Chapter Ten
Buck couldn’t stop tracing the shell of Sterling’s ear.
With Sterling’s head in his lap, his feet kicked up, and a TV playing an old movie, Buck was in his version of heaven.
They had only been living together for two weeks.
Buck already knew he couldn’t live any other way.
The peace that had settled in his soul was unmatched.
He finally had the exact life he wanted.
“I love you.” Buck wondered if Sterling was sick of hearing those three words. They popped out hundreds of times a day without thinking. His heart was too full. It didn’t have any other release. At least not one he could do a hundred times a day.
Sterling rolled onto his back. They had the front door open, letting the sunlight inside. The screen door kept out the bugs but let the cool air flow. Sterling might have money, but Buck had been poor his entire life. Electric bills got high.
The light streaming through the open door cast across Sterling’s face.
His pupils immediately constricted in the bright sun.
His green eyes looked so big and pretty.
Buck couldn’t think about anything else.
He brushed the back of his knuckles down Sterling’s cheek.
He couldn’t even recall if they had been talking about something.
Everything inside him was filled with obsession.
He could stay like this forever and never notice the passage of time.
“I love you too.”
Buck smiled. Oh yeah. That was what he’d said. “Can we stay like this and never move again?”
A luminous smile stretched Sterling’s lips. “I’d love that, but I also adore moving around some with you.”
Buck realized he smiled like an idiot. Damn. He was just thrilled with life. “You can do that too… whenever you want.” Sexual promise hung in the air. Heat built between them as they held each other’s stare.
“You’re beautiful.”
Buck’s out-of-control smile might have made an immediate reappearance if he wasn’t so invested in the growing lust. “Funny. I was just thinking the same thing about you.”
“Good. We’ll make beautiful babies.” Sterling’s goofy smile made Buck burst into laughter. Oh God, he loved this man so fucking hard. It was one of those things that would be just sickening to anyone within miles of their obnoxious fawning. Nothing else mattered. He was a full-on addict.
“I mean, I’m always game to try.”
“We should—” A shadow disturbed the light on Sterling’s face half a second before the doorbell rang, stopping whatever Sterling intended to say.
Both of their heads whipped toward the door. A tall guy wearing a business suit stood on the other side. “Sorry to bother you.”
Sterling rolled to his feet and headed for the door. He didn’t hesitate to let the guy inside. “Hey, Rocky. I didn’t expect to see you today.”
A loud groan ran through Buck’s head. Rocky was Sterling’s agent. He had only seen the guy from a distance and recognized the name, but they’d never met.
Rocky nodded at Buck before going right back to focusing on Sterling. “Yeah. Sorry for not calling. I was already here to talk to Tip. I took a chance you’d be here.”
Sterling made a dismissive gesture. “It’s fine. Come have a seat.” He motioned Buck’s way. “This is my fiancé, Buck. Buck, this is my agent, Rocky.”
Rocky shook Buck’s hand before sitting. His gaze stayed on Buck. “It’s nice to finally meet you. Sterling has told me all about you.”
Buck didn’t know how to feel. A nervous laugh escaped him. “That can’t be good.”
Sterling huffed as he filled the spot next to Buck.
Rocky chuckled. “You’ve got nothing to worry about. I half expected you to be eight feet tall with the way Sterling always sings your praises.”
Well, shit. He hadn’t expected that. Thankfully, Rocky turned his attention to Sterling, so Buck didn’t need to respond. “I’ve finished negotiating and lining up your options.”
“Okay.”
Buck linked fingers with Sterling to give him strength. Truthfully, he was the one who really needed it.
Rocky turned business-like. “While the team lost its right to demand non-disclosure thanks to the confession.”
Buck was fucking grateful Rocky didn’t say the bastard’s name.
Sterling cut in. “Speaking of that. How did that happen? Why would he just confess like that? Not that I’m complaining, but he’s probably done the same thing to other people countless times and gotten away with it. Why now?”
The evil smile that stretched Rocky’s lips would have made Buck take a step back if he’d been standing. “I have some powerful clients. It was nothing to call in a favor.”
