Feel the Fire (Hotshots)

by Annabeth Albert

  “Hate to tell you, Papi, but you’re a dad, not a magician. You’re not going to be able to fix everything. All you can do is love him and be there. He’ll talk eventually.” He was probably not the best person to be giving parenting advice, but he’d put his own parents through the ringer enough times, holding back some hurt until he was ready to voice it.

  “I hope you’re right.” Tucker studied his lunch like it might have the answers he needed. And damn it, there went Luis’s chest again, trying not to feel things for this man.

  “I’ll think about dinner, okay? The one thing I don’t like about work travel is how slow the evenings are unless there’s a crisis.”

  “Well, we don’t want a crisis. And let me be your distraction?” Brightening, Tucker waggled his eyebrows.

  And okay, if dinner got him more of the kissing that Tucker seemed on board with, then it might not be such a terrible idea. “Deal. Speaking of my boredom, you don’t have to wait until Wednesday to distract me. I know tomorrow’s going to be long day, but you want to watch a movie tonight or something?” He put heavy emphasis on the “or something” part. Movie might be nice, but if Tucker wanted to skip it in favor of Luis’s hotel room, he wasn’t turning that down either.

  “Football booster meeting.” Groaning, Tucker pushed his sandwich aside. “And I’d blow it off to hang out with you, but with Walker acting strange...”

  “You better go be a dad. I get it. I can wait until Wednesday.”

  “Good.” That apparently settled, Tucker leaned back in his chair, easy as if they had lunch together on the regular, conversation bumping between work stuff and his worries about Walker. It would be too damn easy to get used to moments like this. He could handle craving Tucker’s kisses, but he had no clue what to do with all these softer urges he inspired.

  Chapter Ten

  By Wednesday, Luis still had no clue what he was doing pursuing anything with Tucker, let alone something that required dinner with the family. Tuesday had been a long, grueling day of supervising the burn, providing data and guidance to help make determinations about personnel and resources needed. Wednesday was mop-up crews and debriefings, and by the time he reached Tucker’s driveway, he was both tired and antsy, a combo he could do without.

  “I brought cookies from a bakery I found in Bend.” Luis held up a box. “I wasn’t sure whether Heidi or Isaac drinks wine. And then I was thinking coffee, but—”

  “You’re adorable nervous. And yes, there will likely be wine, which it sounds like you could use.” Tucker had the audacity to laugh at Luis’s hostess gift dilemma.

  He’d hoped that Tucker telling him to park at his place meant that he would get some stolen pre-dinner kisses, but apparently not, as Tucker was already locking his front door and joining Luis on his narrow porch.

  “I’m not nervous.” Cranky with the lack of kisses, Luis couldn’t keep the defiant edge out of his voice.

  “Really?” Tucker gave him a pointed look as he backed Luis behind a planter on the porch for a lightning-fast kiss that wasn’t nearly enough but did defuse his mood at least a little.

  “Okay, maybe a little unsettled. Not nervous.” He’d spent all day telling himself that he didn’t care what impression he made on Tucker’s kids and ex, but that wasn’t precisely true. Damn it. He did want the kids to like him or at least not dislike him to the point of being a major roadblock on his quest to get more kisses before he had to leave.

  “It’ll be fine.” Tucker led the way off the porch, long strides eating up sidewalk as they passed other smallish houses in similar style to Tucker’s, then rounded the corner to a street with bigger homes, spaced farther apart to allow for larger yards. Like Tucker’s, Heidi’s place had modern craftsman styling and muted northwest colors.

  “Hi, Tucker!” The door swung open to reveal a pint-sized curly-haired princess, complete with tiara. “You brought your friend! Mommy says I’m not supposed to ask questions, but—”

  “Angelica. How about you go find your brothers?” Heidi strode up behind Angelica to usher them into the house. No longer the skinny high school girl with messy hair Luis remembered, she wore her red hair in a sleek knot, curls tamed with an elegant clip that matched her navy dress. There were still little flashes of her younger self though—bare feet like she hadn’t been able to get rid of her heels fast enough, blue toenail polish, and same sparkling green eyes. “Come in, come in.”

