“Oh, shit, come here.” Grabbing Grey’s hand, I led him toward the hallway to the bedrooms. “Right this way.” I’d never seen Grey’s place in Ithaca, but I knew he’d lived alone in a two-bedroom apartment. We had to stop thinking of him as the rich kid and start treating him like one of us, because that’s who he was.
As I reached the primary bedroom, a larger room with two closets tucked into the wall, an en-suite bathroom and sliding glass doors opening to the backyard, I freed his hand. “This is your room.”
“Cool.” Rubbing his palms together, he paced the room and slowly nodded, a grin forming on his lips. “I like it. I’ll put my dresser there.” He pointed at the wall just inside the door. “And my bed will go along this wall, allowing a view of the yard.” He strolled to the wall next to the patio doors and peered outside, where flowering desert plants sprouted in various places along the masonry wall with a large willow tree centering everything and providing much-needed shade.
The movers entered the room, rolling the boxes in. “Where should we leave these?”
“Just…stack them by the wall there.” Grey waved at the empty wall between the closets.
“I’ll leave you to it. Let me know if you need anything.” I squeezed his forearm and tapped the wall as I stopped inside the doorway. “Like a beer?” I wagged my brows.
“I will definitely need a beer once I get my boxes unpacked.” Scanning the boxes as the movers stacked them, he rubbed his brow.
“Sure.” I returned to the main room, spotting Tex sitting on a corner of the sectional, flipping through the sports channels on the television resting on a console at the far wall.
“Well?” I dropped in next to him. “What do you think?” First impressions were important.
“He seems like a good guy. Fucking rich boy though, damn.” He halted the television on ESPN, where a couple of talking heads reviewed the picks from last season’s draft.
“Yeah, but he’s also down to earth. You’ll see.” Twisting my lips, I said, “I think we should take him to Four-One-Four Pizza tonight and get him acquainted with the scene on Mill Avenue.” I studied him. “What do you think?”
With a shrug, he said, “Sure, I enjoy that place.” He smirked. “How’s Grey’s karaoke?”
“Uh…I’ve never seen him sing karaoke.” I chuckled and patted his knee. “But maybe tonight will be a first.” The first of many, maybe? I watched the movers leave the house. Grey must be unpacking those boxes already.
Shifting toward me, he said, “So, tell me what sort of things you’ve done with Grey?”
“Well, at football camp there were many late-night talks, you know, fantasizing about a life in the NFL and all that. Then we’ve been on tons of vacations together. He’s visited my family in New Mexico, and I was in?—”
“I know, New York for Spring Break. But what do youdowhen you’re together?” He narrowed his eyes at me. “Are you the cruising-for-females type?”
I stared at him for a moment. Did he wonder how the climate of the house would change with Grey in it? “Sometimes.” Shit, should I tell him? He’d understand. With my cheeks heating, I leaned in close and said, “We’ve had a few threesomes.”
“You what?” He barked out a laugh. “So, he’s not straight?”
“No, shh, keep your voice down.” I waved my hand at him. “He’s straight. There was no sword crossing. We just both, uh, pleasured the same woman.” I bit my lower lip. Fuck, I’d gotten off watching him, though, hadn’t I? I mean, I was bisexual, so the experience was a double turn-on for me.
“Like, how?” Dropping his mouth open, he eyed me.
“Like, while he fucked her, she gave me a blow job.” Shit, maybe I should have kept my mouth shut. But I was in it now. “Or, while I went down on her, he got a blow job from her, you know, shit like that.”
“No, I don’t know. I’ve never been with a woman.” He crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. “Okay, I’ve been with two guys, and it was sorta like that.”
“Yeah, so see? No swords crossed.” I glanced at the hallway to the bedrooms while the movers walked in with Grey’s mattress. “He’s not queer. He’s just open-minded, okay?”
“You’ve seen him come.” His brows quirked while his mouth curled at one corner. “Did you like it?”
My eyes popped open. Of course, he’d think of that. “Sure, why not?” Where was he going with this? “Dude, we’re just friends.” I huffed a laugh. “Fine, maybe there are some benefits, but we don’t fool around with each other. There’s a boundary.”
“Boundaries can go to shit sometimes, just sayin’.” He snickered. “And he’s a damn good-looking guy and you’re queer.”
“Stop it. It’s not like that.” I gave him a playful slap on the shoulder. “I’d never jeopardize our friendship.”
Grey strolled from the hallway and planted his hands on his hips. “I’ve got my closet mostly unpacked. Where’s the beer?”
“Oh, let me get you one.” I hopped off the couch, gave Tex a pointed look, and jogged into the kitchen. Tex better not breathe a word of this conversation to Grey.
Grey followed me and set his hand on my shoulder while I pulled two canned beers from the refrigerator. “It’s already feeling comfortable here.”