Sterling looked as confused as Buck felt. “With who?”
Rocky shook his head. “My client list is extensive and colorful. It might include the Cattaneo family.”
Sterling blinked. “Who?”
Despite being beyond blown away, Buck wouldn’t leave Sterling in the dark. He bumped shoulders with Sterling and pretended to speak from the corner of his mouth. “The mafia, babe.”
“Oh.” Sterling merely sounded surprised. Otherwise, he seemed completely unbothered.
Rocky kept talking like nothing happened.
“Anyhow, as I said, they’ve lost their right to demand non-disclosure from you.
That hasn’t stopped them from trying different avenues.
As you know, you have a year left on your contract.
If you want to play out the remainder of this year, you have to sign away your right to give interviews and whatnot on the matter.
As much as I’d like to say that it isn’t legal, in this case, it is.
They are free to cut you loose and withhold the last eight million dollars you’re owed to finish out your contract. ”
“For fuck’s sake.” Buck hadn’t meant to speak out loud, but damn. “How dare them fuckers demand anything of Sterling?”
Rocky nodded as if he agreed. “On the other side of things, I was contacted by a publisher, asking for you to write a book. The numbers look pretty good.”
“I don’t know anything about writing a book.” Sterling sounded defeated.
Rocky shrugged. “It’s actually more like you’re answering questions, and a ghost writer writes the actual book. If you don’t want to return to Miami, this is an option.”
Sterling looked his way. They held each other’s stare.
Buck swore he read Sterling’s thoughts. He wanted to play the game he loved, but he loathed the idea of giving the team owners the satisfaction of silencing him.
But Sterling also didn’t want to talk about it and have his entire season be about his victimhood.
Buck tried comforting him. “I know.”
Sterling’s throat worked like he might cry. “I don’t want to leave you again.”
Okay. Maybe Buck hadn’t known what Sterling was thinking. “You can’t give up your dream for me. I’d always know it and hate myself for it.”
Rocky cut in. “There’s more. I have thoughts, if you’re interested.”
Sterling looked at Rocky like praying for a lifeline. “Okay.”
“Your old local medium-goal team has reached out to me. They’d love for you to return.
Obviously, they can’t offer the kind of money as your current team does, but between the book and their salary, you’d come out better than finishing out your contract.
You’d still get to play, and you wouldn’t have to travel more than two hours one way in any direction.
I think you’d have a better quality of life.
Obviously, this means taking a step down, but—”
“I’ll do it,” Sterling said, cutting off Rocky.
Buck glanced over, trying like hell not to hope. He already felt sick and ready to break over Sterling possibly leaving again.
He found Sterling looking at him, as if waiting for Buck’s attention.
Like he needed Buck to understand why he had made the choice he had.
“I don’t love the idea of a book. But I understand it’s important to speak up, so other people know they’re not alone.
And I can’t leave you, baby. Not again. I might not survive it next time. ”
It seemed as if there should be some argument Buck should make.
He couldn’t. Things were way too real now.
They weren’t playing games or doing some sort of crazy tug-of-war any longer.
They weren’t a secret. This was very real.
He wanted the future Sterling offered. “Me either.” He knew his answer sealed the deal on Sterling walking away from a one-year multi-million-dollar contract.
In his heart, Buck knew this was for the best. Sterling really might not make it otherwise. That wasn’t an option.
For the first time since Sterling came home, he felt at peace with his mind.
His inability to decide his future had been tearing everything apart inside him.
He honestly hadn’t known what he could live with, but he knew what he couldn’t live without.
A weight had lifted off his chest. Sterling felt lighter and free.
He never would have left his lower tier team in the first place if he hadn’t convinced himself he would regret not moving up a rank for the rest of his life.
That was a dream that didn’t come true for many people.
Sterling recognized the honor his hard work had achieved.
But now, he also knew it didn’t mean shit without Buck.
Sterling hadn’t stopped holding Buck’s stare since the moment Rocky left. He wanted to fall into those sexy eyes and drown. “There’s another decision we need to make.”
Buck didn’t look away. “Okay. Hit me.”