  “Heidi!” Luis let himself be swept up into a hug that smelled like expensive perfume but felt like a memory. “I brought cookies.”

  “Fabulous. I’m so glad to see you again. I want to hear all about you now. Isaac’s making smothered pork chops and some sort of fancy potatoes.”

  “Smells great,” he offered as they followed her into the great room, where she introduced him to her husband who was bustling around the kitchen. Slightly older than Heidi, he had a closely cropped fade, neatly groomed goatee, a Pistons T-shirt under an apron, and a quiet but welcoming demeanor that went a long way to putting Luis at ease. They chatted about NBA free agency and the ongoing baseball season as he finished cooking, leaving Heidi to supervise Angelica setting the table and Tucker to greet the identical teens, who made their way downstairs in a cloud of cheap aftershave and post-football-practice energy.

  Weird, thinking about Tucker having kids old enough to shave and drive. They both shook his hand, and Luis quickly memorized who was wearing which color to keep them straight.

  “How is the SAT review going?” Tucker asked the boys.

  “Fine.” Walker, who was in a gray shirt and was the kid Tucker had been worried about, had a predictably clipped response, while his far more dramatic brother did an exaggerated shoulder roll and groan.

  “Terrible. I don’t see why I should have to take it anyway. Schools should care more about what I can do on the field.”

  “There’s that whole student part of student athlete,” Isaac dryly pointed out as he plated the pork chops on a large platter.

  “I know. I’m just saying that Walker needs these prep classes more. Glad I’m not the one trying to get into some picky marine biology program.” Wade carried a big bowl of potatoes to the table.

  “Marine biology?” Luis turned toward Walker. “That’s a nice ambition. Where are you looking? I’ve always heard great things about the Florida colleges. And I’ve had friends in some of the California programs. Those always seem to rank high in national surveys.”

  “I know.” Walker shot him a withering glance. “And I’m still thinking.”

  “More like Mary Anne is still thinking.” Looking back over his shoulder, Wade rolled his eyes. “You were all Long Beach this and Long Beach that until she asked you to the spring formal.”

  “You wait until you get someone. You’ll see. It’s not all—”

  “Guys.” Heidi held up a hand. “The food is ready.”

  Luis tried to catch Tucker’s eye because he’d put money on girl problems being at least part of Walker’s recent issues, but he wasn’t sure whether the message got through in the flurry of everyone grabbing seats at the large oval table. He and Tucker ended up opposite from the boys, with Angelica squeezed in between Walker and Isaac.

  Heidi kept conversation moving, asking Luis about his job and deftly quashing more arguments between the boys. Initial nerves aside, Luis found himself enjoying the meal—Tucker hadn’t been lying about the food being proposal-worthy, and the chatty company was a major step up from Blaze’s disdain.

  “Hey, Mom? Can you get off work early on Friday?” Wade did such good puppy-dog eyes that Luis had no trouble believing he was probably used to getting his way.

  “Maybe. Why?” Heidi idly twirled her wineglass. Dinner was winding down, the boys having packed away an astonishing amount of food, and everyone else full on the generous portions.

  “Intra-squad scrimmage at four thirty,” Wa
de explained, leaning forward. “First chance for the parents to see us in action for the year!”

  Walker made a sour face. “Which you’d know if you’d made the booster meeting—”

  “Walker.” Isaac’s quiet voice packed a fair punch and immediately had Walker sitting up straighter.

  “Sorry, Mom.”

  “If I go in early, I can be there, assuming there’s no callout for a fire,” Tucker quickly offered.

  “And I’ll try too,” Heidi added.

  “I’m gonna cheer!” Angelica narrowly avoided knocking over her milk.

  “You can come with Dad.” Wade gestured at Luis, involving him when he’d been perfectly happy observing the family dynamics from afar.

  “Oh, I don’t think—”

  “That’s a fabulous idea,” Heidi enthused. “That way if I’m late, you still have an extra person to root for you.”

