Aubrey jerked his thumb toward the door.
Kelly peered around it, smiled, and retreated. “My kid’s a natural, huh? Takes after me. Born to be on camera.”
That explained where he’d come from. “That’s Carter?” Aubrey asked. “He’s cute.”
“He’s a charmer,” Kelly confirmed. “He sure has Uncle Nate wrapped around his finger too.”
“Uncle Nate,” Aubrey repeated aloud, completely without meaning to. That just fucking figured. His crush had been bad enough beforeUncle Nateturned out to be a natural dad type. Aubrey had never been into that in his life.
This personal-growth shit was for the birds.
“Mama!” Carter exclaimed, and whoops, time to put on his game face. Aubrey schooled his features as Nate looked up and smiled at them.
“Thanks for looking after him,” Kelly said, swinging Carter up into her arms and then smacking a wet kiss to his cheek. “I take it everything was fine?”
“Of course. We’re looking forward to our next guys’ night, right, Carter?”
Guys’ night, Aubrey thought, dying a little inside. He wondered if Nate babysat when Kelly and Caley needed an adult break.
“Yeah,” Carter said, but he looked pretty content in Mom’s arms too.
Kelly and Carter said their goodbyes, leaving Aubrey, Jackson, and Nate without an obvious conversational direction.Shit.
Floundering, he said, “So… dinner?”
Only after the words were out of his mouth did he realize that he’d have to include Nate or else risk being unforgivably rude. He forced his face into a smile and raised his eyebrows in question.
“I’ve been wanting to try that place you talked about—what’s it called again? Sharky’s?”
Nate looked at his watch and shook his head. “Not without a reservation.”
Jackson blanched. “Even on a Wednesday?”
“Two-for-one appetizers,” Aubrey and Nate chorused.
Aubrey’s ears went hot.
“They do takeout, though,” Nate offered before the silence could get too awkward. “My place?”
“Hell yes.” Jackson grinned. “Just don’t tell my nutritionist.”
IF SOMEONEhad told him after their first meeting that he would willingly invite Aubrey into his apartment for dinner, he would have laughed in their face. Yet here he was, unlocking the door for his guests, feeling only the slight hint of butterflies because he was an idiot who wanted to sleep with his coworker.
Honestly. He hardly recognized himself.
Both Aubrey and Jackson took their shoes off by the door—most of Nate’s Canadian teammates had habitually done the same—and followed him into the apartment.
Jackson whistled. “Nice view.”
Nate had a clear line of sight to Lake Michigan, with the Shedd Aquarium and the Fields Museum in the background. “Thanks.”
Aubrey, on the other hand, presumably had a similar view, so his attention focused… elsewhere. “Oh my God,” he said, staring at the vase on Nate’s living room table.
Ah. Well, Nate couldn’t blame him for taking issue with that. Though he wished he’d realized they might come back here. He’d have hidden the damn thing if he’d known he was going to have to explain it.
Aubrey walked closer to stand next to the sculpture. “I know it’s a stereotype that we homos all got the interior-decorating gene,” he said seriously. “But this”—he gestured expansively—“is not the way to fight the stereotype, Nate.”
Two weeks ago Nate wouldn’t have been able to laugh at that either. It was uncomfortable—nobody liked bringing up their ex to people they were sexually interested in—but he made himself behave normally. He decided to have a little fun. “Marty and I bought it on our honeymoon,” he said coolly.
