Page 29 of Summer Catch

“Yeah. Riley Flynn can throw, sure, but he can run, too.”

“I liked Perez too, but maybe there’s an upside here.”

Jon frowned into his drink. “A downside, too.”

“You can’t think of it that way. Sure it might not work out, but think of what could happen if this Riley guy works out? You knew you had a ceiling with Perez, as much as we all liked him. You were designing an offense around him ’cause you knew he had limitations. What if you had a guy with no limitations? Where the sky—where your imagination—was the limit?” Kieran didn’t think he was particularly good at pep talks; that wasn’t his forte, after all. He wasn’t the football coach. He was just a guy who owned a bar called the Pirate’s Booty.

A name he’d only picked because a friend had bet him that he wouldn’t dare.

But if Jon needed a pep talk, then he’d do his best.

Jon reached out and brushed his knuckles over the back of Kieran’s hand.

“How did you know that was exactly what I needed to hear?” he asked wryly.

“I . . .” Kieran was going to say he’d guessed, because wasn’t that what he’d done? But no. That wasn’t it at all. He’d known Jon needed that. He knew Jon. He loved Jon.

“Doesn’t matter, actually,” Jon said, shaking his head and smiling, finally. Because obviously he didn’t know what Kieran had just realized. Not what he’d just started feeling, because no, he’d been feeling like this for awhile now. Just hadn’t put two and two together until now.

Until he’d looked at this man across his bar and realized that he was the one, the one he’d given up finding, sure that his life with his business and his friends was plenty. That he was happy. But he hadn’t really been, not in the way he could be. Not until he’d met Jon.

“No, it doesn’t,” Kieran agreed. “As long as it helped. That’s all that matters.”

Jon took a long sip of his drink. “I shouldn’t be surprised anymore, but this is really good.”

“You shouldn’t,” Kieran said, grinning.

The realization he loved Jon had thrown him—but not for as long as he’d expected it might. It had only taken a minute for him to go, Okay, yeah, I do love him. And pretty sure he loves me too. We’re happy. We’re gonna be happy.

“I can’t believe your superpower still doesn’t work on me. I’m trying not to take it personally.”

“I just think it means you’re very special,” Kieran said. He wasn’t ready to say those magical three little words yet—and when he did, he wasn’t going to do it with Nadia throwing him increasingly desperate looks every minute or so as an increasingly thirsty crowd gathered.

“Okay. I like that.”

“Grab your drink.” Kieran skirted around the back of the bar and took Jon’s elbow, leading him down the hallway towards the bathrooms and his little box of an office.

Jon barely waited until the door was closed before setting the glass on the side of his desk and cupping Kieran’s cheeks in his hands, kissed him hard.

He tasted like cherries and whiskey and the man Kieran loved.

Kieran only had a moment to really feel it so he felt it. Lost himself in the feel of Jon’s lips on his, warm and insistent, his hands sliding down his shoulders, gripping him firmly, like he never wanted to let him go.

“There,” Jon said, finally letting him go, Kieran feeling as wobbly as if he’d been the one to drink that old-fashioned. “Now you’re properly thanked. Somehow you knew I wanted to do that, too.”

“Maybe I just knew that I wanted you to thank me,” Kieran said with a low chuckle. “I wish I could stay. I wish I could kiss you a whole lot more, but I’ve got to help Nadia.”

“I know. I appreciate what you could do. You’re gonna be off late tonight, though, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Probably not until two or three in the morning. Far too late to see Jon, who had to be at the practice facility at seven for the start of his day.

It wasn’t like this was news. Their schedule had been a little tough to figure out from day one. But they’d done it, no complaints, only bringing solutions to the table.

And today wasn’t any different.

“Would you mind . . .” Jon hesitated. “I could sleep at your place tonight? I know it’s not much, but . . .it’d be something?”

Of course Jon would bring the solution. “I’ll only wake you up for a brief peck,” Kieran said.

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