Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77051 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77051 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“We gonna keep Whitt in the hot seat all night here, or are y’all about done?” Tucker asked as he draped an arm around my shoulder.
“We’re done,” Ramsey said, twining his hand with Garrett’s below the table just as Garrett opened his mouth to speak. He clamped it shut as Ramsey studied me. He had a piercing gaze and an air of authority about him I’d always admired. “Tucker’s family to us, so we’re a little protective.”
“He’s family to me, too,” I confessed. “Probably more than my own.”
Tucker pressed a brief kiss along my jaw, and Cullen reached for another beer, condensation dripping on the table as he waved the bottom of it at us. “Great. Can we proceed with the drinking now that we’ve had this touching Lifetime movie moment? I’m trying to drown my sorrows, and you’re all fucking it up.”
“Told you there’d be no bodily harm,” Tucker said as we walked back to my car a couple of hours later, our arms draped loosely around each other. Not having to hide anymore was one of the nice things to come out of all of this, and I wasn’t taking it for granted. “At least not by them. Now, when we get to your place, there are no guarantees.”
I pulled him closer, smearing a messy kiss over his lips before clicking my key fob to unlock the car. “Actually, after all of that, I think you should be the one giving me two blowjobs tonight. That was almost as nerve-racking as the fucking NFL’s inquiry. Almost.” There had been some awkward pauses and some touchy moments, but even Garrett had mellowed enough over the course of the night that he gave me a short hug when we left.
Tucker grinned and smacked me on the ass. “I think I can manage that. We’ll see if you can, though.”
“Psht. Try me.”
24
TUCKER
The Royals had a Christmas game this season, and when I discussed it with Mom, she decided to change our family holiday to a day earlier in the week so we could both make it. The trip would be short, but then everything during the season was outside of football. I had stayed in LA with him during my bye week, and Patrick had stayed in Denver during his, and even though there was travel for whichever of us was still playing, it was nice to come home to each other.
“I feel weird that your family is rearranging Christmas for me. How is that fair to everyone else?” he asked while we were in the car heading to Mom’s from the airport.
“They’ve done it for me before in the past. That’s what you have to do when you love a football player.”
“Yeah, but you’re family.” He shifted in his seat, and it still amazed me that I got to see him this way, that Patrick was comfortable enough with me to be himself, to be real rather than wear the façade he used to keep firmly in place.
“True…but like I’ve said, you’re mine now. That means you’re family, too.”
“Fuck.” He palmed his dick, adjusting it, which made a laugh jump out of my mouth.
“Are you getting hard just from that?”
“I can’t help it. You know it gets me going when you call me yours.”
“Mine, mine, mine, mine,” I teased, but he just rolled his eyes, looking out of the window with a small smile on his lips. I wanted this to be the best Christmas Patrick Whitt had ever had.
When we pulled up at the house, there were four anxious women standing on the porch waiting for us.
I put the car in park, my heart thumping in my chest because I loved being with my family, and I loved the idea of it even more with Patrick being here.
“Is it too late to change our minds?”
“You don’t want to change your mind. It’s okay to be happy about this, baby.”
He nodded, voice low and smooth like high-priced whiskey when he said, “Thank you. For this. For everything.”
I snickered. “You might not be saying that when you meet my family.”
“If they’re anything like you, I know what I’m in for.”
I barked out a laugh and gave him a playful “Thanks, baby” before opening the door.
“There’s my boy,” Mama said when I got to the front of the rental, immediately pulling me into her arms.
“She likes Malik more than the rest of us,” I heard Kayla tell Patrick.
“Can you blame her?” I asked before getting swatted on the back of the head by Zuri. “Ouch. Shit. Y’all are mean. No wonder she likes me more.”
Everyone laughed as I hugged my sisters, then introduced the group of them. They all hugged him as they did me, only without the shit-talking and acts of violence. Savanna and Zuri stood on either side of Patrick, hooking an arm through his and leading him inside. He glanced at me over his shoulder, and I just gave him a grin, glad they were taking such an interest in him. He deserved that.