Page 73 of My Brother's Teammates

Tuesday nights aren’t generally known as date nights. At least not historically, not for me. But since the team doesn’t have evening practice, Mateo and I want to spend more time with Charlotte. Jace is out with Harrison. Not sure if it’s the smartest thing he’s ever done, but I think his guilty conscience needed some one-on-one time with his oldest friend.

Especially since Harrison has been unusually quiet since the kiss-cam episode.

I get it, but he’s already let his mouth get the better of him and spilled some of Charlie’s secrets. Without supervision, there’s a not-too-small part of me expecting we’ll all be ball-less by the end of the night.

If a Harrison-shaped hole appears in the wall, we’ll know Jace has slipped up and we all need to flee the country, change our names, and find new careers.

Despite the nervous energy churning through my body, my stomach’s filled with an excited hum, like a swarm of fucking bees. Not only am I hanging out with Charlie tonight, I’m hanging out with Teo, too.

I’d love to say I know what I’m doing, but I have no idea.

I don’t know how to date a dude. Is it the same as dating a chick, or are there different rules? Feels like a stupid question. I’ve known Mateo for years, but since the day we kissed, everything’s changed.

Every furtive glance, every innocent, passive touch, it all means something now. And spending a large portion of my time trying to figure out what, exactly, everything means is so fucking exhausting.

I’ll need to sit longer with the label of being bisexual, but from how it feels right now, I think it fits. I should probably be more surprised to find myself attracted to men—or rather, a man, I guess, since Mateo’s the only guy who’s ever lit that fire inside me. But it’s definitely something I want to explore with him.

Speaking of the Delicious Devil, he erupts through the door, arms laden with bursting brown paper bags. No surprise. I sent him out for maybe six things. The local grocery store would’ve been fine, at least for any normal person, but our boy Teo has expensive tastes, and wanted to check out the new boutique grocery store around the corner. Didn’t even know there were boutique grocery stores.

I bet the vegetables in those bags have been sung to sleep every night by Tibetan monks. When they were harvested, they probably had special baths, with bougie fucking bathwater, and then were hand-carried to the grocery store by cherubs.

Bet he paid three hundred bucks for fifty bucks worth of food, too.

Mateo has always had expensive taste, and yet the guy chose me.

That means something, right? Right?

Oh, fuck. His biceps ripple under the strain of the bags as he kicks the door closed behind him. “Honey, I’m home.” He beams at me, and there go the fucking bees again.

He’s just my best friend. It’s not a big deal. Not like he’s had his tongue in my mouth. Oh, wait.

I feel like a shy, awkward high schooler all over again as I give him a shaky smile, a million questions running through my head. Are we together now? Can I kiss him whenever I want? Is this only a thing when Charlie is around?

“Ready to cook our girl a feast fit for a queen?” He advances on me, one arm holding out a few grocery bags. When I nod and take the load from his left hand, he grins. “Good. I’ll be sous chef, just tell me what you need.”

After a quick glance in the bags, I roll my eyes. “I don’t think I had half this stuff on the list.” I start to turn, heading back into the kitchen, but he grabs my elbow. “What? No welcome home kiss?” He tucks the grocery list in his pocket and thumps his chest with his fist. “I feel like the hunter-gatherer should at least get a kiss, no?”

Without waiting for an answer, he spears his fingers into my hair and pulls me toward him, his lips capturing mine like he’s done it a thousand times before, and will do it a thousand times again. I mean, he’s done it a few times since the first time. In the rare moments we have the place to ourselves, we’ve been making out like high schoolers in the back seat, but we’ve never gone any further.

Warmth spreads through my veins as I return the kiss with the same fervor, meeting his tongue stroke for stroke. Our mouths fit together like pieces of the same puzzle. I can’t believe we didn’t notice each other sooner. He’s been sleeping twenty feet from me, and this whole time… this whole fucking time, I could have felt like this, been kissed like this.

I wrap my free hand around his waist, pulling him against me. Our hips meet. We’re both rock-hard, and this could go south real fast. “We need to start food prep.” Somehow my mumbled words make it out between our still-moving lips. “She’ll be back in an hour.”

With one last swipe of his tongue, he steps back and nods. His lips are swollen from mine, his eyes wild. We sent Charlotte out to the spa for the afternoon so we could surprise her with dinner. She’s bringing home dessert, but we told her we’d do the rest.

It takes a couple minutes to unpack the groceries onto the counter. As I wash the vegetables, it grows quiet. I can feel him behind me, feel his eyes on me, and the chilled apartment air grows warm.

I’m halfway done when I cast a glance over my shoulder. Mateo is only a few feet away, licking his lips like he’s eyeing a juicy double cheeseburger.

Brandishing a carrot at him probably isn’t the smartest move, but it’s what I have in my hand. “No. We need to make dinner for Charlotte.”

It’s unfair to keep using her, but it’s also the only thing that seems to keep him on task.

I turn back to the sink, rinsing the field of dirt off the carrots, but apparently Mr. Reed was not deterred by my carrot-waving. His rock-hard dick nestles against my ass as he wraps his arms around me, nuzzling into my neck.

“I think our girl would understand if dinner was a little late.” His hands skim my abs, heading south. “Don’t let me stop you.” He squeezes my dick through my pants.

“Teo.” My head drops back against his shoulder. “I’m going to slice off a digit.” I flash the knife in my right hand.

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