Page 307 of Well Played

A soft laugh rumbled through Nando’s chest. “Just napping. What’s up?”

“Well, definitely not you, if you’re talking to me.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he breathed. “What do you want?”

“Mama wants to know when you’re coming home.”

Nando cleared his throat and slowly pulled away from Lila to sit up, dropping his legs off the edge of the bed. “I still need to buy my ticket out and back. I was looking at the end of this week.”

“Cool. Let us know when you’ve got your flight info and I’ll be at the airport.”

“Will do.” After a moment, he asked, “What does mom want for Christmas?”

“A grand kid,” Amador laughed.

Nando chuckled in return. “Yeah, not happening this year. I’ll just get her another purse.”

“Make sure you get the girls fancy ones too. Now get back to your nap.” Nando could hear the ‘air quotes’ in his brother’s tone.

“Later, Dork,” he drawled, ending the call.

“Your mom deserves more than a purse.” Her body didn’t move, so he lay back down, pulling her back into his arms.

“Wanna come shop with me? I need to buy for her and my sisters.” He pressed a soft kiss to her neck.

“I need to shower and change first.”

“My sisters left some clothes here last time they visited,” he offered. “They’ll probably fit you.

“Hmmm,” she sighed, moving her body against his. His cock started to stiffen against the warm curves of her ass. “And a shower?”

“The one here has plenty of room and hot water…”

She rolled in his arms and gave him a quick kiss. “And an attendant?”

“If you insist, babe.”

She rose up on one elbow. “I insist. But first, we should probably finish our nap.” She pulled him down into a deeper kiss. Showers and shopping could wait.

10

Home for the holidays,and Nando found himself more restless than he’d been before. He loved being home for Christmas. He loved his mother’s cooking and the way she liked taking care of him. Having been in San Diego for the last two years and only being able to spend a few days at home, it was a nice change to sit here and spend time with his family and not have to worry about anything.

Terry kept an eye on his place. He thought about asking Lila, but they’d only been going out for a little while. He didn’t want her to get the wrong idea. She was great and all, and he liked spending time with her… hell, she rocked his world, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to get her hopes up about a relationship between them. After all, it had only been a few months; that wasn’t long enough.

Was it?

A few months of playing video games almost every evening, late night pizza and movies, and before he left, sessions of mind-blowing sex. And she never asked him for anything but his time. He wasn’t used to it. The other shoe had to drop soon.

He ended up not calling or even texting her much while he was at home. This time was family time, his mother insisted,and he didn’t want to disappoint her. Lila texted him a few times and sent him the usual ‘Merry Christmas’ and ‘Happy New Year’ greetings, but other than the texts he sent her was when he landed at the airport saying he was safe, his replies were usually only one or two words. He did send one that his mom was taking up his time, but he said they could catch up when he was back in San Diego. Lila still sent him a few good morning texts, good night ones asking about his day, but when he didn’t respond with anything than ‘Thanks’ and ‘Fine,’ the messages slowed then stopped altogether.

Did he feel guilty about that? A little bit, but this was family time. He’d be back in town for fan-fest and would make it up to her then. If she didn’t understand, that was on her. At least that’s what he kept telling himself. After all, they’d only been seeing each other for a bit. He shouldn’t be expected to message her every day.

His family kept him busy enough between shuttling his sisters around during the day and playing wingman to his brother every evening. Being around his sisters’ friends was bad enough, with 17- and 18-year-old girls flirting with him almost every moment. But with his brother, he kept getting women throwing their numbers his direction, hanging all over him, wanting to take him home. And as entertaining as he found them, it didn’t feel right taking them up on the offers. They were all beautiful and very willing, but it was apparent they didn’t actually wanthim. They wanted to be seen with him. None of them talked about video games or movies, and only a few talked baseball, but not with any real interest in the game. He was a piece of meat, a trophy. And he didn’t like it.

Not after the last few months.

Amador wanted to go clubbing with him, and Nando always obliged. On the nights his parents or grandparents weren’tkeeping him home with them, he was making sure his brother was getting back home in one piece.

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