Prologue
Kol
As soon as I stepped out of the jet bridge, I stretched my arms above my head, a long, deep groan rumbling from my chest. I loved playing basketball. I lived and breathed this sport. But fuck, the traveling sucked. Didn’t matter how many years I did this; I was always homesick when the season was in.
Homesick for my best friend. The guy I was madly in fucking love with. But he was also the only person I had in this world, and I couldn’t do or say anything that might jeopardize our friendship.
Parker and I were polar opposites. He was quiet and withdrawn, preferring to hole up in his secluded little house in Florida in the fucking Everglades of all places. I was an asshole—loud and outspoken. And I thrived playing this sport, and I didn’t mind being in the spotlight.
Parker preferred losing himself in the latest world he was writing. And while he was fucking amazing at writing gay characters and incredible fantasy worlds, becoming a hugely successful young author, I wished he would travel with me. But Parker didn’t like emerging from his home. He felt safe there. But fuck, why couldn’t he just feel safe with me?
Grabbing my phone out of my pocket, I quickly pulled up Parker’s contact. The call connected and rang through my earpiece as I slid my phone back into my pocket. It was the middle of the night in Florida, but I knew he’d be awake.
Parker did his best writing at nighttime.
“Hey,” he gruffly answered as I followed my teammates to baggage claim. Usually, I only packed enough to get me through the small bit of time we would be in town for whatever game we were playing, but we were doing some kind of charity thing for the weekend, so I’d needed more than I usually packed.
It was a bit annoying. I fucking hated waiting on baggage claim.
“Working?” I asked him.
He grunted. “Yeah—fuck, I need to take a break,” he muttered more to himself than to me. I heard his chair roll back from his desk. “Been sitting here writing for three goddamn hours without a break.”
I sighed. “Why don’t you set reminders on your phone to stretch and move around?” I asked him. “You get sucked into work so deeply, you’re not going to ever be able to remember on your own.”
He snorted. “Alarms don’t exist in my life.”
A small smile twitched at my lips before I could stop it. Alarms wouldn’t exist in mine either if I could help it. But alas, I needed alarms for just about everything—early morning practice, meal times, games. My life would be a damn mess if I didn’t have them.
For as long as I could remember, I’d always relied on alarms. My parents hadn’t really been around. They were too busy traveling the world, trying to get richer and richer. I’d been raised by nannies, cooks, maids—hell, even the fucking gardener had a hand in raising me. Pretty sure the pool boy helped, too.
Everyone but the people who were supposed to.
After I met Parker in my freshman year of high school, I spent almost every waking moment with him. He’d been new to the school after his dad got a promotion and he was able to afford to put Parker in the private school. I didn’t get attached to people easily, but I’d latched onto Parker like he was a life-saving raft and I was drowning in the middle of the ocean with circling sharks.
I still felt like sharks were circling, but I felt safe knowing Parker was always there for me.
“How’s the book coming along?” I asked him.
“Fast,” he told me. I heard his Keurig begin brewing coffee. The caffeine in coffee didn’t even do anything for him anymore since he drank it so much. At this point, he just enjoyed the taste. “The characters have really been speaking to me, so I’m ahead of schedule.”
“Oh, good. That means you have time to fly out here, watch my game, and spend time with me, right?” I asked, dodging someone too busy looking at their phone to pay attention to where they were going. I scowled after them but managed to swallow the biting words I wanted to throw their way.
My teammate, Charles, raised a brow at me in question, but I waved him off. I wasn’t going to pop off—not yet, anyway. He was always de-escalating situations I was involved in. My temper was quick, and my mouth was even fucking faster. It didn’t take much to make me flip the fuck out.
“Kol…” Parker muttered. I could hear the “no” in his voice already, but I wasn’t taking no for an answer. If he was ahead on his book, he had time to fly out here to see me. And I needed to see him. It’d been almost three months since either of us had found time to see each other.
“Don’t you dare say no,” I warned him. “I’m not beneath pulling the ‘you’re my only family’ card, Parker.”
He released a heavy sigh. “That’s not fair, Kol.”
He was right; it wasn’t fair. Especially when it was true. Parker was the only family I had. When I didn’t go to college and follow in my father’s footsteps, he’d disowned me. And even now, he revealed in any interviews he did that he did not agree with my decision to become a pro athlete.
“I’m not playing fair,” I told him. “We need guy time, Parker.”
A small laugh burst from his lips. “Did you just say guy time when you’re surrounded by your teammates all the time, all of which are guys?” he demanded.
“Parker…” I warned, my patience wearing thin.
He groaned. “Fine. Fuck it, fine, I’ll come,” he gave in. “You owe me endless amounts of pho for this shit, Kol.”
I began fishing my phone back out of my pocket so I could book his flight before he could back out. Someone barged into me, and I dropped my phone just as I pulled it out. “Mother fuck!” I barked, narrowing my eyes at the asshole who now decided to look up from his phone, his eyes wide. “What the fuck is it with you goddamn dimwits not looking where the fuck you’re going?!”
“Sorry,” Charles quickly apologized, intercepting us as I moved to get in the guy’s face. He pushed me back. “Get your phone, Kol. Our bags are already coming around.”
I clenched my jaw. “Kol,” Parker called in my ear, “breathe, yeah? Listen to Charles.”
I curled my hand into a fist before leaning down and snatching my phone off the ground. The screen had survived the fall due to my case. I brushed it off on my sweats before crossing the last couple of steps to the baggage claim area, easily finding my teammates around the baggage claim belt.
“Here, bro,” Kellan said, passing me my bag.
“Thanks,” I grunted, settling it at my feet. Then, I opened the browser on my phone, heading over to the American Airlines website.
“You good?” Parker asked me.
I sighed. “Fine,” I muttered.
He snorted. “Sure, asshole, but whatever.” My shoulders relaxed a little as he continued talking to me. “You’re buying my flight, right? Since you’re the one who wants me there and all.”
I chuckled. “I’m working on it right now,” I assured him. He remained quiet, and a few moments later, I heard the familiar clicking of his keyboard. “Did you stretch at least?”
“No,” he told me. “And I’m not getting up again, so don’t tell me to do them.”
I snorted. “You’re being a brat, Parker.”
He scoffed. “Fuck you, Kol.”
I smirked, my dick plumping the tiniest bit at the idea of fucking him. I’d wanted to fuck him for years. Claim him. Bite him and leave my marks all over his tall, muscular body.
He was such a tease and didn’t even damn know it.
“Just tell me when, and I’ll be game,” I told him, a teasing note to my voice for his sake. But fuck, if he ever really offered, he’d be lucky if I didn’t jump him right then and there.
I was so gone for him.
“Jesus Christ,” he muttered, making me laugh.
