Trick Play (Fake Boyfriend 2)

I shake all jealousy away and focus on JJ, because I already have a Noah headache from overanalyzing everything that went down today. “If this is what you want to do with your life, you need to give it a proper go. I know you said you don’t want a handout, but let me help—”

“I’m not taking your money,” JJ says.

“Even if you get a job to supplement your income from gigging, you won’t make rent. Let me—”

“You can stay here,” Noah says. “Rent free. As long as you need to.”

My gaze flies to his. “You’d … do that?”

JJ’s entire face lights up at the possibility. “I’ll cook for you or clean or—”

“I’m not gonna say no to your cooking,” Noah says. “But it’s not a big deal. New York is stupid expensive, and I’ve got the room.”

JJ turns to me. “Are you okay with me staying?”

If I’m honest, no, but the reasons I want him to move with me are more selfish than anything else. I’m sick of living alone and having no one. That doesn’t mean I can ask JJ to give up his dreams so I don’t come home to an empty apartment—especially when I’m going to be gone a lot when the season starts. “It’s your life.”

“What if I don’t accept handouts, but if you ever want me in Chicago, I’ll let you pay for my first-class plane ticket?” JJ grins.

“It’s a two-hour flight,” Noah says with a laugh. “You can handle being in coach.”

“Says the guy with his very own Gulfstream,” I mutter.

Noah playfully slaps the back of my head.

“When do you have to report for training camp?” my brother asks.

“Have to be at Milwaukee University in three weeks.”

“Milwaukee?” Noah asks. “Training camp isn’t in Chicago?”

“Only a handful of teams hold training camp at their own stadium,” JJ says.

“It saves the turf and staying together in the one hotel supposedly creates bonds between teammates, and all that crap,” I add.

“I guess when you’re in Milwaukee, you’ll have nothing to do but bond. Why Milwaukee?”

“At least it’s not Hoboken.” I try to hide my smile.

“If it was Hoboken, you’d be close to home,” Noah says.

That wipes the smile off my face. Home. If he wants me to see this place as my home, then why the fuck isn’t he asking me to stay?

He stares at me like he knows he fucked up, and the silence drags on for a beat too long.

“So …” JJ says. “Uh … this is awkward.”

Guess we aren’t doing a good job of hiding the fact Noah and I are in some weird limbo state. We’re over, but we’re not.

“I have to go make some calls about Rainbow Beds.” Noah bounds up the stairs faster than John Ross’s forty-yard dash.

“What was that about?” JJ asks.

“We, uh, broke up.”

“What? When?”

“Today.” I massage my temple as I think about what the hell it all means, because I don’t actually know myself. “It’s weird. Basically, we’re together until I leave for training camp. So … we gave each other notice of intent to break up? Is that a thing?”

“It’s a weird thing.” He throws himself on the couch next to me. “Are you sure you’re okay with me staying then? Won’t me living with your ex-boyfriend be weird?”

“Nah. Noah and I are still friends. He’s also agreed to keep up appearances if he’s needed. ‘I have a boyfriend’ is apparently more believable to homophobes as to why I won’t hit on them in a locker room than ‘You’re not my type.’”

JJ snorts. “So, three more weeks, huh?”

“I was thinking I might head out to Chicago sooner than that. Get set up and move all my stuff.”

“You can afford to pay someone to do that for you.” His tone and his gaze hold nothing but suspicion.

“I don’t know how much longer I can stay when I know it’s over. The more I’m here … the more I don’t want to leave.”

“So don’t leave.” JJ says this as if it’s that easy.

“He doesn’t want a relationship—he’s not a forever guy. I need to accept that. We were both upfront from the beginning.”

“But …” JJ chews on his lip.

“But what?”

“Nothing. I just thought you’d both fight for each other more. You’re like disgustingly in love, so it sucks that something insignificant like distance is going to break you up.”

“Jet …”

“Oooh, shit, he’s bringing out the big guns. Calling me Jet? Are you dying? Is that what’s going on here?”

I can’t look at him as I say, “There’s something you don’t know about Noah and me. We were never really together. It was a favor. My agent said I needed to look like I was in a stable relationship and had to clean up my ‘party’ image. The media painted me to be some gay playboy with an alcohol problem and all that other crap. Noah’s been pretending to be my boyfriend this whole time. He’s a PR stunt.”