Chapter 12
TWELVE
RYAN
Vomit not only reeked, but it did its job of easing things between Nate and me.
Somehow I’d managed to hold back on the roller coaster itself, but almost as soon as my feet had touched concrete, Nate had yanked me to the most secluded spot he could find, just in time for me to throw my guts up in the bushes.
While he’d rubbed my back and kept an eye open for witnesses, the ass had been practically bent double in laughter. We’d since recovered from a mostly fun day, made the flight back to Minnesota, and were pulling up to my place.
“Oh wow.”
I cast a quick glance at Nate, curious about his reaction.
There was no denying the place looked impressive with its manicured landscaping and square footage. But it was just a nice place. While I called it home, it never really felt like it.
“Cheers.” I threw Nate a smile before we stepped out of the chauffeured car. We gathered the bags, and I gave the driver a generous tip and my thanks.
Nate’s gaze was glued to the view. The lake glistened in the midday sun, and as soon as the car pulled away, nothing but the sounds of nature filled the space between us.
“I didn’t expect you to be so isolated.” Nate turned to look at me, his brow raised in question.
I shrugged and returned my focus to the familiar lake, luxuriating in the serenity of the view.
“My job’s loud,” I admitted. “I used to have an apartment close to the stadium, but there was just no escaping, you know?” In my peripheral vision, I saw him bob his head. “The guys rib me for being here by myself, but honestly, I like it. It’s not home but….”
“What do you mean?”
I gnawed on the inside of my cheek and glanced at him. “It’s a long way from the Sunny Coast.”
A soft smile tilted his lips. “Now that I get. This is beautiful, idyllic even, but yeah, it’s not home.” Nate’s gaze didn’t waver from mine, and all I wanted to do was step close and try out that kissing thing we did.
Since it had happened, my thoughts barely strayed far from him or the feel of Nate in my hand.
No one was more aware than I that making that happen would be an asshole move.
That didn’t make me want Nate any less. But he deserved more than a man who was packed up tight in the closet.
I needed to tell him as much too, more than aware of the lack of discussion since I’d shoved my tongue in his mouth.
In three days, we’d be on home soil. Once I was home and out of the spotlight, I’d pull my head out of my ass, make my apologies, and talk out the shit in my head.
In the meantime, it was my mission to make sure Nate enjoyed his visit.
“Come on. Let’s get inside and settled. We can explore this afternoon.
I’ve then got that work thing tomorrow.”
“Then I get to steal you away.” His words were followed by his brows bouncing up and down, ridiculously so. I laughed.
Grabbing our bags, we headed inside. I gave a quick tour before suggesting we go for lunch. I drove away from the city, knowing Nate wouldn’t mind the forty-five minute drive. He was a country boy through and through, so he was all about commuting and not making a big deal out of distances.
“This place has the best Juicy Lucys.” I grinned at his puzzled look.
“A juicy what now?”
“You’re in for a treat. Let me order some, and we can head to the pond to eat if you want?” I wasn’t hassled for long whenever I came here, but I wanted Nate all to myself. Not having to worry about anyone eavesdropping if we sat on one of the benches outside instead was a big draw.
“Sounds good. I’m game for the whole USA experience.”
We ducked inside, and I made our order to go, only having to sign a couple of autographs, which still blew my mind. There was no getting away from my accent, though, and it didn’t take folks long to figure out who I was.
Nate smirked at me, his eyes bright and directed my way.
As I signed a young kid’s cap, I blushed when my gaze connected with Nate’s. “Here you go. You make sure you keep cheering next season, okay,” I said to the kid, dragging my gaze away from the intensity of Nate’s focus.
“Will do, Mr. Broadwater. Thanks a lot.”
The kid was cute. I ruffled his hair, then shook hands with the boy’s dad. They called my order, and I all but dragged Nate out of there. I was never really comfortable with attention off the court, but under the added scrutiny of Nate, discomfort prickled my skin.
Once out in the fresh air, I took a deep breath.
“You doing okay over there?” Concern lifted his words.
