Page 55 of Perfect Storm (Toronto Thunder #1)

Levi was nearby when the last seconds ticked down and he was the first person Aidan turned to, the widest smile on his face that Levi could remember seeing.

No—that was not quite true. Levi when he’d kissed him after telling him he loved him, that had been the best smile he’d ever seen on Aidan’s face. But this was a close second.

Riley and Landry met them in the middle of the field, cameras everywhere documenting every moment of the game that Levi had heard called the Brothers Bowl. “Great game, bro,” Riley said, hugging Aidan.

“Thought we were in trouble there for a moment,” Levi said to Landry, who just rolled his eyes in delight. He’d almost snagged a high pass that Riley had let float just a little too far, and if he had, the end score might’ve been a little closer.

“Wasn’t our game today,” Landry said, shrugging.

“It was your turn,” Riley said, always generous and gracious. “But next time?”

Aidan laughed. “All bets are off. I get it.”

Riley nodded in delight.

“Know you’ve got a flight to catch, but after media, come find me—find us,” Aidan said to him, letting his hand linger on Riley’s shoulder for a second. “Got something we need to talk about.”

Riley nodded, and the knowing gleam in his blue eyes as they slid over Levi made it clear he knew exactly what it was about.

It was a mass of their families in the hallway outside the Thunder locker room.

Riley was there, of course, and his best friend, Paige, who’d just moved to Atlanta. But it was the entire Banks clan, minus Logan, that threatened to exceed the space required.

Landry and Lyla were chatting with Levi, and the Banks parents were there, too, Larry and Linda, watching over three of their four children with an affectionate gleam in their eye.

At one point, so long ago Aidan couldn’t even remember exactly when it was, he’d hoped that maybe his parents might come around and end up at their games, just like this.

But that had never happened—first, they’d been preoccupied with their own petty dramas, and then after, because Aidan had forbidden them from showing up. He’d known they’d only be doing it because suddenly their two sons had done something worth paying attention to.

That ship, Aidan had decided—a decision that Riley had echoed, later, when Aidan had told him what he’d said to them—had long since sailed. There was no putting it back in the harbor.

“I said it before, but I’ll say it again,” Riley said, approaching Aidan and pulling him into a hug, “great game, bro.”

“That run?” Aidan shook his head in disbelief. “I wish I could run like that.”

Three years ago, it would’ve just about killed him to admit that Riley had skills he didn’t. That he could be better than Aidan was, even theoretically. Not because he hated Riley and didn’t want him to succeed, but because of what that would mean for him.

“You used to,” Riley said, giving Aidan a teasing nudge. “I gotta do it now, while I still can.”

Irrelevant. Washed up. Has-been. Aidan had thought them all.

Riley’s comment would have derailed him into a panic attack before.

Aidan still fought the urge to ignore Wes because he represented a future that had always terrified Aidan.

What was he going to do when he was done with football?

Riley would have his own life—he already did, frankly—and Aidan would be alone.

He looked over Lyla’s head and met Levi’s gaze.

Realized, with a hard, joyful jolt that he wouldn’t be anymore. Maybe, if he played his cards right and didn’t fuck up by pushing Levi away, he’d have Levi and whatever life they could build. Together.

“I better see you doing it every week, then,” Aidan said, grinning.

Riley stuck his tongue out at him. “What’s up?”

Aidan looked over at Riley. “You know.”

Riley grinned. “Oh boy, fireworks time. Hey, Landry,” he called out. “Get your fine ass over here.”

Landry came, Levi, Lyla, and Paige trailing after him.

“What is it, baby?” Landry asked.

“Aidan and Levi have something to tell us.”

Aidan met Levi’s eyes. He looked happy. Thrilled, in fact. Warmth practically spilling out of his brown eyes.

“Well, don’t make me do it alone,” he told him.

Levi only smiled harder. “Like I was ever going to leave you on an island, bro.”

Aidan barely had a moment to brace himself before Levi was pushing in his space, cupping his cheeks with hot palms and pulling him into a not entirely PG-rated kiss.

He couldn’t help it; he stiffened a little. Levi’s parents and his brother and sister were right there. But then he couldn’t help it. Levi kissing him made it so easy to kiss him back.

His hand went up to Levi’s shoulder, tugging him in closer. It was amazing how the rest of the world faded around him when they got their hands on each other. Like nobody else even mattered.

They kissed for probably a fraction longer of time than anyone needed to get the picture, but Aidan decided he didn’t care.

How many times had Riley and Landry fucked around in the kitchen of his Michigan house? He didn’t want to know, but the number was not zero. They could take a little PDA.

Aidan broke the kiss and the rest of the world came back into sharp focus.

The first thing he saw was Landry’s face. His jaw was dropped and he looked like someone had just socked him right in the face.

Not angry, necessarily, but stunned.

“Guess you didn’t tell him, Ri,” Aidan said.

Riley smacked him on the back. “Ass,” he said fondly. “Of course I didn’t. I wanted to see this, front and center. And honestly? Zero notes. Fantastic execution. Wouldn’t change a goddamn thing.”

“Riley,” Landry said dazedly, “did you just see that? Or did I just hallucinate it?”

“Nope, it’s happening, baby. Our brothers are following in our footsteps. Enthusiastically, I might add.”

Aidan looked over at Lyla. He knew her the least. If he hadn’t known how Landry would react, he really wasn’t sure about her. She just raised a questioning blond eyebrow. “How long has this been going on?” she wanted to know.

