Page 87 of Hot Receiver

Zak shrugs. “I’m not afraid for myself. I want what’s best for the team. And it isn’t me. I love the sport, and I want to keep things going for my dad’s sake, but I’m going to sell the team. Someone else will do a better job, and we can’t be together if I’m an owner. The optics of that would be very bad.”

“Very bad,” I say, staring into his deep dark irises, completely captivated.

“So, this is it, huh? You and me?”

“You bet your hot ass. Now, are you ready to come home with me and cause a fucking ruckus for all the paparazzi parked outside the lobby?”

I wasn’twrong about causing a ruckus. The press that trailed me over here after the conference must’ve called for backup, because when Zak and I exit the building, I can’t even see my truck through the hordes of camera-happy people surrounding us. They follow us to my truck, flashes blinding me as I help Zak into the car. I run around to the driver’s side, hop in, and turn on the ignition.

I honk my horn a few times to clear them away from the hood and sides, slowly rolling away from the curb. “They better get the fuck back,” I mutter.

“You’re in enough trouble,” Zak says lightly. “Let them take our picture without running any of them over.”

I maneuver around them, and once we’re clear, I step on the gas and zoom around a corner. “Okay, next!”

It takes us about twenty minutes to drive across the city to my place. My phone vibrates in the center console. I stab the Accept button on the screen when I see it’s my mother. “Ma,look, I know your head’s probably ready to explode, but just give me a few minutes to get home. I want to explain everything to you guys and?—”

“Matthew, I just got a ca?—”

The rest of her words are swallowed by static.

“Ma?” I ask once, twice.

Then dead air.

I end the call. “Lost connection. Maybe it’s better that way. I’d rather see her face when I tell her I’m gay and in love, you know?”

“Dude,” Zak says. “Did you think that maybe you should tell your parents before the rest of the planet?”

“I don’t know. It happened so fast. I wasn’t thinking about courtesy calls. I was only thinking about you,dude.”

Zak drops his hand onto mine as I pull into the underground parking garage at my building. He gives it a squeeze. “It wasn’t easy for me to tell my parents, either. But I’ll be with you.”

I nod and turn off the ignition. “That’s all I want.”

“And you’ve got it.” He playfully tugs on my earlobe. “Ready?”

I hop out of the truck and help Zak out. Then we walk to the elevator, hand in hand, and everything feels fucking amazing and right.

If Zak was in better shape, I’d have stopped the elevator and done very bad things to him. But the last thing I want is to cause him any pain, so I’ll wait until he’s ready for all the things I have planned.

And damn, the list is long.

We get off the elevator, and my phone buzzes again. I click on the Accept call button. “Ma, give me a second. I’m almost in the door.”

“Something is wrong.” Her voice cracks. “I was talking toMissy before, and there was a loud bang. Then the line dropped. I tried calling her back, then Summer, and then you. But I wasn’t able to reach anyone.”

“Okay, I’m right here at the door.” I fish out my keys. “How long ago was that?”

“Maybe twenty minutes ago?” Her voice is tearful.

Zak grabs his own buzzing phone and steps next to the door to take the call as I try to calm my mother down.

“Could’ve been a lost Wi-Fi signal. There’s construction going on in the building. Maybe it flaked out. That could’ve been the banging sound, too.” I stick my key in the lock and twist open the handle. “Just relax, Ma. I’ve got this.”

Zak speaks quietly into his phone as I barrel into my apartment. It’s bright and eerily silent. Where the hell are they? “Miss? Sum? Mike?”

I call out all their names and nobody answers.

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