Page 37 of Perfect Storm
Griff gave him an approving nod. They’d reached the cafeteria, and they split off, Griff heading towards the sandwich station, Levi for the salad bar. He’d spent his offseason bulking up, and now he wanted to make sure he was lean and fast for camp.
As he loaded up his plate, he thought about what Griff had asked—and not for the reason he’d asked.
For half a second yesterday hehadworried that he’d chosen wrong, coming to Toronto. Maybe Aidan would never get over his awkwardness, and he’d never be able to slot back into the place he’d always occupied in Levi’s life, comfortable and familiar.
But in the end, Levi thought he’d gotten over his awkwardness, even if Aidanhadn’texactly slotted back into that previous position. It was just different now, an awareness simmering between them that hadn’t been there before.
Levi wasn’t against them enjoying that low-level simmer all season and then acting on it next summer.
After all, theyhadpromised.
He was still surprised when he headed towards the table Griff and a few of the other linemen had taken and realized that sitting right smack in the middle was Aidan. Wes was next to him.
Levi had seen him today, of course. They’d woken up in the same condo. He’d seen Aidan shuffle into the kitchen, not much different than he’d been in Michigan, wearing threadbare old shorts and no shirt, his gold chain gleaming dully against the tan skin of his neck, his hair curling wildly around his head.
His eyes had been sleepy when he’d glanced up at Levi. Maybe the awareness had spiked a little then, going from a simmer to something stronger, but it had calmed back down again as they’d shared Aidan’s car, heading in to the practice facility, joking as Levi had made fun of Aidan’s shitty music choices.
It had been normal enough that he’d told himself that this would all be fine.
But seeing him again, now, hair curling damp under his hat, against his neck, made Levi want to duck down and nibble the tanned curve of it.
“Hey,” he said in as normal a voice as he could manage as he slid down onto the bench seat. “How’s it going?”
He was normal; he couldbenormal. Levi had never imagined that demanding Aidan tell him what was bothering him would lead tothis. And even worse, he’d never imagined that even finding out the truth and offering to have sex with him would churn him up like this.
Sex never had before. Especially sex that he wasn’t currently having.
Aidan shrugged as he chewed around his wrap.
“Really good,” Wes chimed in. “Offense looks good, already.”
Aidan shot him a look.
“What?” Wes said. “It does! Trev, the rookie tight end? He’s got some hands on him.”
“You might know Trevor’s older brother,” Griff said to Levi. “Lane Robinson. Think you played with him in Seattle for a year or two?”
Levi swallowed his bite of chicken and nodded. “Yeah, he’s cool. I didn’t realize he had a brother—”
“It’s astepbrother,” Wes said. “Trevor’s his stepbrother. And they’re not really close, so like . . .I don’t know, tread carefully.”
Aidan looked put out by this comment. “I told you, I’m not treating anyone with kid gloves.”
“Not individually,” Wes hastened to add, “but you know . . .collectively.”
“Collectively. Seriously?” Aidan set his wrap down.
Levi could see that Aidan was gearing up for one of his big-brother coded lectures, which could be fun—especially if Levicould needle him about it—but he was more curious why Lane and Trevor didn’t get along, so he said, casually, “So what’s the big deal, anyway? Do these guys not like each other because they’re stepbrothers or what?”
Griff groaned under his breath. “It’s just stupid. They’re both tight ends. Both on the same team. They should behelpingeach other, not giving each other shit.”
Levi had been pretty sure he’d like Griff, but now he knew he would. He and Griff seemed to have similar opinions on things. Unlike him and Aidan—which made this whole hang-up on Aidan confusing. Levi shouldn’t care about what he thought, and hehadn’tcared about what he thought. Until now, seemingly, he did.
“For real. My brother Logan and I are always giving each other tips. Trading lineman secrets.” Levi looked over at Aidan, pointedly. “And Iknowyou and Riley do that now, too.”
“Now?” Aidan raised an eyebrow.
“Well, before you were just talkingathim. I’m assuming that now that you realize he’s a grown man and a pretty decent QB1 in his own right, you listen, too.”
