Page 51 of Blindsided

I knew my cheeks flamed red at the statement and I fought the urge to squirm.

“Trevor!” Brax shot him a stern look that had him sobering quickly and turning a bashful glance our way.

“Sorry, Easton. Sorry, Lincoln.”

I opened my mouth to tell him it wasn’t a problem, but Tory’s gasp drew our attention. “Wait, you two had sex?” He asked, looking between me and Brax.

Before he’d said it, the possibility of Brax and Easton hooking up had never crossed my mind but instead of immediately shutting the idea down, the two did fantastic impersonations of deer in headlights. Their reactions had me curious as well.

Then Brax scoffed. “Not hardly! I think what my not-so-eloquent friend was trying to say is that he taught me a lot about myself and how to care for others.”

“Damn,” Easton said, rolling his eyes. “Take all the mystery and fun out of things. Such a spoilsport.”

We all laughed at Easton’s reaction and Tory effortlessly directed the conversation back to nails. “I did my nails today while helping Pepper learn to paint hers. Figured I should teach her before she destroys my house and my nail polish collection!”

Trevor jumped on the conversation change. “How is Pepper doing?”

“Pain in my ass.” Tory smiled lovingly as he said it. “They both are. But they’re adjusting well to life with Uncle Tory.”

“And how is Uncle Tory doing?”

Brax stepped over to us and spoke quietly. “Tory got full custody of his nieces when his brother could no longer take care of them and asked him to take them.”

There was definitely a story there, but I knew this wasn’t the time or place to ask about it.

Tory’s laugh was forced and his energetic facade cracked for a moment while he answered. “I’m basically a zombie twenty-four seven. I have two little humans relying on me for everything, confused as hell about where their Daddy went, trying to keep up on the house, and my work. Thank fuck my mom is around to help out, but she’s getting older. Now I know why my mom was always so excited for us to go back to school when we were kids.”

Tory’s eyes went wide and he gasped. “School! I’ve got to get them enrolled!” He reached for his phone, nearly fumbling it, and Trevor caught it with ease.

“Easy there. We’ll figure out the school thing for you, but not tonight. Tonight is to forget about all those responsibilities.”

“I think Daisy has a kid in school. Maybe she can help?” Easton offered the solution as he headed toward the fridge.

Trevor nodded. “Perfect! See, we’ll figure this out. On. Monday.” His voice had gone stern and his jaw was stubbornly set, telling me he did not want to be argued with.

Easton nodded as he removed a handful of beers from the fridge. “Nothing can be done until then anyway.” He handed bottles to Tory, Brax, and me and began to hand one to Trevor before pausing and glancing toward Brax, who nodded. With the nod, Easton turned back and handed the beer to Trevor. “Sorry. Habit.”

Trevor rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at Easton but it only served to make Easton laugh.

Brax shook his head in amusement. “You two need to behave yourselves.”

Easton gave an exasperated sigh. “You’re no fun.” Arriving back at where I was standing, he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me close, then used his thumb to tease my hip bone and dipped the tip of his digit just far enough into my jeans to feel the scalloped edge of the panties I was wearing.

My back stiffened as I fought to keep my expression neutral and Easton shot a wicked wink my way. “You, however, are very fun.”

Tory let out a dreamy sigh. “Damn, I don’t know what’s hotter, the words or that look.” He fanned himself dramatically. “Tell me where I can find myself a man who looks at me with half that heat! Shit, I’d be sticking my ass up and begging to be fucked if someone would just hold me like that!”

My eyes widened and Easton inhaled his beer and started to choke. Brax and Trevor were nowhere near as surprised by Tory’s words as we were. Trevor went as far as to roll his eyes. “You would do that for a man who just waggled his eyebrows in your direction.”

His dry delivery had Brax snorting back a laugh. “Behave yourself, Trev.”

Tory waved Brax’s admonishment off. “Not wrong.” With a shrug, he added, “As Rizzo said, ‘I’m gonna get my kicks while I’m still young enough to get ‘em!’”

Easton finally stopped coughing. “There is such a thing as boundaries.”

The three men across the kitchen from us burst out in laughter. “You’ve clearly not spent enough time with the Grizzlies,” Brax said, laughter still in his eyes.

Tory nodded emphatically. “Believe me, after knowing these guys the last few years, I can’t tell you the things I’ve heard and seen.” He shot Trevor a look that made him giggle. It left me confused if I should be curious or terrified.

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