He did it.“Grey?” As my heart leapt, I shook his shoulder. “Are you signing with Dennis?”
“Just a minute. My excitable boyfriend is going crazy on me.” He set the call on mute and said, “Yes, I’m signing with him. He says a few teams have shown interest in me.”
“Oh, my fucking God, Grey. We’re doing this!” With a squeal, I jumped from my chair.
“What the hell is going on out here?” Tex strode in from the hallway. “Some of us need to study.”
Grey unmuted the phone. “Hey, I have to go. You have my verbal agreement, and I’ll send you my email.” He nodded. “Thanks, bye.”
I raced to Tex, grabbed his hands and jumped up and down. “Grey has Dennis fucking Brenner for an agent.”
“Seriously?” Tex whooped and jumped with me. “Best news I’ve heard all day.”
Grey joined us, hopping and grabbing our hands. “We’re headed to the draft, baby!”
A few days before Christmas,we’d flown into Santa Fe airport, and Landon picked us up in Mom’s Mercedes SUV. A smattering of snow sat in patches on the ground, glistening in the afternoon sunshine, and as we drove through town, the familiar adobe-style buildings came into view, some with snow-capped parapets and wooden vigas. Beyond the city, the peaks of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains rose, covered in white.
“How did your finals go?” I patted my brother’s arm as he drove and then peeked into the back seat at Grey, a contented smile on his face. It was wonderful having him here with me.
“Great.” Landon turned onto the street for the family home.
My brother was not always a talkative guy. “What university do you want to attend?” I gazed out the window at the pinyon pines and desert willows in the front yards as we passed. All the homes along our street were similar, sprawling one-story adobe style, with courtyards and wooden gates.
“I’m hoping a scholarship comes through for Stanford or UC Berkeley.” Lanson drove onto the circular driveway at our home. “But we’ll see.” He stopped the car and shut off the engine.
“Those are great schools. What do you want to study?” Grey stepped out of the SUV.
After hopping out of the car, Landon said, “Law. Mom inspired me.” With a smirk, he strolled toward the old wooden door, painted turquoise and leading to the front patio, surrounded by irregular masonry walls made to imitate the mud that a real adobe would have.
“Your mom’s an inspiring person.” Grey opened the tailgate of the SUV and grabbed his bag from the back.
I stepped beside him. “She is.” Pushing the button on the tailgate, I closed it and rolled my luggage through the open doorway. “I’ll bet with her connections, Landon will work as a prosecutor right along with her.” My gaze raked over the colorful Mexican pots filled with hearty-looking green plants, resting on flagstone.
Stopping at the open door to the house, I grabbed his hand. “Mi casa es tu casa.” I kissed his cheek and led him inside.
We strolled over Saltillo tile and past hand-hewn wooden columns decorated with pine tree boughs, red bows and lights and into the main room of the house, connected to the open kitchen. “Hey, Mom, we’re home.” Two sets of sliding doors opened onto a long, covered patio and the backyard, and before it stood a tall Christmas tree decorated in red, green and gold.
Mom sat on a leather sofa, reading on her iPad. “Oh, I thought I heard something.” With a quick laugh, she set her iPad onto a cushion, hopped from the couch and strolled to us, her sweater hanging past the top of her jeans. “It’s so good to have you both home.” She hugged me and kissed my cheek and then did the same with Grey. “Why don’t you unpack and then meet me and your father for a hot apple cider on the patio?” She wagged her brows. “I’ll put some dark rum in it.”
“Oh, hell yes.” With a glance at Grey, I tilted my head toward the hallway leading to the bedrooms. “Come on.”
He followed me to my room and stepped inside behind me. “You know, I’ve never stayed in your room before.” He set his bag on my old bed and unzipped it. “This place always looks the same.” He ran his finger along the bedspread. “It’s cozy and charming, the complete opposite of where I grew up.” He unpacked his toiletries bag and set it alongside the sink in the en-suite bathroom.
“Yeah, well, we can make our own home however you want after we get our contracts.” I moved clothing from my bag to a drawer in the long dresser at the foot of the bed. “You can use the drawers on the other side.”
“Thanks.” He grabbed clothing. “How will this work if we’re playing for teams at opposite ends of the country?” He put his clothes in a drawer.
With a shrug, I said, “I’ve heard a lot of players have a central location they call home and rent a small place by the team facilities.” I glanced at him as I brought my toiletries into the bathroom. “It’s not like the NFL season is year-round.”
“Where would you like to call home, Malik?” He zipped his suitcase, stood it in the corner and then strolled to me. As he wrapped his arms around me from behind, he nuzzled the back of my ear. “Because my home is wherever you are.”
A shiver played down my side, and I placed my hand on his cheek. “Let’s see where we land and pick a spot in the middle.” I twisted in his hold and threw my arms around his neck. “I don’t care either, as long as we’re together.” He’d been talking a lot about our future lately, one in which we were a domestic couple, living together, picking out furniture, and such. I loved it. I pressed a lingering kiss on his mouth, and he deepened it, sliding his tongue against mine.
With his lips brushing my mouth, he said, “I can’t wait to have you later.” He rubbed his nose against mine. “I brought lube.”
“Yeah? So did I.” I chuckled and pressed my plump cock against his. “We'd better not start now, though. My mom and dad are waiting for us.”
“Yeah.” With a sigh, he freed me, snatched my hand and led me to the patio doors in the main room. After sliding the door open, he greeted my father and sat at our resin wicker dining table.