Page 109 of The Home Game

They stared at each other awkwardly.

“Uh, sorry, go on. What were you saying?” Antoni asked.

“Um, I was thinking maybe we should get used to sleeping together. Uh, you know, sharing a room,” Matty said, rubbing the back of his neck. “No worries if you don’t want to, I thought this weekend could be an, um, practice run for us, you know?”

“Sure, yeah that makes sense,” Antoni said, his heart rate spiking at the thought of what it would be like to share a bed with Matty.

Big, warm, cuddly, sexy Matty.

Oh fuck.

“Tonight?” Matty asked and Antoni nodded, his mouth too dry to even speak.

“Cool.” Matty shot him a little smile and Antoni wondered if he was imagining that it looked as nervous as he felt. “So I’ll go … get some stuff and get changed.”

“Sounds good. Meet you in there, roomie,” Antoni joked as he turned away, grimacing as he mentally facepalmed.

Meet you in there, roomie? He mouthed silently as he walked down the hall to the primary bedroom. What was wrong with him? He hadn’t been this awkward since high school.

Antoni’s body jangled with nerves as he looked around the room. It was pretty clean other than a few discarded ties and the clothes he’d worn earlier today.

He’d dumped the clothes in the hamper when it hit him that he had sex toys and lube in the nightstand that he hadn’t dealt with yet. Not that Matty would go digging around in the drawer to be nosy or anything but what if he wanted to sleep on that side of the bed and they had to switch stuff around and …

Antoni hurried into the bedroom and pulled out the drawer, staring down at its contents as he debated where to put them. His suitcase, maybe? He couldn’t see any reason Matty would look for anything in there.

“Hey, roomie!” Matty said from the doorway and Antoni slammed the drawer shut, nearly sending the stack of books on top of the nightstand toppling to the ground.

“Thought you were getting changed,” Matty said in a teasing voice. He carried a duffel bag and still wore his suit.

“Umm. Wow. You got here faster than I expected,” Antoni admitted, face growing warm. “Just uh, wanted to clean up and make sure there was room for you. Which, uh, side of the bed do you like to sleep on?”

Matty shrugged. “I’m not fussy. Usually the right—uh, the right when you’re looking at it, that is.”

“Okay, cool.” Antoni sighed with relief. “I like the left.”

“Perfect.” Matty dropped the bag on the bed with a smile, then unknotted his tie with a soft rasp of silk. He tossed it on the dresser next to Antoni’s discarded ties and there was an odd little flutter in Antoni’s chest at the sight of them all tangled up together.

“Is that all you have?” Antoni said doubtfully. “That one bag?”

“Ha. No. I figured it was enough for tonight though. Tomorrow we can move the rest of the stuff over, if that’s okay.”

Matty shrugged out of the suit jacket, tossing it on the bed. When he worked loose the buttons of his shirt, Antoni couldn’t tear his gaze away as he watched each inch of skin being revealed. When Matty reached mid-chest, Antoni licked his lips. He could see a hint of tattoos and chest hair peeping out from his undershirt.

So fucking hot.

Matty chuckled. “I know you didn’t get a bachelor party or anything but are you really that hard up for a striptease that you’re watching me get undressed?”

Mortified, Antoni turned away. “Oh my God, I am so sorry. That was so rude of me. I—I shouldn’t have … I didn’t mean …”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Matty said soothingly. “Sorry, I didn’t—I wasn’t trying to make fun of you or anything.”

Antoni felt the heat of his body as he stepped closer, though he jumped when Matty settled his hands on his shoulders, warm even through Antoni’s suit jacket and shirt.

“No, I shouldn’t have—”

“Hey, this is what I mean,” Matty said, squeezing, and Antoni realized how tense he was when the touch made him unclench. “We need to get used to each other. Get comfortable. I never think twice about getting changed in front of a guy because that’s what I do every day, you know? So many people come in and out of the dressing room. Shit, reporters have seen my naked ass more times than I can count. But if you’re not cool with it, I’ll change in the bathroom or the walk-in closet or—”

“No, don’t be silly,” Antoni said. “That’s … I’m the one making it weird. We’re grown adults. We’re living together.”

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