Page 98 of Suck My Puck

I burst out laughing. Theo walks off to grab us some shots.

“Hey, does Bella need help moving any of her stuff into your place? I can come over if you want,” Xander asks me.

“Nah, she’s all moved in. She didn’t have that much stuff.”

“Bella moved in with you?” Del asks.

“Yeah, about a week ago.”

“Wait, you and Bella moved in together?” Theo asks when he rejoins us. He hands us shot glasses of tequila. We all down them.

“Yeah, her aunt owns the apartment she was staying in and her tenants moved in early, so I told her she could move in with me.”

I set my glass down on a nearby table. When I look back at my teammates, they’re all looking at me like they’re holding back smiles.

“What?” I say.

“You moved your hot neighbor into your place. You share a dog,” Theo says.

“Yeah? And?”

“Dude, I think you’re in a relationship,” Theo says. Xander chuckles. Del nods.

I rub the back of my neck, feeling uncomfortable and shocked that somehow Theo was able to gauge that, despite me not telling them anything about things between me and Bella.

“Shut up. I’m not,” I mutter.

Xander flashes a smug smile. “You’re not?”

“We’re justfriends.”

All three of my teammates give me a collective, “Are you fucking kidding me?” expressions.

Xander pats my shoulder. “Sure. Just keep telling yourself that.”

“Dude, we’re not blind,” Theo says to me. “We all see the way you look at Bella when we’re at Spanky’s. It’s obvious how into her you are. And I see how much you text her when we’re on the road.”

“Yeah. We do too,” Xander says. Del nods.

I sigh, surprised at how much my teammates have picked up on. I sip my drink. “Okay, yeah. We have a thing going on. We have for the past month or so.”

Xander raises an eyebrow. “I knew that’s why you’ve been kicking ass in the net. You’ve been hooking up with Bella.”

“Yeah, but it’s not serious. She doesn’t want it to be.”

I look down at the floor. The guys are quiet.

“But do you want it to be?” Del asks after a second.

I hesitate for a moment before I nod. Those knowing smiles on Theo and Xander’s faces have disappeared as they look at me.

“I know what it’s like,” Theo says after a minute.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“That’s how Maya and I started out. We were housemates for a while. Things were strictly in the friendship zone, but there was a spark there. And after a while we gave in. Things were casual between us too at first. Just hooking up, no emotions. But I caught feelings. Big time.”

The expression on Theo’s face turns thoughtful. He glances across the room at Maya, who’s dancing with Ingrid on the makeshift dancefloor next to the kitchen. She catches eyes with him and blows him a kiss. He beams before turning back to me.

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