Page 6

Dev

One month later

“I could get very used to this, you know.”

Riding me, Brody peered from under the long strands of reddish-brown hair hanging in his face. He’d grown it out in the off-season, and I loved having something to hold on to.

“What? Me on top? Oh fuck, yeah. Right there. Harder.”

Pleasure washed over me, and I tabled the discussion as I chased my climax, thrusting up into Brody. I gripped his hips, digging my fingers into his pale skin. I liked seeing my marks on him. We were two big men, and our lovemaking was passionate, loud, and very physical. Each of us bore the evidence of the other’s touch.

Brody came a moment after me and rolled off, snuggling into my shoulder. The past month together had only cemented my feelings for him, the depths of which surprised even me. I’d never met a person I wanted more, not only physically, but emotionally. All the emptiness inside me vanished when we were together. I loved simply being with him. Sitting across the table in the morning, eating breakfast, then at the lake, fishing and swimming, watching him with his mother, and seeing all the good things he’d done for people, like showing up at the local day camp to play football with the kids and rebuilding the library after a storm destroyed the roof.

Brody Martin was the best man I’d ever met, and he was mine.

“Now what was it you were sayin’? Could get used to me on top?” His baby-blue eyes twinkled. “It’s pretty fuckin’ awesome, ain’t it?” He bit my earlobe. “I still feel you.”

I tightened my arm around him. “I do love that, but I meant just being with you. Living with you.” I rubbed our cheeks together. “I wish we could do it all year long.”

“Me too.” Sadness clouded Brody’s expression. “But I don’t see that happening unless we’re on the same team. Or when we retire.” He brushed the hair out of his eyes. “But that’s the plan, right? We finish playing, and we’ll be together. It’s okay.”

I wanted to snap, No, it’s not okay. We shouldn’t have to hide for a decade. Not anymore. But it would hurt Brody, and it wasn’t his fault. Or mine.

“Yeah. You and me, here or New York. I’d love to take you there and show you everything.”

“Not sure I could live in a place with so many people, but I’m dying to see it. Maybe one day when we play there.”

“Or…” I sat up, excitement brewing. “We could take a trip there. A few days away, just the two of us. I have to go to the city at some point to meet with my banker and sign stuff for the trusts my grandparents set up for me. Come with me.”

“That would be nice.”

“Let’s do it. I’ll have Fallon make all the arrangements. Poor guy’s been bored to tears with me down here and no schedule to keep me in line. I have him going through all my fan mail. His cousin Kelsie—they’re first cousins, but more like brother and sister—is doing all my social media with him, since I don’t have time to figure that stuff out.”

Brody nodded. “Yeah. Lizzie’s been great as well.”

“Have you told her about us?”

He shook his head. “No way. I mean, Ezra had her sign an NDA, but still…” He chewed his lip. “What about you?”

I dipped my head. “Yeah. Fallon is trustworthy. He’s like family—actually, better than mine, for sure. And he’d never say anything. His brother and I were close friends and went to school together in the city. I’ve known him longer than almost anyone.”

Fallon’s brother, Rory, had died in a car accident. At the funeral, Fallon had cried on my shoulder and told me his parents refused to accept he was gay and told him to leave their house. And because he was eighteen and considered an adult, they’d cut him off, not only emotionally, but financially as well, even going so far as to withdraw their payment for his college tuition. Afraid he might do something drastic, I’d paid all his expenses, and after he graduated, he’d come home from California to work for me. Aside from Brody, he was the only one I’d told about my sexuality.

“Make sure he schedules me in for some Devil time.”

I rolled on top of him. “You’re twenty-four-seven. Do you not want to go? You don’t seem too excited.”

“I do. It’s just…” Brody shifted away, and I grabbed his wrist.

“What is it? Tell me. No secrets.”

“I don’t belong there. I’m small town. Country.”

I cupped his jaw, forcing his eyes to mine. I hated the self-doubt swimming in those blue depths. “You belong anywhere you want. And where I want you is by my side.” I kissed him. “Let it sit for now. We’ll go out tonight and get wild.”

Brody still looked unsure. “Are you mad? It’s silly, but I’m more the quiet type. When I’m in Austin and we’re not playin’, all I do is spend time at my house there, by the pool, or I find a place to go fishin’.”

“I know. It’s very pretty there.” I’d visited him a few times. “And it was just an idea. I really do love being here with you. And your mother’s awesome. I think I gained ten pounds this month.” I rubbed my stomach. “Coach Jackson is gonna get on my ass. We should start running and hit the gym.” I tangled my fingers in the hair at Brody’s nape. “Sex isn’t burning enough calories.”

“Maybe we ain’t giving it enough of the old college try.”

Snickering, I kissed him. “Let’s get dressed.”

It wasn’t as if we had a vast choice of drinking establishments, but the one that saw the most action was the Kitty Kat Club. I’d expected a strip club atmosphere, but it was a surprisingly decent spot with a DJ spinning tunes and drinks that weren’t too watered down.

