Page 53 of Perfect Storm
“Oh yeah. Several different gaming rooms. Pool tables and darts. A poker room. A library. And the vault.”
“There’s an actual vault? Holy shit.” Lane seemed to still be stuck onholy shit.“That’s so fucking cool.”
“Next time we’ll try that one out,” Ramsey said with a wink.
“This place is pretty awesome,” Levi said to Aidan. Somehow they’d ended up next to each other at the bar, both glancing over the same cocktail menu. It was in the same midnight blue as the walls, thick rich paper, almost like velvet to the touch, and all the text embossed in gold.
“Yeah, Wes said it was, but Wes is pretty enthusiastic about most things,” Aidan admitted. “Or else he tries to be.”
Levi shot him a look. “Oh, you noticed that too, huh?”
“There’s no point in asking him about it. He doesn’t talk about his ex,” Aidan said.
“Not that you actually tried,” Levi pointed out gently.
“Hey, Ididtry,” Aidan said. Last year he’d made several attempts, when it had become obvious that his new teammate was going through it. But Wes had never wanted to talk about it.
Aidan hadn’t entirely understood back then, but he got it now. When Riley had shown up at the lake house with Landry and Levi in tow, and Levi had demanded to know why Aidan was sulking, he hadn’t wanted to talk about Mo, either.
But he couldn’t deny that ithadhelped.
“Youtried,” Levi stated, voice edging with disbelief. “You, Aidan Flynn, attempted to talk to someone about feelings.”
“Hey, you keep insulting me, I’m gonna get a complex.” And when it came to Levi, he really didn’t want to get evenmoreof a complex than he already had. He’d already embarrassed himself once today.
“No, your ego is just gonna be normal-person sized,” Levi teased, foot nudging Aidan’s, smile on his face.
How had they gotten so close together?
Levi’s eyes were bright with amusement and joy, the color of the best whiskey Aidan had ever drunk.
“Sure,” Aidan said.
The bartender stopped in front of them. “What can I get you two?” he asked. The vests the staff were wearing were velvet too—but a deep dark purple, almost black, with a tiny gold key pin on the open collar of his black shirt.
Aidan glanced over at the bottles of whiskey subtly lit and displayed in the center of the bar. “I’ll have a Lagavulin,” he said.
“Make that two,” Levi said.
When Aidan shot him a questioning glance, Levi just shrugged. “Not gonna watch you get wasted on whiskey by yourself this time.”
“I’m not going to—”
“Chill,” Levi said, nudging him again, but this time he didn’t move his shoulder or his foot, leaving them pressed against Aidan. “It’s all good. I’m teasing, remember? Flirting with you.” He paused. “Please for the love of God tell me someone has flirted with you before.”
“Obviously.” Aidan rolled his eyes. But he couldn’t say that anyone had ever done it like Levi Banks had. Gently poking fun at him, laughing at him but alsowithhim. Hoping Aidan would laugh, just because Levi was laughing. There seemed to be no ulterior motive, no hidden agenda, and none of the mercenary crassness that a lot of the women—and occasionally men—employed when they approached him.
To Levi, he seemed to be just Aidan, the older brother of the guyhisbrother was dating. Not Aidan Flynn, QB1 of the Toronto Thunder and two-time Super Bowl MVP winner.
“Not enough, though, if this is how you take it,” Levi said. “Or is it ’cause I’m a guy?”
Aidan made a face, but he was amused. “No. Don’t mind that you’re a guy.”
“Obviously,” Levi said.
He nodded to the bartender as he set their glasses down.
Aidan was surprised to see Levi pull out a hundred-dollar bill from his clip and slide it across the counter. “Keep the change,” he said.
