Chapter 9

Joey

“If your toe wanders over here one more time,” I warn Dave with a glare.

“My leg is floating.”

“Your head is going to be floating if it happens again.”

“You’re like a pit viper,” he whines. “I’ve never seen a gay dude get so huffy when a hot guy gets close to them.”

“Why are you in here with us?” Andi questions. “Your friends are eating. I’m sure baseball talk will start soon.”

“Why am I hanging out with Joey and the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever met instead of those three surly bastards? It’s self-explanatory.” He grins, looking over my shoulder.

I turned back to face him when I lost steam trying to get a rise out of Anthony.

The meat joke was pure gold.

“Besides, why are you picking on me? I brought a new guy for you to harass.”

“New guy can’t be bothered,” I mutter. “He’s immune.”

Dave laughs, and I ready my foot to kick him.

“He’s so close to the table,” Dave observes.

I don’t bother looking.

“Because he’s not a slob like you. Maybe he doesn’t want to get BBQ on his damn clothes.” I grin at Andi’s observation.

Dave is a slob when it comes to eating. The common areas of his house are clean because his mother wouldn’t allow it any other way, but I’m certain his bedroom and personal areas are disgusting. What isn’t disgusting is his body. The man is a slave to the gym. He may have a mustard stain on his shirt more often than not, but that stained shirt is covering a ridiculously buff body.

“Maybe he’s tucked under that table because he’s hiding something,” Dave adds, unaffected by Andi ridiculing his slovenly ways.

“Like a weapon?” Dave chuckles at Andi’s question as his eyes find mine again. “Who brings a weapon to a BBQ?”

“This is Texas,” I tell Andi with a grin when Dave winks at me.

“I doubt he’s hiding a gun in his shorts,” Andi whispers after Dave makes an excuse and shuffles inside of the house still dripping water.

We’ve both rolled over on our stomachs, arms crossed under our chins with legs lazily kicking behind us.

“He was talking about his dick,” I assure Andi.

“Dave?” Andi’s head recoils. “He can tell when a guy is aroused? I didn’t know he swung that way.”

“Jesus,” I mutter. “Dave is a dude. Anthony is a dude. I am a dude. We can tell shit by how Anthony is acting because we would act the same way.”

“Hmmm. Okay. I wonder if he notices those same things with Jon.”

“We are not talking about my brother getting aroused,” I warn. I know we’re both guys, but there’s something about talking about my brother in that capacity that makes my skin crawl.

“Well, just floating here is boring,” she complains.

Translation: I want to be closer to your brother.

“We can always harass Cooper.”

Her giggle at the recommendation means she’s fully on board for that.

“Hey, Cooper,” she calls from beside me. “Is that a new chest hair?”

He actually looks down to check before turning his green eyes back in our direction.

“Those black board shorts really bring out the color in your eyes,” I taunt.

“The yellow one from two weeks ago really accentuated his bulk,” she whispers. This information isn’t something we share with the group even though Cooper’s junk is often a topic of our conversation.

I nod my head, agreeing with her. The man-boy is packing some serious hardware. He’s not homophobic in the slightest, but a comment I made at the gym a few years ago has forced him to keep his distance.

“It’s always the super skinny ones,” she mutters before turning her attention back to Cooper.

A small smile plays on Anthony’s lips, but he keeps his focus across the table on my brother.

“Stand up and give us a twirl,” Andi teases.

“Y’all have a new guy to hassle. Leave me be.”

“Let’s see it, Anthony.” I nudge Andi with my shoulder for taking my thunder.

“Yeah, Tony,” I taunt. “Did you miss the no shirt rule?”

Anthony’s attention snaps toward Cooper. “Is there really a rule?”

Cooper shrugs, mouth too full of potato salad to respond verbally.

“There’s a rule,” Jon confirms before winking at us.

Andi and I heckle every guy that comes around. We do it until they get used to it and stop responding. After that, we quit because it becomes boring. There have been a few guys who didn’t last long because they were severely uncomfortable with a guy flirting with them.

“You’re wearing a shirt,” Anthony argues at my brother.

“I was manning the grill. Not very smart to be half-naked around an open fire,” Jon advises.

“I bet he has hair on his chest,” Andi tells Cooper, ignoring the ongoing conversation between the other two guys.

He grumbles something about seeing a doctor as Anthony unceremoniously stands from the table. With his arm over his shoulder and his hand at the nape of his neck, he tugs the tight t-shirt over his head, folding it and tossing it on the back of his chair.

Jesus, what is it about a man that takes his shirt off that way?

“Holy happy trail, Batman,” I hiss when golden skin and more ripples than I can count are revealed. That thin line of hair below his belly button, the way his swim trunks sit on his trim hips. Perfection.