We walked in to shouts of welcome—after a month, they knew us and our drink orders. Brody with the bottle of beer he always drank because of his endorsement, and me with my Reposado on the rocks with lime. Within minutes, we had a group surrounding us, some dudes but mostly ladies.

We’d agreed when we were out to put on as good a show as possible—a little kissing and touching allowed but nothing more. So I sat and watched as Brody took to the dance floor with a tall blond who wrapped around him like a python. And I didn’t say no to Beth, the curvy redhead who’d been eyeing me since we walked in. We danced across the floor, and she nuzzled me and kissed my neck while I watched Brody’s girl rub up on him and kiss his cheek. He smiled down at her.

A possessive growl of annoyance rumbled from my chest. Beth thought it was for her and purred in my ear, “That’s so sexy. Wanna get out of here?” She pressed kisses to my chest.

“Sorry, but I gotta stay put.” So it wouldn’t seem strange that I wasn’t giving her what she wanted, I dipped my head and kissed her cheek. She tried every twist and turn to get me excited, but my mind was on Brody. From the corner of my eye, I saw his girl lead him to a dark corner. I trusted him with my life, but I didn’t have to like that he could touch a random woman in public but not me, the person who knew him better than anyone in the world.

I threaded my fingers through Beth’s silky hair and pecked her on the tip of her nose. “Buy you a drink?”

Hazy-eyed, she fluttered her lashes. “Yeah, sure.”

We took a seat at the bar, and she ordered a sea breeze while I homed in on Brody. I watched the blond run a hand up his chest while the other went to his belt buckle. Brody shook his head, and I breathed a sigh of relief when he took her hand and led her back to where we were sitting.

“Hey, you two.” I raised a glass. “What’re you drinking?”

The girl wrinkled her nose. “I’m out.” With a swing of her hips and toss of her hair, she left. Brody shrugged and held up a hand to Janie, who was behind the bar tonight.

“Another one, please.”

“You got it.” Janie was the owner of the Kitty Kat, and we often spent more time talking to her about football than we did dancing. Her husband was the manager at the local big hotel chain and also worked nights. She handed Brody his beer. “Don’t mind that one. She’s a star fucker.”

Brody’s eyes widened while I choked swallowing my drink. “Damn, Janie, warn a guy.”

She shrugged. “Sorry. But Desiree was a cheerleader in high school and always went for the athletes. College too, from what I heard.” Her grin was sympathetic. “Goes through ’em like Skittles. No offense, but you mighta just been another notch in her bedpost.”

“I hope you don’t think I’m like that,” Beth said to me, pouting as if she’d lost her sure thing.

“Of course not, but I’m just hanging out with my buddy tonight.” I figured to get it out in the open.

Disappointment clouded her eyes, and she pouted, but I remained steadfast, and she shrugged. “Okay. Could I, uh, get a picture with y’all?”

“Of course.”

Janie took her phone, and Brody and I, plus me alone, took a bunch of pictures with her.

She kissed my cheek. “Thanks. I work morning shift at the Main Street diner if y’all ever wanna come by for waffles.”

She drifted off into the crowd. Maybe I was wrong for leading her on, but with Brody around, it was tough keeping up a facade. All I wanted was to be with him.

We sat for a while, signing autographs and taking pictures. At midnight, I leaned into Brody.

“Wanna go?” I whispered in his ear. “I’m ready to be alone with you.”

Brody set his bottle on the bar top. “I was ready when we got here.”

I grinned and waved Janie over to pay our tab. “Close us out, please. And put Beth’s drinks on it as well.”

“You got it.”

I handed her a wad of twenties. “This is for you.”

She stuffed them into the back pocket of her jeans. “Thanks, guys.” The bar was emptying out. “Stop by anytime. You’re a great draw for business.”

“Always happy to help.” I winked at her.

“Maybe we could do a fund raiser one night. Charge a cover and donate it to the local homeless shelter. My brother—he’s a cop—said we’ve gotten a lotta young runaways lately.”

I checked with Brody and could see the interest in his eyes. “I’m good with that. We’d have to check with our agent to make sure it’s okay, but I’m sure he’ll say it’s not a problem.”

“Awesome. Lemme know.”

We walked to Brody’s Jeep and sat in the car. “I like the idea,” Brody stated, starting the engine. The headlights swept across the two-lane road. “It ain’t like New York here. We don’t get as much help for people as we’d like.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.” I waited until we reached his house and he cut the engine. “We can meet Ezra when we take that weekend trip to the city.”

Brody nibbled on his bottom lip. “Yeah.”

“Why do I feel like you’re really not in favor of this?”

“Let’s go inside.”

Once seated in the living room, Brody kicked off his sneakers and lay with his head in my lap. I stroked his hair.

“Talk to me.”

“Dontcha think people will talk? First you’re spending all this time with me here; then we go to New York City together? All these eyes on us…”

I frowned. “I hadn’t thought of it like that.”

“I think you should go alone.”

