The Bolts won. She was in no hurry to get up and leave, afraid to break the spell. It didn’t matter they were surrounded by thousands of other people. With Thomas she felt like her world ended outside the protective sphere of his arm across her shoulder.
He stood once the crowd had thinned. As if sensing her desire he offered his hand. She clutched it, following him up the stairs to the main concourse. He slipped his arm around her shoulders as they made their way to the exit. She dared put her arm around his waist, and her heart hammered in her chest as he pulled her tightly against his side.
He held the truck door open for her and before closing it he leaned in. “Did you have fun?”
She nodded. “It was great, thank you.”
He hesitated, like he wanted to say something else, then finally closed the door and walked around the truck before getting behind the wheel. “I’ve always wanted to get season tickets, but it’s no fun coming alone all the time.” He paused then looked at her and grinned. “To the games, I mean.”
“I’ll come with you…to the games.” She smiled and he laughed, patting her thigh and finding her hand, squeezing it.
“Nevvie, sugar, don’t ever change, please. Promise me.”
She squeezed back and made no move to let go. “Whatever you want, I’ll do it.”
The more time she spent with Thomas the more she realized she had as deep a connection with him as she did with Tyler, it was just different. Whether cooking dinner and doing an intricate dance around each other in front of the stove as if silently communicating, helping him work on something in the garage, riding the motorcycle, or even in the office, there was no denying the physical rapport they had. With Tyler, it felt like they talked with their minds. With Thomas, it felt like they talked with their bodies.
“How did you and Tyler meet?”
“Fate. Seriously.” He winked, igniting a sensual tingle deep in her belly. His eyes weren’t as intense as Tyler’s but they still managed to rake across the most sensitive areas of her psyche in an incredibly erotic way. “One Saturday, he had an author’s talk over at Haslam’s, in St. Pete. Ever been there?”
She shook her head.
“We’ll have to take you. It’s a huge bookstore, neat place. You know I love to read, almost as much as Tyler. Well, I met a few friends over there and we listened to him. I was still in grad school. He still taught at USF, and it was his second book.” Thomas paused, deep in his memories, allowing her a glimpse of him she didn’t see very often, the intimate emotions he felt for his lover. “Those damn blue eyes.”
She nodded her agreement.
Thomas smiled. “Sugar, I’d worry about you if he didn’t make you hot under the collar. He could make a straight guy drool if he tried hard.”
“They’re spooky. In a good way.”
“That’s a perfect way to describe them.” He paused for a moment. “I was still trying to figure things out, you know? Pick a team.” He winked again, and she laughed. She noticed she did a lot of laughing with him. “He’d just divorced Two, and during the Q&A session after his talk this perky little co-ed asked if he was single. He smiled and looked at me, I mean, right at me. Then he said,” Tom imitated Tyler’s accent, “‘As of now, but I’m looking for a good woman…or man…to settle down with.’”
“Jesus! What’d you do?”
“I dropped my hands in front of me, holding the books to hide my hard-on, is what I did. Everyone laughed, thinking he was joking. From the sound of it I think half the women in the audience came in their pants. Probably a couple of the guys, too, but he was looking right at me when he said it.”
“How’d you hook up?”
“I stood in the back of the line to get my books signed, let people cut in front of me, wanting a few minutes to talk with him. He kept looking at me from across the room. I’m standing there and he’d be talking to someone but looking at me. When I finally got to him he asked if I wanted to go out for coffee. Together ever since. Going on twelve years now.”
“That’s sweet.”
“Sugar, I didn’t stand a chance.” He stopped for a red light and met her eyes. “You know what he’s like when he sets those hooks in you. You don’t want to get free.”
She stared. Did he realize how close he was to the truth?
“It’s okay. He already told you he’d share me with you. I’ll share him with you, too, but only with you, baby girl.”
She nodded, dumbfounded, her mouth dry and her sex damp and throbbing. Thomas didn’t have Tyler’s subtle finesse. This wasn’t flirting—this was something else.
He wasn’t finished, and those deep, sweet brown eyes bored into hers. “Tyler and I, we don’t share well with others. We won’t share you with anyone else. You’re our girl. You okay with that?”
She swallowed hard. “Yeah,” she whispered.
He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Good.”
The light changed and, unable to speak, she settled in her seat and tried to ignore the throbbing between her legs.
When she could finally form consonants again she said, “He doesn’t talk much about his family.”
Nevvie didn’t miss how Thomas’ jaw tightened in a hard line. “His father’s an asshole. His mom, she’s…different. He’s got a sister and brother, but they’re not close. They all live in England.”
“Is it because…” She didn’t know how to finish, so didn’t.
Thomas shook his head. “Naw, his father was a dick before Tyler met me. I wasn’t Tyler’s first man, but I was the first serious one. His father left his mom when Tyler was thirteen. Left her and the three kids and moved in with another woman. They struggled for a while financially. The brother and sister are younger than him by a couple of years each. He doesn’t like to talk about it. I get the feeling his father wasn’t easy to live with, one of those ‘nothing’s ever good enough’ kind of guys. Since Ty was the oldest, he probably got the largest ration of shit.”
“What about your family?”
“My dad died when I was in college, car accident. My mom and sisters are cool. I was pretty scared to tell them about Tyler at first, not sure how they’d react. As you said, those spooky blue eyes did it for me.”
She imagined Tyler charmed all of the Kinsey women unless they were homophobic jerks. “How many of your sisters made passes at him?”
“Damn, you’re good, girl. I’m the baby, but the two youngest still lived at home. They tried their damnedest, especially Karen. Thought I’d have to take a cattle prod to them.”
“How many sisters?”
“Five. If I’d been a girl, my mom would have made my dad get clipped.”
“What’d he do?”
“Architect. He took me to work with him so we could find a little corner of the world that didn’t overflow with estrogen. I had fun with it, liked it, was good at it. I studied engineering. I went to USF and decided to stay here when I graduated.”
“And you met Tyler.”
He nodded. “And I met Tyler.” He turned onto their street. “You know, they’re going to love you.”
“Who?”
He parked in the driveway. “Mom and my sisters. You’ll go with us. Tyler and I drive up to Savannah every year at Thanksgiving. We can’t go without you. We’re damn sure not leaving you by yourself on a holiday.” Thomas’ brown eyes filled with earnest intent.
“That’s a family thing. You guys don’t want me there.”
He kissed her hand. “Nevvie, what part of ‘you’re part of our family’ don’t you understand?”
She finally nodded.
“Good. Glad you didn’t make me sic Tyler on you.”