CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR #2
Not the least of which was because he wasn’t sure if Thad would even want to be his date to a family wedding.
“Yeah, I get it.” She frowned.
He swallowed hard. “And maybe I wonder if there’s any point in getting into all of that yet, you know? Like … what if he isn’t ready for this?”
“Are you sure you’re ready for it?”
“I wanna be. I really care about him.” A lump rose in Graham’s throat. Because being with Thad felt so right.
“I can tell.” Madison grinned at him over the rim of her cocktail glass. “So how’s the sex?”
“Uhh.” Graham stared down at his plate again, unable to help the smile creeping across his face. “Really good. Like … really fucking good.”
“Good!”
He glanced over. “You don’t mind?”
“That you’re getting some good dick?” She smirked. “Why would I? So am I!”
“So, this is a thing we talk about now?” he asked, amused.
“It can be. If you want.”
He gave her a sidelong smile. It would be kinda fun to talk to someone about this.
Connor didn’t have the kind of locker room where guys talked about sex. Graham had always been in total agreement about that and kept it to smaller, more private conversations with friends.
But because of the secrecy of this relationship with Thad, he hadn’t had anyone who he could gush to about how happy he was with Thad. Or, how great things were in bed.
“I gave my first blowjob recently,” he admitted, his face going a little warm.
“Damn, go you! How was it?”
“Surprisingly hot.” Graham’s body went warm at the memory of Thad’s thick cock sliding between his lips. The salty, bitter taste of him on his tongue.
She narrowed her eyes, studying his face. “You know, I think I was right about you finding someone who was going to shake you up. This is good for you.”
Graham’s face went hot. “Well, he definitely does that to me.”
“He’s hot too,” she said. “I remember being like ‘daaaamn’ when I met him at the arena one time after a game.”
“Ugh, I know.” Graham rubbed a hand over his face. “Like, stupid hot. Who knew my type was … that?”
“Seems to me like you have more than one type,” she said with a shrug. “Unless … you aren’t rethinking your sexuality completely, are you? You’re still into women.”
“Oh, no,” he said. “I mean, yes, I am bi. For sure. Me dating Thad doesn’t like … cancel out what we had. I cared about you and what we had was good.” Same with the other women he’d dated.
“It wasn’t exactly what you needed right now though.”
“Exactly,” he said, grateful she understood. “Is … is Stephan what you need right now?”
“I think he could be,” she said slowly. “It’s still really early so we have some stuff to figure out. Unlike you and Thad, we didn’t know each other before we started dating. But a lot of things seem promising.”
“He doesn’t travel like I do, does he?”
“No.” She laughed. “He has a very boring 9-5 desk job. I will say this, it is way easier for us to get our schedules to match up than it ever was with the two of us. I’ve been super busy lately too with my career, but he seems cool with that. Really understanding and supportive.”
“Yeah, you’re really killing it with the brand deals and the cookbook and everything lately, huh?” he said, nudging her with his elbow.
“Yeah.” She glowed. “My career is really taking off, I think.”
“I’m proud of you. Maybe that sounds stupid because we’re not together anymore but …”
But her smile was bright and sunny. “No, it’s nice. It means a lot coming from someone like you. You’ve worked so hard at your career, and I always liked that you didn’t treat my stuff like it was a stupid hobby or something.”
“Dude, you’re an amazing cook,” he said. “You totally helped me level up my kitchen game.”
“I always feel weird about it. Like … like I’m not really legit because I didn’t go to school for it.” She gestured toward the kitchen. “I’m not a real chef.”
“Hey, maybe you don’t have the official title, but people love the content you create,” he argued. “And, you know, you made it approachable.”
He’d run across Madison’s social media content and been really impressed with the way she took recipes and nutrition and meal prepping and broke them down into something simple. Something that didn’t feel overwhelming.
He’d run into an issue with one recipe though and had slid into her DMs with a question. She’d answered it and they’d struck up a conversation about food and cooking, which had led to her asking questions about his career and him asking about hers.
Eventually they’d realized they lived in the same city, and when she had an event to go to and no one to take as her plus-one, she’d invited him.
He hadn’t had a game that night, thankfully, and everything in their relationship had evolved organically from there.
In many ways, it had been easier than what he had with Thad. Simpler, more straightforward.
But Graham thought about the way it had felt when Thad draped his jacket over Graham’s shoulders, the curve of his smile, and the sound of his laughter and he knew he would choose complicated over simple every time, if it meant having Thad in his life.
“Graham?” Madison asked quietly.
“Yeah.” He blinked. “Sorry. Just lost in thought.”
“I really hope the two of you are able to figure things out.”
“Thanks. That means a lot to me.” He looked her in the eye. “And I hope it works out for you and Stephan. You deserve someone really great.”
She squeezed his forearm. “We both do.”