Page 51 of Over the Line

“I don’t want to make things weird between you and him on the team.” Regret and resignation filled his voice. “I mean… if we…”

Nodding, I slouched against the counter and put some space between us. “Yeah. And I don’t want to cause problems between you two, either.”

Garrett exhaled, running a hand through his hair. “I’ve already done enough in that department. Probably shouldn’t add to it.”

I was curious about that. Both he and Chris had alluded to a recent estrangement. But now wasn’t the time, and anyway, whatever the issue was between them, I couldn’t imagine it would be helped by me hooking up with Chris’s dad.

“I want this,” he said softly. “I do. I…” He pushed out another breath as he raked his eyes up and down my body. When he met my gaze again, he whispered, “We can be adults about this, can’t we?”

I genuinely didn’t know if he meant we could be adults and walk away, or if we—including Chris—could be adults about Garrett and me pursuing whatever was trying valiantly to happen between us.

But being an adult in this context could also include not letting our baser instincts lead us recklessly into something we’d regret. That didn’t necessarily mean we had to walk away from this, but maybe it meant we shouldn’t rush into it.

“Part of me wants to take you upstairs and dive in head first,” I admitted on a ragged breath. “And part of me wants to pump the brakes because I don’t want to mess anything up. With Chris, and also with…” I gestured at myself, then him. Then I furrowed my brow. “Does that even make sense?”

Garrett’s laugh was soft. “It makes sense to me.” Sobering, he carded his fingers through my hair. “Not gonna lie—that first option sounds seriously tempting. But the second part…” He bit his lip.

“Yeah, it’s…” I swallowed, not sure what to say. When I fidgeted with all this nervous energy, though, a fresh bolt of pain through my hip brought even more reality into sharp focus, and I swore. “I’m, uh… I’m honestly not sure I’m up for much tonight anyway.”

Concern sketched over his face.

Gesturing at myself, I laughed nervously. “Today’s one of those days when this meat carcass is reminding me how much I’ve abused it over the past few decades.”

“It’s that bad?”

“I mean, it’s not terrible? But… it might, uh, hold me back tonight.” I swept my tongue across my lips and added, “More than I want to be held back.” Even as I spoke, I couldn’t begin to make sense of all the feelings coursing through me right then. Frustration. Exhilaration. Relief. Probably a dozen things I’d never even felt before.

“I don’t want you to be in pain,” he said softly. “And… I don’t want either of us to regret this. Maybe we should err on the side of caution?”

I wanted to say “absolutely the fuck not.” But… he was right.

Swallowing hard, I nodded. “Probably… probably not a bad idea,” I said even as every nerve ending screamed for his touch. “Wait a little. Make sure we’re not doing something stupid.”

“Exactly.” Garrett laughed. “No matter how much I want to.”

My toes curled and my dick was still painfully hard. Couldn’t we? Please?

He was right, though. And I even if there wasn’t any risk of this being a stupid thing we regretted, my body hurt. A lot. I’d learned the hard way more than once that powering through because I was horny was not a good idea. Either the other guy would be disappointed, I’d be in a world of pain, or both. Not ideal.

Especially not when it was a guy who I really, really didn’t want to disappoint. That was never an ideal outcome, but for reasons I couldn’t quite figure out, I needed Garrett to not be disappointed.

“Maybe I should go,” he said softly. “I don’t want to. But if I stay…”

I sighed. “You’re probably right. I want you to stay, too. But…”

Our eyes locked.

Tell me to stay, his eyes seemed to plead.

Stay, I wanted to plead right back.

He broke the staring contest and tipped his head toward the doorway. “I should…”

“Right. Right.” I cleared my throat and rolled my shoulders. “I’ll, uh… I’ll walk you out.”

The answer to that was a smile that had me again reconsidering our decision.

Let him go, Liam. You can always pick up where you left off later. You can’t unfuck each other if it’s weird in the morning.