Page 138 of The Risk Taker

Because holy shit. He actually did it.

He kissed me in front of everyone.

And I think my heart might explode.

“What the fuck?” Austin’s voice breaks through again.

I glance over at him, letting out a laugh when I see he’s fully naked and dripping water everywhere. His eyes are wide, and his mouth is parted open.

“Are you two—did you—what?” he asks, shaking his head. “Are you serious? You two? When the hell did this happen? I live with you! What the fuck!”

I huff out a laugh, unable to help myself. “Dude. I literally asked you to switch rooms on our away game,” I remind him, arching a brow. “You had to know.”

He just stares at me, his gaze drifting somewhere past me like he’s replaying the whole thing in his head. The night I asked him to switch rooms—no questions asked—and him agreeing. I figured at the time he’d put two and two together and decided to keep his mouth shut.

“I thought you guys were just… finally bonding,” he says, brows tugging together.

I laugh again and hook my pinky with Nathan’s. “We were,” I say, shooting Nathan a teasing smirk.

He lets out a chuckle, his smile wide, bright, and so fucking beautiful it steals the air from my lungs. The look on his face makes me feel like I won something. He looks proud, smug… happy.

Ryan blinks at us slowly, still trying to piece together the math. “How long has this been going on?” he asks.

Nathan’s hand slides into mine, our fingers threading together. “I’ve had feelings for him for a long time,” he tells the guys, making my heart do fucking somersaults in my chest. “I just didn’t want to admit it to myself.”

Austin lets out a long breath and smacks Nathan on the shoulder, completely undeterred by the fact that he’s very much still naked.

“This explains why you’ve been playing better,” he says with a grin. “You finally got laid.”

Nathan flushes instantly. “Jesus, Austin,” he mutters, shoving him off. “Put some fucking clothes on before you touch me.”

Austin just cackles and struts off toward the showers and all I can do is stare at Nathan.

Because I know this was terrifying for him. I know how long it took to get here. But now he’s standing next to me in the middle of the locker room, still holding my hand. And I’ve never wanted to kiss him more.

“I mean…” I lift a shoulder, flashing him a grin. “He’s not wrong.”

Nathan shoots me a glare—which, for us, is basically flirting.

“I can honestly say I didn’t see this coming,” Ryan says, glancing between Nathan and me. “But I’m really happy for you guys.”

Nathan glances at me, and he exhales, like a weight has been lifted off his shoulder. It hits me right in the chest. “Yeah,” he says, holding my gaze. “Me too.”

My chest kind of hurts from how good it feels. The guys are all fine with it—I assume they would be, since they all know I’m bi and have never had an issue with me—and we no longer have to hide.

I’m so happy right now… until Miles ruins it.

“So, uh…” he says, from the other side of the locker room, his lips twitching into a smirk. “Which one of you tops?”

I don’t even have time to answer because Cole reaches out and smacks Miles across the back of the head.

“Ow,” Miles grunts, spinning around to glare at Cole. “What the hell, man?”

“You’re a fucking idiot,” Cole mutters, already turning away like the conversation bores him.

His eyes find mine and he just nods. I nod back, silently thanking him for not telling anyone and also assuring him I won’t go blabbing about his secret. He drops onto the bench and starts yanking off his pads.

Everyone’s mostly back to doing their own thing now so I glance at Nathan beside me and bump his shoulder with mine. “Hey,” I murmur. “You okay?”