“I’m great,” he muttered.
“Don’t pick that off. It looks good.” I grabbed his wrist to link our fingers together. “And you’re lying. Did you not have fun with me today?”
The photographer had snapped a couple of photos of us together afterward. Nothing fancy. Just one of Dean on my lap while I sat on the ice in my full uniform and another of us sittingin the stands after I had changed. He promised we would be the only two who would see them.
Dean shrugged. “I just...” He sighed and met my eyes. “Those pictures were really hot.”
“You liked them, huh?”
“Maybe a little too much.”
I tilted my head. “There’s no such thing as too much.” His eyes darkened, and he licked his lips. “Did it turn you on?”
Dean nodded.
“And is that an issue all of a sudden?” I reached up to tug gently on his ponytail. “I thought you were all right with your bisexuality.”
He blushed and pushed my hand away from his hair. “It’s not me I’m worried about. It’s everyone else. The men and women who are going to see you like that. Look, I know they aren’t going to actually get to see you naked or whatever, but... Never mind. It’s stupid.” He leaned back against the seat and stared out the window.
“Dean, talk to me. It’s not stupid. I want to know what’s going on inside your head right now. Your feelings are valid,” I assured him.
Dean chewed on his bottom lip. “If we were officially out, we could take pictures like that for everyone to see. And I know that people see me half naked, too, when I’m on stage in just jeans, and I’m all sweaty or whatever, but I just don’t like the idea of people getting to see that much of you. I’ve never been jealous like this before.” When I didn’t say anything, he turned to look at me. “Why aren’tyoutalking right now?”
“I’m trying to figure out the right thing to say.” I took in Dean’s beautiful face. His emerald-green eyes, his hair that matched perfectly, and the ink that curled around his arms and snuck out beneath the neckline of his shirt. “No one has ever been jealous over me before.”
He snorted. “I’m sure your late wife was.”
“If she was, she never told me. By the time I was drafted, she was a mother and busy with Cole. I don’t think Trish had time to be jealous, and I never... You don’t have to be either, Pink baby. I’m not looking to be with anyone else, nor do I want to. You’ve bewitched me, Dean Frost. From the moment I saw you, it’s only been you.”
Dean’s lips twitched. “Bewitched you?”
“Pretty much. I took one look at you during practice, and you were all I could see. I had to meet you, but I couldn’t just march over to you at the bar after Jax told me to stay away. It was pure luck that you happened to come over there that night.” And I hadn’t stopped looking at him since.
Dean shook his head as he looked away. “I guess you must have done the same to me.” He let out a long sigh. “I think that I might—”
The car stopped in front of the apartment building, interrupting whatever he was going to say just as Maverick and Jackson were exiting the building. Dean happily climbed from the Uber to say hello to his brother, and after I made sure I had all my belongings, I followed behind him.
“Hey, man.” Jackson greeted me with a fist bump. “How’d it go?” He grinned at me.
I glanced over to where Dean and Maverick were talking quietly. “Pretty good. I think Dean was surprised, but, yeah, it went well.”
“And did you ask him?” Jax raised his brows at me.
I shook my head. “Not yet, but I will.”
I was going to ask Dean to stay with me. Move in with Cole and me to see where this thing between us was going to go. Only if he wanted to. It would bring on a lot of questions about us, but we didn’t have to make a huge announcement or anything.
“I want to meet him, Mav. Please? If you want to adopt him, that means Andy is going to be my nephew, and that’s a huge deal. I promise I won’t get in the way.” Dean pressed his hands together in prayer before he dropped them. “Sorry, that was wrong on so many levels.”
Maverick laughed. “It’s fine, really.” He looked over at Jax, who nodded his head. “Yes, you can come with us to meet Andy if you want.”
“Yes!” Dean wrapped his arms around his brother in a tight hug. “You’re the best.” He pulled back to look at me. “You don’t mind, do you, Beau?”
“You go have fun,” I told him. “I’ll be here when you get back.” And maybe I would work up the nerve to ask Dean to move in with Cole and me.
Chapter Thirty-One
Beau
