by Ariel Tachna
Linc’s control, already strained by the adrenaline rush of winning the championship, shattered. He sucked hard on the spot beneath Kit’s ear one more time before spinning around and carrying him toward the bed. When they reached it, he tossed Kit onto the mattress. Kit flipped onto his stomach, ass in the air. Linc groaned and rocked his hips against Kit’s backside. “Okay?”
“God, yes! Need you.” Kit slid flat on the mattress to get his feet under him on the floor.
Permission granted, Linc stripped the UK sweatshirt over Kit’s head and pushed his jeans down, baring him from the ankles up. Kit pushed back against him in encouragement, but the angle wasn’t right with the difference in their heights. “Kick your shoes off.”
Kit did as he said so when Linc lifted his hips and pushed him onto his knees on the bed, Kit’s feet slipped clear of his jeans. He gazed down on Kit beneath him, all pale skin and quivering eagerness, and wanted nothing more than to have Kit waiting for him postgame for the rest of his life. “Perfect.”
He dropped to his knees and pressed a kiss to the smooth skin in front of him. He had everything he needed in his pocket, but he wanted more. Kit smelled of sweat and cologne and musk, making Linc’s head spin with desire. He nuzzled closer, trying to cover himself in the scent and feel of Kit, to get it under his skin, a part of him as much as the soil of the family farm, the pounding of his feet against the basketball court, and the feel of leather between his hands. Whatever it took to keep this, he was in.
Kit gasped and moaned above him, a torrent of wordless sound, music to Linc’s ears. He lingered as long as he could stand, licking and nibbling until Kit was boneless in front of him. Linc pulled the lube from his pocket as he pushed to his feet. Kit opened beneath him, and Linc fell on him, into him, a homecoming and a promise of the future all in one simple act.
He wouldn’t ask yet. He’d wait until he was drafted so they could make concrete plans, but he already knew the first thing he’d do once that was settled.
Kit cried out and tightened around Linc, bringing him over the edge. He collapsed across Kit’s back, sated and spent. “I love you,” he breathed against Kit’s skin.
Chapter Nineteen
PHILLIP cleared his throat after everyone had taken their seats and filled their plates for Sunday dinner two weeks later. “I have news.” His voice cracked in a way that it hadn’t since they were teens. Frowning, Kit gave Phillip his attention.
“Go ahead,” Blake said.
“I asked… I mean… Marisol said….” He stopped and took a deep breath. “We’re getting married.”
Pandemonium erupted around the table, everyone offering congratulations, hugs, or back slaps to Phillip and hugs to Marisol if they were close enough. Kit kept his smile in place as he pushed down the flare of loss for later. He knew—he’d always known—Phillip would get married someday, the same way he’d always known he would find someone to spend his own life with. He’d even come to expect it would be Marisol, and really, he couldn’t ask for a better sister-in-law. It was just… it had always been Phillip and him first, no matter what else, and now it would be Phillip and Marisol first.
“You okay?” Linc murmured beside him.
Kit swallowed down the roil in his stomach and turned to Linc. “Of course. I’m happy for them. Marisol is a goddess, and Phillip adores her.” Determined to prove the truth of his words, he stood and walked around the table to where Marisol sat. He bent and kissed her cheek. “Welcome to the family.”
She smiled up at him. “Thank you.”
He turned to Phillip and clapped him on the shoulder. “Treat her right. I know where you live.”
Phillip grinned at him before nudging Kit’s shoulder. “It’s like with Uncle Thane and Uncle Blake. You aren’t losing me. You’re gaining a sister.”
“She’s the one I want to keep anyway,” Kit said, grinning in spite of how deep Phillip’s words hit.
He returned to his seat and ate as if nothing had changed, but Blake’s special jambalaya tasted like dust in his mouth. Fortunately for his tenuous self-control, everyone was too focused on Phillip and Marisol—in particular, admiring the engagement ring Phillip had given her, the one their mother had worn until her death—to notice his distraction.
