Page 28 of Totally Played (Love In Play #5)

“Hurry up, the game is starting soon,” I call out to Ash from the couch where Storm purrs in my lap.

“I’m just grabbing the snacks,” Ash replies, and the second he sits beside me, Storm is off my lap and claiming his position on Ash.

It’s been like that since I moved in a month ago. The moment Storm set his eyes on Ash; he was obsessed. So it really was no surprise that I only get cuddles when Ash is busy doing something else.

Ash passes me the tray of snacks, and I laugh when I spot the bowl of mini-Snickers beside the bowl of popcorn.

“You couldn’t win me any king size?” I ask.

“I bought these. We’ll hit up the claw machines at the arcade tomorrow. Did you talk to Cosmo before the game? Is he nervous?” Ash asks.

“I called to wish him luck, but he cut me off and said that would jinx him, so I told him to fuck it up instead and hung up.”

“I’ll never understand this dynamic you have with your brothers.” He laughs.

“Sure you will,” I say, but before I can elaborate, Tony plonks down on my other side.

“Just wait until Brent is here,” he says with a chuckle. “You think winning over our parents was hard.”

I turn the volume up on the television.

“Ash will get along with Brent fine. Stop trying to scare him.”

“Should I be scared?” Ash asks, and I shake my head, but Tony is already interjecting.

“You know the guys you see down the block outside that bar no one goes to because it’s filled with bikers and big burly tattoo guys?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s Brent.”

“Seriously?” Ash asks.

“No,” I say, shaking my head again. “I mean, sort of. He has tattoos, he’s a tattoo artist. But he’s not scary. Tony is just messing with you.”

“Funny,” Ash says, and he hugs me to his side.

“It’s actually been years since he’s been home,” I say as the commentators start talking up their predictions for the season, and I hit mute. “I can’t wait. Cosmo has been desperately waiting for him to come out, too. He’s got this idea in his head that Brent can give us all matching tattoos.”

“You want a tattoo?” Ashley asks, and I shrug.

“Maybe. Would you mind?”

“No way. I thought about it for a while but could never decide on something I liked enough to make permanent.”

“You could get a portrait of Calvin, you seem pretty set on making that permanent,” Tony laughs, and Ash kisses me on the forehead.

“As much as I honestly believe what we have is forever, I don’t think I’d want a portrait of anyone on my body. If I want to look at Calvin, I’ll just look at Calvin.”

“What then?”

“I don’t know, that’s the problem. What is the brothers’ tattoo Cosmo was thinking of?”

“Five dots with a circle in the spot that represents where we are in the order, so Brent would be the first circle, then four dots for me, Tony, Rach, and Cosmo. I would have the second spot, being the older twin,” I say, and Tony turns totally sideways to face us.

“You are not the older twin. Mom doesn’t even remember who was firstborn. She said she just picked one of us when we were four because it was the first year we had separate cakes and we wanted them to sing to us both on our own, so she said you were born first.”

“The birth certificate shows my birth time is two minutes before yours,” I reply, and he grabs a Snickers from the bowl and turns back.

“Whatever.”

“Aww, don’t be sad, little bro. You are still my ride or die.”

That brings a smile to his lips, and he relaxes back on the couch. “Alright, enough of this shit, turn it up, Cosmo’s about to be on.”

I unmute the television just in time to hear them announce Cosmo Parks, and when the camera pans to him, he winks into the camera.

“The crowd loves him,” the commentator says, and the shot goes to the multiple fans cheering and wearing his number.

Ash is practically bouncing in the seat beside me.

“Do you want to put your jersey on?” I ask, nudging his side.

“You don’t have a Cosmo jersey, do you?” Tony asks, and Ash keeps his eyes on the television, the corner of his lips picking up in a smirk as he pats Storm in his lap.

“Leave him alone. It’s cute that he’s a fan,” I say, squeezing Ash’s leg. “He has one of mine, too. “

“What about me?” Tony whines as a knock sounds on the door. Ash lifts Storm into my lap and goes to check it, returning a moment later with a large square package wrapped in brown paper.

“What is that?” I ask.

“No idea, but it’s addressed to you,” he says, lifting off the card and handing it over. I slip out the note and read aloud.

“Dear Calvin. Thank you for truly seeing my brother. He’d want you to have this. Happy housewarming. Yours sincerely, Lynette.”

“You don’t think?” Ash says as Tony leans over the back of the couch to try to reach for the paper.

“Go on. Open it then.”

“It can’t be the painting,” I say, moving around the couch, holding Storm in one hand.

“Do you want me to open it?” Ash asks, and I nod. He peels back the corner of the brown paper, and the moment I see the familiar blue, it brings a smile to my lips.

“Is that water?” Tony asks, and I laugh.

“It’s whatever you see in it.”

“Oh, okay. Do you see water?”

“I see me,” I reply as I crouch in front of it, running the pads of my fingers lightly over the canvas. It’s weird, touching something so smooth when my eyes tell me it should be rough, or sharp, or raised. But it’s also calming, somehow.

“How did she know I moved in here?”

“Maybe she asked Red?”

“Maybe she’s got cameras watching you right now?” Tony says, and Ash shakes his head.

“She would have gotten an eyeful of us on that couch last night if she did.”

“Oh gross man, not the couch, seriously,” Tony squeals, leaping up and knocking the popcorn bowl to the floor.

“See, I told you that you’d get the hang of the brothers stuff.” I laugh, cuddling Ash’s side as Cosmo’s team faces off, ready for the puck to hit the ice.

“One down, two to go,” Ash says.

“They’re going to love you just like I do.”

“You think?”

“Okay, maybe not just like me, but as much as you want your boyfriend’s brothers to love you without it being weird.”

“I don’t love you,” Tony says, scooping up the fallen popcorn back into the bowl.

“Just wait until you see the upstairs apartment I put on hold.”

“The what now?” he says, dropping the bowl and half the contents again. “There is a place in this building for rent? How much is it? We don’t make a lot. I could get a roommate, though, to help cover the costs. Is it big? Does it have a view?”

“Yes, not too much, but you might want a roommate. It has two bedrooms and the same view as this, but from a floor higher.”

“When can I see it?”

“The super is in apartment one-A. We can go down after the game.”

“I’ve seen Cosmo play, I’ll go ask to see it now,” Tony says, rushing out of the room, leaving me and Ash to cuddle on the couch alone.

“You really put the upstairs apartment on hold for him?”

“I know you said you love living here, and that you’re okay being away from him, but you miss him, and I want you to be happy.”

“I am happy.”

“You’ll be even happier with your ride or die a flight of stairs away.”

He’s right. I have been missing Tony like crazy since I moved in. I love Ash to pieces and love living with him and Storm, but like the need to be close to him, I know I need to be near Tony, too, and the fact that Ash sees that, really sees me, means the world to me.

“I love you,” I say, and he kisses me softly.

“I love you, too.”