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Carter cut in as I finished stumbling over my words. “I want to make it clear that any kind of backlash, or homophobic slurs, or any behaviour that gives Preston cause for concern will not be tolerated. You have any issue, you come to me. Okay?” He stared at the players in front of us, and from my other side I felt Kian, broody and intimidating, his hard gaze daring anyone to have an issue with me.
My teammate Ben caught my eye. “I’m only concerned with the fact that Preston still refers to football as ‘soccer.’” He gave me a friendly wink, smiling, and I returned his smile hesitantly. With that, the tension in the room was broken, and I could breathe again.
“Proud of you.” Kian’s hand brushed over my back in a light, fleeting touch, as he murmured low in my ear. “You okay?” he asked in a slightly louder voice.
“Yeah. Yeah, I am.” I was surprised to find that I meant it.
There had been some ribbing, as expected, and I had noticed a few of the guys making a point to stay away from me, particularly in the locker room, but on the whole, I couldn’t have asked for more. It was a weight off my mind, and I felt so much lighter. My only regret was that I hadn’t said anything sooner.
My phone sounded, Kian’s nickname appearing on the screen.
Delinquent: Should I take out my lip ring?
Me: NO. Why would you?
Delinquent: Want to make a good impression
Me: Just be yourself and they’ll love you
Delinquent: Is it too late to change my mind?
Me: It’s going to be fine. Promise
He didn’t reply, but fifteen minutes later, there was a knock at the front door. I’d already instructed my mom to let me answer it, and when I threw it open, I found Kian on the front step, chewing on his lip ring, with a bunch of flowers in fall colours clasped in his hands.
The temperature rose about thirty degrees as I drank him in. Man, he was so damn hot. He’d styled his usually messy hair, and he had on black jeans and a collared deep green shirt that made his eyes look brighter and even more striking than usual, fringed by his dark lashes.
I swallowed hard, willing my dick not to react to him, because…my parents were here.
“Aww, you brought me flowers,” I teased, because if I didn’t do something to break the tension, I was likely to maul him in the hallway.
“Funny.” His tone was dry, but I could hear the shake in his voice that he was trying to hide. My stomach did that flipping thing that it kept doing when he was around, and I moved closer.
“I’m trying to get my mind off the fact that I want to get you naked, right here with my mom and dad in the next room.” I trailed my lips across his ear, and he shuddered.
“You’d better stop that right now, Golden Boy. I can’t meet your parents with a hard-on.”
I heard the desperation in his voice, and I winced. “Sorry. You drive me crazy. The way you look right now…” Composing myself, I took a conscious step back and met his eyes. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“You didn’t.” He blew out a heavy breath. “I’m just really fucking nervous, and I want it to go well. I’ve never met anyone’s parents before. I mean, not as the new boyfriend.”
“Never?”
He shook his head, and I ran my hand down his arm reassuringly. “I promise they’ll love you.” We headed into the kitchen, where my mom was putting the finishing touches to the salad she was making to go with the lasagne cooling on the side of the stove. She looked up as we entered, a warm smile spreading across her face.
“You must be Kian.” She rounded the counter towards us, and Kian handed her the flowers, giving her a nervous smile that made me step closer to him, needing to reassure him that everything was going to be okay. “Oh, my. Flowers. And such beautiful colours, too.” Taking the bouquet, her smile grew wider, and Kian relaxed, his shoulders losing their stiffness.
He licked his lips, then cleared his throat. “Thank you for having me.”
Surprising him, she stepped forwards, placing the flowers down and pulling him into a hug. “You’re more than welcome. I’m so happy to finally meet the boy my son won’t stop talking about.”
“Mom.” I groaned as she released Kian, before returning her attention to the flowers.
As she shooed us away, I pretended to ignore the smirk he tossed my way as he leaned close to me, lowering his voice. “Won’t s
top talking about me, hey?”
“Shut up.”
