Page 49 of Blindsided

CHAPTER 22

LINCOLN

“It feels a lot bigger than dinner with your best friend and his boyfriend.” I tugged at my T-shirt, it still felt weird wearing something so casual to dinner.

Easton batted my hand away from my shirt. “You’re going to stretch it out all weird. It’s just dinner. There’s no reason to be weird about it. Besides, I want nothing covering this except your pants.” He groped the satin panties he’d surprised me with that evening and they slid over my cock.

There was every chance I whimpered at the contact. I knew it took me a few seconds to gather my senses about me and remember what I was going to say. “It’s weird. I mean, Brax is Tom’s son.”

“He’s also my best friend. And you’ll love Trevor. Just keep your phone on you at all times.”

I’d been anxious before, but now I was worried. “Um, why?”

“Your face!” Easton laughed as he buttoned the pants he’d just pulled up my legs. I had no idea when him dressing me had become normal, but it had, at least when we had time. “Trevor has so many stuffed animals. I swear, toy stores have nothing on him. I tease him and tell him that one of his piles is going to fall over and it will take search and rescue to find him.”

I laughed. “Okay. You made it sound murder-dungeon-in-the-basement bad, not stuffie-apocalypse adorable. Truthfully, death by stuffie doesn’t sound like a terrible way to go.”

Easton just rolled his eyes before pressing a kiss to my lips. “Let me brush my beard out. Someone tangled it all up while he was napping.”

“I cannot be responsible for what I do in my sleep. Especially after I come my brains out!” I also couldn’t help that his beard was long and sexy and ridiculously soft. My fingers naturally found it while I was sleeping, or really any time I could get close enough to him to touch it.

“I’m going to start wearing one of those beard nets the food service guys wear.”

My nose wrinkled. “Eww, no. That is so unsexy.”

He came out of the bathroom with a freshly combed beard, and I could see that he’d also brushed his hair. I’d always found Easton irresistible. In college, it had been his wild red hair and piercing blue eyes. His confidence and self-assuredness had drawn me to him like a moth to a flame. He’d been everything I’d wanted to be, and he’d had a way of making me feel safe and protected like no one else ever had before or since. Even over his lap or secured to a cross while he flogged or paddled me, I’d felt protected from the world.

Now that he was in his thirties, he was still sexy. His lean muscles had filled out as he’d aged and his patchy facial hair had become a full, sleek beard. I’d found his lean muscles and lack of beard sexy in college but appreciated the new version of him in a very different way. What I’d come to find the most attractive quality of the stunning man he’d become was how his cocky, overly confident personality had mellowed over the years. He was still confident, but the cockiness of young adulthood had been replaced with a compassionate and aware man who realized he wasn’t the center of the universe.

I couldn’t imagine college-aged Easton being as accepting of my quilt as this Easton had been. He definitely wouldn’t have been okay with the way I’d taken to sucking his thumb when I fell asleep. Over the last week, he’d gotten even more comfortable with it, usually placing his thumb at my lips as soon as our heads hit the pillow.

While I hadn’t said as much, I’d never slept better. It was still weird, even to me, but Easton’s acceptance of the weird quirk I’d developed had helped me not worry myself gray over it.

And he never hesitated to show me affection. We hadn’t announced our relationship publicly, though Tom knew, and going to dinner with Easton’s friends was a big step toward coming out. Despite not being open about our relationship yet, he was still willing to hold my hand, wait for me to finish at work, and help me with my coat as I left my office. The little things he did continued to have him burrowing deeper and deeper into my heart, not that he’d ever left.

Easton straightened his shirt and brushed a few imaginary flakes off the soft cotton. “Okay, I’m ready.” With that, he headed straight toward the front door and held it open for me.

I stopped us before we walked out. “Should we take something? Like a bottle of wine or champagne?”

Easton blinked at me in confusion. “Um, first, I don’t have a bottle of either of those on hand. I just moved and left my wine with one of my teammate’s wives. Second, I can’t think of a time I’ve seen Trevor or Brax drink wine at home, with the exception of popping a bottle of champagne for New Year’s. And third, Brax told me he ordered some pizzas and wings from one of the local places.”

My face scrunched in distaste at the combination of pizza, wings, and wine. “Yeah, that doesn’t sound like such a great combination.”

“It’s really not.” We headed down the driveway on our way to his friends’ house. Between Easton and Tom, I felt like I already knew Brax and Trevor, so I was excited to actually meet the men so important to both the team’s coaches. “Oh!” Easton angled his body to look at me but kept the same walking pace. “Trevor told me he invited one of their friends. He thought you might like to meet him.”

I knew my face pinched in confusion. “Oh? Who is it?”

Easton shrugged. “I don’t know. He didn’t volunteer the information and I didn’t ask. Trev definitely sounded like he knew the guy well.”

I couldn’t do much more than nod.

“If Brax is cool with him being in their house, I promise you he’s good people.” The statement felt strange, but I also knew some people were highly private about their lives and picky with who they wanted to let into their homes.

I didn’t have time to think more about it because we passed a guy jogging who waved to Easton and called a greeting as he passed. Easton never let go of my hand but raised his other and returned the hello. “That’s Yuri. He’s the goalie for the Grizzlies.”

We didn’t make it four houses before someone else waved to Easton. By the time we’d passed the fourth person who he’d introduced as a Grizzlies player, I finally had to ask. “Um, why does everyone in this neighborhood play for the Grizzlies?”

He laughed. “It’s not everyone in the neighborhood but a lot of the guys live here. It’s close to the arena but also close to the airstrip the Grizzlies use. It’s also outside of the major traffic snarls that come with living downtown.” He elbowed me as he said the last sentence.

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