Page 18

Atticus was about to stand up, having convinced himself that Kai probably needed a refill on that water by now, when the sound of soft footfalls reached him.

He whipped his head toward the hallway, his movement disturbing the ball of fur next to him.

She got up and moved to the other end of the couch, immediately curling up to go back to sleep

The first thing Atticus noticed was that Kai’s face was no longer screwed up in pain. He looked tired, exhausted even, but his features had finally softened.

The second thing Atticus noticed was that Kai was, indeed, wearing the hoodie.

It took everything in him not to pump his fist in the air. His plan had succeeded. However, Kai was sick, so it was definitely not the right time to think about how fucking attractive it was that he was once again wearing something with Atticus' name plastered across the back.

“Feeling better?” Atticus worked to keep a normal expression, but struggled with holding back a grin.

Kai nodded, rubbing a hand down his face as he made his way across the room.

He hesitated for a moment when he reached the couch, staring at his usual spot, which was currently occupied by the kitten.

A moment of hesitation passed before he flopped down next to Atticus.

“Mostly,” Kai finally responded. His voice was still low and thick from sleep. Between that, the hoodie, and his close proximity, Atticus sort of felt like he was going to come out of his skin. “Head still hurts a little, and I’m always really tired after the medicine kicks in.”

Atticus hummed in understanding. “You hungry?” He shifted in his seat, trying to make more room. He only managed to make it so that they were pressed closer together. Atticus willed his cheeks not to heat with everything he had in him .

Kai brought his legs up onto the couch, curling into a ball not dissimilar to the creature on his other side.

“Not yet,” he said, leaning back into the cushions, settling fully into place. “Don’t know if I could stomach anything right now.”

Atticus nodded. “The tv going to bother you?”

“No, it’s fine.”

Just in case, Atticus turned the volume down a little. These characters did tend to yell a lot.

They watched in silence for several long minutes.

“We could name her Lee!”

Kai slowly turned his head, pinning Atticus with a bored stare.

“What?” Atticus grinned, pointing toward the screen. “She’s kinda wild like he is!”

As if on cue, the kitten jumped off the couch, padding across the room to flop onto a patch of sunlight shining on the wood flooring.

“Why do you keep trying to give her boy names?” Kai’s voice was as bored as his stare, but Atticus could see the hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth.

“It’s not about boy or girl,” Atticus said with a huff. “It’s about her personality. You’re the one who keeps insisting the name has to fit her.”

“Then we might as well just keep her name as Atticus, like on her vet paperwork, since you’re both so chaotic.”

Atticus shoved Kai lightly, earning a true grin from the other man that set his heart racing.

“I’m not chaotic,” Atticus said. Kai settled back into his seat, still pressed close, despite the fact that the other end of the couch was now open. Atticus didn’t think too hard about that.

“You watch a different anime every day,” Kai said, snorting a small laugh. “You don’t finish any of them. That’s a little chaotic.”

“I finish some of them!”

“Oh yeah?” Kai asked, one brow raised in question. “What’s the last one you finished?”

“It was…” Well. Huh. Atticus couldn’t remember. His face pinched as he thought hard, earning a chuckle..

“Don’t hurt yourself,” Kai said, settling back against the cushion, making himself somehow even smaller. Atticus' arm had found its way to rest along the back of the couch, and he fought back a flush as Kai leaned into it.

Atticus' phone vibrated. He pulled it out of his pocket, his smile dimming slightly as he read the message.

“What’s wrong?” Kai’s voice was softer, still a little sleepy as he continued to lean against Atticus.

“Nothing’s wrong,” Atticus said, typing out a quick reply with one hand before setting the device aside. “Some of the guys from the team want to go out for food after practice.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“Nope,” Atticus responded, popping the p.

He paused, thinking a moment before continuing.

“They’re trying to set me up with someone.

Carpenter has a cousin or somebody in town visiting.

He wants me to meet her. And the PR team always loves when I go out with a woman.

It’s easier for them to spin it than it is if I’m seen out with a guy. ”

Atticus feigned nonchalance, pretended that he didn’t care how Kai would react to the idea of him going out and meeting new people.

“Oh.”

He watched as Kai fidgeted with the ends of his sleeves, pulling his hands inside of the too-large hoodie. He seemed to be thinking, so Atticus let him. Forced himself to breathe normally, hoped that his heart wasn’t beating too loud.

“Do they try to set you up with people a lot?”

Atticus hummed. “Yeah, kind of. I used to go out a lot more…” He paused, giving Kai a sly look. “Used to be a lot more chaotic in my dating life. I think they don’t know what to do with me now that I’m not hooking up with somebody new every other week.”

Kai frowned, eyes still focused on the hands hidden in his hoodie. “You haven’t done that in a long time though.”

“Reputations are hard to break,” Atticus said with a shrug, jostling Kai and finally drawing his gaze.

“Everybody changes.”

Atticus felt as though Kai’s whiskey-bright eyes were holding him in place. He didn’t want to read into the words, didn’t want to let himself latch onto them. Didn’t want to glean any hope, only to be let down once again.

He used the arm that was wrapped around Kai’s shoulders to reach out, to ruffle his hair, earning a scowl that distracted both of them from the slight tension in the air.

“It’s fine,” Atticus said. He gave Kai a grin before turning back toward the television. “I really just wanted to come back home after practice anyway.”

“Does it bother you that the PR team cares about your personal life?”

Atticus kept his eyes trained on the screen.

“Not as much as it used to. Don’t know if it’s a good thing that I’ve gotten used to it.

It helped that Ori was on the team, and he’s been out publicly for years.

But it’s like I said, they don’t really know what to do with me.

The slutty bi who reinforced all their long-held stereotypes. ”

“Other players sleep around just as much.”

It was true. A fact that Atticus was acutely aware of. “Doesn’t matter as long as they’re only sleeping with women. Nobody bats an eye.” He turned to see a deep frown on Kai’s face.

“It’s not so bad,” he continued. “My team’s great, for the most part. At least they’ve accepted me, and Ori too. Could be worse.” Atticus shifted, nudging Kai with his shoulder. “What about you? Your online community seems to be pretty accepting, what with how bad they want you and Ori to smooch.”

Kai huffed out a soft laugh. “Yeah, they’re great.

I never really kept being queer a secret, because I just started out as a nobody streaming in my dorm.

It was always just sort of a given for my viewers, even as more and more people started watching.

I never had a big coming out moment, but they’ve always known.

A few incels show up occasionally, because it’s the internet.

But it’s a good community, for the most part. ”

They fell back into a comfortable silence.

It wasn’t long before Atticus felt the body pressed against his side grow a little heavier.

He looked down to see that Kai had dozed off.

Atticus shifted slightly to better accommodate him.

Kai squirmed in his sleep, uncurling himself a bit.

His head came to rest against Atticus' chest, arms tucked tight in between them.

Atticus froze, afraid that any more movement from him would wake Kai, would cause him to pull away. A quick glance at his phone told him that he needed to get up and get ready for practice soon. He was tempted to just skip, if it meant they could stay like this a while longer.

But he couldn’t, not with the first game of the season coming up that weekend. He needed to be at practice, and his team needed him.

One more episode. Atticus let the autoplay continue, daring a careful movement to wrap his arm more comfortably around Kai. He could let himself enjoy the moment for a little while longer.