Page 38 of The Brotherly Shove

"Sorry," he says after a few moments. He sets his phone down and rounds his desk, perching himself onto the corner in front of us. "I just lost a bet with my wife and had to pay up. She's been telling me you two were hopelessly in love with each other for months, but I didn't see it. It's the romance author in her. She's far too perceptive." His mouth ticks up into a smile, but he smothers it and puts his Boss Man Face back on quickly before he continues.

"Listen, guys, this is all fine. We're on the same team. When the time comes, you'll have my full support if you want to go public. For now your secret is safe with me and Georgie and most likely her three best friends, because I have no doubt she's already squealing about all of this in their group chat."

Lennon's eyes go wide at that, but James shakes him off.

"Don't worry. The Pussy Posse group chat is a sealed vault. Not even I know what happens in there. The gals won't say anything."

I might not know them, but any friends that name their group chat something as iconic asThe Pussy Possehas my full and complete trust.

"I know I'm probably not in the position to be asking much of you right now," I say sheepishly, looking up at the man. "But do you think we can talk to the PR people about the media calling our QB sneak The Brotherly Shove? It sort of…gives me the ick."

Both Lennon and James chuckle at me, and I can feel my face turning red.

"I think that can be arranged. You remember Dean McKenna’s sister, Kira, from the party at my house? She has been calling it The Tush Push. Should I leak that to the PR team or is too on the nose?"

I burst out laughing because yeah, it is incredibly on the nose. It's also catchy as fuck and not at all inaccurate.

"No, it's perfect. We can get t-shirts made. Thank you, James," I say as I stand and hold my hand out for a shake. He takes it and nods, then does the same with Lennon.

"Go," he says, waving towards the door, but not before asking for my phone and programming Georgie's number into it. "Go get your celebration on. You earned it, especially after my wife and I…interrupted." James winks at us as I take Lennon's hand and lead him towards the door. Once we're alone in the hallway Lennon turns to me, tilting my chin and pressing his lips to mine.

"That started out pretty damn scary. Even so, I'm actually really glad we got caught in that closet, baby," he says as he presses his forehead to mine.

"Oh, the irony of it all that it was a closet we were found in," I joke, and he smiles down at me.

"Be serious. There's something I want from you that I couldn't get in that tiny room."

"And what is that, honey?"

He takes a step closer, wedging a leg between my own. His dress pant covered thigh brushes up against my groin, and I whimper against his lips as they trace featherlight kisses against mine, and then lower.

"Breaker," he breathes against my neck. When the next six words spill from his plump, sinful lips, time stands still. There is no one and nothing besides the billions of atoms that make us up vibrating and bouncing off each other, each one licked with heat and untried tension. "I want you to fuck me."

CHAPTER 24

LENNON

Now

Santa Clara, California

I don't think I'll ever get over the pure bliss that comes along with my ability to stun Breaker Lawson into absolute silence. It doesn't happen often. In fact, I can only think of one other time he's looked at me with those stupefied, speechless eyes. It was back in college, maybe my junior year. We were walking across campus on our way to grab sandwiches between classes and chatting mindlessly about movies we'd seen. I made a comment about never needing to see another Marvel movie. If you've seen one, you've seen them all.

It took me as few steps to realize Breaker had stopped in his tracks. He was a few paces behind me, standing completely still, his face absolutely blank. I remember waving a hand in his face, trying to snap him out of it, but no dice. He just stared at me for a long beat before shaking his head and muttering something like "you're a bad person" under his breath while he stalked away. I didn't stop laughing for ten straight minutes.

And you know what? I stand by it. Marvel movies fucking suck.

This time it's different, though. Not only is Breaker standing stunned in front of me, his cheeks are flushed the warmest pink. His eyes are glazed over his lips slightly parted and so close to me that I can feel each hot, panting breath he takes against my flesh. My eyes trace a drop of sweat as it rolls from his hairline right down to the tip of his nose, where it beads and stops. I press my lips to the spot and kiss it off.

"Let's go home, Breaker."

We're quiet on the drive back to my place, where we've been spending most nights since it's closer to the facilities than his San Francisco apartment. I still don't fully understand why he'd elect to live so far away from his place of work, but he chalks it up to being more comfortable in a city setting. That hasn't stopped him from falling asleep and waking up in my bed most days, though.

My body groans as I hop out of my truck and round the back to grab our bags. I am very much looking forward to the full body massage I've earned myself from the training staff back at the facilities on Tuesday. It will be made all the sweeter when I get Breaker into my bed and do the things I can't stop thinking about doing with him.

Even though he hasn't said more than five words since we left the stadium, Breaker still takes my hand as we walk up the front steps and he leans his head on my shoulder as I fumble with the lock and key. Once we're inside, I back Breaker into the nearest wall, our bags discarded by the front door. I kiss him, a whisper of a touch. Less a pressing of mouths and more a gentle caress and tickle of lips. I feel him trembling against me, and though it's similar to the way his body reacts when he's receiving pleasure, the hitch in his breath tells me that he's nervous, overthinking, running laps around his own mind. I slide one hand up the back of his neck and let my fingers get tangled in the ends of his hair while I pull him in to nuzzle against my shoulder.

"Wanna talk, baby?" I ask, and he nods against my shoulder.

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