  “Exactly. We need all the crowd we can get.” Wade’s eyes lit up, and Luis couldn’t tell whether he was playing matchmaker or trying to bug his brother, who looked decidedly chilly about the prospect of Luis coming.

  Luis wasn’t sure about how he felt about either option. He didn’t want anyone getting invested in him and Tucker as anything other than a friendship. The fleeting fling part could and should stay private, and he wasn’t here to be used as a pawn in some sort of brotherly one-upmanship.

  “We’ll see,” Tucker said firmly before Luis could concoct an excuse. “And how about not bugging our guest?”

  “I’m not.” Wade was the picture of innocence. “In fact, we were in the middle of a video game earlier. Walker and I are going to stick around here after dinner, finish our level.”

  “We are? Ouch.” Walker went from skeptical to pained as his brother did something to him under the table. “Yeah, I guess we are. Prepare to die, f—”

  “Language,” all three parents chorused before he could finish.

  Luis’s back tightened as his jaw flexed. He was both grateful to Wade for ensuring he might get some time alone with Tucker and irritated at his continued obvious matchmaking for the sake of making his brother squirm. If Luis were sticking around, which he wasn’t, he’d prefer to win over the more subdued Walker slowly and not with Wade forcing the issue. It was clear that both boys loved Tucker a lot, and the last thing Luis wanted to do, even temporarily, was come between them.

  “I should be getting back to my hotel pretty soon,” he said, trying to beam I’m not horning in on your dad messages to Walker. Yeah, he wanted to make out with Tucker, the urge to be alone with him again only increasing since Sunday’s hasty but heated kisses, but he also didn’t want the kid pissed at them.

  “It’s okay. You can talk to Dad. We’ll clear.” Walker sounded more resigned than enthusiastic, but Luis supposed it was something. “And if you come Friday, I’m number thirty-one and Wade’s thirteen. Make sure you yell the right name when I have the ball.”

  “You? Have the ball?” Wade scoffed and then the boys were off bickering about sports again as they took away the dirty dishes and returned with the cookies Luis had brought.

  “Way too full,” Tucker groaned.

  “Me too.” Luis passed the box along.

  “More for me.” Wade helped himself to three.

  “Shall I walk you back to your car?” Tucker asked as Walker too took a handful of cookies and headed up the stairs.

  “Sure.” He did what he thought was a good job of not sounding too eager as they made their way to the door amid a flurry of goodbyes.

  “So...was it horrible?” Tucker asked once they were back out on the sidewalk. The day was finally starting to cool off a little, but still a dry heat lingered in the air. “Never to be repeated?”

  “Nah. It was fine. Slightly weird, seeing you and Heidi as parents, but Isaac seems nice. If anything, you undersold his cooking. Those pork chops were more than worth sitting through the Walker and Wade show.”

  “Wade...” Tucker shook his head. “He’s something. And not subtle either. Sorry.”

  “It’s okay. He’s fun. But I don’t want Walker mad at you over anything relating to me, Wade’s antics included.”

  “I’m going to try to talk to him again. I honestly don’t think it’s you, but something’s going on. He’s always been quieter than Wade, but not this sullen.”

  “Girl trouble.” Luis finally got the chance to share his theory as they rounded the corner onto Tucker’s street.

  “Yeah. Could be. She’s generally nice, though. Quieter than Walker even and sweet. She asked him to a dance on a dare, and they’ve been inseparable ever since. But I’ll try to find a new way through to him, get him to talk. Ice cream and video games have stopped working.”

  “I’m not a parent, but my mom always got me to talk by doing chores together. Somehow her kitchen always needed a deep clean right when I was in a funk. Papi was the opposite—he’d take me out of the house. Long drive on some pretext like a piece of baseball memorabilia, and somehow somewhere in backed-up traffic on the two-ten I’d start talking.”

  “Those are both good ideas. Thanks.” Tucker was more somber as they reached his driveway, but his head tilted as Luis headed for his car. “You’re not coming in?”

  “You’re inviting me? It’s okay if you want to focus on your kid issues—”

  “He’s busy with his brother on that video game, which honestly may be the better distraction for him right now. And as for me, well, I believe I promised you a distraction.”

