Page 114 of My Brother's Enemy
Eric was still hugging me, and now Meester was jabbing at his shoulder. “You gotta share. No keepsies, dude. Little dude. Little pretty dude?”
Eric stiffened. “Little pretty dude?”
Meester got him with a lopsided grin. “You know.” He patted him on the head. “You’re, like, compact size.”
“I am not compact size,” Eric growled, and he let me go to step up to Meester. “Take that back.”
Meester stared down at him, confused. “What’d I say?”
Someone tugged me to the side, where more players waited to hug me.
“Don’t do that again. Just. Don’t,” Bruge said.
When he released me, Jesse was next. “Do I want to know what the looks were for?”
I shook my head. “No. Probably not unless you’re open to men. If so, I think there are some willing to help you experiment.”
Paul flashed me a knowing grin and winked at Jesse. “You just name the place.”
I clocked the shiver that went through Jesse. “Uh…” He swallowed. “I—I’ve never, I mean—girls. I like girls. Women. I—what’s going on?”
Paul laughed, banking some of the heat in his gaze before nudging Jesse out of the way. “Move aside, hot stuff.”
Eric and Meester were still bickering on the other side of me.
Paul hugged me. “You look like you’ve had a night.”
He stepped back, and my fingers curled into his shoulders for a moment before letting him go. Paul was much more reserved than Eric, I was finding out. I was getting to know them, and it wasn’t uncomfortable. I released a ball of nerves that had been in my stomach since we entered Halbrechts. “I have, but it’s been a good night.” A really good night.
A few more of the players came over. Brick had already left, but I’d see him and the rest of them on Friday or for Thanksgiving. I needed to talk to Tyler about that, because we had a couple different invitations.
Or. Wait—was I just assuming I’d be going to Thanksgiving with Tyler? No, Skylar had asked me.
Old worries tugged at me, pulling me into uncertainty. Tyler was across the room, talking with Nolan Everwood and some other players from New York. As if feeling my attention, his gaze shifted, finding mine. His eyes darkened, and he tilted his head to the side, lifting his eyebrows in question.
Was I all right?
I couldn’t answer.
I closed my eyes, because I wanted to pull away. Right now. All these people were too much. They were saying such nice things to me, but suddenly I wasn’t comfortable. I’d grown up in the shadows, and now I was in the spotlight, and I was making assumptions about the future, and I—he loves me.
That was my own voice shutting everything off.
Tyler loved me. He’d told me.
He’dwantto go have holiday dinner with me.
I thought about it…Yes. I was sure. And just like that, my uneasiness melted away. Tyler had started to come my way, but I shook my head and mouthed, “I’m fine.”
“You sure?” he mouthed back.
I nodded. “I love you.”
His eyes flared. He mouthed back, “I fucking love you too.”
I felt a stupid grin on my face.
It was new. All of this. Tyler loving me. The team being worried about me. Skylar’s acceptance. I’m sure there’d been others in the past who’d cared about me. Maybe I hadn’t given them a chance. Maybe I’d pulled away to protect myself, assuming they’d be just like my family, just like the first few relationships and friendships that had left me too? I didn’t know, but this day, right here, right now, this was when things would change.
