Page 132 of Cheap Shot

“Weknow,” Rafe said drily. “Mickey and I heard you last night. I didn’t even know you had anyone over.”

“Oh, I was doing a video chat,” Tanner said, glancing away.

“Rafe, you’re up next,” Thad called out.

Rafe hustled over to the backdrop, grinning as he was handed two kittens. An orange-striped kitten crawled up his shoulder and the tortoiseshell one immediately leaped out of his hand, running over and climbing up Thad’s legs, nearly making him drop his expensive camera.

Luke shook his head and continued to strip down. Fuckin’ A. Was any of their salary really high enough to put up with this shit? Thad’s certainly wasn’t.

“I’m so fucking bummed we can’t have pets in our building,” Tanner said with a sigh. “Totallyunfair.”

“How would you even take care of it when we’re on the road so much?” Luke asked.

“I dunno. There’re pet sitters and stuff,” Tanner pointed out.

“There’s an old lady down the hall who takes care of my dog,” Graham offered. “If you want it bad enough, there are ways to make it work. Even when we travel all the time.”

Tanner glanced at Luke. “What about your girlfriend? Couldn’t she take care of it?”

Luke stared blankly at Tanner. “Whatgirlfriend?”

“I dunno. The woman you’re dating,” Tanner said with a shrug. “C’mon, you’re totally seeing someone. Stop lying about it already.”

“I’m not dating a woman!” Luke protested.

He was doingsomethingwith Sebastian though and they probably needed to figure out exactly what that was.

“We didn’thaveto have sex,” Sebastian said with a frown later that week as he handed the ice pack over to Luke, who lay on the tangled sheets of his bed, flushed and sweaty.

“Thanks. And it’s fine. Just being cautious,” Luke said as he slid the ice pack under his lower back with a groan, then held out an arm.

Sebastian slid back into bed, settling beside him. Luke Crawford being a post-sex cuddler took him by surprise every time. Who’d’ve thought?

They hadn’t really nailed down what they were doing or how they felt about each other yet but by God had they figured out shit in bed. The hate sex had been hot, but somehow, it felt like they’d leveled up since they’d admitted they cared about each other.

They’d somehow added a layer of emotional depth without getting rid of any of the explosive heat.

“Hey, when did you upgrade from the bag of peas, anyway?” Luke asked after a few minutes of contented post-sex silence.

“After the last time you needed one.”

“Yeah?”

Honestly, Sebastian was surprised Luke had even come over tonight at all. He’d tweaked his back in a game the other night and was day-to-day until it healed. Sebastian hadn’t minded doing all the work when they’d had sex tonight, but he would have understood if Luke wasn’t feeling up to it.

Not that he was complaining.

“Well,” Sebastian pointed out. “Iama runner. Sometimes I need to ice shit too.”

“So it wasn’t for me?” Luke asked with a lift of his eyebrow.

“It wasn’tnotfor you,” Sebastian admitted.

Luke chuckled. “Appreciate it.”

“How’s your back feeling?” Sebastian asked, propping his chin on Luke’s chest.

With a shrug, Luke reached up, trailing his fingers across Sebastian’s shoulders. “Like I’m a thirty-four-year-old hockey player.”