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Biting his lower lip, he nodded. “Yeah. It’ll give me something to look forward to.” His gaze caught mine. “You know, more than just hanging out with you and coming home to you—” He smirked “—And fooling around with you.”

I swooned. He knew exactly what to say. “You’re too good to be true, you know that?” I came in and kissed the tip of his nose.

“But I mean it, Myles. You know that , right?” His smirk waned. “This is not normal for me. I don’t catch feelings. I’m catching feelings here.”

I stared at him. He’d said something like this before. “Yeah, I know you mean it, eh.” I pressed my palm to his cheek, gazing into his stunning hazel eyes, surrounded by thick black lashes.

A door clap echoed, then Ace murmured.

“Shit, Ace and Zoma are home. I better get dressed before I leave your room.” I exhaled a long breath. “It’s getting late. I should probably go.”

“I guess so.” He kissed my cheek and released my dick. “Sleep tight tonight.” He gave me a warm grin.

“You too.” I climbed off the bed, slid my underwear and shorts up my legs, and grabbed my shirt. “See you in the morning.” Leaning over the bed, I placed a long kiss on his lips. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, babe.” With a chuckle, he tucked himself under his covers.

I shook my head once and opened the door, then padded into the hallway. He’d known what he was saying in the heat of the moment.

“Hey, Myles.” Ace lumbered toward me and ticked his gaze toward the door. “Have a nice evening at home?”

“Ssh.” Cooper didn’t need to hear whatever teasing comment Ace was about to say. I pushed Ace down the hallway toward my room and stepped inside. “Yes, we had a good night.”

“We’re all set for the game tomorrow, right?” Ace lifted his brows. “Archer and Leo are coming again?”

I’d almost forgotten about setting up tickets for us all again. “Yes, we’re all set.” Maybe tomorrow I could talk to Leo.

“Good.” He patted my shoulder. “It’s good to see you getting some dick on the regular. You seem a lot more relaxed now.” With a cackle, he walked away from me. “Zoma, are you getting me water?”

“Yes.” Zoma called from the kitchen.

Shaking my head, I tsked and walked into my room.

Next evening, Ace sat beside me while Leo sat opposite.

I’d wanted to talk to Leo during the game about his family situation, since I knew it took some time for him to come out to them while he was dating Archer.

The game so far had been closer than Cooper or his buddies on the team had thought it would be.

I glanced at the score. ASU’s lead was a mere field goal deep into the fourth quarter. I leaned toward Leo. “You think we can pull this off?” I wiped a droplet of sweat from my brow. It was still pretty warm outside, even though the sun was down, and it was September.

“Hell yeah, we can pull it off. A game like this could go down to the wire.” Leo chuckled and sipped beer from a big plastic cup.

I nodded and peeked at Ace, sitting on the edge of his seat and yelling, “Come on guys, you’ve got this!”

I swallowed hard. “Hey, Leo, can I talk to you about something?” Maybe the game would distract him too much to talk now.

Swaying forward, Archer glanced at me and lifted his brows.

Leo slid his beer into a cup holder on the back of the seat in front of him. “Sure. What is it?” He focused on me. No wonder Archer had fallen so hard for the guy. When you needed him, he always dropped everything to be there.

“You took a while to come out to your parents, eh.”

“I did.” He pursed his lips. “I know you’re not out to your family and with you dating Cooper, is it starting to be a problem? ”

Dipping my gaze, I rocked once. “Well, not yet really. But Cooper wants to come out to his family by Thanksgiving.” As my chest grew tight, I breathed through it. “I feel sort of shitty having him do that with me not telling my family about me.”

He nodded and rubbed his chin. “Why are you keeping your sexuality a secret? All the other guys are out.” His brows slid together. “Are your parents homophobic?”

“I-I don’t know. I don’t think my mom is.

” I fisted my hand over my thigh. “I’ve never had a reason to tell them about me.

” I dashed my gaze across the seats in front of us.

What was it exactly that had started it all?

“My brother is…well, he’s sort of the golden child, if you know what I mean.

