Page 59 of Slew Foot
But now that he thought about it, maybe it was alittle bitlike that. Rafe glanced over at Mickey and reallylookedat him.
He liked what he saw.
He liked Mickey’s stern mouth and deep-set blue eyes and the way he looked soseriousmost of the time. He liked the way Mickey’s face lit up when he did smile. He liked how wide his shoulders were and that under his clothes, he had a little bit of hair on his chest and a great body overall.
And no, right now, none of that lit a fire in Rafe’s belly, but he thought maybe itcould. Maybe with more time he’d fall for Mickey and?—
The thought was like a bucket of cold water over Rafe’s head becausefuck, he couldn’t do that. Not again.
He thought of the game of cards he’d played on the flight home from Columbus recently and the way he’d cleaned up because the guys at the table had underestimated him. He’d liked theirback-slapping friendly chirping after and the way Tanner had bounced over at practice this morning and told him all about the new security guard at HCI because holy shit had Rafe noticed how blue his eyes were?
And no, Rafe hadn’t, but he liked that Tanner wanted to talk to him about it. And he liked that Gavin Racine had stopped by during his cool-down workout to ask him how he was doing. How he was settling in.
He liked this fucking team. And he didn’t want to lose any of it.
It had been hard enough to find his place with the Acorns, and being with Boston was already so much better. He couldn’t risk it.
But then he thought about all of the quiet ways Mickey looked out for him and wondered what it would be like if that feelingdidgrow. If, in time, he looked over at Mickey and wanted to kiss him and have sex with him and …
He glanced over at Mickey again and realized they were parked in Mickey’s spot at the ramp under the apartment building. Mickey was looking at him, studying his face with those blue eyes that could almost seem cold to someone who didn’t know him.
But Rafe knew there was nothing cold about Mickey. He was just looking, just studying everything and taking it all in.
“Sorry,” Rafe said, swallowing hard. “I got a little lost in my thoughts.”
“It’s okay.” Mickey looked him in the eye. “Anything you want to talk about?”
“Not today,” Rafe said.
Mickey nodded, got out of the car, then came around to open Rafe’s door so he didn’t have to juggle the food they’d brought home for lunch.
“Thanks,” Rafe told him.
“Just looking out for you,” Mickey said, walking toward the elevators.
Rafe nodded and followed him because he might not know what exactly was happening with Mickey or what might happen in the future, but he liked what they were doing now.
He liked that Mickey looked out for him.
And as scary as it was for Rafe to think about messing up what he was starting to build with the team, there was also a little flutter in the pit of his stomach as Mickey touched his hip, guiding him into the apartment lobby as he held the door for him.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“So,” Mickey said a few weeks later after they settled the last box in Rafe’s new bedroom. The room right next to his, God help him. “You’re officially moved in. Lease signed and everything. How do you want to celebrate?”
Rafe shrugged. “We could just chill?”
Mickey smiled. “We could.”
“Why? Do you want to do something else?” Rafe asked.
“Well, I was thinking we could go out to dinner with Tanner, but he bailed.” Mickey made a face. Tanner invited Rafe to move in and then was nowhere to be found when it was time to actually move him in.Typical.
“We could go anyway,” Rafe said. “Just the two of us. Catch up on everything from bye week.”
Mickey swallowed hard. “Sure. Sounds good.”
And it did.
