Page 77 of Relief Pitcher

He swatted my arm and grinned.

I rubbed the back of my neck. “I know you have to do special stuff to your junk, but I thought you deserved to wear something pretty while you did it since I know the rest of you will look pretty.”

Ty’s mouth fell slack as he stared at me. Then he gave his head a little shake. “Thank you.” He leaned in, wrapped his free hand around the back of my neck, and pressed his lips to mine. The quickness of his kiss did nothing to soften the impact of it. Kissing me where anyone could see? I wanted to do a cartwheel.

He pulled back and stared at me with awe in his eyes. I was sure the same reflected back at him.

“Break a leg.” I squeezed his bicep, then turned to find a seat before I wrapped my arms around him and dipped him in a movie-quality kiss.

“Cooper, over here!”

I turned toward the voice and found Seth calling my name. He sat at a table with two guys I assumed were Caleb and Parker. I’d seen pictures of them on Ty’s Instagram after we followed each other last month. Not that I’d gone through his photos as soon as I got a notification that he’d followed me or anything.

“Join us,” he said when I got closer. There was an empty seat next to him.

“Waiting for someone?” I gestured to the chair.

“You.” He had the same wily smirk as his brother. “Ty said he invited you, and we wanted front-row seats to the shit show.”

“There will not be any shit in this show. Austin’s been practicing his ass off.” There was pride in Caleb’s eyes.

Caleb and Parker introduced themselves, and then the server came right over and took my drink order. While I listened to Parker and Caleb share stories of Ethan and Austin practicing their routine, my mind—still buzzing from Ty’s kiss—couldn’t help but wonder if there was a chance that could be me next year. Tossing in my own hilarious bloopers of Ty trying to learn a new dance.

The prospect of being a part of Ty’s life, of all their lives, at Pride next year sent a flicker of hope through me. I yearned for that. I wanted to shed my baggage and be someone who wasn’t terrified that I was too damaged to be who Ty deserved.

The reality was that I was getting pretty attached to Ty and his crew. I should make it clear to him that we could go at his pace and that I didn’t want anything from him other than us trying this thing out for real.

While the bar filled up, I had a great time chatting with the guys. I forgot how nice it was to have a group to hang out with without pressure. No awkward smiles when they asked how I’d been holding up.

After a while, another guy walked up. He had the sides of his hair shaved and the rest pulled back, revealing a round face and a big smile.

“Coop, this is Hayden,” Seth said.

I stood and shook Hayden’s hand. “The guy who built the outdoor area? It looks amazing.”

“Thanks. I’m glad it turned out well. Mind if I join you guys?” Caleb hopped up and grabbed a chair from a group that had an extra and squeezed in next to us.

“Want another round before it starts?” Seth asked. He stood when the other guys agreed.

“I’ll help you carry.” We wove our way through the crowd and tables to the bar. It was busy enough that we didn’t expect to see the server back through for a while.

“Were you at their performance last year?” I asked him when we reached the bar.

“No. I was still working on the cruise ship.” A dark look passed over his face.

“I’m sure it will be great, but I can’t picture Dom in drag. I was half convinced last year’s photos were AI-generated.”

Seth laughed. “That gives me an idea.”

“How are things going at the brewery?” I hadn’t had alone time with Seth before, and I wanted to be on good terms with him. Not only because he was Ty’s brother but he could be a friend.

“It’s going well. I didn’t expect to like the brewing side of things so much, but I really enjoy it.”

“Brewing seems complicated as hell.”

“No more complicated than being a tree doctor.”

I groaned. “Not you too.”

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