“I have a house to sell in Miami… unless you’d like to keep it and we could be snowbirds.”
“I doubt that would go over well with Tip, considering Quince already has an all-over-the-place schedule.”
“You know you don’t have to work anymore, right? I might not be great at a lot of things, but I learned at my brother’s feet how to grow money. Not to sound like that guy, but yeah. There’s no reason to work.”
Buck smiled. Laughter filled his voice. “Just like you, there’s no way I can sit still across the street from the ranch and do nothing. It takes a massive amount of work to keep the place running. It may not be my land, but I’ve worked it long enough to care about its success.”
Sterling shifted to his knees and straddled Buck’s lap. “Well, I guess I’ll just have to follow you around everywhere on my days off.”
Buck ran his hands up Sterling’s back. “I approve of this plan.”
The way Buck bit his bottom lip as he towed Sterling even closer had butterflies stirring in Sterling’s stomach.
That was something he had never truly understood.
It didn’t matter how long they had been together or how familiar Buck’s body was.
Sterling never stopped getting that first-kiss flutter. He was so incredibly in love.
The heat built between them. Sterling lowered his head and brushed lips with Buck. “So fucking sexy.”
“Nu-uh. That’s you.”
Buck’s childish argument made Sterling smile. “I guess we’ll just have to wrestle over it.”
The wicked, soft laugh Buck released had chill bumps rising on Sterling’s skin. He wanted to feel that on his cock. “What are the rules?”
Sterling tapped his chin as if pretending to think about it. “Hmm. I say we go down on each other and whoever blows first loses.”
Buck’s laughter-filled eyes were everything. “I accept your challenge.”
Sterling slipped from Buck’s lap and started to slither down Buck’s body.
Buck stopped him before he made it to his knees.
“None of that. I’m too fucking old to do this here.
” He stood and held Sterling’s hand while he locked the front door and headed for the bedroom.
Desire pulsed inside Sterling. His mouth filled with saliva at just the thought of sucking Buck’s dick.
His ass looked cute as hell in workout shorts.
Buck had hilarious tan lines that Sterling adored.
Everything about him screamed hard-working man, and damn.
Sterling ate that shit up. He was half delirious with lust by the time they watched each other strip.
The instant Buck was free of his clothes, Sterling pushed him onto the bed and licked Buck’s cock from root to tip.
Buck tugged his hair. “Nope. No cheating. We start at the same time, or the challenge isn’t fair. Flip around here.”
Sterling hid his smile as he did as instructed.
He loved the way Buck took things so seriously.
Sterling had always felt like he was the only man who existed in Buck’s eyes.
It was a feeling that was empowering as hell.
He hoped like hell he made Buck feel the same.
Buck’s happiness was important to Sterling.
Sterling swallowed Buck’s erection before he let insecurities sneak in and ruin the moment.
“Goddamn.” The growled curse against his dick had Sterling positive he would lose this game. Not that it mattered. No matter what, they would both get off. That made them both winners.
Sterling gave everything he had, trying to match the pleasure Buck gave him.
His toes curled. Sterling knew he was in trouble.
There was no way he could hold out long with the way his cock sawed in and out of Buck’s mouth.
The noises Buck made and the suction on his dick mixed with the way Buck fingered his ass.
Sterling was tense as hell. Everything inside him focused on his release.
It was right there. He was so close. Buck’s mouth was so hot and wet.
He was perfect. Buck hit Sterling’s prostate and Sterling lost it.
He cried out around his filled mouth. Sterling sucked hard—like he tried pulling more cum from his own cock.
Buck grunted and cum filled Sterling’s mouth. It ran from the corner of his mouth. His brain had stopped functioning.
Sterling fought for air. The orgasm had taken him out. He panted, trying to hold together two thoughts and regain his brain power. “I want a rematch.”
A bark of laughter cut through the air. “I love you so fucking much.”
Sterling’s cheeks hurt from smiling. Everything finally felt settled. He felt whole. The rest of Sterling’s life looked bright as hell—filled with nonstop “I love yous” and gentle touches. Bring it on. He was ready.