Page 43 of The Quarterback
“The NFL will be very lucky to have him,” Nick said. He winked at Colton.
Kimbrough nodded, but his intense, weather-worn eyes seemed to see everything, including what wasn’t on the surface, when he gazed at Colton. Colton tried not to squirm.
The night ended with the finalization of their Monday plans: Nick and Colton flying from Austin to Lubbock, where Kimbrough’s helicopter would pick them up and ferry them out to the largest of the ten drill rigs they were bringing online. They’d be on site when the network went live. Ideally, everything would go to plan, and they’d take a quick tour of the rest of the rigs before heading back to Lubbock and catching a flight home. Easy peasy. Hopefully.
They went back to the hotel via private car again. On the way, Colton asked Nick, “Are we going to Brad’s bar tonight?”
“I could use a celebratory drink, and you’ve more than earned one. You did great today.”
Colton beamed.
They ditched their jackets and ties in the room, and Colton switched to his simpler sling after they got his stretches and arm lifts out of the way. The walk seemed quicker this time, or maybe it was the weather being less humid, or maybe it was just that Colton was happier, every thought in his head consumed by the man walking beside him.
Brad was overjoyed to see them again, and he had beers on the bar top for them before they pulled out their stools. He flirted with them, called Colton “hot stuff” and Nick “sexy daddy.” He asked about their summer, how Colton’s arm was feeling, and how Justin and Wes were doing.
Colton could see, so damn easily, how Nick would have befriended Brad in moments. They’d probably been just like this the first night they met, talking up a storm, Brad so wholly focused on Nick it felt like they were the only men in the bar.
Eventually, Brad had to work the crowd, and he moved off with a fingertip wave and a blown kiss, leaving Nick and Colton to each other. Justin and Wes had texted while Brad was with them, and Nick had shown off Justin’s latest ballet pose, Wes’s picture of himself standing tall in the saddle with a lasso looped over his head, and the two of them arm in arm on the edge of a mesa, a selfie of their tanned faces and what looked like eternity behind them.
They texted their cowboys back—no selfies of their own this time—and then Nick put his phone away.
Colton had drunk less with dinner than he had the first time they came to Houston. He couldn’t explain away the bubbly feeling in his blood on champagne or too much red wine. He wasn’t even drinking his Shiner that fast, though Nick was on his second already. But there was something in the air that was making him dizzy, like he’d taken a deep breath of helium. The lights were bright, glittering in time with the laughter of the other groups and cozy couples. He could hear men having fun, celebrating and joking. His eyes wandered, and he watched two men flirt at one end of the bar. Saw one man lay his hand on another’s for the first time, if the sudden smiles on both their faces were anything to go by. A hipster and an older man nuzzled in a corner booth, kissing in between soft whispers. Someone winked at him from a crowded table by the door.
Nick gulped down the last of his Shiner as he eyed Colton. “You know, I have to tell you, I’m beyond impressed with you this summer. I mean, I had no doubt you were going to be amazing, Colton, but you’ve thrown yourself into learning everything. I rely on you more than I rely on my account executives sometimes. You’re just… You’re doinggreat. And Kimbrough’s right. No matter what your future holds, you’re going to be doing amazing things. Anyone will be lucky to have you.”
He stared at Nick. Squeezed down on his pint glass and felt the icy condensation dribble between his fingers.I don’t want “anyone.” I want you.
Nick cocked his head at Colton. His cheeks were flushed, like they’d been that afternoon at the winery. His eyes were bright, as brilliant as the little disco ball spinning in the corner of the bar. He smiled.
It was like taking a sack, the wind knocked clear out of him. He stared back stupidly, hoping he was smiling, hoping he wasn’t smiling too much, hoping he wasn’t giving it all away.I want to be your quarterback. I want a million nights like this. I want you to always smile at me exactly the way you are right now.
“What about you?” Nick nudged Colton’s thigh with his knee. “What do you think about this summer? Are you having a good time?”
Dream lives together, sunny days riding in Nick’s car, holding his hand. A hundred football games, a hundred touchdown passes, a hundred victory kisses. Nick above him, Nick wrapping his arms around him. Nick beneath him, Colton’s lips and mouth on Nick’s skin, exploring in ways he’d never thought about before. Every moment of every day filled up with Nick, every place inside him burning for Nick’s touch, Nick’s gaze, Nick’s smile. Nick’s kiss.
Do it. Kiss him.
He moved before he could second-guess himself, overthink things too much, or wimp out like he’d done at the winery. Leaning in, he pressed his lips to Nick’s, tilting his head so their noses wouldn’t bump, so their lips would brush at that perfect juncture, where the bow of Nick’s lips would slide into the soft parting of Colton’s. The earth seemed to still, and the only movement he felt was the frantic pounding of his pulse and his lips, gently nibbling on Nick’s unmoving pair.
He’s not kissing back.
Colton pulled away. He swallowed and stared into the biggest, most shocked eyes he’d ever seen. Nick, stunned. Nick, speechless. Nick, blinking as he stared at Colton like Colton had just stepped out of an alien spaceship, descended from the moons of Jupiter.
No, that’s not how this was supposed to go. That’s not what he’d imagined, had played out in both his daytime and nighttime fantasies.No, no, no, no, no—
He leaned in again, this time cupping Nick’s face with his left hand as he pressed their lips together. His thumb stroked Nick’s cheekbone as his fingers played in the hair at Nick’s neckline, above the starched collar of his button-down. Stubble tickled his palm.
Encroachment. Five-yard penalty.His mind screamed at him to stop moving his lips over Nick’s.Pull back. Run away. Don’t look into his eyes. You just fucked the fuck up. You foundthe end.
He squeezed his eyes closed, kissing Nick one last time, his lips molding to Nick’s once more, brushing gently before he tickled Nick’s bottom lip with the tiniest pass of his tongue. One taste, one forbidden taste. Nick could push him away, knock him off the barstool, tell him he never wanted to see Colton again. Colton could take an Uber to the airport and fly back to Austin, move his stuff back to the jock house tonight. He could spend the rest of the summer under his covers, getting fat on Fritos and Mountain Dew. If he just got one taste—
Nick’s lips parted. He groaned, and his tongue snaked out and met Colton’s as he reached for Colton with both hands, tugging him forward so unexpectedly he tumbled into Nick’s hold, his chest crashing against Nick’s as he stood in the bracket of Nick’s spread thighs.
Stunned, he broke the kiss—You fucking idiot, why did you do that, you just got what you always wanted!—and reared back. He felt his own eyes go wide as he stared at Nick’s kiss-swollen lips and dilated pupils.
“Are you kissing me back?” he blurted out.
“Are you kissingme?” Nick breathed.
