Page 66 of Sportsball is for Lovers

“I can trust my brother will take care of you and love you and nurture you. He won’t take your shit and he won’t coddle you. And he won’t take advantage of you.”

“So you don’t mind that another man is my other half?” I can’t imagine that he would possibly be okay with this….

He shakes his head. “I have no right to influence who you bring into your life. We’re just starting this journey together. But—and this is the big thing—I have to trust you, and you have to trust me. And I’m glad you have someone in your corner that I already know and trust will take care of you the way I would.”

“Well, I’m not going to sleep with him,” I tease.

“Good. Because I don’t share.” Jared smacks a kiss to my lips, pulling away before I can respond. “Ethical non-monogamy isn’t for me. I’m okay with sharing in the context of a scene, where we both consent with specific limits and parameters, but I’m not interested in a polycule or opening up the relationship.”

“Me, either.” I don’t even know how I feel about the relationship as a whole. I’m not ready to add anyone else to the mix on top of it.

Jared strokes his thumb along my cheek again, his dark brown eyes bright with happiness.

“I’m glad we’re doing this,” he says. “Thank you for giving me a chance.”

“Me, too,” I say.

And to my surprise, it’s true.

His hand curls around to my neck, gripping lightly. A warm buzz runs through my veins, warming me from the inside out. I love me a good hand necklace.

When he lowers his lips to mine, it’s with the firm knowledge that we’re on the same page. The kiss isn’t about lust. He’s not trying to get me naked.

He tastes me, explores me. His lips are soft, coaxing mine apart. Unbidden, I gasp, and he surges forward, deepening the kiss.

My hands fist in his shirt, holding him close. We’re already chest to chest, belly to belly, but I need him closer, closer, inside my veins like a drug.

Jared pulls back, but he doesn’t go far. “I should go.”

“You don’t have to.” My words come out breathy, and he gives me a warm smile.

“I should. It’s late and you have an early morning at the bookstore tomorrow.”

Exaggerating my pout, I tease, “I don’t even get a yay, we’re dating fuck?”

He laughs. “That’s what we have to look forward to.”