Page 43 of Something to Prove
I barked a laugh. “How supportive of you.”
“You know it.”
“Are you close to your siblings?”
Ty nodded. “Yeah, my whole family is tight. We’re close in age, and we were sort of raised as teammates. We were taught to be supportive and look out for each other.”
“That’s nice.”
“Yeah, it is. Now, we’re all over the country. My sister Meg lives in Baltimore with her husband and their two kids, Callie’s a hockey coach at Northwestern. She got engaged last summer, and Jade is in Australia on a work visa. My brothers are in college. Evan is at Penn and Lyle is a freshman at UCLA. I’m the only one who’s still close to home. I mean, Utica isn’t around the corner, but my folks can come to a few games and I can visit them or—” Ty shook his head in disbelief. “Okay…wow.”
I frowned. “What’s wrong?”
He scrubbed his eyes and laughed. “This is new. I can’t believe I’m lying next to a really hot guy with my dick out…talking about my family.”
I chuckled. “I don’t mind.”
“If you met those weirdos you would,” he snarked without heat, swinging his long legs off the side of the bed. “I should get going anyway.”
A better host might have gotten up and shown his guest out, but he was moving quickly now and I was happy to sit back and enjoy the view.
Ty stepped into his boxer briefs and wriggled into his jeans while I shamelessly drank in all that masculine beauty. Yes, we’d loosely agreed we were both interested in a repeat, but the logistics seemed contrived unless I suddenly became an avid hockey fan or…
“The video edit should be complete by the weekend. I can arrange a sneak preview if you’d like.”
“I’d like.” He pulled his tee over his head and smoothed his hair before perching on the edge of the mattress to put on his shoes and socks. “I have a game in Rochester on Saturday. Otherwise, I’ll be around.”
“Okay.”
Ty pursed his lips, his gaze roaming my body. I fought the urge to cross my arms, but that was silly. He’d seen it all and then some. “You’re beautiful, you know that?”
“I…”
He flashed another cocky grin, yet I caught a trace of pink on his cheeks and geez, I was charmed all over again. “I know that’s a strange compliment to give another guy. It’s true, though. I’m not taking it back.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Later, Walker. Oh, and by the way…” Ty paused, tapping his fingers on the doorjamb. “We gotta figure out a nickname for you.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean why? Everyone needs a nickname. On my team, we usually use last names. Pritchard, Regan…and Gusis Langley. We call him “the animal” too, ’cause he’s a freaking party animal. I go with a simple ‘ster’ add-on too sometimes. Brady is Bradester. Jett is Jettster…you get the idea.”
“Yes, but…why me?”
“Because we’re friends.”
“I suppose we are.” I smiled.
Ty returned the gesture and continued in a faux-serious tone. “Walker is a serious name. Super sophisticated and professional. I like it, but I can’t shorten it to Walk or add an ie for Walkie. Neither works.”
“Definitely not.”
“And you don’t like Woody, or…are you warming up to that one?”
I bit the inside of my cheek to keep my grin in check. “No.”
“How do you feel about Red?”