13. Let’s Play
Chapter Thirteen
Let’s Play
DYLAN
Miles was in my house.
Holy fuck.
Thankfully I’d decided to clean this morning to try and get rid of my pre-game jitters. The floors were freshly vacuumed and mopped, the dishes were clean, the socks and random underwear were put away, and I had even grabbed a fresh bundle of sunflowers that sat on the center of my coffee table.
I wasn’t a very messy man by nature but some things did slip, especially when I was busy with practice or on the road for games.
I wondered if Miles was the same. Would I ever be able to see inside his house or was this a one-time thing?
I was a little surprised when Miles had agreed to come over.
I still felt like there was a wall between us even though I’d had his dick in my mouth days earlier.
Since then, our random texts to each other had become less frequent, and I’d only get a cursory hello from him whenever I saw him around the arena.
Maybe it was all in my head, though. Because here he was, standing barefoot in my living room, looking around and taking it in as I took him in.
“Beautiful place,” he said, turning to me.
He wore a simple black T-shirt and a pair of black athletic pants that hugged his ass perfectly.
A single gold earring glittered in his right ear, catching the light from my floor lamp.
He had a little bit of dark brown scruff growing on his face which made him even more attractive to me.
I didn’t really enjoy the clean-shaven look all the time.
Although Miles could pull off both exceptionally well.
“Thanks, I’m pretty proud of it.” I set my keys down in the catch-all on the counter that separated the living room from the kitchen.
I wasn’t exactly a design savant but I got by.
My cloud couch was one of my favorite items in the entire house and honestly one of my most prized possessions.
It was the focal point of my living room, which was mostly minimal with some beige and brown accents and a pop of color with the navy pillows and bright oil paintings that sat on top of my fireplace.
“And who’s this handsome fluff ball?” Miles asked as he turned his attention down to my purring roommate.
“That’s Nike,” I answered with the same tone as a proud dad introducing his favorite son.
“Oh, like the Greek goddess?”
I shook my head. “Nah, like the shoe brand.”
Miles laughed at that. “Cute.” I knew he wasn’t making fun of me, but my self-doubt and anxiety sometimes made me see things that weren’t there.
Should I have just run with that Greek goddess thing?
Would that have made me seem smarter? Could that be why Miles just wasn’t as into me as I was into him?
Maybe he thought I was as dumb as a bag of rocks. And honestly, he wouldn’t be that far off…
“Yeah, I found him inside an Adidas box but I hate that brand. So Nike it is.” I figured maybe over-explaining myself would fix things.
That made Miles laugh even harder. He glanced down at his Adidas shoes by the door. I followed his gaze. “They’re my favorite,” he said.
“Oh… shit.”
Well, so much for fixing things. Now he thought I was stupid and judgmental. Great. Just fucking great.
“Just teasing you,” he said, reaching out and grabbing my elbow. I froze at his touch, my skin sparking around where his fingers gripped me. “These are my backup sneakers. I’m a Nike fan, too. More so after meeting their new mascot.”
“Be careful. He’s already got a big head, I don’t want him getting any ideas. You should see the way he bosses me around when it’s time for dinner.”
As if Nike knew we were talking about him, he looked up and gave a loud meow before sauntering over to his favorite spot in the house: a comfortable navy footrest that had the shape of his curled-up form imprinted on it.
“Make yourself at home,” I said, motioning toward the couch. “Want something to drink? Beer, wine, water?”
“I’m good with water.” He walked over to the couch and sat, sinking back into the cushions.
I went to the kitchen and poured us both glasses of icy cold water.
I could use a beer to calm my nerves but decided to stick with what Miles was having.
I brought the water out to find that Miles had stood back up and was admiring the paintings I had above the fireplace.
He reached for one—the only photo in the bunch—and then turned to me.
I set the water down on the coffee table.
“That’s me and my cousin, Benji,” I said, smiling at the memory. It had been taken on my sixteenth birthday. “I think that was one of the last times we ever hung out.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, it was the summer after that when my dad decided to blow up the entire family. This is the only photo I think I kept.”
“Have you tried reaching out to him?”
“Back then, yeah, when it was all kind of fresh. But my aunt had always taken my dad’s side, no matter how wrong he was, and they all just wanted a complete break. I think she gave my cousin an ultimatum. Cut ties with me and my mom or face their wrath.”
“You guys were kids back then. Maybe things are different now. Would you want to reconnect with him?”
I didn’t give it a second thought before answering. “Absolutely. He was my best friend growing up. I think it hurts even more that it wasn’t anything either of us did that ruined the friendship.”
“Give me your phone.” Miles held his hand out.
I arched a brow, reached in my pocket, and gave him my phone. He tapped it and aimed the camera at my face so that it would unlock. “I’m not going to find anything scandalous here, am I?”
“Just don’t open the photo album.”
“Open the photo album, got it.” He laughed as he went instead to my social media. He opened the search bar. “What’s his full name?”
“Benji Woodworth.”
“Have you tried searching for him on here?”
I shook my head. “He was always really against having a digital footprint. I doubt he’d—”
“This him?” Miles showed me the screen and my jaw dropped.
“Holy shit… you found him.”
There was Benji, smiling at me from a sparsely populated Instagram profile.
The photos were years old, most of them using one of those classic sepia filters that wasn’t even available anymore.
It felt weird, seeing someone I was so close to and yet hadn’t spoken to in years.
He must have been in his early twenties in these photos.
I tapped on the first one and checked out the date.
