“Umm, sure, okay,” Reid replies, a hitch in his voice that sends a pang to my chest.
“Don’t worry, we’ll continue that conversation later,” I turn back briefly to say, and the smile illuminates his face as he follows me into the other room.
The second I’m through the door, I spot the bunch of sunflowers sitting in the middle of the kitchen bench, and the single sunflower I left for him today resting on the windowsill.
I lean into the bunch and breathe in their subtle earthy scent.
“I’m building a nice collection of those,” Reid says as I sit and lean on the bench, watching him cook.
“I wanted to do something to show you I wasn’t regretting—“ I glance over my shoulder as if I can somehow see through the wall between his brothers and us.
“What happened?” he finishes for me, and I spin back.
“Exactly. Do you?”
“No. But it could make things a little difficult.”
My heart sinks.
“Because of your brothers?” I lean in and whisper.
He laughs.
“Fuck no. They’d be ecstatic. Maybe even a little impressed.”
“Impressed, really?”
“Well, Benji was telling me just a week or so ago that you were the hottest rookie to join the league.” After the words leave his mouth, instant regret flashes across his face. “I shouldn’t have . . .”
“I won’t say anything,” I reassure him, and he relaxes a little, but I can tell that sharing what his brother told him isn’t sitting well. I’m an only child, but it was like that with Cosmo and me through college. It’s like the bro code. You never lag on a brother. “He practically told me the same thing himself in the living room before, it’s fine. It’s sweet, actually.”
“Really?”
“Mhmm,” I reply as I reach across and dip one finger into the sauce and pop it into my mouth.
“Sweet how?” Reid asks, his gaze transfixed on my mouth, and I remove my finger and lick my lips slowly.
“Why? Are you jealous?” I tease.
“Should I be?”
The room’s silent for a moment, and even the sounds from the living room appear to drift away.
“I don’t know if you noticed, but I am kind of into older guys,” I say, and he turns his attention back to stirring the sauce.
His lips curl up at the corners. “I noticed.”
Chapter twenty
Reid
DavidandBenjistartwith the questions the moment we sit down to eat.
“So, do you have siblings?” David asks.
“Are they as annoying as mine?” Benji follows before Luka can answer, and I roll my eyes, but their need to know all about the guys I work with isn’t new. At my party, I had to keep bailing out the team when they got stuck in a round of twenty questions with these two. They mean well, at least I think they do. They’re just young and get excited by the celebrity of it all. Not that I think I’m a celebrity. What even is the definition of a celebrity? I guess I perform in front of thousands of people, am interviewed by the media, and get paid way more money than I ever thought I would to play the most amazing game in the world. Does that make me a celebrity?
“I’m an only child,” Luka says, twirling spaghetti onto his fork and shoveling an impressive amount into his mouth. The last time I saw him open that wide, his lips were wrapped around my cock, and that image flashes in my mind, giving me an instant semi.
