Could someone be terrible and fucking awesome at this at the exact same time?
Ramsey just nudged him, shooting him a brilliant, private smile. “Yeah, you do.”
Yeah, he did.
“I thought—” What he’dactuallythought was that Ramsey had lied to him. Had been in on the joke and the only onestanding on the outside was Nate. Like he’d wanted and wanted andwanted,but Ramsey had been perfectly okay just walking right out the door. But Nate couldn’t say any of that. “I thought I wanted to know him and he wasn’t going to let me,” he finally said.
Ramsey’s expression softened. “Back then I definitely wasn’t going to.”
Was he talking about June? Or was he talking about when they’d met again? Was it the truth? Was it a lie? With Ramsey, it was impossible to know.
But Ramsey wasn’t done. “But now?” He shot Nate a smile that Nate would believe, one hundred out of one hundred times, wasreal. “Now I want to let you.”
Nate’s throat tightened. He couldn’t come up with a lie fast enough. So he just tugged Ramsey in even closer, his arm settling around Ramsey’s waist, like it belonged there.
Ramsey tipped his head up, and Nate didn’t know if he was the worst actor in the world, or the best.
“Aw, you two are disgusting and adorable. Itoldyou,” Dawson said, nudging Cam. “I feel like you owe me at least three dinners for arguing with me.”
“Me?” Cam just laughed. “Itoldyou, but you said they just wanted to get each other into bed.”
Ramsey’s hand slid up his back. “Maybe we did,” he teased. Tucked his head half into Nate’s chest. They’d agreed on casual touching, but this felt a lot more than just casual.
Purposeful, and not just because Dawson and Cam and a dozen of his teammates were watching.
“Hey, you two,” Aidan said, calling over. “Stop flirting and come over here. You’re both up in the next round.”
“Oh, is this actually a serious tournament?” Nate asked. Somehow his hand had ended up tangled up in Ramsey’s. They’d done that before, just the two of them, but it felt likemorenow,meaningful to be doing it in front of everyone, in a way that it hadn’t before.
Aidan just shrugged. “What’s serious?”
But Levi nudged him, laughing with delight. “This is Aidan. Does he know how to do things that aren’t serious? He made a whole chart and there’s a ranking and everything. Seeding, even.”
“Where’d you put me?” Nate asked, not surprised in the least.
“On the bottom,” Aidan said primly, and Nate spluttered.
“Feels unfair,” Ramsey murmured, pressing the side of his body against Nate’s. Supportive, that was all it was. But Nate was having trouble believing it.
“You good for playing?” Aidan asked Ramsey.
“Okay if I just watch? Haven’t played in awhile—” He broke off, and Nate knew what he wasn’t saying. He hadn’t played video games since his concussion.
“You can be my lucky charm, baby,” Nate said, glancing down at Ramsey. He told himself it was just a distraction from Ramsey’s admission, but as Ramsey gazed back, Nate wasn’t convinced that was true.
What was even true anymore. Were they doing this to make his teammates and Ramsey’s friends more comfortable? Or were they doing this because theywantedto do this?
“Yeah, he sure can,” Dawson called out. “Gonna give him a good luck kiss too?”
Nate stiffened. That was the one line he couldn’t cross. He already knew he couldn’t. He’d told Ramsey they couldn’t.
But Ramsey was Ramsey, unbelievably quick. Always landing on his feet, like a cat. “Come on,” he said, voice dropping into a seductive purr that made Nate’s tongue thick in his mouth. “I’m gonna give you a really good kiss.”
Nate froze.
Before Nate could protest though, or Ramsey could lean down and actually do it, he was tugging him aside down the hall. Out of sight.
Like whatever good luck kiss Ramsey was gonna give him was gonna be so good he didn’t want anyone else to see.
