Page 115 of Drop the Gloves
It couldn’t, and soon Evan’s bladder demanded he get up.Soon the team would wake up, and everyone would start venturing downstairs for breakfast and crowd the lobby as they impatiently waited for their flight.Evan would have to face reality sooner than later.Might as well get a jump on it.
In the two minutes it took for him to use the bathroom and clean himself up a bit, Riley had managed to turn so that his feet were buried under the pillows and a bunch of sheets were wrapped around his head at the foot of the bed.What a weirdo.
“Mornin’.”Evan sat down next to him.Riley stirred, wrinkling his nose and mumbling something, but didn’t open his eyes.Indulging because he could, Evan ran a hand through Riley’s hair and checked the cut along his face.No blood, but he counted ten, no, eleven stitches.An accident, of course.A play gone wrong that thankfully hadn’t ended up worse.
He’d have to get used to that.Watching one of his favorite people throw himself into harm’s way on purpose, again and again.
“Why are you staring at me?”Riley mumbled, eyes still closed.“Am I that cute?”
“You’d be cuter if you had all of your face.”
“Nah, scars are sexy.”Riley yawned and stretched so wide, Evan almost got knocked off the bed.He hadn’t done that kind of full-body stretch in years, though maybe it was more necessary if you were the kind of restless sleeper Riley was.“I’m starving.Breakfast?”He pouted with those full lips and hazel eyes, and Evan knew exactly what he was being conned into.
“Fine, I’ll get you something.I've gotta go change anyway.”
“Thanks, babe.”Then he rolled over to go back to sleep.
The endearment sent a shiver down Evan’s spine.
Evan found his socks and shoes, mentally going over how much he could feasibly carry up for Riley to enjoy breakfast in bed without it seeming too suspicious.When he opened the hotel door, he came face to face with Dalton leaving the room across the hall.
Dalton stared at him in surprise.Evan froze, wondering if he could convince Dalton that this was in fact Evan’s room and whatever he was remembering about his neighbor was wrong.
“Isn’t that—?”Dalton asked.
“Get me coffee,” Riley called from inside the room, loudly enough that Dalton could hear.He looked over Evan’s shoulder into the room, back to Evan, then he slowly backed into his own room and closed the door.
Okay then.That would require a conversation later.But if it had to be anyone, at least it was Dalton.
* * *
There was no escaping the team forever.They had to rush through breakfast in Riley’s hotel room and then pack.Riley grabbed Evan before he could leave, looking scared but casual about it.Like that was how he wanted to feel.
Very Riley, really.
“Sit with me on the bus,” Riley begged.Well, ordered, but nicely.“And on the plane.”And then, as if he actually thought Evan might refuse, he pulled Evan down by the neck and kissed him within an inch of his life.
“ ‘kay,” Evan breathed.“And back home...?”
It was easy enough to be attached at the hip when they traveled, but they’d never been good at navigating things in Pittsburgh.
“Sure, I’ll go back home with you.”
It wasn’t until they were in the airport about to board that Evan realized he might’ve accidentally invited Riley to his place.And Riley had accepted the invitation.
The team showered Riley with concern and attention, and Evan tried to stay out of the way while they did.Maybe he shouldn’t have wandered so far, though, because while they boarded the plane and Riley told the story of his hospital visit for the tenth time, Dalton pulled Evan aside.
“I feel like you purposely misrepresented your guy-friend situation.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, and I did no such thing.I just...didn’t correct your assumptions.”
Dalton rolled his eyes.“C’mon, bro.After that mini-golf gift?”
“Abs!”Riley called from the back of the plane and gestured to the empty seat next to him.
“Sorry, my linemate is calling me.”
“Does he call you that in bed?”Dalton mumbled as Evan started walking away.“I don’t think beating the shit out of someone is a healthy gesture.”
