Houston chuckled lightly and ruffled my hair before I could duck away. “Not in those exact words. I asked if any of them had seen you absolutely killing it in the Pittsburgh game. Then told them to piss off. Politely, of course.”
I grumbled some more, even if Houston’s nonchalance about the loss and his defending me did make me feel a tiny bit better. Like, an ounce better. Or if there was something smaller than an ounce, that.
Mom and Dad were next. Mom, full of optimism and opinions as usual, chattered about how fast I’d looked on the field, and how “distastefully unsportsmanlike” some of the behavior from the other team had been on the final touchdown, until I started cracking up.
“Mom, the guy just fist-bumped a teammate. He wasn’t out there doing the chicken dance.”
“He was practically taunting you all.”
That was totally not the case, but her vehemence made me smile. And then Dad chimed in.
“They’ll get theirs. They think they’re hot shit with that Whitt asshole. Pfft. Just wait.”
Mom patted my arm. “You want to come home for the night?”
“Jesus. And what, you’ll put a Band-Aid on my booboo, then tuck me in bed?” I teased, but wrapped an arm around her shoulder and squeezed it. “Nah, I’m good. I’m gonna crash early.”
Houston lingered when they left. “I honestly expected a win. I’m supposed to meet up with friends—see? Social life.” He gave me a pointed look. “How about you come with us for a while? Grab a beer? Or more than one?”
I shook my head. “Not in the mood. It’s cool. You go. Have fun.”
“You sure? I can cancel. Actually…” He pulled his phone from his pocket. “I’m gonna cancel. We can hang and watch reruns of that dumbass show you and Ramsey love.” A funny expression crossed his face, but it vanished quickly. We mostly avoided the subject of me and Ramsey, and I sure as shit wasn’t inclined to change that now.
I reached out and shoved him. “Don’t cancel. Go. I mean it. I’ll be pissed otherwise.” He tucked the phone away, and I cocked my head, narrowing my eyes at him. “So are these real friends or imaginary ones?”
He snorted lightly. “There’s the asshole I know and love. Here I was worried you were gonna go home and curl in a ball on the couch.”
“Nope. I’m solid. Promise.” I was, mostly, and hey, if I curled into a ball on the couch, it wasn’t like anyone was gonna be there to see it.
After a quick hug, we separated to head to our respective cars.
Idling at a red light where I’d make a left to go home to Houston’s, I imagined getting home, sprawling on Houston’s couch, staring numbly at the TV, then crawling in bed alone. It’d seemed like the perfect plan ten minutes ago.
But when the light turned green, I turned left, made a U-turn, and headed in the other direction.
The corner of Ramsey’s lips twitched as he opened the door and found me on his steps, but he didn’t say anything, just opened it wider and gestured me inside.
I closed it behind me, and he eyed me, shoving his hands in the pockets of the sweats stretched tight over his thighs. “Want something to eat? Drink?”
“Got a keg?” I joked weakly.
Ramsey huffed out a quiet laugh. “Nope, fuck that. You’re not gonna come in here and mope around the rest of the night.”
“Okay, what’re we doing, then?” I’d kinda planned on that. Oops. And maybe receiving a sympathy blowjob at some point. Hell, I should be the one giving the sympathy blowjob, considering how I’d wasted Ramsey’s perfect goddamn pass.
Mostly, I just hadn’t wanted to be alone.
Ramsey’s gaze narrowed slightly, and then he spun around. “C’mon,” he called over his shoulder.
I followed him onto the deck, watching the muscles of his bare back ripple with his movements. A fucking gorgeous man if there ever was one. I decided he was probably the only guy that could make me sigh just by looking at him.
We stopped in front of his hot tub.
“Get naked and get in. I know that big-ass ego of yours isn’t the only thing that’s sore.”
He wasn’t wrong. I ached all over, so after a second, I did as told and stripped down.
I climbed in, groaning as the hot water enveloped me, sinking deep enough to cover my shoulders and the bruises all over my body. Not that they would faze Ramsey at all. I wriggled around until I found a jet that hit my back just right. Ramsey slipped in across from me. “So does this happen to be the deluxe version hot tub that also massages bruised egos?” I rested my head back on the edge of the tub and closed my eyes.
Ramsey’s chuckle was soft. “Nah. That was another ten grand, and I didn’t anticipate having too many guys in here with one the size of yours. Couldn’t justify the added expense.”