My fingers, which had been stroking his cheek, stopped. “Is that what you want?”

He grabbed my hand. “No. ’Course not. I wish I could be with you every minute of every day. But we agreed when we started seein’ each other that we’d have to keep it quiet between us.”

Realistically, I knew he was right, but I didn’t like it. “I guess it makes sense.”

“I know you hate havin’ to hide. I do too.” Brody kissed my fingers. “How about while you’re doin’ that, I’ll go to that center Janie mentioned and meet the kids and find out more about them.”

I bent down and kissed him. “You are such a good person.”

Brody’s lips curved under mine. “And you’re good for me.”

I knew I had the better part of the deal. Brody might’ve grown up with next to nothing, but he’d always known love—how to give and receive it. I’d had everything I could possibly want from birth, except the one thing I’d craved—my parents’ time and approval. Meeting Brody, learning how to be a loving partner, had helped me grow forgiveness in my heart. His love gave me hope that as dark as it looked, there might be a light in the future.

“I’ll call Ezra in the morning.”

**

Four days later, I sat in Ezra Green’s offices in midtown Manhattan. He had a spectacular view of the city, but I was more interested in the pictures on his credenza. He noticed where my attention was directed.

“My family.” He reached over and picked up two photos. “This is Roe and me at our wedding. And Roe’s grandmother, dancing her heart out.”

“You never had any issues about your relationship? From your families, I mean.”

Before answering, Ezra set the frames in their places. “Roe’s family was never an issue.”

“Yours was?”

He sighed and laced his fingers together on the desk. “They had hopes I’d marry a woman and have a family. They went so far as to try and keep Roe and me apart.”

The soft smile indicated that the attempt was unsuccessful.

“But you’re married.”

He held up his finger and wiggled it to show off his ring. “We are. Happier than ever and thinking of starting a family.”

It was obvious how deeply in love Ezra was with his husband. “How did you get them to come around?”

Instead of answering, Ezra left his chair and joined me in the second chair in front of his desk.

“You’re asking an awful lot of personal questions, Dev. Is there a problem with me being gay and representing you? I’ve never made a secret of my sexuality, and I didn’t expect it to be an issue for you.”

A simple question that I only needed to answer no . But I didn’t want to. Heart pounding, I rubbed my face with my hand and said the words I’d kept under wraps. “I-I’m gay. And it’s been hard as hell living in the closet. Aside from my PA, and my boyfriend, you’re the only person I’ve told.”

Stunned by my confession, Ezra’s green-gold eyes searched my face. He rolled his chair closer to me and took hold of my hands. “Thank you for trusting me. You know you can tell me anything, Dev. I’ll always keep your secrets, even if I wish I didn’t have to. But in the sports world, especially football, I understand why you’re keeping it to yourself.”

“It’s been so fucking hard,” I whispered, almost in tears. I brushed at my lashes. “Some tough-guy image, huh? Who’d think I was the hard-partying Devil Summers if they could see me now?”

“Fuck that shit,” Ezra blasted out. “I hate how people equate sports with manliness. Don’t fall into that trap.”

I sniffled, wiping my eyes with the heel of my hand. “Yeah, I guess so. But I can sure as shit guarantee that the endorsements would dry up. Am I right?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I’m sorry to say. I think a lot of them would. And I’m not telling you to come out publicly. That’s a decision you and only you can make.” His face cleared, and a slight smile tugged up his lips. “You have a lover…a boyfriend. I’m glad you don’t have to go through this alone.”

I met his eyes. “I do. But I’m not willing to talk about him. He-he’s also private about his personal life.”

“Understood. Just know I’ll always be your safe space. And regarding the benefit you and Brody want to get involved with, it’s a good one. I checked into the shelter—they’ve taken in many homeless youth and young people who’ve got no place to live due to losing their jobs, medical bills, or their families turning them out because of their sexuality. Sometimes they assist entire families.”

“Great. I’m glad. I’ll let Brody know we can go ahead.”

Ezra leaned back in his chair. “How’s it been, living in the country? Must be a shock to a city boy like you. Nice for you to hang out with your best friend.”

Was he fishing for information? I didn’t think so, but even if Ezra guessed, I trusted him to keep my secret—mine and Brody’s. And thinking of how I’d left Brody, in our bed, sleepy-eyed, hair tangled and my marks all over him, I couldn’t wait to go home to him. Being without him these few days only exacerbated my loneliness. I should’ve been able to visit my parents, but after their last text, I couldn’t. So I didn’t.

“You know what? It’s a whole lot better than I’d have expected.” A thought popped into my head, but before I talked to Ezra, I had to speak to Brody. “I have an idea, but I can’t talk about it until I check a few things out.”

Ezra’s eyes crinkled shut with his laughter. “Nothing I like better than a mystery. Call me when you’re ready to let me in on the secret.”

I gave him a hug. “I will.”

I had to get home to Brody and tell him what I was thinking. Hopefully, we’d be on the same page.