Everyone but Linc, who knocked his knee against Kit’s under the table and kept it there, a solid, reassuring presence. Except Linc would be leaving in a few months too. All the anchors in his life had come unmoored at the same time. The last time that had happened, he’d still had Phillip to cling to until he could settle in and believe his new life with Uncle Thane wouldn’t fall apart the same way if he let his guard down. Now, though, he wouldn’t even have that stability because Phillip was the one leaving. How was he supposed to—
“Breathe,” Linc said, dropping his hand to Kit’s thigh and squeezing. “Whatever you’re thinking, it won’t be half as bad.”
Even half as bad was bad enough, but Kit kept that thought to himself. “Thanks. I might have a few issues with people leaving.”
“He’s not leaving. He’s just getting married.”
Kit wanted to believe that was true. Marisol’s family lived in Knoxville, though, and she might want to be closer to them. Phillip could get a job working construction anywhere, even if he wouldn’t immediately start as a foreman. Uncle Thane would be disappointed if he couldn’t pass the business on to Phillip, but Ephah was family too, and he didn’t have anyone pulling him away from Lexington, even if he and Zoe got married at some point too. He just had to hope Marisol would agree to stay in town. He wouldn’t see Phillip every day, but they would still come to Sunday dinner, and he could drop by the job site during the week whenever he wanted. He might have to pick up a hammer or paintbrush, but he’d learned enough over the summers working with Uncle Thane to pull his weight.
The rest of dinner passed in a blur. Usually he’d invite Linc back to the apartment after, but Linc begged off, citing a history paper he needed to finish. Kit didn’t know if that was an excuse, but he let it slide. He wasn’t up for company in his current mood anyway.
If only Uncle Thane would take the hint, but he caught Kit as he was about to leave and pulled him aside. “Before your mother died, she gave me something to keep for you and Phillip, for when you were old enough and needed it.” He reached into his pocket and pulled something out, although he kept his fist closed so Kit couldn’t see what it was. “I gave her rings to Phillip a few days ago when he told me he was going to propose to Marisol. I didn’t see you needing a woman’s rings, so I didn’t think you’d mind.”
He opened his hand and held out a man’s ring. “This one was your father’s. Seems to me you might be needing it before too long. And even if you don’t, you should have it. You’re old enough to appreciate it now.”
Kit took the ring with trembling fingers. The twined gold-and-silver band was warm from Thane’s pocket. “I… I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything. Just find the right man to give it to. That’s all your parents, all Blake and I, have ever wanted for either of you boys. The right partner.”
Kit closed his hand tightly around the ring and threw his arms around Thane. “Thank you,” he mumbled, his voice muffled by Thane’s shirt. Even if he never found the right partner to give the ring to, he’d have it and know that it was his dad’s, something tangible to cling to when the loss got to be too much.
“You’re welcome. Now, Linc’s waiting for you.” The way Thane winked and nudged him told Kit exactly what Thane was thinking. He wouldn’t blush, no matter how much Thane teased him. Instead he tucked the ring into his pocket, called goodbye to Blake and the others, and joined Linc in the hall.
“Everything okay?” Linc asked as they walked out to Kit’s car.
“Yeah, Uncle Thane just needed to give me something,” Kit said. “Something of my dad’s to hold on to.”
“Good. You sure you don’t mind me having to go straight home tonight?”
“I’m sure,” Kit replied. “Deadlines are deadlines. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He dropped Linc off at his dorm with a quick kiss and headed home. When he walked into his room, Phillip was waiting for him.
“What?” Kit asked irritably.
“Marisol’s place is ten minutes away, not ten states. I’m not going far.”
“I know that,” Kit snapped. “It’s just….”
“It’s just always been us,” Phillip finished for him. “I get it. You know I do, but I love her, Kit. I can’t let that slip away because I’m afraid of change. Besides, the only thing that has to change is my address. You can come over for dinner as often as you want, especially if you cook sometimes. Marisol would rather have you cook than me anyway.”
