by Jess Bryant
“Screw dinner. I’d rather eat you.”
“Little late for that.” Cruz smirked. “Seeing as how we’re already here.”
Trevor groaned as his boyfriend took advantage of their position to press their cocks together through their clothes. Cruz was right of course. The least Trevor deserved was a little bit of torture. He would expect nothing less.
It had been a long month. Hell, it had been a long year. For the both of them.
He’d been busy with training camp for the Titans. He’d taken a job offer as the assistant manager from Upton the same day he retired from playing. He’d told Upton he was gay, and the older man had told him what happened in his bedroom was his own business. If the rest of the world had gotten that memo, it would’ve been easier, but either way, Trevor wouldn’t change a thing about his life. Except, his job had meant staying in Texas even when Cruz got called up to the majors.
They’d sworn they would make it work, and for the last year, they had.
Sometimes their schedules were crazy. Sometimes they were on opposite coasts bridging impossible time zones. Sometimes getting off with each other on a late-night Skype session was the last thing on either of their minds because their bodies were too damn tired and downright exhausted from a day of playing nine innings. But they talked every day, saw each other when they could, and always made time to say “I love you” and “I miss you.”
Trevor couldn’t wait for the off-season. He wanted Cruz home. He wanted them in the same place, the same state and city and house and bed. He wanted Cruz all to himself. He was sick of sharing him with the world even if he was incredibly proud of the record-breaking rookie season his boyfriend had put together with the Skylines. Men and women throughout Chicago and the entire United States wore jerseys with Cruz’s name and number on the back. He was gorgeous, famous, and talented, and he was all Trevor’s.
Cruz had made it clear to everyone from the moment their relationship had begun. They were together. Even when they were apart.
And when his boyfriend had crawled over the console of the car and into his lap as soon as he slid the vehicle into Park, he’d been happy to see every inch of space between them disappear.
But Cruz was right too. It was too late to back out of dinner. They’d made plans. Driven all the way here, to the middle-of-nowhere Texas, just to have dinner with Trevor’s brother. They’d been parked in the large circle driveway for going on ten minutes now, and Trevor knew if they didn’t get it together and go inside soon someone would be out to give them hell eventually.
Since he didn’t want to be caught with his pants down when Trent got tired of waiting, he pulled back breathlessly. “Babe…”
“I know,” Cruz groaned and gave one last buck of his hips. “We have to go inside.”
“Now,” Trevor agreed. “Before I lose my head and fuck you in the backseat.”
“Mmm, maybe later?”
He chuckled. “Definitely later.”
Cruz gave him one last sweet, lingering kiss, and Trevor basked in the feel of having the man he loved in his arms. Sweet and spicy, he was addicted to the taste of Cruz. He couldn’t help himself. He tangled his hands in the unruly mess of Cruz’s curls and thrust his tongue deep. Cruz groaned and clung to him, giving back as good as he got. Finally, he was the one who pulled away with a gasp.
“Trevor…”
“Fuck, baby. Trent’s just going to have to deal with me sporting a boner through dinner. Either that or we’re going to have to sneak away for a quickie in the bathroom.”
That made Cruz laugh, and the tension finally lessened to a reasonable level in the car. Trevor kissed Cruz on the jaw as they began to disentangle themselves from each other. He helped his boyfriend back into the passenger seat of the car and righted their clothes. He blew out a rough breath and opened the door of the car to step out before he changed his mind and drove them back to the hotel.
Cruz followed suit on the other side, whistling as he came around the front of the car, “Nice house.”
“Ours will be nicer.”
“So competitive.” Cruz chuckled.
“I mean, maybe my brother is a multimillion-dollar recording artist, but my boyfriend is a multimillion-dollar professional athlete.” He took Cruz’s hand and pulled him into his side. “So ours will be better.”
Cruz let Trevor lead him up the pathway to the house. “I can’t believe I’m finally meeting the Trent Thorne.”
