“Oh yeah, it is definitelyjustyou.”
That made him blush. Sucking his brains out through his dick didn’t make him flush, but one kind compliment brought pink to his cheeks. I’d expected the pull to fade once the edge was gone. Instead, it sharpened. I was too aware of him now, and wanting him hadn’t been a mistake, even if I could see what looked like regret in his expression.
“Come on, let’s wash up and eat.”
He hesitated a moment, then slid his hand into mine, and the contact sent something quiet and unfamiliar through me. Jari flinched as if he felt it too.
I led him to a small bath off the laundry room and left him, and while he washed up, I did the same in the kitchen, waiting for him outside the powder room once I moved all the food.
“So, this place is like a palace,” he commented when we finally sat down on the bright red blanket I had tossed over the thick imported rug.
“Not quite so much gild, but it’s stupidly big.” I placed a burger on a sturdy paper plate, then passed it to him. “Dig into the sides. I’ll get the bread pudding out of the warmer when we’re done.”
He nodded before diving into the food like an athlete who had just burned off a bazillion calories. We ate in companionable silence, chatting here and there about the game, his goal, the weather forecast. Normal things. Domestic things. It was so nice to have someone here to talk to instead of chatting to the walls.
“Did you drive over?” I asked when the meal was done, and we were feasting on bread pudding that was just too… bready. Maybe too many raisins? I’d have to ask Joy when I talked to her tomorrow. She and Kirby were coming over for an afternoon to play in the pool with the boys and catch up after my month in Greece.
“No, I don’t have a car yet. Or an apartment. I just don’t have time.” His cheeks were filled with bread pudding. He looked like a chipmunk. It was adorable.
“Where are you living? With one of your linemates?”
“No, Noah said he had his old place, but I didn’t want to intrude on his life. Anyway, the team set me up at a nice hotel a few blocks from here until we know for sure if I’m… y’know… going to fit in.” He went quiet for a moment as if contemplating his future hurt, then he hurried on. “It’s okay. I hate hotel towels, though. They’re always stiff.”
“Hotels are the worst. Spoken by a man who has spent a good quarter of his life sleeping in them.”
He nodded, playing with the bands on his wrist, not tugging at them nervously but fingering them.
“Yeah.”
“You could always crash here.”
His eyes went round as if he had just seen a ghost.
“I don’t mean with me,” I lied, always moving too fast. Warning bells rang inside my head. The team therapist’s warning voice joined the maelstrom. I could feel my super helper cape unfurling. “I know this is just… I mean, in the pool house here. It has its own entrance, front door, and all of that. We wouldn’t have to see each other if you don’t want. And… what happened in the foyer has no impact on you using the pool house. None. That never has to happen again. Just one of those things. If you want it to be.”
“Oh. Uhm…”
“It’s close to the sports complex. I run to the ballpark so you could do that too, and you wouldn’t need a car, but if you ever did need to drive anywhere, then I have a couple sitting in the garage that you could use.”
“But…”
“Just until you can catch your breath and find a place,” I hurried to add. He studied me intently. I hoped he couldn’t feel just how badly I wanted him to say yes. I needed him somewhere good, with soft towels. Doc G was going to tut at me so severely.
“Okay, but…” He ran a hand over his wrist, feeling for his bracelets. “I’m not out yet, and you are, so what will people think?”
Ah okay. “Hey, I get it. I really do. You’re worried about public opinion. It’s fine. You can totally forget I even mentioned it.”
“No, no, I’m… no. Fuck that. We’re friends.” He looked at me for verification.
“We are. Maybe we’re more friends with secret, incredibly hot benefits.” I hit him with a naughty little smirk, which he returned as his cheeks grew pink. “We’ll play it just like that. A friend helping a friend out. We met through the charity and hit itoff. You need a place. I have a place the size of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.”
“It is stupidly big.”
“I know. My cousin says I’m overcompensating.”
“Your cousin is wrong.” His face grew even redder. Sweet Willie Stargell. This man was the cutest. I was more than happy to keep Jari—and our budding relationship—a secret.
For now.