“Damn straight,” Kit said out of habit. “I could teach you a few more dishes in case you don’t want me coming over all the time. I mean, newlyweds wanting some privacy and all that.”
“Well, yeah, we’ll take a honeymoon, but it’s not like I won’t have time for you. You’re my brother and my best friend. There will always be a place for you in my life.”
But not the one Kit had always occupied.
“So when’s the big day? You’ll need time to plan everything.”
“Not really. We’re going to get married at the courthouse, immediate family only, and spend the money on a big trip for our honeymoon instead. Marisol doesn’t start teaching until August, so as long as we’re back a couple of weeks before school starts, we could be gone all summer.”
“That soon?” Kit asked, swallowing hard.
“Why not? Her roommate is moving out at the end of the month. We’ll get married, I can move in, and then we’ll leave right away. I have one job to finish up before we leave, but that shouldn’t take more than a couple weeks. Think of it this way. Now Linc can stay here after graduation until he figures out what he’s doing next.”
Kit didn’t know where Linc would end up, but he’d all but given up hope that Linc wouldn’t get drafted. The question wasn’t if he would go into the NBA. Only where he’d play.
“Yeah, that would be nice.”
Any other day, Phillip would have jumped all over the lack of enthusiasm in Kit’s voice, but he was too caught up in his own happiness. Kit couldn’t even blame him for it. How often did a guy get engaged to the partner of his dreams?
“See? It’ll all work out fine.” Phillip gave Kit a quick, unexpected hug, and left Kit alone in his room.
Kit flopped down on his bed and stared at the ceiling.
“ALL right, Joyner, let me see this ring you haven’t shut up about,” Pete said when he and Linc met for lunch one day about a week later.
Linc opened the ring box and showed it to Pete. “It’s nothing fancy. My gramps couldn’t afford fancy. He done well to afford a ring at all, but since my uncle Lincoln never married, it came to me.”
The band was plain, but Momma had assured Linc it was real gold, good enough quality he could have it engraved with the date or their initials or something to make it theirs and not a family hand-me-down. Given Kit’s attitude toward family and especially toward the few keepsakes he had from his own parents, Linc thought he’d appreciate it.
“It’s simple, but that ain’t a bad thing,” Pete said. “It’s classic, y’know? Not something that’ll go out of style or look dated in a couple of years. And if you want something fancier too, you can always get it later, an anniversary present or something. When you gonna ask him?”
“Dunno yet. I want to do something special, not just walk up and pop the question. We talked about going away one weekend, out to Cumberland Falls or somewhere. I was thinking I’d ask him then. Y’know, when it was just us. Gotta get the lay of the land first, figure out where would be a romantic spot. I ain’t good with words, so I gotta make it special some other way.” He played with the box in his hands as he tried to imagine the perfect setting, but no matter what he came up with, it wasn’t good enough for Kit.
“It’ll be plenty special. It’ll be you asking him,” Pete said.
“That’s what Momma said, but that don’t seem like enough.”
“He ain’t gonna say no, idiot. He loves you as much as you love him.”
“That don’t make it easy to ask,” Linc said, thinking of their conversation about family and leaving. They hadn’t come back to it since then, but that was as worrying as talking about it would have been.
“Man the fuck up, bro. You deserve it, and so does he.”
Linc laughed. “Yeah, yeah. First I gotta get a weekend off work so we can make plans.”
“You and your fancy job,” Pete teased.
“Sure, unpacking boxes and shelving books at Hensley Books. That’s real fancy.” He’d have thought it was make-work except Owen never seemed to have a moment to breathe, even with Linc helping out, plus he kept asking Linc for suggestions of things to add to the history section he wanted to expand. It certainly gave Linc’s brain a different kind of workout than anything else he was doing.
“It pays the bills, don’t it? That’s fancy enough. And if you’re planning a weekend away, you best get on it. Graduation’s only a couple weeks away.”
Linc knew that. That’s what worried him.
