Page 82 of The Blame Game

Dom unclenched, touched by the way Shea’s first thought had been of him. Checking in.

“Yeah, everything’s okay,” he rasped.

It wasn’t. Not really. Nothing had changed.

Dom’s back was still a wreck and he was going to have to deal with whatever consequences there were about making stupid decisions that nearly got him killed. His teammates were still going to be nosy and worried about him and he probably wasn’t getting back on the bench any time soon.

The city was gossiping about his personal life and it would take a miracle to keep strangers from prying into his sexuality and discussing it over coffee and around the watercooler.

But …

But now Dom knew what Shea’s mouth tasted like and he knew how good it was to kiss him and, well, it would probably end badly this time too. Maybe worse because of what was a stake. Where they lived.

How he and Shea had begun.

But either Dom could keep kissing Shea or he could walk away and only one of those choices felt good. Only one of them felt right.

“I could use a shower,” Dom said.

Shea sat up, glancing at his phone. “I’ve got about twenty minutes before my alarm goes off.”

“You could join me,” Dom offered, surprised by the sudden jolt of his heartrate at asking for such a simple thing. They’d showered together before, the night of the fire.

And yet, this felt different somehow.

“I could. If you want,” Shea offered, already turning off the alarm.

Dom had exhausted his ability to talk this morning so he simply stood, gritting his teeth against the pain and stiffness, and held out a hand.

Shea took it, and although he let go to lead the way into the bathroom and turn on the water, Dom could feel the ghost of the touch on his skin as he followed.

They brushed their teeth, gaze meeting in the mirror then skittering away, as if they were both too shy to admit why they were brushing in the first place.

But the moment Dom had Shea under the rushing water, he crowded him against the tile and leaned in, pressing their mouths together. Shea laughed softly but there was nothing mocking about it, only a little amused and happy, so Dom kissed him.

The shower was about a third of the size of Dom’s and the water pressure wasn’t great but as Shea’s tongue slid between his lips, Dom had a sudden, hazy thought that mornings would be better if they always started this way.

He dismissed the thought immediately, but that didn’t stop him from kissing Shea again and again. He ran his palms along Shea’s sides and smoothed them over the curves of his ass, mapping out his musculature.

Dom was drunk on the feel of kissing after having denied himself the pleasure of it for too long and his head spun as Shea playfully pushed him away.

“Hey. Go do something useful now! I need to actually get clean before work.”

So Dom gave him one last kiss and, reluctantly, backed out of the shower. He toweled off and stole some hair product from Shea—laughing at his indignant squawk—using the cream to tame his hair before he walked into the bedroom.

He shamelessly helped himself to Shea’s underwear, going for the plain black so he wouldn’t get chirped in the locker room for wearing turquoise blue or—good lord, electric yellow—then put on his clothes from yesterday.

The shower was still running—what on earth was Shea doing in there?—so Dom shrugged and left the bedroom in search of food.

In the hall, he nearly tripped over his own suitcase, belatedly remembering he’d brought it with him after the road trip. Whoops. Oh well.

At the end of the hall, Dom could see an open living area, all exposed ceilings and gray concrete. The building’s exterior looked new so Dom guessed the industrial vibe was entirely for the aesthetic.

But the space was filled with bright pops of colors and numerous green plants, softening the look of the concrete floor and walls.

The plants made him think of Jonah. He’d know what they were all called, though Dom didn’t have a clue.

Did they belong to Shea? Or to Audra?

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