I glanced at him, grinning at the hoodie he wore. He hadn’t been kidding about his reaction to the seventy-degree temperature. It hadn’t taken me long to acclimatize to the real seasons they had out here. For Nate, he’d be feeling it.
Seventy was a fairly cool winter’s day on the Sunshine Coast.
“Yeah,” I answered, taking him in and embracing the feeling of how good it felt to be around Nate again.
“You hate the whole celebrity thing, huh?”
I bobbed my head and led him off to one of the park benches.
“I know you said it made you uncomfortable, but it’s not all bad, is it?” He gestured toward the bench, and I nodded, taking a seat next to him.
“No, it’s not all bad. Kids like that are great. I love that they’re fans. Ones who adore the game. It’s just the gossip rag attention that can be grueling.” It was hard to look away with his focus on me, especially as he seemed to listen so carefully to every word I said.
“I’ve seen a few shots and articles of you over the years.” The pink in his cheeks, right alongside his words, had me pausing from unwrapping my burger.
Embarrassment flickered to life in my chest, and I cleared my throat. “You have?” It had been a long time since I’d googled myself. Yeah, I was on Insta again, but that was as far as social media went.
“Yeah.” The pink turned a darker shade. I latched on to his reaction and tried to shake off my discomfort. This was Nate, my oldest friend. This was the kind of shit we would have taken the piss out of each other about when we were younger. I longed for that past so much. Fucking yearned for it.
I relaxed my shoulders, a small smile tilting my lips. “You been googling me, Griffin?”
This time his lips kicked up into a smirk. “I may have done a time or two.”
I quirked my brow at him. As far as I was aware, there weren’t any dodgy images of me floating around.
“You discover anything interesting?”
There was a brief pause before he responded. “Not especially. Mainly action shots of you on the court, a few pics of you at events with a gorgeous woman on your arm.” Curiosity colored his words.
While this wasn’t the place to discuss anything significant, I offered, “There are some events where bringing a date is expected.”
Nate nodded. “They made you look good,” he teased.
I snorted. “Whatever. Eat your damn Juicy Lucy before it goes cold, smartass.”
“Arse,” he said, nudging me with his shoulder.
“Smartarse,” I emphasized with a roll of my eyes.
We ate and chatted about stupid shit, figuring each other out all over again. By the time we threw our rubbish away, I was laughing my ass off when he told me about Gran’s reaction to my sister’s first date.
“She was scary as hell, seriously.”
I snorted again, unable to stifle my amusement. “I bet. I can imagine Gran threatening someone with a broom.”
“Not just threatened,” Nate said, wide-eyed. “She got a good hit on the kid’s backside before chasing him off.”
I sobered at the fresh reminder of all I’d missed by staying away. “Her threatening idiots away didn’t make a difference to my sister, though,” I said quietly.
Nate winced. “Amber is a force of nature and her own person.”
I bobbed my head, knowing that.
“She’s also an excellent mum and is doing so well on her online course.”
My heart squeezed at the pride in Nate’s voice.
“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to thank you enough, Nate, for being there for Amber and Gran, and now Ivy.
” Those thoughts had plagued me for years, truth be told, but since I became an uncle, Nate had been incredible.
He’d gone above and beyond for my sister.
Plus, he’d been helping to take care of Gran.
I was all too aware of how difficult Gran could be, especially when she felt vulnerable.
“Nah, don’t be an idiot. You know they’re my family too.”
Unable to resist, I reached out and squeezed his forearm, craving the contact. His self-deprecating smile softened, his gentle gaze roaming over mine. When it landed on my mouth, I swallowed hard and pulled away, standing.
“Okay, next up, let’s head back, and we’ll get cleaned up before we go tonight.
” I planned to show him some cool spots where I liked to hang out with the guys.
“We’ll go the long way back, though, and take in a few sights.
” I risked a glance at him, catching the disappointment in his eyes before he locked down his expression.
The thing was, Nate hadn’t changed all that much. Yeah, he was broader, a little softer around the edges, his voice deeper. But I could read his tells loud and clear. Knowing I was hurting him sat like a boulder in my gut as we headed back to my car.
