Home and Away

by Ariel Tachna

  “Pretty sure I win on that one,” Linc replied, taking in the vision of Kit above him, fair skin luminous in the soft light of his lamp, dark hair tousled and falling across his forehead, cheeks flushed the same pink as his nipples, pupils dilated, lips swollen from kissing and parted as he breathed.

  “Nah, I mean, I’m in as good shape as the next guy, but you’re….”

  “Just another basketball player,” Linc finished. “Take that away, and I’m another tall guy.”

  “No, you’re… you’re amazing. You’re sweet and gorgeous and funny, and you faced down Uncle Thane without flinching or running away screaming. Nobody has ever won him over the first time before. You have no idea how special that makes you.”

  Remembering the worry he’d read on Kit’s face earlier that day as well as other random times, Linc rolled to the side and pulled Kit into his arms. “What’s this all about? You know all them fans don’t know nothing about either of us. You don’t got to measure up to anyone.”

  “It’s not that,” Kit said. “They get the public you. I get the real you. As long as that’s true, I can deal with the attention when we’re out.”

  That was a relief, but it didn’t give Linc any better idea of what was bothering Kit. “Then what’s bothering you?”

  “It’s stupid,” Kit said.

  “Not if it’s bothering you, it ain’t,” Linc insisted. “Come on, Kit. Tell me what’s wrong.”

  “I miss you when you travel,” Kit said after a moment.

  “I miss you too, sugar. I told you that, didn’t I?” Linc tightened his hold on Kit, wanting to assure him he was there and wasn’t going anywhere.

  “You did. It’s just… I haven’t had good luck with people leaving and coming back.”

  There was a story there, one Linc didn’t know, but he was going to ask now. “Like who?”

  “My dad. He went to Afghanistan when I was a baby and came home in a casket. Then Mom went to Mayo for treatment for her cancer and didn’t come home. And all my friends from Louisville, all my high school friends who went away to college, and even some frat brothers who’ve graduated and moved away.”

  Linc pressed a kiss to the top of Kit’s head. That was a lot of loss for one person to bear. “I’m not them,” he said. “Even if I leave for a game, I’m always coming home. You can count on that.”

  Kit looked up at him with watery eyes. “Okay.”

  Linc smiled and scooted down so he could kiss Kit, hoping to lighten the mood a little. Kit kissed him back, hot and deep and full of tongue. Linc cradled Kit’s jaw in one hand and slid the other over his ass. Maybe he’d actually get his hands and mouth on it tonight, if they ended up naked. Oh, the things he could do to show Kit how much he needed him, how much Linc desired him and needed to make him happy, needed to make up for all the loss in his life. Thane hadn’t meant in bed when he told Linc to be good to Kit, but taking care of him was taking care of him, in bed or out. He returned the kiss, dueling with Kit between their mouths until Linc’s head spun with it, need and want and something purer swirling together to leave him desperate and aching even as he felt more cherished than ever before.

  Wanting to return some of that pleasure, he rubbed his thumbs over Kit’s nipples. Kit groaned into Linc’s mouth and swooped down to capture one of his nipples between his lips. Linc arched into the touch with a deep groan of need. Kit pressed closer, the contact leaving Linc with no doubt about how much Kit returned his desire.

  Eager now for more contact, Linc reached for Kit’s belt and pulled it free of its loops. Kit reared back to let Linc unbutton and unzip his pants. Damn, Kit was a wet dream come to life—shirtless with his pants unbuttoned and the bulge of his cock already visible beneath his boxers. Linc worked his fingers beneath the cloth to take Kit in hand.

  “Don’t get me off that way,” Kit requested. “I wasn’t kidding about that blow job.”

  “If that’s what you want,” Linc replied. He wouldn’t push if Kit changed his mind, but he certainly wouldn’t say no if that’s what Kit wanted.

  “Oh, it’s what I want, all right.” He slid down Linc’s legs and reached for the tie of his sweats. “Can these come off?”

  Linc lifted his hips and helped push his pants and boxer briefs off. Kit dropped them to the floor and simply stared at Linc for so long he started to squirm.

  “Hey, no, none of that. I wanted to look for a bit. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

  “It’s okay,” Linc said. “I was surprised.”

  “You figured I’d just go for it?” Kit asked.

  “That kinda seemed like your plan earlier.”

  “It was, but then I got you naked, and I had to enjoy the view for a bit.”

  Linc felt his cheeks burn, but Kit didn’t seem to notice. “Let me see you too?”

