Page 30 of Floored By Love

“I’m sure they’ll come around eventually. I might’ve been the first openly gay person they’ve actually talked to. We don’t know. And like you said, at least you’d likely have Madison on your side. Your mother seemed displeased with what they said too.”

“Displeased ain’t the right word. I could tell she was fixin’ to throw somethin’ at Daddy. The restaurant actually asked us to leave after you left.”

“Really?”

Colton nodded. “Yeah. The walk back to their hotel was awkward as fuck. Nobody said much.”

“Well, how did you leave things?”

“Everyone gave me a hug, and they said the normal ‘Happy to be here’ and ‘Good luck with training’ and all that. I told ‘em before I left that they weren’t in Texas anymore. People from all over the world were here, and these people were literally the best in whatever sport they’re here for. Three of my teammates, the best male gymnasts from the United States, were gay and it shouldn’t matter to anyone, including them.”

“You said all that?!” I pulled him in for another hug. “I’m so proud of you. What’d they say?”

“My daddy was all business, ‘Of course, son,’” he said, imitating his gruffness, “but Beau was weird about it and just nodded. My momma and Mads both gave me another hug.”

“That is great! We should celebrate!”

“Ugh. I’m beat, Cam Cam. Can we just snuggle and watch a movie here?” he asked, kicking off his shoes.

“Of course. I’m kind of already dressed for it,” I replied, happy to stay in my pjs. I smiled at his use of my nickname. He stole it from my mom, and only someone with his level of charm could convince her to let him use it. “You want anything from the fridge? What are we watching?”

“Sure, I’ll take a Gatorade. And I was gonna see what they have on-demand. You mind if I get comfy?”

I closed the fridge, two bottles in my hands. “How comfy?”

“Was gonna copy you. Like the ole days.”

“The old days? You mean like two years ago?”

“Well, yeah,” he answered, pushing his pants off.

“Is that a- Is that a thong?”

“What?” he asked, looking over his shoulder. “It’s my confidence thong. Thought I could use it.” He winked at me and walked over to his dresser, unbuttoning his shirt.

“Well, it’s giving me a lot of confidence,” I teased and plopped myself on the couch. I couldn’t help but sneak glances over at Colton.

“You like what you see, sugar?”

“How could you possibly know I was looking?”

“It’s a great ass. Who wouldn’t look?”

I huffed and grabbed the remote from the table. Truthfully, I was glad he seemed to be cheerful after what happened. I was hoping it wasn’t a facade. Since he was still dressing, it was up to me to make the perfect choice.

A minute later, Colton shut the light in the living room off and practically jumped on the couch next to me. He was wearing some white cotton boxers and a cropped football jersey that he found on eBay a few months back. It was a Tampa Bay Thunder jersey. He said it made him feel sexy, like he was on the team. To be honest, it was his abs that made it sexy. But it made it clear he was head over heels for Zephyrus.

He spread his lanky frame on his side of the couch and dropped his head in my lap. My hand automatically went to his chest. Early in our friendship, we both discovered we were pretty touch-oriented guys. But even with that one evening of penile exploration, we had kept our touching platonic since.

“What’d you find for us?”

“How about Clue?”

“Haven’t seen it.”

“What?! Oh my god, we’re watching it then. It’s amazing.”

“Okay.” He glanced up at me. “I trust you.”