Page 116 of Playing for Keeps

Fuck. I loved kissing Ethan. Loved how he always seemed to match my intensity, returning exactly what I gave him.

It was part of the story of my life, the fact that everything,everything, had always been better when I was doing it with Ethan.

We finally pulled apart.

“Congratulations,” he said.

“For that kiss or the game?” I asked, shucking off my jacket and unknotting my tie.

He smirked at me. “Both.”

I chuckled and moved further into the room.

“How was the after-match function?” he asked.

“Good.”

“Was it okay hanging out with all the Aussie players?”

“Yeah, it was fine. I think Mitch Ashdown might be gay, actually.” I laid my jacket over the back of the chair.

Ethan stilled. “Really? Did he hit on you?”

“Nah, not really. I just got that vibe.”

“Wow, if you two got together, you’d supersede Aiden and Tyler as rugby’s glamour couple,” Ethan said.

I gave him a look as I unbuttoned my shirt.

“Just saying, you know, if you wanted to be in a relationship with another rugby player, you could probably do better than the backup halfback for the Marauders.” Ethan attempted a laugh.

“Ethan, there is no one better for me than you.”

He stared at me for a few moments, his throat working. I waited. What was going on in that fair head of his? It was obvious something was ticking away.

“When we were kids I didn’t understand why you were my friend sometimes,” he said finally.

I blinked. “What?”

“You were the son of the local doctor, I was the son of a loser who couldn’t be bothered to stick around to raise me.”

“That’s not your fault.”

“No, but there was this huge gap between us. You probably didn’t think about it because you were on the right side of that gap.”

He was right, I had no idea Ethan had felt like that. Fuck, it made it worse that I’d never told him what he’d meant to me.

“You’ve always been the best thing in my life,” I said, my voice low, throbbing with emotion.

Ethan broke out in a sunshiny smile, and I moved forward to kiss him. It was another kiss that seemed to swim with all the feelings between us. He moved his warm hands over my bare chest, causing me to moan against his mouth.

He drew back, breathless. “You know, as a patriotic man, I really think I should be thanking you for your services to our country.”

“Oh really?”

“I’m just thinking about what services I could provide in return.”

“How about you fuck me?” I suggested.