Page 7 of Totally Played (Love In Play #5)

Chapter seven

Calvin

It was a good idea to leave the bar when we did, because any more beers and I would have been tripping over myself and paying the price tomorrow.

I don’t even know why I was drinking so much.

I just remember being so thirsty. I should have just asked for water.

I don’t have to worry about asking for water now.

Ash keeps topping off my glass every time it gets two-thirds down.

“This place is amazing,” Ash says as we sit on the comfortable orange couch they swapped the old one out for.

This one is big enough to fit eight around the L-shaped sectional, plenty of room for us, even if Beau, Levi, and Lion take up more than a single seat each.

Ash is just as tall, and he clearly works out with toned, thick arms and a tiny waist, and I wonder, does it look the same out of the corset he wears?

I’d never seen a man wear a corset before I spotted him at the bar, but it isn’t like the ones I’ve seen on women.

It’s not pulled super tight, creating an unnaturally tiny waist. It’s done up just enough to hug his form and highlight his shape.

I wonder what it feels like to be held so tight like that.

Lion comes and sits beside Levi. “Thanks. We love it,” he says, glancing toward Tim at the barbecue.

Tim and Lion have done an amazing job with their rooftop terrace.

It was great before they got together, but since Lion moved in, it’s become something really impressive.

Large bulb lights are strung crisscross over the entire space, and a large couch and coffee table are to one side, under a tinted gazebo-type roof.

The posts holding it up are black and wrapped in small lights that sparkle like stars, and then there are the barbeques.

A larger one is on a platform of stained caramel-colored wood, where Tim is working now, and a small one sits off to the side.

It doesn’t appear to be on. Maybe it was the one he used before getting the larger one.

The cat enclosure is painted all black, too, even the wire, which makes looking through it so much easier. But the most unique and impressive thing, which is also my favorite, is the table.

“Don’t you just love the table,” I say, and Ash cranes his neck behind me to see it.

“They’ve made it out of three old doors Lion salvaged.

There is a bunch of paint peeled and chopped from most of them, but it makes it so you can see the woodgrains underneath, and I love that every chair around it is a unique style and color. ”

“It is pretty cool,” Ash agrees. “I think I like the cat enclosure most,” he says, and Lion smiles widely.

The cat enclosure is at the far end and has wooden and rope ladders and posts, and a big green wall covered in cat-friendly grasses they can nibble.

I thought they were crazy when they said they were bringing a bunch of cats into Tim’s tiny apartment, but the enclosure has a long, caged tunnel that leads around from it, down the side of the fire stair and to their place underneath, so the cats can come and go from there whenever Tim and Lion open the door.

The rooftop really doubles their livable space.

I wonder how it would go up here in the snow.

It’s not common for us to get snow in Savannah, but it has happened.

I glance out at the beautiful glittery skyline, a mix of the city lights and brilliant stars.

“Don’t you agree, Calvin?” Beau asks, and I snap my attention back to them.

“Sorry, what?”

They laugh, and Levi points to the cat enclosure.

“That little gray one is obsessed with Ash.”

It’s pacing back and forth on a shelf, all the while watching Ash, or at least looking our way.

“It could be into you,” I say, downing a big drink of water. I’m starting to feel less buzzed, which is a good thing. I think.

“No way, it’s totally crushing on Ashley. Go on, get up and move, bet it follows you.”

Ash grabs the jug of water from the center of the coffee table and tops up my glass first.

“See, it’s tracking you,” Levi says, and I watch, too, as Ash moves from side to side. Every time he changes direction, the little kitten does, too.

“Maybe it wants to attack him.” Beau chuckles.

“I heard that if you die in a house full of cats, they eat you,” I say, and the room slows, a fork dings against a plate and then dead silence.

My mouth is dry, and I try to swallow as my gaze sweeps from one confused frown to another.

Fuck, why am I so weird? Please God, open up the earth and just swallow me whole already.

This is what I need Tony for. When he’s around, I don’t go saying stupid shit like that.

I pray that someone says something. Anything to end this torturous moment, then Ash laughs.

“Oh my god, I heard that, too. Hey, Lion, do you think your kitten wants to eat me?”

Everyone laughs along, and I exhale the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.

“It’s just the system at work, you can’t fight it,” he says, and Ash sits back down beside me on the couch, only this time he’s right next to me, almost so close that our legs touch.

“What system is this now?” he whispers in my ear, sending a shiver down my neck, and I shudder.

“The cat kind,” I turn to say, and he’s still right there.