” I faced Leo. “Where it took me hard work and time to become good at hockey, my brother picked it up naturally. He’s always been the best player on his teams and?—”

“And part of that is because you taught him how to play.” Ace gave me a pointed look. “He might surprise you with how much he idolizes you.”

“Naw…” Shit, now Ace was in on this conversation. I huffed a chuckle. “But I think he’s part of why I’ve kept my mouth shut. I don’t want to let him down.”

“Myles, being gay is not letting anyone down.” Ace pursed his lips.

Leo held his hand out to Ace. “Hold on now. What Ace said is true, but it doesn’t mean your feelings aren’t valid.”

Archer wrapped an arm around Leo’s shoulders and smirked at me.

After kissing Archer’s cheek, Leo’s attention drew to me and he said, “I have a gay brother and still, I thought I’d be letting my parents down if they knew I was bisexual and especially if they found out I was in a gay relationship.”

“Yeah?” I worried my lower lip. Leo would be perfect to talk to. “So, what happened when you came out to them?” It had been when Archer’s dad had a heart attack and his life sort of imploded .

“My parents were shocked, and my brother saw a side of them he didn’t know existed.” He clenched his jaw. “But everyone got over it after some discussion and we’re better than ever.”

“My dad was a total prick to me, remember?” Archer said, leaning over Leo. “But he came to his senses.” He reached out and squeezed my forearm. “It might be hard, but it’s worth it in the end.”

Nodding, I focused on my beer, resting in the holder in front of me. I should have ordered a stronger drink, but then we were going to the gay bar tonight, so we’d have shots.

“Myles, we’re all here for you. Remember that.

” Ace planted his hand on my shoulder. “My parents weren’t very accepting at first either, but they came around.

Have some hope.” He glanced at the field.

“And when they find out you’re dating a football star, I’ll bet they’ll be happy.

” He freed a soft snort. “Damn, think of it. A guy in the NFL having a boyfriend in the NHL? Think of all the money you’ll have. ”

“Stop it.” I smiled despite myself. Could my life turn out so well? “But what if our teams are on opposite sides of the country?” My gut tensed. I hadn’t been allowing myself to think so far ahead. My season hadn’t even started yet.

“You’ll be able to afford to travel. Couples do it. Think about rockstars or actors? They figure shit out.” Ace gave me a warm grin.

“Myles, just get through this season. Play your heart out and enjoy the time you have with Cooper now.” Leo patted my thigh. “Focus on making this work and good things will happen.”

“Thanks, guys.” As I grabbed my beer and sunk into my seat, I set my attention on the game.

Mississippi kicked a field goal to tie it.

“Fuckin’ A. Look at what happens when we’re not paying attention?” With a scoff, Ace threw his arm in the air.

“Shit.” If ASU lost, would Cooper assume hooking up the night before a game was a bad idea? No, he wasn’t superstitious like me. I drank my beer.

Mississippi punted the ball and ASU’s special teams ran it down the field. Working through multiple downs while we cheered in the stands, they found themselves on the third yard line, with only six seconds remaining in the game. We needed a touchdown to win.

“Fuck, this is a nail biter.” I downed the rest of my beer and clung to the glass. What was Casey going to do? Pass to JJ or run Cooper?

The whole stadium stood and roared.

After the huddle, Cooper glanced my way into the stands and pounded his fist over his heart.

Was that meant for me? My chest flooded with warmth as all the guys glanced at me with wry smiles.

Cooper lined up with the team, and the center snapped the ball to Casey.

After running backward, Casey faked a pass while Cooper ran behind him.

As Casey’s arm dropped, he snuck the ball to Cooper.

With some quick footwork, Cooper tucked the ball into his chest and shot through an opening.

As defensemen rushed after him, Cooper jumped in the air over them to bring the ball past the goal line just as the clock ran out.

“Holy fuck, did you see that?” With hysterical laughter, I hopped, grabbed Ace’s face and kissed his cheek, then did the same with Leo and Archer. My man was the hero of the game today.

All the guys laughed and hollered, Archer pumping his fist and doing a little dance. “What a way to end the game.”