Page 8 of Crazy for the Coaches

“Wow, you’ve unpacked a lot,” I said, kissing Aaron hello and noticing the clean living room with leather couches and a large TV on a table.

“No, we just don’t have much.” Steve walked up and took the bags from me, before giving me a quick kiss.

“A lot of our stuff was not too nice, and we’d had it a while, so we just brought a few things. But you can see we have some boxes to unpack in the kitchen.”

“And our rooms are a mess,” Steve said as they unpacked the food.

“How did your day go?” I said after Aaron pulled out a chair for me at the simple kitchen table and I sat down. Little manners like that really got to me. I was half in love with these two already.

“Wine?” Aaron was opening a bottle.

“Yes, please.”

“Sounds like our day went better than yours,” Steve said to me, handing me a glass.

They joined me within minutes and we started eating the diner lasagna that I had brought..

“This is amazing,” Steve said around a mouthful of food.

“Manners, Dude,” Aaron said, elbowing him. “But yeah. He’s not wrong.”

They told me about their meetings with coaches and players.

“What is your job with the team?” Steve asked.

“Basically, I do the things Eli doesn’t have time for. He wrangled a small salary for me, and I’m calling this a paid internship until I find a corporate job.”

“What about at his firm?” Aaron asked, enjoying some salad.

“Not sure we’d both survive if I worked there. Luckily, he has an assistant to keep him in line there, but I think our styles would not mesh.”

“Aaron and I are different, but we’ve worked out a system for living together.”

“Yeah. Your mess is in your room.” Aaron laughed. “And we share the cost of a cleaning service.”

“Eli doesn’t even get it about Martin and Joyce,” I took a big sip of wine. “He said we need to get along with the other owners.”

“Oh, hell no.” Aaron set down his fork.

“He must not understand,” Steve said quickly. “Want us to talk to him?”

I reached out and put a hand on each of them, just as I’d wanted to at the pub. First, I squeezed Aaron’s hand and then Steve’s shoulder, just wanting to touch them and connect with them. I appreciated their show of support and marveled at how they just seemed to get me already.

Later, after we’d cleared up, we started watching a suspense show we’d all wanted to see. “Of course you got your streaming services hooked up already. I mean, my internet doesn’t always work at my condo.”

Steve grinned. “I made that call even before I called about the gas and water.”

I leaned back on the couch, feeling more relaxed than I could remember.

“What if Eli isn’t able to have you live there at his place?” Aaron asked, from where he sat next to me.

I loved the feel of sitting between them. In fact, I was hoping we’d have many such nights on the couch. Or maybe naked, a voice in my head said. Then I remembered Aaron asked me a question.

“I’m not sure. I’d ask Angel, but she’s about to have a baby any day. Maybe some of my colleagues know of a place. I’d better start looking.” I’d been looking forward to saving on rent for a few months while staying with Eli, and deciding where I wanted to go next, though.

“We have a third bedroom here.” Aaron said quietly. “No pressure about anything else.”

“Absolutely. No matter what happens among the three of us, it would be your space.” Steve took my hand.

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