“Didn’t see that coming,” Andi adds. “Ladyboner.”

“Real boner,” I moan softly. “He’s amazing.”

“I bet he snores or picks his nose.”

I grin at my best friend’s ridiculousness.

“Stop staring.”

“You first,” she challenges.

With a slight shake of my head, I grin. “I can’t.”

“You’re going to make him uncomfortable,” she warns. “All the straight guys think they can handle it, but in the end being stared at by a gay guy skeeves them out.”

“That’s the whole point of the taunting,” I remind her.

“I need to shave.” Anthony runs his hand over his right pec and down his stomach.

Now who’s taunting whom here? Is it my imagination or did he notice the care I took in shaving earlier?

I’m struck stupid. How can my mouth be watering and my throat be scorched dry at the same time?

“Don’t ever shave again,” I say too loudly.

He gives me a quick smile, but sits even faster and looks back at my brother as he tucks himself even further under the table.

“Why is there a no shirt rule?”

“Because,” I begin, not really wanting to tell the story but knowing he’s respectful enough to look at me when I speak, and I yearn for his eyes on me. “I ran into one of Jon’s one night stands in the hall one morning.”

Andi stiffens beside me, and I know speaking about my brother with other women hurts her feelings, but it’s a fact of life. The only person who doesn’t know that she and Jon won’t end up together is her.

“We shared a mutually beneficial, albeit brief, sexual relationship,” my brother interjects.

“She was naked,” I continue with an exaggerated shudder. “The rule was created because if I have to be subjected to that kind of shit in my own house, I wanted to look at handsome guys in the summer. He was given the ultimatum: Make his playthings get dressed before running to the kitchen to make him a sandwich or all the guys outside during the summer have to have their shirts off.”

“Thanks, Joey,” Cooper says with sincerity for the ‘handsome guy’ comment.

I wink at him. He beams.

“I really wouldn’t enforce the rule with Jon,” I tell him just as Andi all but drowns me shoving into my side. “But Jon, the grill is off, and you’re still dressed.”

Anthony grins at me.

“We enforce the rule for Jon so Andi gets her eyeful also.”

“Well,” Anthony says with a thick swallow. “I’m just happy to be a team player.”

But which team are you batting for, handsome?

“Just wait until Jon approves the naked wrestling,” Andi says with a chuckle.

“I’ve told you ten times, woman. Joey and I are related, and we aren’t doing weird shit like that,” Jon argues.

“I wasn’t suggesting you two team up.” Andi huffs.

“This has been an ongoing argument for the last six months,” I explain to Anthony, who is looking around the group with mild confusion and loads of curiosity.

He nods, looking at my brother and waiting for his reaction.

“I’ve already said everyone could team up with each other besides you and Joey. It’s my turn to pick the new game.” She pouts, and my brother glares.

“We thought you’d pick a board game or something,” Cooper grumbles.

I roll my lips between my teeth. I was indifferent to the idea until Anthony was tossed into the equation.

“What are we discussing?” Dave asks as he steps back out of the house.

As suspected, he’s conforming to the rule of no shirt, but he’s in cargo shorts rather than his swim trunks from earlier.

“Andi is still pushing her naked wrestling idea,” Cooper informs him.

Dave groans in disinterest, pleading with his eyes. “No way. I thought we went over this weeks ago.”

“Naked wrestling isn’t going to happen,” my brother assures him.

“Not naked!” Andi snaps. “Bathing suits, but speedos for you guys. Cooper has one in every color you can borrow.”

“No,” Dave snaps.

“Afraid I’ll kick your ass?” Andi teases.

“Afraid Jon will kick his ass if he touches you,” Anthony blurts. Realizing his mistake, his eyes widen.

We all wait for Jon to react.

“I’m not sure a girl beating up on Cooper is best for the morale of the group,” my brother says.

Anthony sighs, visibly relaxing.

“Fine,” Andi continues, not really understanding what’s going on. “I’ll team up with Jon. Joey can antagonize Anthony. That leaves Cooper and Dave.”

“No,” Cooper spits. “He’s got seventy pounds on me. I’m not signing up to be hospitalized for your entertainment purposes.”

“You’re a buzz kill.”

Cooper grows serious. “Find another way to get your hands on Jon, Andi. I don’t want a damn thing to do with it.”

Anthony laughs as Andi, Jon, Dave, and Cooper begin to argue between them their point of views on the subject.

Almost as if we’re in our own little bubble, Anthony and I watch each other. There’s nothing solicitous about the way he’s looking at me right now, but my skin warms anyway despite the cool water of the Jacuzzi.

He breaks his eyes away first when Jon asks him a question about today’s game. I feel the loss of his attention immediately.