Page 65 of Before It's Too Late

“I kinda got into it with him a little bit. Just having a hard time shaking it from my mind.”

Zach gave him a sideways glance. “Defending my honor, Manning?” he smirked.

“Shut up,” Cael scoffed, but he laughed too, which was exactly what Zach was going for.

Chapter 16

Cael stood beneath the hot spray with his head bent forward and eyes closed, hot water sluicing down his neck and back. His thoughts lingered on what Greg had said to him earlier and the harsh reality that quickly followed.

“Hey, Manning. What’s up with that?” Greg said, jerking his head in Zach’s direction in between plays. “Thought he was with you?”

Cael looked across the park. His gaze landed on his best friend sitting with a woman he didn’t recognize.

“He is.”

The woman placed a hand on Zach’s shoulder, saying something.

“You sure your man’s not getting some extra action on the side?”

Cael snapped at Greg. “Zach isn’t like that.”

“I don’t know, man. He looks kind of cozy with that gorgeous blonde over there. You said it yourself, you’re the first guy he’s ever been with. Maybe going gay isn’t doing it for him.”

Cael glared at him, but had no response.

“Shut it, Greg,” Josh interjected. “Ignore him, Manning. He’s just trying to distract you and knock you off your game because he can’t play worth shit against you today.”

“Whatever.” Cael lined up for the next play but couldn’t stop staring at Zach.

One of the other guys snapped the ball and Marcus hollered, jolting Cael back into action, only he couldn’t get his mind set back on the game.

When the play ended, Cael paced away from the group, fretting and angry at the same time. Josh came over and slung his arm around Cael’s neck, pulling him down a little.

“You listen here, mate. Forget everything Greg said. That man over there loves you, yeah?”

Cael nodded. “Yeah,” he answered, but heard the doubt in his own voice.

“He does. Trust me. And that’s all that matters.”

Josh’s little reassuring pep talk had settled his nerves for a bit, and Cael’d been able to burn off the unwelcome frustration during the rest of the game, but now, the thing that worried Cael replanted itself front and center in his mind.

Cael knew Zach wouldn’t actually cheat on him, but that wasn’t what gnawed at him. It was the other part of what Greg had said coupled with what he’d seen that had popped his bubble, letting reality flood in and consume him.

Zach had never been with a man before him, so when Cael saw a woman he didn’t know touching Zach, not only had jealousy unfurled inside him, but also fear. The fear that Zach would come to the realization that he actually did need a woman, not a man, with whom to share his life and who could actually give him children and that family he’d always wanted. Cael had pushed the thought aside when he and Zach first became intimate, but now, it came roaring back, and this time, he wasn’t sure he could hide it, or that he should hide it.

They’d promised not to keep any major secrets from each other, but was this really that major, or was it just Cael’s imagination torturing him, making him see things that weren’t there, and never would be.

Cael stood in the shower until the water ran cold. After quickly drying off, he pulled on a clean T-shirt and jeans, then headed into the kitchen.

Zach looked up from the slices of sourdough bread he was buttering and smiled warmly. “Feel better?”

“A little,” Cael answered, coming around the edge of the counter. He pressed a short kiss to Zach’s lips and stepped away toward the fridge. “What’s for lunch? I assume that’s what you’re making.”

“Grilled cheese and tomato bisque.”

Cael grabbed a beer and popped the top. “Mmm. Simple, and yet so very delicious. Can’t wait. I’m starving.”

“Simple I can do.”