The Tight End (Red's Tavern 6)

It was awesome.

It looked completely personalized. And all at once, all of the anxiety over public speaking left my body.

This notebook was clearly a thing of beauty. I had no idea what was inside, but I knew just by looking at the front that it was going to be chock full of incredible, personal details.

“So, Brody,” I said, remembering to make my voice loud. “This is for you. From everybody on the Wolves. A book of memories, for you to have and keep forever.” I reached for my half-full glass of whiskey and Coke, holding it up high. “Cheers to Brody Bryant, and to every single member of the KMU Wolves! You’re fucking superstars!”

The whole room erupted into cheers. Brody was looking at me like I’d hung the moon.

I never, in a million years, would have expected that someone like him could ever look at me like that.

He came up and took the notebook before wrapping his arms around me in a tight hug. He leaned back, pressing a quick kiss to my lips, and my insides fluttered.

Because I knew there were people out there taking pictures. I knew it was going to be public knowledge all over social media, probably within minutes. And, inevitably, before long, nasty people on the gossip sites might be saying shitty things about me.

The most beautiful thing was that I didn’t care.

All I cared about in this moment was the man that had his arms wrapped around me. And the fact that I knew, deep down, we had each other.

18

Brody

In all my years of school, I never would have known that there would come a time I’d want to be back at school after winter break. I’d always looked forward to Christmas more than any other holiday, partially just because it meant I had a few weeks away from school and responsibilities.

But even as I spent a wonderful, simple Christmas at home with Mom and Roman, I was itching to be back at school.

In past years I’d spent the entire break at home, but I’d convinced Mom that I needed to head back to school before New Year’s so that I could put in some extra studying. It was true that I wanted to get ahead on my readings for next semester’s courses, but the real reason for high-tailing it back to KMU was for one thing and one thing only.

And as I drove back toward KMU on New Year’s Eve, my heart was beating a little faster as soon as I made it into town. When I pulled up into the driveway and saw Logan’s car already there, I even did a little happy dance in my driver’s seat.

I bounded up the stairs to the apartment and opened the front door as fast as I could.

“Oh!” Logan shouted, and I was met with an eyeful of skin.

“Fuck yes,” I muttered. My cock hardened under my pants as I saw him.

Logan had clearly just gotten out of the shower. He had a towel slung around his waist as he was making his way down the hallway back toward his room.

“You’re early!” he said, his eyes wide. “Damn. I was going to have a nice outfit on, and a steak dinner made, and music playing in the background, and champagne ready—”

I smiled at him, licking my lips. “Get over here.”

He took a step closer toward me, a smile spreading over his face too as he reached up to wrap his arms around me, letting the towel drop to the floor. He pressed his body up against mine as he kissed me, deep and slow.

He murmured a protesting sound. “Your clothes are still all chilly from the outside,” he said, still wrapped around me, though.

“Well, I can fix that for you,” I said, leaning back. I tossed off my jacket, pulled off my shirt, and kicked off my boots in quick succession.

“It wasn’t that bad,” he said, watching as I stripped off my pants and underwear, too. “But I’m glad my ploy to get you naked worked this fast.”

“You can get me naked any damn time you want,” I said, my words almost coming out like a growl as I grabbed him again, hoisting him up off the ground for a moment as I kissed him again. “Fuck, I missed you.”

“It was less than a week and I still missed you so damn much, too,” he murmured.

“I need you in my bed.”

He moaned. “God, I need you right here.”

My cock had already been hard but now it was like a goddamn diamond. “Good answer,” I said.

I slowly dropped to my knees, pushing Logan back against the bookcase behind him. He gasped slightly as his back met the wood, but as I glanced up at him he had a very, very satisfied look on his face.

My mouth was right by his cock, now, and he was just as hard as I was. A small bead of clear precum had collected on his tip, and I leaned in to lick it away.