Page 31 of Sidelining the Safety

“You’re going to burn a hole in him if you keep staring like that?” Cutter nudged him.

Khalil, another of the medical trainers sitting across from him, snickered. “You’re cute when you blush.”

Like that wouldn’t turn him redder than a tomato. “Shut up,” Drew muttered.

“Uh-oh, here he comes,” Cutter mumbled.

Drew looked up in time to see Lee making his way across the room, straight for him. “Hi.” He stood behind Khalil, speaking over the man’s head. “Just confirming dinner tonight. Mac said he can be there by seven.”

“Yeah,” Drew croaked, cleared his throat and tried again. “Yeah. Seven’s good.”

“Great.” Lee turned when Jakes called his name, but then spun back and flashed him a wide smile that melted Drew’s insides. “See you later.”

Drew pointedly ignored the teases of his fellow trainers as he watched that tight ass jog out the door. He wouldn’t miss that show for anything.

He arrived at Lee’s that night at quarter to seven. Sure, he could have waited for Mac, but he wanted a few minutes of Lee’s full attention. He knocked and entered, as had become custom when they were eating at Lee’s place. Drew was slightly jealous of the upscale apartment which was heads and tails better than his crappy campus apartment with its dated appliances, cramped space, and less-than-stellar air-conditioning. If it wasn’t because Drew knew Lee kept his second bedroom free for his mom and aunt to stay in when they visited, he would have already asked to move in.

“Hi, it’s—” Any further words stuck in his throat at the sight that greeted him. Lee in nothing but a long-hanging pair of loose shorts that showed off his abs and the cut vee of his waist was mouth-watering.

Lee cleared his throat, snapping Drew’s gaze from those inspiring southern shores to his face. He could feel his cheeks heating… again. “Fuck,” he mumbled.

“You know…” Lee drawled, reaching for his T-shirt lying on the back of the couch. He slipped it over his head, covering the impressive expanse of chest and shoulders from Drew’s view. “I’ve caught you staring a couple of times, and it’s flattering, but we had this conversation. I like you and Mac. I mean, I really like you both, but I have to focus on my job. I?—”

“We understand,” Mac interrupted, slipping inside and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Drew.

It took all of Drew’s control to not look down at where Mac’s fingers lightly touched his wrist and palm. Holy cow… Was Mac actually thinking the same thing he was? Had he had the same erotic dreams? They told each other everything… but not this. They’d both kept quiet, both probably fearing the same rejection.

Lee deflated. “Good. I love being your friend. You guys have made moving here a thousand times better. I mean, I like my teammates, but all they want to talk about is sports, injuries, and their girlfriends. Or trash-talk while they play video games. That gets old fast.” He walked backward toward the kitchen, beckoning them to join him.

“I bet,” Mac said, sliding a fingertip along Drew’s forearm as he followed Lee.

Drew, however, was frozen in place. His world had turned upside-down and sideways. Mac was always demonstrative, giving plenty of hugs, fist-bumps, and winks, but never had there been a delicate touch that had Drew’s whole body thrumming.

“Drew?” Mac said from where he stood next to the counter stools.

Never had he wanted to stride across a room, cradle someone’s face in his hands, and then devour them in a fervent kiss, like some porn-worthy steamy TV moment. But holy fuck, he did just then. Thankfully, Lee’s back was to them because the heat between him and Mac turned scorching.

They had to talk. Later. Tonight. Drew refused to let another day pass without knowing what the hell was going on with his best friend.

CHAPTER 23

LEE

Lee was sure they didn’t think he saw, but he did. The stares, the heated looks, Mac taking his bottom lip between his teeth, looking so fucking sexy that Lee regretted telling them no. Drew’s responding blushes were damn adorable. And here he was… the bump on the log to their budding romance.

He couldn’t be mad. Hell, he’d had separate conversations with both of them about the “what-ifs.” If he harbored any jealousy for how close they were, even without throwing sex into the equation, well he’d just shut his pie-hole and deal with it. He’d had friends before, close friends, but never friends like these two had become.

Lee refused to jeopardize their relationship. Their friendship meant the world to him, so any feelings he did have he saved for his alone time… in bed. He’d bought more lube, tissues, and wet wipes in the last month than he ever had before, each time thanking those brilliant people who’d come up with the idea for self-checkout lanes.

His dick had been halfway hard the whole night. Closing the door when they left, imagining them finally giving in and kissing in the elevator… Lee bee-lined it to his bedroom, stripping off his shirt on the way and shoving his shorts down the moment he crossed the threshold. He threw himself on the bed, sprawled on his back, rolled, and reached for the lube.

“You, sir,” he whispered to his cock, “are a fool. A glutton for punishment and looking at a very dry spell of nothing but my right hand. Ya’ll gonna be the best of friends, not like you weren’t already.”

He held his dick upright with one hand while drizzling lube on it with the other. Then he wrapped his fingers around the girth and slowly jacked himself. As he stroked his cock, he imagined it was Drew’s hand around him, knees spreading his thighs as Drew knelt between them. Mac, meanwhile, played with Lee’s nipples, rubbing, twisting, sucking on the tight peaks. He’d alternate kissing them, then watch as they kissed each other.

It didn’t take long for his gut to tighten. His ass clenched, and he slammed his eyes closed when he came. Cum streaked his chest and puddled below his belly button by the time he relaxed enough to open his eyes. Wondering if either man would lick him clean, Lee’s cock twitched valiantly; his body shuddered with an added aftershock.

He gazed down at his flaccid member resting spent on its nest of curls. “Five months max, I swear,” he told his dick, then added in a muttered, “If I don’t give in before then, that is.”

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