I look down at the messy bed. “We need to come up with a better plan. Oh, maybe we should use your room for sleeping and mine can become our sex den.”
He laughs. “Your brain would go there. I was just thinking we should get some extra blankets to throw over the sheets before we have sex.”
“That’s why you’re the smart one.”
He grabs my arm before I walk into the bathroom. “Move your stuff in here. We both know you’re never going to sleep in your room again. And my closet is mostly empty. Fill it up with your stuff.”
His eyes say so much more than his words. It’s not just about filling up his closet, it’s about filling his room and his life with my energy. The vibrance that complements his softness.
I drag his lips to mine and kiss him deeply, letting my lips say what my words don’t need to. I’m his, and there’s nowhere else I’d rather be than here with him.
I ordered twenty king-size blankets.Is that overkill? Probably. But conservatively, that should be enough for two weeks of fucking.
After making the bed tonight—the fifth time since we got together—I was done with extra exhaustive tasks. I’m going to be tired as fuck and in pain for practice tomorrow, but I still have zero complaints.
Especially as I wrap my arms around Brian and kiss his back. “I love you,” I whisper.
He rests his hand over mine, but his breath hitches, and when I sit up and look at him, he’s pinching the bridge of his nose.
“What’s wrong, baby?”
“I didn’t think I’d get to have this,” he sniffs. “The way my heart ached to be loved, I thought no love would ever measure up. But I think I was afraid to admit that your love is the only one that would fill that void.”
He rolls over, and I burrow against him, staring into his expressive blue-gray eyes wet with tears.
“I was always meant to be yours, and I’m convinced every moment of our friendship has been building to this. Brick by brick, we laid an unshakable foundation. That’s why this love has been so easy to fall into. It’s not like jumping off a ledge and free falling. It’s finally coming home to where we were always supposed to be. I love you.” I kiss his neck. “I love you. And I’ll tell you that as many times as you need to hear it.”
His hand cups my cheek as he slants his mouth over mine. He kisses me roughly, powerfully, claiming me and enveloping me in his love.
“I love you too,” he breathes as he lifts his lips off mine.
Then he pulls me tight to him, and every lingering fear and frustration from that meeting today fades away. No one can take this from us, and they’ll regret it if they try.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
BRIAN
Postseason: Super Bowl Week
We’re goingto the Super Bowl.
Postseason has been grueling, and a couple of games had us on our toes, but it’s official. We’re playing in the Super Bowl. A rematch against the team we played last year, when everything fell apart and we lost catastrophically.
Our team was in the news for the worst reasons, and team management has made it clear they don’t want that to be the case this time.
While I know that’s directed at everyone, it feels a little pointed at us too, even if we’re the only ones who know it.
We’ve been good little football players and have kept it to ourselves, though if we’d lost any of the games, we probably would’ve said fuck it. We’re not letting the team dictate our lives, but we both want this win, and the argument that us coming out could negatively impact the team wasn’t incorrect. It’s ridiculous. No one should care. But people hate minding their own business and worrying about their own lives.
What we decide to tell the team or the world and when will remain our decision, and for now, we’re comfortable not shouting about it.
Granted, I’m more comfortable than Ryan is, mostly because he’s always been loud by nature.
Thankfully, all of our friends and family are coming into town over the next couple of days, so that will be a good distraction.
My phone goes off with a call from the concierge desk, and I quickly answer. “Hello?”
“Hi, Mr. Ackley. I have a June and Keaten Ackley here for you.”
