“Oh, please.” Frankie rolls his eyes. “Woe is me; my friends are making fun of me for getting regular sex from a hot professional athlete. Like can Ibeyou?”
I drop my flaming face in my hands. I suppose he has a point.
“So, I take this as meaning you…uh…confirmed you’re into men then,” Easton prods. “That’s big, Shane. I’m happy for you.”
Oh, Easton. He is the best kind of person. I lift my head and catch his blue gaze, shooting him a soft smile. “Yeah. Can confirm, very much enjoy being with a man. Bisexual all the way.” I glance around the table, and I mean, at this point, what the hell. I let out a helpless whine. “And the sex with Stone.” My eyes flutter shut. “So fucking hot.”
And the sex is probably disappearing.Imight be disappearing. Jed’s going to kill me, but I have to tell him. Looks like we have a really fun conversation ahead of us.
Bye bye sex. Bye bye winning baseball.
TWENTY-FOUR
JED
I cannot waitto get in the fucking shower. I’m stiff as hell from an eight-hour bus ride, my right ass cheek is still numb, and I need to get the stink of a bus full of traveling athletes off me. Steaming hot water should help loosen me up. I might have some other ideas too. I glance to my left where Surfer Boy is strolling next to me down the hotel hall, aviators pushed up on the top of his head, his golden curls half-up in a topknot.
I haven’t seen him wear it like that before. Of course, he rocks it. Cute as fuck. It’s annoying. Is there anything he does that isn’t appealing?
We step up to our room, and I wave to Araujo and Thompson as they pass on their way to theirs. Shane holds the key up to the fob, the lock clicks, and he pushes into the room. And immediately stops. I crash into his back, and we stumble. My free hand shoots to his hip, and I bite back a smile. Because he shivered the minute my fingers landed on him.
I lean in and fill my lungs with his tropical-citrus scent.Damn, he even smells like sunshine—or at least what I’d think sunshine would smell like. Tropical paradise. I gently guide him all the way into the room, rolling my suitcase behind me. “What the fuck, Sunshine? What was that for?”
I follow his attention past the small kitchenette and living area—to the king bed. The single king bed. Oh.
His high-pitched chuckle echoes through the small room. “I’m sure the couch pulls out. I can take that.”
“Absolutely not. If you’re uncomfortable, we can try to get a room change, but I’m fine sharing a bed.”
Back in Hartford, we’d get off, clean up, and fall into our respective beds. Is this a bit intimate for a casual hookup? Yeah. But I’m not having a shitty-ass pull-out couch affecting Shane’s game, or our chances of winning.
He’s fidgeting with the strap of his duffle and won’t meet my eyes. I’m surprised this makes him uncomfortable. He’s so go-with-the-flow. I would have expected the first things out of his mouth to be some sort of come on.
“Are you all right? Do you want me to call the front desk?”
He clears his throat and sends me a wide smile. One of his fake ones. “Nope. This is totally fine. Better warn you, I’m a total cuddle whore.”
That’s more what I was expecting. But he’s still clearly uneasy. “I guess I’d better warn you, I’m a kicker.” Shane’s eyes grow round. I grin. “I’m kidding.”
His shoulders deflate with a sigh. “Thank God. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to get kicked with those thighs.”
His gaze drops to my gray sweats, and those ocean-blue irises turn stormy. There we go. I stalk toward him. His gaze slowly rakes up me to meet mine, and he stands there dazedly. I push the strap of his duffle off his shoulder.Thump.I place a finger under his chin, tilting him up as I lean down.
But then a laugh bubbles out of him, and he takes a big step back. “You want dibs on first shower?”
I frown as my hand falls to my side. “Was actually kind of hoping we could…conserve water.”
Another awkward laugh. “Yeah, pretty sure we’d wastemorewater than if we showered separately. Just saying.”
I…don’t understand what’s going on. But something is up. Maybe a little skin will help change his mind.
“Suit yourself,” I say and head back to my suitcase. I unzip it and pull out my bathroom bag. Then I make quick work of my zip-up, tee, and sweats. I grab my shower stuff and stride past Shane. Completely in the buff.
A whimper follows me as I walk into the set-back bedroom area and into the bathroom off it. I can’t stop the smirk from breaking out on my face. Knew that would do the trick.
“You’re so mean,” he whines and follows me like he can’t help himself.
I lean into the glass shower and turn on the water. “I’m not sure how I can be considered mean. I’m the one asking you to shower with me.” I glance back at him. “And I wasn’t talking about just showering, Shane.” There’s still so much more I’m hoping to do with him that we haven’t gotten to yet.
