeah? Let me hear you. Fuck yourself. Jerk yourself off."

Danny doesn't know how Claude manages to talk so much, even if it is only staccato instructions, but he doesn't waste time thinking about it when he can push his fingers into himself instead. He rocks on his hands, and lets whatever noise he's going to make spill out of him. It would be good anyway, but it's better for having Claude on the other end of the phone making his own noises.

"Danny, come on. I want to hear you come."

It's not quite enough to push him over the edge, but it's enough for him to fuck himself harder and find the right rhythm that will, and he holds it together just enough to say Claude's name as he comes.

"Danny, fuck," Claude swears, and he keeps swearing, all the way through until his voice breaks in the middle of a word and he moans instead.

There's nothing but their breathing for a bit, and Danny pulls his fingers out of himself and grabs Kleenex from the nightstand to clean himself up enough to be comfortable before he goes and really cleans up.

"Holy fuck," Claude says. "Fuck, that was so hot."

"Yeah."

"I wish you were here."

"Sorry," Danny says. "I know you hate to sleep alone after sex."

"Mmm. Is it weird that I still look for you when we're on the road?"

Danny half shrugs, even though Claude can't see him. "Makes sense. I was there for most of your career."

"I'm going to do that when I get back next week," Claude says. "Finger you open and fuck you."

Danny smiles. "Cameron's at Sylvie's next week, so any time I don't have class."

"What about your study group?"

"They won't mind if I choose a booty call with you over them."

Claude chuckles. "As long as you don't choose me over your GPA."

That makes something go tight in Danny's chest, and he doesn't think it's just the afterglow. "I won't," he promises.

*

Sarah pulls Danny, Caleb, and Hunter aside after management on Monday to ask, "Can we get together to do some econ work this week? I don't really feel like I'm ready for finals to be almost here."

"Is anyone ever ready for finals?" Hunter asks.

"I'm down." Caleb gets out his phone. "I have a Lambda Alliance meeting tomorrow night, and I work on Thursday and Friday afternoon and Saturday morning."

Hunter scrolls through his phone. "I have a study group Wednesday night, but I could do Wednesday afternoon."

"I can't do Wednesday afternoon," Danny says. "I could do eleven."

All three of them look up from their phones to look at Danny.

"You don't have class on Wednesday afternoon," Sarah says.

"No." Danny tries to meet her eyes evenly. "But I'm busy."

"Are you-" Hunter squints at him. "The Flyers are out of town until tomorrow. Are you blowing us off to get laid?"

"I don't know whether to be happy for you or mad you're making this harder," Sarah says.

"How about jealous he's getting laid?" Caleb suggests.

Danny throws him a look, and gets an unrepentant shrug in return.

"Tomorrow between noon and two or after three-thirty," Danny says, figuring in his own class schedule with when Caleb and Hunter are busy, "or Saturday afternoon."

"Not Saturday," Sarah says. "What time tomorrow?"

"Three-thirty?" Caleb suggests.

"Works for me," Sarah says.

"Me too," Hunter says. He smirks at Danny. "You'll have plenty of time to get home and watch your boyfriend's game. Maybe he'll put up some points for you."

"He's not my boyfriend," Danny says, "and he'll put up some points because he's just that good." As far as chirping goes, it's not his best, but he's more focused on putting their study session on his calendar.

Hunter only lets up because he has to go to a class, and Sarah throws Danny a smirk that means he's going to hear about it from her later.

"You're going to need a better argument," Caleb says. "Half our study session tomorrow is going to be about your sex life."

"I thought college kids were supposed to hook up all the time," Danny says, not nearly as aggrieved as he's pretending to be. "We could be talking about your sex lives instead."

Caleb just laughs and waves over his shoulder as he heads down the hall.

Part 3