  “You did.” Luis let himself grin as he stepped back closer to Tucker. “But what about you? What do you want?”

  “You.” Tucker’s answer was so ready, so firm, and so decisive that it made a shiver race down Luis’s spine, all the way to his toes.

  “Good answer.” Only the fact that it was still light out with a few neighbors still out and about stopped him from kissing Tucker right there. Congratulating himself on his restraint, he bounded up to the porch. “Distract away.”

  * * *

  Tucker’s hand shook as he unlocked his front door. Luis was right behind him, close enough to feel his warmth and smell his intriguing aftershave, and he wanted him more than he’d ever wanted anything. He waited until the door shut quietly behind them to pounce on Luis, but it was a near thing.

  “I was this close to kissing you on my front lawn,” he confessed as he backed Luis against the wall.

  “Me too.” Luis’s grin was feral as he tugged Tucker forward with hands on his waist. “But you had a neighbor out watering.”

  “True.” Flipping on the lights, he brushed a kiss against Luis’s temple, heart hammering, every muscle ready to dive headfirst into losing himself in this man.

  “Don’t want to end up the talk of the neighborhood social media group.” Grinning, Luis seemed to sense both his urgency and his contrasting need to go slowly, savor this.

  “Can’t have that. But the whole dinner I kept thinking about this.” Forcing himself to not rush, he claimed Luis’s mouth with a gentleness that surprised even himself. Luis tasted sweet, like the half glass of wine he’d sipped at dinner, and Tucker mimicked that lazy pace, little tastes and sips. But even with the caution, he still was rapidly getting drunk on Luis’s taste, on his nearness and warmth.

  “Mmm. Those are some nice thoughts.” Luis stretched against him as he pulled back to let his heart rate decrease. “I never thought of family dinner as foreplay before, but it kind of was for you, wasn’t it? You seem more...relaxed somehow.”

  “Yeah.” The back of Tucker’s neck heated. “It’s hard to describe, but I like feeling connected to you, almost as much as I like kissing you. And having you with me at dinner, yeah, I liked that.”

  “Tucker.” Luis’s voice had a warning note to it, a pained edge.

  “I know, I know. You’re leaving.” He didn’t need the reminder. Tim
e was slipping away, even now. That feeling at dinner, like they were something solid and real, was fleeting at best. But he also wasn’t going to lie about how it made him feel. “And I’m not going to stop you. All I mean is that I like the connection part while I have it. It enhances everything else, and I’m not going to apologize for enjoying that.”

  “I don’t want you to.” Blessing him with a soft kiss, Luis stroked his jaw. “I like it too. Probably too much.”

  “Same. But I don’t want to stop, not when it feels so good.”

  “Then don’t.” This time it was Luis claiming the kiss, harsh and desperate. It was lusty, sure, the same urges ricocheting through Tucker, yet there was something else too. A message of sorts that Tucker wasn’t alone in being over his head here, that this was more than physical for Luis too, even if he didn’t want there to be. And it said something that the more time they spent together, lunches and dinners and working together, the more Tucker wanted him. He welcomed every bit of Luis’s ferocity, met him kiss for kiss, clutch for clutch, moan for moan.

  Deftly reversing their positions, Luis steered Tucker away from the entry wall. They stumbled their way to the couch, an oversize leather model he’d chosen to withstand the kids, but he was grateful for its study construction as they tumbled onto it. Luis landed on top of Tucker, peering down at him with an intensity that made Tucker need to swallow hard.

  “Damn. You...want you. So bad.” He stroked Tucker’s face, fingers pushing through his hair.

  “Same.” Unable to wait another second, he stretched up to catch Luis’s mouth in a kiss that started gentle but quickly caught back up to where they’d been by the door, both of them breathing hard as they traded deep forays.

  “Tell me what’s okay with you.” Pulling back, Luis stroked Tucker’s arms. He was hard against Tucker’s hip, and simply that coupled with his warm weight had Tucker’s own cock throbbing. There was no way Luis could miss that he was as turned on as him.