“Awhile,” Levi said vaguely.

Aidan realized that they hadn’t talked about what they’d say their origin story was, but probably being ambiguous was better than the details.

If he never needed to explain to another person that he and Levi had made a sex pact because he’d been in love with someone else, he’d be totally fine with that.

Especially if the someone else consisted of anyone from Levi’s family.

“It sort of started this summer,” Aidan added.

Lyla looked surprised. “Oh,” she said, comprehension dawning then. “When Landry and Riley dragged Levi to your house.”

Aidan nodded. “So really, it’s their fault.”

“You mean, it was our good deed of the fucking year,” Riley said impudently. “You’re welcome, bro.”

“We’re happy for you two,” Linda Banks said, tugging him in for a quick hug. Larry held out his hand and Aidan shook it firmly. “Can’t say we saw it coming, only because Levi hasn’t seemed particularly interested in finding the right guy, only the next guy.”

“Dad!” Levi exclaimed.

Aidan settled an arm around Levi’s waist. PDA would probably never come naturally to him—you’d catch him over his dead body fucking in someone else’s kitchen—but it felt right touching Levi like this. Looking up at him and feeling the warmth of his love spill out of his eyes.

Landry scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’m . . .I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Told you, Aidan,” Riley said, a mischievous expression on his face. “You blew his mind.”

“How, what, why,” Landry whined.

Levi laughed. “You really want to hear about it?”

“No, no,” Landry retorted.

Lyla turned to Paige. “I think my brother’s brain is broken. If that’s all that comes out of this, I’m good.”

Paige laughed. “When Riley told me, I thought he was kidding. Are you guys gonna have one of those ‘seven brides for seven brothers’ weddings?”

Aidan froze, deer in the headlights. Wedding? They’d just gotten together.

“Hell no,” Riley said easily. “You think I’m sharing the spotlight with this guy more than I have to?”

Aidan relaxed a fraction.

“Besides,” Levi added with a devilish grin, “I’m enjoying fucking around in sin way too much.”

“God,” Landry groaned, putting a hand in front of his face.

Riley elbowed Levi in the side. “Your parents are right there, dude.”

“And they’ve heard so much worse,” Levi said smugly.

“So I guess you’re not going to move out, then,” Landry said. “I couldn’t figure out why you didn’t want to find your own place immediately.”

“Yeah, he was having conniptions about it,” Riley teased. “On the phone to Logan every other day about it. Never occurred to him—pretty stupidly, I might add—that might be because Levi didn’t want to leave.”

“I thought he was just . . .I don’t know . . .being lazy about it!” Landry exclaimed.

“Bro,” Levi said flatly.

“Yeah, be nice to my boyfriend,” Aidan said, and realized with another jolt that it was the first time he’d said it out loud and that he and Levi hadn’t really talked about specific verbiage.

But Levi beamed like he totally approved of Aidan’s word choice. “Yeah, be nice, Landry.”

“Why am I not surprised that you two are going to be totally smug about how happy you are, all the time?” Lyla wondered, not sounding particularly upset about that.

“I’m not surprised,” Paige echoed.

Levi broke away from Aidan to argue with his sister, good-naturedly. Something about how both of them deserved to be smug about finding each other.

It was cute and Aidan was totally endeared, but his best friend was still staring at him like he’d just seen a ghost.

“Hey,” Aidan said in a low voice to Landry. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

“I’m not not okay with it,” Landry said. He let out a heavy sigh. “I’m just . . .I don’t know, shocked. Last I heard, in July, you were in love with Mo and he didn’t feel the same. And now suddenly you’re with Levi?”

“It’s . . .well, it’s complicated.”

“Why am I not surprised that you ended up with the messiest relationship of all of us?” Landry said knowingly.

“That’s not true,” Aidan argued. He wasn’t messy. Him falling in love with Levi wasn’t messy either; it was like an inevitable slide into the most natural-feeling emotion he’d experienced in possibly his whole life.

But how to express that to Landry?

“I didn’t know what we were doing, not at first,” Aidan said simply, because honesty usually was the best policy, “but I just knew I kept wanting more of him. I’d never felt like more myself than when I was with him. It felt . . .right. Even when Mo came back, nothing changed.”

Maybe someday he’d tell Landry how Mo’s confession had spurred the realization he was in love with Levi, but for right now, this was good, and it was true.

Landry stared at him for a moment. “And you really love him.”

“I really, really do.”

Landry hesitated for one more second before he tugged him into a long, tight hug. “I believe you,” he said, “because Levi’s one of the most lovable people I know. Makes sense you’d see it, too.”

“Yeah,” was all Aidan could say, his throat suddenly tight.

He hadn’t worried that Landry would react badly.

He wasn’t that much of a hypocrite. But he had worried that Landry would have doubts and concerns he couldn’t answer.

That he wouldn’t believe that Aidan’s feelings were as serious, as lasting, as Aidan knew they were.

But he shouldn’t have worried; Landry had always seen right through to the core of him, better than just about anyone else.

“If Levi was going to settle down, of course he’d pick you,” Landry said, after he’d pulled back.

“Hey, I heard that,” Levi squawked, and the whole group, even including Larry and Linda burst into laughter.

“It’s ’cause we love you,” Landry said, reaching out to ruffle his little brother’s hair.

“Yeah,” Aidan said, “we really do.”