Page 33 of Good Guy Gabe

Blaise slaps my ass as he strolls by in nothing but his shorts, but that’s typical for Blaise after a win. He’s gotta preen. We’d expect nothing less from him. “You and Jossy-girl planning yourselves a hot, sweaty bible study tonight, big guy?” he laughs.

I respond by shouldering him hard enough he stumbles into his neighboring locker, but he’s a fool. His shit-eating grin splits wider at my manhandling.

“I’m about over that joke. You do not need to know or talk about our sex life.”

When Joss first insisted on keeping quiet, I was bummed but went along with it. But now that I’ve had a month of curling up with her, rocking into her for what seems like hours, tormenting her by bringing her to the edge over and over again, sharing her space, her breaths, her every soft inch, pumping her pussy full of cum and keeping her plugged with my cock until I’m hard enough to add another load, letting it soak into her for hours, slowly spilling into her womb—

It’s fucking hot. Just thinking about it has me glad my equipment buddy hasn’t come by to help me out of my jersey yet, so I’m still fully suited up.

“I like her,” Blaise says unexpectedly. The two of them do get along well. She gets along with everyone in the house except Merrick, and that’s entirely on Merrick. She’s unfailingly friendly and doesn’t take offense when he gives her the cold shoulder.

I know Blaise likes her. But Blaise is also big on bro code. He hated my girlfriend in college even before she cheated on me, and he usually gets pissed whenever any of his friends get girls. Pulls the whole ball-and-chain nonsense. Even though he clearly likes Joss, I didn’t expect him to admit it.

And because he’s admitting it, I feel the need to return the favor, mumbling under my breath, “I want her to be the one,” so no one else will hear.

But I don’t have a quiet voice. That was made abundantly clear at breakfast the first night Joss stayed over and Blaise asked me — right in front of her — if I’d whacked off while she was in the bathroom or if I needed lessons on how to make my girl come. Apparently, Joss’s attempt to come quietly was way more effective than mine was.

Joss’s face went beet-red, but she held her own with a casual “Nah, I just couldn’t scream when I was face down, ass up like that.”

Her words, so casually spoken as she licked her spoon clean of yogurt — Merrick’s stupidly expensive imported yogurt that I gave her because he called her my ‘slut’ when I mentioned she’d be staying the night — was enough to make Blaise’s jaw drop and earn a nod of respect out of him.

So I don’t have a quiet voice, and when a locker slams hard across the bench from us, I know it’s in response to my words. I glance over my shoulder quickly enough that I catch Allore’s glare before he has a chance to hurry off.

He tries it anyway and gets pegged with a water bottle by Blaise. The only thing that prevents warfare is the fact it was empty and bounced off Evan’s shoulder. If Blaise had truly meant it, it would have been the full water bottle that was right there in his locker, and it would have smashed Evan in the back of his head.

“Sup, bro?” Blaise says as he takes a step toward Evan, who’s inadvertently cornered himself by moving toward the showers as well as Merrick’s locker. “You two are besties, right? Remember when he blew off my party for your stupid shit?”

The ‘stupid shit’ was the birth of Evan’s daughter, Shelby, almost exactly a year ago, but Blaise doesn’t have a concrete concept of time.

Evan’s got that deer-in-the-headlights look on his face. He glances around nervously, but Merrick’s on one side, Vedder on the other. Vedder gets puppy dog eyes when he sees Joss ever since she sewed a button back onto his jacket. Which was silly, even I could have done that, but it made him happy. It’s fine.

“You gonna congratulate him on getting himself a girl?” Merrick asks smugly, like he suddenly does want Joss around, but that’s what Merrick does. He probably likes Joss, too, but he refuses to show the slightest human emotion. “That’s what you wanted, yeah? When you were introducing him to all Keira’s friends, forcing them on him so he was the absolute goofiest fucker he could be, ruining his chances with any of them? You mad he found a girl on his own?”

Evan deflates at Merrick’s words. Just shrivels up there before us as he looks sadly at me. “I wanted to help. You know that right? Me and Keira, we just wanted you to be happy.”

I straighten up. Not to intimidate Allore. He’s terrifying on the field. The distance between us? If he wanted to attack me, he’s got the room to build the momentum to demolish me. I straighten up to show him that I’m not bothered by what any of them is saying about me. None of the girls Keira set me up with would have given me the time of day if she hadn’t asked them to. “Well, now I have it,” I say with a slam of my own locker as I head out to hunt down my equipment buddy.

“Shelby’s first birthday is next Saturday,” Evan yells after me. “She misses you.”

She’s a baby. I miss her way more than she misses me. But Keira’s already sent me a text inviting me while making it clear I can’t bring a plus one, and I’m not playing that game.

While Cora strips down to her underclothes to get in the hot tub with several of the guys and the girls who live across the street, Joss is happy to curl up with me by the firepit. I grab a blanket for us before lifting her up easily, causing her to erupt in giggles, and settling her on my lap. We have a quiet moment, just the two of us staring at the fire, before others filter in around us.

“Wasn’t expecting to see you here,” I murmur to Drew as he and Mel take the seat across from us. They’re good for the occasional barbecue, but they also have a couple of kids. Usually they go straight home after games.

Joss stiffens at that. “I invited them,” she says. “Was that okay?”

Beneath the blanket, I ruck up her skirt to squeeze her thigh reassuringly. The moment I touch that firm, warm expanse of skin, I’m wondering what I’ll be able to get away with here. “Absolutely. You can invite anyone you want.”

Eagle-eared Blaise yells from the hot tub, “Fuck Lin, though,” reminding me that although he was ready to throw down with Allore today, he’ll probably always hate Lin.

I shake my head. Lin’s not a bad guy. He’s stuffy. He’s arrogant. He’s pretentious. But he’s not a bad guy. “You could invite him, but he won’t come.”

Joss frowns, her fingers swirling in tight circles at my sternum. Since she’s distressed, I figure it’s only reasonable to grab her from beneath her knee while my other hand rubs her arm briskly. “I really like Wren,” she says. “It’d be nice to see her more.”

“She had her baby on Wednesday,” Mel points out. “It’s going to be rough for her to do anything for a while.”

Joss nods. “Yeah, I get that. I have a friend who’s pregnant. No father, though, not one in the picture. We’re trying to help however we can, but we’re worried about what she’ll need once she has the baby.”

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