Chapter Twenty
“WHERE are Phillip and Ephah tonight?” Linc asked when he arrived at Kit’s apartment to find only two plates set for dinner that weekend. He wouldn’t complain about the time alone with Kit, but he’d gotten used to seeing four or even six plates around the table when Kit was cooking. If they wanted to be alone, they went out to eat.
“Phillip has all but moved in with Marisol, even if his shit is all still here, and Ephah is out with Zoe. And he told me yesterday he’s going to start moving in with her next week. Seems like we’ll be having another wedding before long.”
“That’s great,” Linc replied. “More additions to the family. Before you know it, you’ll have nieces and nephews galore.”
“Yeah.” Kit didn’t sound convinced.
Linc bumped his shoulder against Kit’s. “Hey, what’s wrong, sugar?”
“Nothing really, just… everything’s changing.”
“But they’re good changes, right? I mean, falling in love, getting married, that’s a cause for celebration.”
“Of course it is, but it’s also strange having the place to myself after four years of having Phillip and Ephah underfoot all the time. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do with myself.”
“Yeah, I can see that.” Linc had gone through the same adjustment when he first got to UK and had a dorm room to himself after never even having his own bed, much less his own room. He’d always had to share with his brothers.
“You wanna move in?” Kit blurted out, the words running together like he couldn’t get them out any other way.
“What? Now?”
“Well, not tonight, but I’ve got the space, and the lease isn’t up until the end of July, so even if I move later, I’m not moving now. We’d get to see each other more and not have to worry about people interrupting us because we decided to meet up elsewhere. Not that we couldn’t still go out, but we’d be able to make the most of the time we have left.”
The time we have left. Linc’s stomach fell. Kit had already given up on them. Linc had hoped that with Phillip getting married, Kit would be more open to the idea of moving wherever the draft took Linc. He was angling for Indianapolis, but he’d chosen not to get an agent, preferring to let his record stand for itself, so he didn’t have someone now making the backroom deals to get his preference. It hadn’t seemed like a big deal until a few months ago.
“I’d love to move in with you,” Linc said. “It don’t make sense for me to go home after graduation. They don’t need another mouth to feed. I can keep working with Owen so I can pay my part of the bills, and then after the draft, I can decide what happens next.”
Linc hated the thought of leaving Kit if he couldn’t persuade Kit to come with him, but
he’d worked his whole life for this moment. His family’s hopes and his siblings’ futures were riding on it. He couldn’t abandon that. Not even for the one person above all others who saw him for who we was without needing or expecting anything except for him to be himself. He couldn’t be that selfish after everything his parents had sacrificed to keep him in uniforms and basketball shoes, to send him to basketball camps to improve his skills, and to let him get where he was today. They’d worked their whole lives for him. He would do whatever it took to make their lives easier now.
Even at the cost of the man sitting across the table from him.
Fuck a duck, how did he get himself into situations like this? He’d been so single-minded up until now. And here, six weeks short of his goal, he was waffling.
“I don’t want to think about that now,” Kit said. “We have six weeks until then. Can’t we forget it’s coming for a while?”
If only he could. “Even if I end up farther away than Indianapolis, it doesn’t mean we can’t keep seeing each other. I have a few things to do with my first paycheck, but I’ll have the money to come see you whenever I’m not playing or to bring you out to me if I can’t get away. It doesn’t have to be the end of us, even if I’m in LA or Portland or somewhere.”
“Could you really live that way? Seeing each other on the occasional weekend?” Kit asked.
“It’s no worse than if I were a long-haul trucker or deployed in the military. Plenty of couples make it work even if they aren’t together every night,” Linc said.
“And plenty don’t,” Kit replied.
“We could try at least, couldn’t we? I don’t want to lose you.”
“I don’t want to lose you either, but I don’t know how we could make it work. I only have so much vacation time, and unless you’re somewhere close, a flight would take up the whole day, so I could only really travel on long weekends, assuming Alltech is closed. I don’t want it to drag on and on, both of us miserable.”
