Then, we realize Tahegin’s bedroom is upstairs. He starts to argue that he can use the crutches to go up to the second floor, but Aleks and I quickly shoot him down. Instead, we spend the next half hour or more bringing Tahegin’s too-expensive and too-heavy mattress down the stairs to set it up in the living room. We also set up a gaming console for him so he’ll have something to occupy his downtime. Finally, we get him settled in a pallet on his mattress on the living room floor with anything he can ever ask for—too many blankets, every remote and charger in the house, snacks, water, and books. We set him up so he can lean against the base of the couch, and he sits there with his head tipped back on the cushion, staring at nothing in particular on the ceiling.
Aleks pulls me to the foyer to speak in a hushed tone. “I’d stay, but I don’t think he wants both of us to hover. As much as I want to claim the spot beside him, I know the hierarchy here. You’ve earned that place.”
“The . . .” I feel my brows furrow in confusion. “What?”
“Don’t even try to play dumb. I know you two are more than friends.”
“He—”
“He didn’t have to tell me anything,” he cuts me off, somehow knowing what I was going to say. I’m glad he does too because I don’t think I’d be able to say “we’re just friends.” Tahegin deserves better than that. “It’s clear to both Micah and me, and don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone until you’re ready for people to know.”
I stare at him.
Aleks continues. “Okay. That being said, you stay here with him. If you need to switch out, call me, and I will be here. Fair warning, if he starts to smell, I will put him in the shower, so if you have an issue with me seeing your man’s bare bits, you do it before I have to, all right?”
I frown. I haven’t thought that far ahead, but surely Tahegin can clean himself, right? Well, maybe he won’t be able to reach below midthigh without stretching his injured leg. He’d make do. Wouldn’t he? Otherwise, I’ll have to help him. Or Aleks. As his best friend, Aleks would probably be chill about seeing Tahegin naked, but as Tahegin’s boyfriend, it should be me caring for him. The thought makes me nervous because while I love everything we’ve done together so far, what if I freeze up when I come face to bare dick with him?
Patting my shoulder, Aleks shoots me a sympathetic look. “I’ll let you figure that out, buddy. Good luck.” He turns, opens the door to leave, and takes one step before looking back at me with an odd expression. “Hey, man. Do us all a favor and watch some damn gay porn, okay?” With that last bit of wisdom, he’s gone.
I take a minute to stand in the foyer and think over what he said, but I’m still reeling when I eventually make my back into the living room.
Tahegin is sitting there, smiling at something on his phone, and when he glances at me, it’s clear to see how easily he reads me like a book. “What’s wrong?” he asks, smile fading as he sets his phone aside. “What did Kiss say?” Of course he knows Aleks said something to make me freak the fuck out.
“It’s not his fault, exactly. He just . . . mentioned something.”
“Tell me.”
Pausing at the edge of his mattress, I sink to my knees on the padded surface. “It’s nothing,” I murmur, reaching out to hold his face, sweeping my thumb across his cheekbone. “How are you feeling?”
He leans into my palm, closing his eyes and giving a tiny shrug. “Fine, all things considered. Leg hurts a bit, and I feel kind of gross sitting in my bed—well, on my mattress—in my practice gear.”
“I can bring you some fresh clothes. Do you want to shower?” I ask and find that I’m grateful this came about authentically instead of me telling him what Aleks said. This way, everything we decide from here on out is because of us and not Aleks. My gaze flickers to the hallway, where I assume his guest rooms are since I’ve never been down that way. The few times I stayed over, before we became an item, I stayed in an upstairs guest room because he said— “Shit. Didn’t you say there are only half baths down here?”
Eyes wide, Tahegin looks at me, his body incredibly still. “Uh . . . no. I don’t think so.”
I distinctly remember him telling me that information. “You did. The first night I stayed here after my old car wouldn’t start, you told me to stay in the upstairs guest room because these down here are all half baths.”
“Hmm, no.” He fidgets with the hem of his practice jersey and now refuses to meet my eyes. “I don’t recall saying that . . . Strange. What a mix-up, huh? Haha.”
My eyes narrow on him. I have never seen someone look so fucking guilty before. “You lied, didn’t you?”
“What?” He sputters. “No.”
“T.”
“Rix,” he responds, voice tight. The admission is on the tip of his tongue, so clearly written in his falsely confused slash pained expression. “I don’t . . . I have no idea what you—”
“Tahegin.”
“Okay, fine! Yes! I lied because I wanted you to stay upstairs closer to me. Why? Because I have been a total simp for you since the first glare you shot me during tryouts. You did it. You discovered my dirty little white lie. Congrats. Now, can I please wash off the stink of practice?”
I blink at him once. Twice. Silence fills the air between us until I say, “Since day one, huh?” My tone is the cockiest it’s ever been, and I love that Tahegin can pull this playful side out of me.
“Shut up,” he grumbles like a petulant child.
I swear I can see his bronze cheeks darken, and I can’t stop myself from pouncing forward to grip his blush-warm face in my hands, planting a kiss right on his full lips. “It’s cute, T,” I say softly against his mouth. “Besides, if anyone is the simp here, it’s the ‘straight’ guy who’s fallen for you.” The words hit me at the same time they hit him, and we both freeze. Our faces drift apart but stay close as his wide blue eyes meet my equally large ones.
“Hendrix,” he whispers as chills creep down my arms. “You—”
“Falling,” I quickly correct. My thumbs sweep across his cheeks, then his bottom lip. “I just meant—I haven’t ever been interested in anyone, man or woman, the way you interest me. You’ve captivated me, Tahegin. You are the most attractive person—inside and out—that I have ever had the pleasure to know. I like you so much, and maybe I am falling for you, and maybe I can see myself loving you. I really, really hope you feel the same.”
He presses a kiss to the pad of my thumb, and when he blinks up at me, his sapphire eyes are glossier than usual. “I do, Rix.”
I chuckle with relief, and Tahegin darts up to nip at the tip of my nose. The affectionate move makes me falter, and it’s my turn to blush. “Tahegin,” I complain and rub at my nose despite no physical injury having come to it—only wounded manly pride. That move is something a parent would do to an adorable kid, not one grown-ass man to another, especially when one is about to be stripping the other for a shower.
He just shrugs. “Sorry. You’re too cute to resist.”
“Grown men aren’t cute,” I argue.
Tahegin falls into a fit of heavy coughing, waving his hand in front of his face as if smelling something unpleasant. “I need a gas mask,” he wheezes. “I can’t breathe through all this toxic masculinity.”
Rolling my eyes, I shove his shoulder and climb off the bed. “Fuck off.”
“Oh, you mad?”
I stay silent because I’m not mad, and he knows it, despite the fact that a little over six months ago, I detested every word out of his mouth, even if it wasn’t directed at me. “Come on,” I mutter, holding my arms out to help him up. “Let’s get you naked.”
His grin is absurdly wide as he clasps my hands and exclaims, “Say less.”
