Cody rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I’m not gay. I’m bi, but I wasn’t about to admit that to a stranger.” As soon as he’d said the words, his eyes widened. “Fuck,” he whispered.
“What?”
“That’s the first time I’ve ever said that aloud to someone.” He fixed his gaze on me, his blue eyes filled with emotion. “How do you do that? How do you get past my walls?”
I swallowed around the lump in my throat. “Because you know you can trust me. I’d never do anything to hurt you. Not on purpose.”
A humourless laugh fell from his lips. “I don’t know how that happened. Right from the beginning, I was an asshole who was trying to scare you off.” He shook his head. “Then I told myself you were just a random hook-up.”
“And now?”
“Now?” His mouth slid over mine. “Now, I trust you with my life.”
Howhadthis happened? And how the fuck were we supposed to move on when all of it came to an end?
“Cody—”
He cut me off with a shake of his head. “Don’t. Let’s forget about all of that shit for tonight.”
“But we’ll have to face it eventually.”
He sighed against my lips. “I know we will. But not yet. Tonight, I just want to celebrate with the only person I want to be with.”
The only person I want to be with.
I managed a nod, and I felt him smile.
“Good.” He kissed me again, deeper this time, before releasing me. Dragging me upright with him, he mouthed down my throat, pressing his hardening cock into my thigh. “I think we should move the celebrations to my bed.”
“Mmm. Lead the way,” I said.
15
Jude
Tilting his head, Brayden studied me from across the table. “You seem relaxed. Less…worried than you seemed when you first got here.”
We’d barely had time to catch up between his team obligations and the intensity of the playoffs…oh, and the fact I was secretly fucking his teammate. This morning was the first time we’d managed to properly get together, meeting at a quiet café away from downtown Calgary, and I had the feeling my brother could use the break. Tomorrow night was game six in the cup finals, and Toronto were currently leading the series, 3-2. It was the most stressful time of Brayden’s career, so I wanted to give him something else to think about for a while.
Blowing on my coffee to cool it, I shrugged. “Yeah, I guess I am.”
“I’m glad. You seemed a bit wound up when you first got here. The injury, the uncertainty about your future…” He trailed off before shooting me a quick smile. “It looks like Calgary’s been good to you.”
If only he knew how good Calgary had been. But I’d never betray Cody’s confidence like that.
Taking a sip of coffee, I drummed my fingers on the table. I couldn’t share anything about my relationship with his teammate, but Icouldshare the news about my career. “Speaking of my future. I didn’t wanna say anything until it was all finalised, but now it’s all been signed off, I can share the news. I signed a new contract.”
Brayden’s smile widened into a huge grin. “You did? Who with?”
“Glevum FC. They’re based in Gloucestershire, so I’ll have to move house, but I’m not worried about that. My agent is sorting me out with somewhere temporary until I can go house hunting.” I sucked in a breath. “I can’t believe it’s really happening. They finished eighth in the Premier League last season, and the one before that, they made it into one of the European leagues.”
He stared at me. “Fuckin’ hell. To think you were worrying you’d have to play for a non-Premier League side. What did they offer?”
“Three million a year on a five-year deal.” It still seemed unreal, even though I’d signed on the dotted line.
“Wow.” My brother leaned back in his chair, shaking his head. “I knew you were good, but… Wow. I’m so pleased for you.”
“Thanks.” My smile matched his. “I asked my agent to tell them about me being bi. I dunno if you’ve been following the Premier League, but Glevum has two players who are already out, and they’re in a relationship with each other. Rory said they were fully on board with it all, and they were prepared to support me however I needed them to. I originally said I wasn’t sure if I wanted to come out publicly as well as to the team, but I’ve thought about it a lot, and I’m going to do it. I don’t want to have to hide who I am from anyone. I want to be one hundred percentme. Jude Nielson, a professional footballer who happens to be bi.”