His eyes are so close that I can make out the dark blue lines that spiral around the brighter striations.

“Ummm, the cat distribution system. Like, there are a bunch of cats in the world just waiting to find their forever homes. Once they find you, there is no saying no.”

“Do you believe that?” he asks, and while I thought it would be uncomfortable to be this close to a guy, with Ash, it’s easy. Like everything else tonight, with Ash has been.

“You’re kind of my cat distribution system,” I say, and he smiles, brilliant and wide.

“Really? Explain.”

“I don’t know how to. I only met you tonight, but we’re like super-fast friends. I’ve never had that before?”

“I totally agree. It’s like I’ve known you forever.”

“That is what I was thinking,” I say, slapping my hand down on his knee. His gaze goes to it for a second, then returns to my stare, a smirk on his lips.

“So you think we were fated to meet?”

“Maybe. I don’t know how the universe works. My brother got sick and sent me on his date, and I met my new best friend. Yep, sounds pretty fate-like to me.”

“Best friend, now, okay.”

“I just meant… Like, because we get along so well.”

“No, it’s good,” he says with a smirk.

Tim taps a glass from over by the table and draws all of our attention.

“Dinner is served,” he says, and it’s almost another stampede to the table.

Levi and Beau sit on either side of Ash, leaving me to sit with Tim and Lion on the other side.

“So this is a plum sauce,” Tim says.

“Yumm, I love plums,” Ash says.

Tony hates plums, I think as Tim goes on to explain the rest of the sauces.

“It’s got a secret ingredient in it, too. See if you can guess it. It’s to go on the ribs, actually all the sauces are for the ribs, the bottle in the middle is the smokey barbeque sauce for the brisket,” Tim explains, pointing to the smooth matt black jug sitting between us.

While the furniture up here is mix and match, the dining setting is the opposite.

Every plate is a stretched oval and matt black, and on the left curve of each sit three small matt black bowls, each about the size of a golf ball.

Tim spoons some of the plum sauce into one of his tiny bowls, then passes it down.

“This next one is sort of like a cherry marmalade, and then we have a lemongrass honey sauce,” he says, and we each take turns filling our tiny bowls as the scents of the meat swirl around us like a delicious tease to our senses.

By the time the meat is portioned out, my mouth is watering, and I have to check myself for drool.

“You did all this and played a match today?” Ash asks, and Tim nods.

“I had help. The brisket’s been going since six, Beau and Levi kept an eye on it while we were at the game.”

“If it tastes even half as good as it smells, you should totally become a chef when you’re done playing ball,” he says, and a few of them chuckle. “What’s the joke?”

I lay my hand over his forearm, and a weird lump rises in my throat. I reach for the glass of water and take a big gulp.

“They run Roaring Barbeque, the food truck,” I say between swallows.

“The one that’s down on Levinson on Tuesday nights?” he asks. “I eat there all the time. Wow, that’s why Lion looks so familiar.”

“Yeah, Lion’s been amazing taking her out when I have training, and I meet him after,” Tim says.

“I had your gluten-free black hole brisket burger the other week. It was the best thing I’ve ever eaten.” Ash says.

“Thanks,” Tim replies, dipping one of his ribs into the cherry sauce. “All my sauces are gluten-free too.”

“Perfect. I was going to ask”

“We sell almost as much of the gluten-free options we do the regular, so it just made sense to set up a separate serving section in the food truck.”

“On behalf of all celiacs in the local Savannah area, we thank you.”

He chuckles then hold the rib dripping with sauce up.

“Okay, boys, eat up, and try to remember what you like and don’t. This is supposed to be a research dinner, after all.”

“That way, you can claim it all on your taxes, right?” I say, and he taps his nose.

“You know it. Plus, I’ve got a new hookup for pork now that Alan’s brothers are increasing their pig numbers, so it’s time for a menu change.”

“Alan’s on the team, right?” Ash leans in to ask me. I grab one of the ribs from my plate and dip it into the plum sauce.

“Yeah. His brothers run Beaker Brothers Ranch in Bellerelle.”

Ash takes a bite of one of the ribs, and his eyes flutter closed as he moans through chews. “So good.” Then he licks the sauce from his lips, and my gut swirls.

What the fuck was that? I pick up a rib and dip it haphazardly into the lemongrass sauce and take a bite. The tang and tartness coating my tongue, but as delicious as it is, my focus is still on Ash and the sounds he’s making as he devours each rib, sucking on his fingers to lick them clean.

Holy shit. Could I be catching feelings for a guy? Is that what this is? Am I into Ash?