But short of having my cake and goddamn devouring it, which I couldn’t do, I had to remember to keep my hands to myself.
Fuck, it was proving so damn difficult to keep my hands to myself.
We’d had a blast this afternoon. I’d shown Nate an out-of-the-way ball court where a few locals played and I occasionally hung out, and I even talked Nate into going on some hoke paddleboats on one of the larger lakes not too far from where I lived.
Once we’d got home and freshened up, we’d headed into the city for dinner at a quieter bar the guys and I sometimes hung out at, and that led to me foolishly answering a call from Jayden.
For the past two hours, we’d been at this club.
It wasn’t my scene, and from our texts and calls over recent months, I knew it wasn’t Nate’s either.
Yet my friend was tearing up the dance floor, looking so fucking hot as he moved his hips in a way that made me think far too intently about sex.
He was dancing with Jayden and a couple of women who’d latched on.
Admittedly, when that had first happened, I’d tensed and wanted to drag him away and take him home, but the bastard had thrown me a wink, which I’d easily spotted over the distance since I’d barely taken my eyes off him.
Since then, I jumped between smiling at the good time he was having and being envious that he could dance so freely with a woman. While I knew a gay club would fix that right up, I hadn’t tried to visit one since the last time I’d freaked out.
“Come on. Get your ass on the dance floor with me. This is ridiculous.”
“Huh?” I whipped my head around, startled by Sutton.
When his response was to roll his eyes, latch on to my arm, and haul me to the dance floor, I was rendered speechless for a beat.
“You never dance,” I called over the music.
While that wasn’t technically true, since Jayden had dragged Sutton up a time or two, usually making a spectacle of the pair of them, he never voluntarily hit the dance floor.
He angled a look at me, once again rolling his eyes.
“What did I do?”
Sutton stopped abruptly and turned to face me. “You’re shit company and should be out here dancing with your friend.”
With no idea how to respond, I gaped.
“You’re impossible. Just come on.”
The beat of my heart picked up speed as I allowed Sutton to haul me toward Jayden and Nate. Sutton was a good guy, but fuck if he didn’t freak me out a little. The man’s power of observation was next-level scary, and I had no idea what to do about that.
Perhaps this would be easier and less of a big deal if I wasn’t stone-cold sober. But since I was driving, I’d had one beer with dinner and nothing but Pepsi since.
Strobe lights lit the dance floor, moving in time with a dance track I didn’t know. Occasional spurts of fog rolled over the area, and there were just enough gyrating bodies to make me not feel like I was on show, but not so many I felt like a canned sardine.
“Hey, hey, hey.” Jayden all but launched himself at Sutton, latching on to the man, grabbing him and dancing provocatively against him.
A wide grin stretched his face, and Sutton laughed loudly at something he said. Jayden then latched on to the arm of the woman he’d been dancing with, making himself the center of a pretty interesting sandwich.
Meanwhile, I stood there like an idiot, watching the show before casting a wary glance around me. No one paid them any mind. Well, no one other than me and Nate, who smirked at them before his gaze traveled to mine.
The asshole tilted his head in invitation, and I wondered how much he’d had to drink.
Since I’d had my hand on his dick and I’d shut us down, there’d been a not-so-subtle shift between us.
We’d both been trying to ensure we were in the friend zone, but Nate’s teasing smile had trouble written all over it.
Jayden’s holler caught my attention. “Nate, show our boy how to be a filling in a hot sandwich.”
There was no fight in me as a pretty brunette was latched on to my front and Nate’s warm body pressed against my back in the next breath.
The likelihood of me surviving on the dance floor intact, or at least without getting a stiffy, was not something I’d bet money on. When Nate’s hand gripped my waist, I focused intently on the woman, forcing a smile and winking.
The three of us danced, up close and indecently personal. When I was spun around, my gaze lowering and latching on to Nate, I knew gut deep this was what I wanted, who I wanted, and how I wanted to be.
Nothing was ever going to be the same again.