Page 74 of Perfect Storm
“Something over there look good?”
Levi jumped a little and turned to find Wes smirking at him.
“No,” he lied.
Wes shot him a knowing look. “Yeah, okay, dude. Keep your secrets.”
“Like you keep yours?”
Wes’ expression turned almost melancholy. “You’ve not been around long enough to know anything about them,” he said primly.
That was true. But Levi did know that around a football team, secrets didn’t tend to stay secret very long.
“Give me some time,” Levi promised, but Wes only rolled his eyes.
“How did we end up talking aboutme, when I wanna talk aboutyouand QB1 over there?” Wes asked. “’Cause don’t think I haven’t noticed you’ve got your head on a swivel when it comes to him.”
“We’re weirdly related,” Levi said.
“Yeah, okay,” Wes scoffed. “That’s what you’re going with?”
Levi wasn’t going to out Aidan to his team. Even to his backup quarterback. Aidan deserved to have the coming out that he wanted—if he wanted it at all.
“Hey, you have Flynn as your older brother’s boyfriend’s older brother and see how you feel about it,” Levi retorted.
Wes frowned. “That’s . . .no. You’re actuallynotkidding.”
“I’m not,” Levi said. That much was the truth.
“Huh. Well.” Wes seemed lost for words.
“Exactly,” Levi said smugly. “Hey, Iwasthinking something though.”
“What?”
“Don’t let Aidan push you off, not give you the mentorship you need, okay?”
Wes did not roll his eyes again, but Levi could tell it took effort. “Are you actually serious?”
“Hey, you gotta demand what you want from the world. Don’t wait for it to come to you,” Levi said.
“Is that your life philosophy?” Wes cracked a smile, but he seemed genuinely interested. Levi liked Wes; could imagine that it probably wasn’t easy being Aidan Flynn’s backup.
“Yeah, usually,” Levi admitted.
He went after things he wanted. And he usually got what he wanted. He’d decided a long time ago those things were probably related.
Except two months ago in Michigan, Levi had realized he wanted Aidan and he’dnottaken him. He’d wanted him the night he showed up in Toronto, and he’d taken a step back instead. Not invited Aidan to his bed, the way he’d been thinking about.
He’d wanted every day since then, too, and only made a move when it was clear Aidan was actually on the same page.
It wasn’t the only time Levi had waited for someone else to decide, but it was unusual enough, it felt prickly under his skin, still.
Like it meant something. Levi just wasn’t quite ready to face quite what that was, yet.
Zane came up then, ready to restart practice, and Levi turned towards him, pushing the pesky annoying thoughts of Aidan out of his head. He didn’t need the distraction, especially not now.
They got through practice and headed in for lunch. With preseason games well underway and everyone’s conditioning sufficiently tested, they didn’t have an afternoon practice—just positional meetings and film study.