Sure enough, it was about five years old.
The location was tagged and set to a city in New Mexico.
“Want to send him a message?” Miles asked.
“No, that’d be too much. Besides, there’s no way he even checks this account anymore.”
“It could be worth a shot.”
I considered it for a brief moment. My finger hovered over the message button. It would be nice, reconnecting and finding that part of my life again. We were older now. He likely wouldn’t be as concerned with family drama as he was when we were in our teens.
But then what would happen when he didn’t answer? Or, even worse, if he answered and just said he wasn’t interested in talking to me?
I swiped out of his profile. “I think I should just leave it. These photos are old. He probably never logs on. Who knows where the hell he is right now, anyway.”
Miles cocked his head. His eyes searched mine for an answer to an unspoken question of his. “There are ways to find people these days. If it’s worth it to you.”
“I know, I know. Hell, there’s a druid around here who’s a professional tracker. I know I can find him, I guess I’m just scared to.”
Miles narrowed his gaze. I felt like I was being examined.
As if he were peeling back layers of me that I tried desperately to keep glued on.
But for what reason? If Miles really was my fated mate then he could peel back as many layers as he’d like.
Then again, the jury was still out on that.
Even though just scenting him sent my heart fluttering like a caged bird between my ribs.
If it wasn’t reciprocal, though, then what the hell was the point?
It was all too much to think about right now.
I was still beating myself up for my performance in tonight’s game, I didn’t want to sink into a deeper spiral over broken friendships and non-existent relationships.
I pocketed my phone and went over to the entertainment console underneath my television.
I opened one of the side panels and grabbed two PlayStation controllers from their charging stands.
“Enough of us playing family detective, it’s time to kick some ass in FreeWatch. ”
Miles paused for a moment, considering me with those hazel eyes of his. I could tell he wanted to push the topic further. He must have known how much it really meant to me. But, thankfully, he grabbed the controller instead and let the subject drop for now.
“Let’s do it,” Miles said as he went over to the couch.
I turned the TV on and sat next to him. It was a large couch, but we were both in the center, close to each other. Just how I liked it. There was a tug at my core that made me want to throw a leg over his but I decided to try and keep my feral tendencies to a minimum. At least for tonight.
“All right,” Miles said as he leaned forward, his forearms resting on his legs as he held the controller in his hands. “I’ll play tank this round if you want to heal.”
“Works for me.” I took a second to admire him. The way the muscles beneath the hair on his forearms twitched with the movements of his fingers on the controller. The gentle pulse throbbing in the vein along his neck.
I pried my attention off him before it was my body that would need to be pried off him. We entered a game and started to play. Then we jumped into another game, and another, and another.
Before I knew it, the both of us were yawning as we realized it was well past midnight. “Holy shit,” I said through a stretch. “How did it get so late?”
“I totally lost track of time there. Sorry for keeping you up.”
“Miles, you never have to apologize for keeping me up.” I wondered if he caught the double entendre I intended to make.
His sneaky little smirk told me that yes, he had.
I considered making a move to try and cap the night off with a happy ending, but another yawn spread from Miles to me.
Although my shifter genes meant I wasn’t necessarily sore from playing the game today, I was certainly exhausted and it appeared like Miles was too.
“I should get going,” Miles said as he stood up. Nike lifted his head from his perch on the windowsill before dropping it down again, his big amber eyes fluttering shut. “This was fun. We should do it again.”
“I’m down,” I said as I walked him over to my front door.
I wanted to grab his hand and tell him to stay, to sleep over, but his hand was already on the doorknob.
His eyes dropped to my lips. If I wasn’t going to ask him to stay, then I was going to at least get a kiss from him.
I moved forward without second-guessing myself.
Miles didn’t turn me down. He kissed me back.
Short and sweet. Tender. Different than the sexually charged kissing we’d done in the bathroom.
I licked my lips as we separated, savoring the taste of him. My body thrummed with need. I started to get hard, wanting to explore more of him.
Tonight wouldn’t be the night for that, though. We had a great time just hanging out, and that made me happy enough. It also left me excited for future hangouts, when there hopefully wouldn’t be unspoken tension between us.
“Text me when you get home,” I said to him.
“I will.” He turned to leave but before he did, he looked back at me and leaned in for one more kiss. This one was less sweet and more spicy, with a little more tongue than before. My hand went to his stomach. Tugging gently at his shirt.
Please. Say you want to stay.
The kiss broke and Miles left for the night. I ignored the flash of disappointment that colored my thoughts. It had been a great night. I couldn’t be greedy. Couldn’t force anything, either.
I closed and locked the door. Now that I was alone, I did the first thing I usually did at home. I took off my shorts and got comfortable.
“Don’t judge,” I said to Nike who was eyeing me as he jumped off the windowsill and sauntered over to the bedroom.
I looked out the window on my way to the kitchen.
Miles drove off down the road, not turning around like I wished he would.
Another car, a dirty red Toyota I didn’t recognize, kicked on its headlights and left out of my neighbor’s driveway.
Huh. I lived next to an older couple who—as far as I knew—didn’t have any kids or grandchildren.
It was a bit odd for them to have had a guest over at this time, but maybe they were one of those pineapple couples?
I certainly wasn’t one to judge. If they were having a good time, then by all means, go ahead and have it. Life was way too short to hold back.
Speaking of a good time, I needed to hop in the shower and give myself a good time so that I could go to sleep without feeling so pent up.
Maybe next time I’d have Miles help me out with that.