Page 61 of Relief Pitcher

I kept my snarky comments to myself. Gavin knew how I felt about the guy who only kept Gavin on as a contractor but expected him to be on-call twenty-four seven like a salaried employee. Gave him the workload of one too, without the pay. I didn’t understand why Gavin felt so beholden to him.

“You know, if you ever need a place to land, you’re always welcome here. I’m sure Dom wouldn’t mind.”

There was a crash in the kitchen that sounded like a plate breaking.

“I’m fine,” Seth called in an oddly strangled voice.

“But are my nachos okay?”

It sounded like Seth mumbled, “So thoughtful.”

“Is that Seth? What’s he up to? How’s he doing?” Gavin asked.

I got off the couch to check on Seth. “Other than getting glass in my dinner? Fine.”

“Still convincing him to cook for you, huh?”

“It’s a gift.”

A glass dish full of nachos was broken on the floor, and Seth, red-faced, was already halfway through cleaning it up.

“Seriously. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Fine,” he snapped.

I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I’d leave him alone to collect himself. “I’ll order pizza. Sausage with green peppers and extra olives?”

Seth sighed and looked up at me, expression softening. “Sure. Thanks.”

“No prob.” I ruffled his hair before heading to my room upstairs to grab my wallet.

“He’s good. He’s been doing more at the brewery. Austin trained him to be an assistant brewer, which has been great because now it takes some pressure off Austin.”

“Brewing, huh? That’s great.” Gavin sounded impressed.

“He’s great at it. I can’t believe it, but I like working with him. He does a stellar fucking job and fits in with the guys.” I closed the bedroom door behind me.

“Do you think he’s going to stick around?”

“I do. At least for a while. I haven’t heard him say anything about getting back to the cruise ships.”

“Good for him. And what about you? I haven’t heard any good hookup stories from you in a while.”

Gavin and I had swapped sex wins ever since college. We’d quickly learned that posh Ivy League school guys and brotastic state school guys weren’t that different.

My skin warmed at a particular memory. “I’ve been hooking up with a guy on my softball team. It’s pretty hot finding rural roads to park at, but that’s getting trickier now that the days are getting longer.”

Gavin went quiet. “Beenhooking up with? As in more than once?”

Oh shit.

“Nothing to worry about, Gav. Still single. No relationships for us, right?” Why did saying those words that had come easily for me for so long now leave a sour taste in my mouth?

“There’s nothing wrong with relationships,” Gavin said cautiously. “Endless hookups worked fine in our twenties, but I wouldn’t mind meeting someone. The only reason I haven’t is because I never know how long I’m staying in one place before I have to move.”

I was stunned silent for several moments. I didn’t know that was the case for Gavin. “You want a relationship?”

“Absolutely, yeah. Of course I didn’t when I was younger because fucking around was too much fun, but I’m ready for something more. Someone I can bring with me to a boring work function, can give them a look, and they’ll make excuses for us to leave. Hookups are fuckingexhausting. All the posturing and people bailing half the time. Don’t you get tired of that?”

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