Trevor groaned. “No. Not you too. You’ve never mentioned you liked his music before now.”
“I haven’t?”
“No. You haven’t. Don’t tell me you’re some sort of Trent Thorne superfan.”
“The biggest,” Cruz teased, and Trevor grinned because he could hear the amusement in his voice.
“Liar.”
“No, it’s true. He’s the twin I’ve always wanted. I was just using you to get to Trent.”
The door clicked open, and a gorgeous, scowling dark-haired man glared at them both. “You’ll just have to settle for second best. Trent’s spoken for.”
“Hate to burst your bubble, beautiful, but you’re the one settling. I got the prize right here,” Cruz shot back without hesitation.
Trevor laughed at the interaction. He and Trent had a lot of things in common. Apparently, gorgeous brunets with possessive streaks were another of those things. He pulled Cruz tighter into his side and kissed the top of his head.
This was the first time he had brought his boyfriend home to meet his brother, or his brother’s fiancé for that matter. He didn’t want them fighting. Just like he didn’t want to fight with Trent. They were all family, or they were going to be, very soon.
He intended to make an honest man out of Cruz just as soon as they made it through this first phase of introductions to family. His side was easy. All he had left was his twin brother since his mother had disowned them both when they came out publicly.
Cruz’s family had been much more difficult. A large, loud, and expressive family, Trevor had met them over the holidays. Cruz’s three sisters had fawned all over him. His parents and grandparents had been more skeptical. But in the end he thought he’d won them all over.
Just like Cruz would no doubt win over Trent and Lance.
“Come on in.” Trent walked into view behind his lover. “It’s about time you two stopped steaming up the windows of the car and came inside.”
Trevor laughed again. Cruz blushed which only made him laugh harder. Trent took Lance by the hand and kissed him soundly before shutting the door behind them all. They joked and laughed as they made their way into the kitchen, retrieving drinks and making giant plates of food.
And Trevor couldn’t remember a time when he’d ever been happier, surrounded by friends, family, and love.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to everyone who has embraced the Thorne brothers and their beautiful love stories. When I first wrote Trent in Stay a Little longer, I never expected to give his brother a happily ever after. Trevor was a barely mentioned side character who, quite honestly, hadn’t done right by his brother when Trent came out to their parents. Then a chance to write a sports-related story for an anthology came along and I just knew that Trent’s brother was a baseball playing jock afraid to come out of the closet and that he needed to be redeemed.
Thank you to Tarrah Anders, Shay Cole, Dee Ellis, Kelsey Kingsley, Maren Lee, Kathryn Nolan, and Lynsey M. Stewart for supporting Trevor and Cruz throughout the process of writing and releasing Rounding Third: A Baseball Anthology. It was such a lovely experience and now all our baseball playing hunks are standing on their own two legs. I love each and every one of you.
I’d also like to thank Raevyn, Stacey Jo, Natasha and everyone else with NineStar Press for working so hard to make this little book the best it could be. I am so thankful to be part of the NineStar family. Thank you for your support.
About the Author
Jess Bryant is an avid indoorswoman. A city girl tra
pped in a country girl's life, her heart resides in Dallas but her soul and roots are in small town Oklahoma. She enjoys manicures, the color pink, and her completely impractical for country life stilettos. She believes that hair color is a legitimate form of therapy, as is reading and writing romance. She started writing as a little girl, but her life changed forever when she stole a book from her aunt's Harlequin collection, and she's been creating love stories with happily ever afters ever since.
Jess holds a degree in Public Relations from the University of Oklahoma and is a lifetime supporter of her school and athletic teams. And why not? They have a ton of National Championships! She may be a girlie-girl but she knows her sports stats and isn't afraid to tell you that your school isn't as cool as hers…or that your sports romance got it all wrong.
For more information on Jess and upcoming releases, contact her at [email protected] or follow her on her many social media accounts for news and shenanigans.
Email: [email protected]
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Stay a Little Longer
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