“Oh, shit!” someone shouted. “It’s gonna be close!”
The catcher got the ball on one hop, and the base runner plowed into him. When the umpire made a punching motion with his right hand, Luke and the others groaned.
“Son of a bitch, Soto’s got a cannon!” Luke said.
“Fuckin’ right. I can’t believe he threw out Segura.”
“Did your team lose?” Nico asked, stepping up to Luke, trying to sound interested.
Luke shook his head. “Segura was the winning run. It’s tied.”
“So is it going to overtime?”
“Extra innings, yeah.” Luke glanced toward a lazily grinning guy with sinfully toned arms on his other side. “Nico, this is my roommate and best friend, Coury.”
Coury scanned Nico and held out his hand. “Nice to finally meet you. You’re a life saver for Luke after the dickwad who-shall-not-be-named screwed him over.”
“This works out well for me after the douchenozzle who-shall-not-be-named fucked me over.”
Coury snorted and smacked Luke approvingly on the back. “Luke told me. Sorry to hear it.”
“It’s old news.” Nico nodded toward the television. “Did you want to stay and watch the end?”
“You don’t mind?” Luke’s eyes sparked with gratitude—and who the hell could say no to that.
“We don’t have a schedule to keep.” Nico fished his keys out of his pocket. “Let me move my car while they do the coin toss thingy.”
“Coin toss?” Coury asked with a baffled frown.
Nico winced. “To see who goes first in extra innings?”
The two guys Nico hadn’t met snickered. That sounded about right.
Luke guided Nico toward the door, a soft grin twitching his lips. He spoke low. “They don’t do a coin toss in baseball. That’s football. The away team hits in the top of the inning and the home team gets last ups.”
Nico’s face burned, and he cast his gaze to the floorboards. “Right. Sorry.”
“Don’t sweat it.” Luke gently shoulder-nudged him into the foyer. “Let me put my stuff in your car, and we can come in and watch the end of the game. If it drags, we’ll leave.”
Nico swallowed. “Sure.”
Luke’s gaze scrolled over Nico’s face, and he hefted his bags over his shoulder. “Know what? Let’s just leave.”
Luke
Coury: Bottom 14th. Glad we don’t need a coin toss after each inning.
Luke: Don’t be a douche. Nico’s cool. Tom and
Miles were dicks to laugh.
Coury: Yeah, but it was funny.
Luke: No. It wasn’t.
Luke pushed his phone into his pocket. “Good thing we left. Game’s still going.”
“Did you want to listen to it? I’m pretty sure the satellite radio gets all the games.”
“Thanks, but I doubt you’re interested.” Luke avoided looking over. “We can listen to whatever you like.”
“What gave away my lack of baseball acumen? Overtime or the coin toss?” Nico snuck a glance at Luke and made a self-deprecating face.
“Both?” Luke grinned. “It’s all good. I guess that makes you a football fan.”
“Only if you mean English football.” Nico tapped a button and the radio came to life. “Ask me about soccer and I’m good. Everything else? I’m only there to stare at the hot guys.”
“Did you play?” Luke raked his eyes over Nico’s body, reading it like it might give him the answer.
Nico wore shorts, revealing toned legs, and a T-shirt that showed off a tapered body. He clearly worked out somehow.
His dark hair was neatly styled—the only thing about his appearance that resembled the Nico he’d met twice before. It looked good on him, swept back. Gave his big brown eyes more room to show off—damn, he had nice ones.
Nico caught him looking and shifted. “Pretty much played since I could walk. Papà played in college and then in a men’s league in Brooklyn. When my older brother was born, he coached. He’s a referee now. My nonno—grandfather—refereed for forty years—and I’m babbling.”
Luke laughed. “I think it’s cool your family is so into soccer. How come you don’t play for Harrison?”
Nico returned his gaze to the road, voice quieter. Sadder. “My teammates in high school made it clear they didn’t want a fag on the team, so I stopped playing.”
The fuck? “They got away with that?” Luke gritted his teeth. Sometimes he hated the world. “If you don’t want to talk about it, I get it. I can’t believe the school let them do that. Harrison wouldn’t.”
Which was a good thing for Luke. He loved baseball.
“I never told anyone at the school,” Nico said softly. “I just quit after coming out. Like they wanted.”
Luke swallowed. “Sorry coming out cost you something you loved, but I admire your courage. I wasn’t secure enough to come out until after I graduated.”
Nico’s grip on the steering wheel made the leather creak. “Elisa, my sister, wanted me to report it to the school, but that would’ve been pointless.”
“Really? Your school didn’t have a no-discrimination policy?”
“They did, but . . . well, you know. There’s one set of rules for most of us, and one for those whose parents have ginormous bank accounts.”