Page 142 of Slew Foot
Tanner stared at him. “But hiscockwas in yourmouth.”
“Well yeah, but …”
“I don’t know what Tanner said but if he’s mad he walked in on us, tell him fuck you and it serves him right,” Mickey said with a scowl.
“I canhearyou, Mickey,” Tanner pointed out before he looked at Rafe. “He doesn’t have to talk about me like I’m not here. And how does that serve me right?”
Mickey stood. “If he’s protesting that it isn’t fair, tell him this is payback for the time I walked in on him. And all of the times I’ve had to listen to him going at it with his latest hookup.”
It went on like that for a while, with Tanner and Mickey trying to argue while Mickey couldn’t hear anything he said and Rafetrying to translate in between the giggles before he finally gave up.
He stood and grabbed Mickey’s hand, steering him toward the bedroom.
“Where are you going!” Tanner protested.
“To take care of my boyfriend,” Rafe called back and gave him the finger over his shoulder. “Live with it!”
In their bedroom, they stretched out on the bed and Rafe picked up his phone.Sorry. I was too into what I was doing and totally missed Tanner coming back.
It’s fine. I missed it too,Mickey answered.
Yeah, but your ear?
That didn’t start until Tanner started making noise.
Oh.
That’s why he’s been gone so much lately, you know?Mickey said, passing the phone back.
Yeah?
Yeah. He told me that. Said he knew he was loud, and he didn’t want to make me feel worse.
That was nice,Rafe said.
Yeah it was. He’s still a dick though. I wasn’t aiming for payback but he totally deserves it after the shit I’ve seen and heard around here.
Rafe laughed.
Mickey reached up and cupped his cheek, pulling him in for a kiss.
So Rafe dropped his phone on the bed and forgot all about it for a while. He had a boyfriend to take care of.
The team was starting to rally.
Mickey had taken to watching the games on TV—sometimes on mute—and making notes for Rafe on his tablet. Rafe got thislookon his face every time Mickey sent him the notes, but he read them and let Mickey talk to him about it.
“I want you to be able to play better,” Mickey argued one night when they were stretched out on the bed, talking.
“Dude, I want to play better too,” Rafe said. “But mostly I want you back. It doesn’t feel right without you there.”
“It doesn’t feel right to me either,” Mickey whispered. “Last week sucked when you were on the road.”
“Ugh, I know. I had to sleepalone.”
“It was nice to have it be quiet around here though,” Mickey said teasingly.
Rafe elbowed him. “That’s just because Tanner was gone.”