  Kit smirked, another of Linc’s growing list of favorite expressions, and lifted up enough to push his pants out of the way. Fuck, he was perfect. And he was all Linc’s. His brain stuttered to a halt as Kit, still smirking, bent to lick a stripe up the curve of Linc’s erection.

  “You’re gonna kill me,” Linc gasped.

  “Nah,” Kit said with a wink, “just make you come so hard you forget your name.”

  That wouldn’t take much, not with the mischievous twinkle in his eyes and the grin Linc loved so much.

  “Do I need to get the condom Uncle Thane insists I keep in my wallet?” Kit asked.

  Linc shook his head. He hadn’t done anything to come down with any STDs, and they got regular health checks as part of the team.

  “Good, because I hate the taste of latex.” Before Linc could think of a reply to that, Kit made good on his promise, driving Linc to the brink of madness and over the edge in far too short a time. When he could focus again, Kit was licking his lips like a cat with cream.

  And that image had his cock twitching, not that he figured he could get it up again so quickly.

  Linc forced his arms and legs to cooperate so he could pull Kit down next to him and then prop up on one elbow and stare down into Kit’s green eyes. God, he loved this man.

  The thought brought him up short.

  “Linc?” Kit asked.

  “Just looking at you now,” Linc replied to cover the shock of his sudden realization.

  Kit grinned up at him. “Look all you like.” He took himself in hand and stroked leisurely, and that broke Linc’s reserve.

  “My turn,” he growled and did his best to return the attention Kit had lavished on him ten times over.

  Linc etched Kit’s musky scent, the salty taste and weight of him on his tongue, the little sounds Kit was making into memory. He wanted to remember every detail of the first time he made love to Kit so that whatever life threw at them, he’d always have this.

  Kit shuddered beneath him, gasping Linc’s name in warning, but Linc didn’t pull away until Kit’s shudders had eased and all that was left was his soft gasps. Only then did he lift his head and meet Kit’s eyes again, hoping his expression showed the words it was too soon to say.

  “You’re going to kill me when you finally get around to fucking me,” Kit murmured.

  Fucking wasn’t the word Linc would have chosen, but he wasn’t ready to say making love yet either, so he let that part slide. He might as well ask about the rest now. It would save awkwardness later. “Is that the way you like it, or do you like mixing things up?”

  “In general, I’m all for mixing things up, but I always bottom the first time with a new boyfriend. It tells me what kind of lover he is.”

  No pressure or anything. Linc almost asked what Kit liked in a lover, but it would be more fun finding out on his own when the time came. “If that’s what you want, I won’t complain. As long as you return the favor later.”

  “I’m looking forward to it.”

  And there was an idea fit to kill Linc dead.

  Chapter Sixteen

  LINC’S feet pounded on the treadmill band as he worked out under t
heir trainer’s watchful eye. He had five miles to run, so he’d be there for a while. Plenty of time to think.

  He’d gone and fallen in love with Kit when he wasn’t looking.

  He’d fancied himself in love before, but in retrospect, something had always been missing—whether it was the maturity to make that kind of commitment or the other guy’s ability to see past his status as a UK basketball player, or a lack of time because of his game and practice schedule.

  Age had taken care of the maturity piece, and Kit had taken care of the rest. Kit wasn’t a fame seeker. He wasn’t depending on Linc to sign a multimillion-dollar NBA contract. He’d worked around Linc’s schedule without complaint. If anything, Linc was the one resenting the demands of the end of season madness now, because he wanted to spend as much time with Kit as possible.

  That thought ought to worry him, but knowing Kit was there in the stands, or even watching on TV, cheering him on, gave him an extra burst of energy and focus. Even Coach had commented on it after the Duke game. Pete and a couple of the others had razzed him about it later, but in good fun, saying if they’d known all it took to up his game was getting laid on the regular, they’d have found him a boyfriend years ago. Linc had told them it was Kit, not sex, that made the difference. He’d seen comprehension in Pete’s gaze after their conversation. Pete had continued to tease him, but not the same way.

  It had been so much more than just sex. Tenderness had taken it from lust to love—for Linc anyway. He didn’t dare hope Kit felt the same way. Linc had always led with his heart, falling faster than other people. His mother assured him it was genetic, that all of his father’s family was the same way. Never be ashamed of following your heart. His father had shrugged. When you know, you know. A minute, a day, ten years, it don’t matter. Since his father claimed to have known the first time he’d seen Linc’s mother and they’d been married going on thirty years, Linc figured it was good advice.

  That didn’t mean he had to tell Kit right away. He didn’t want to scare him off. He’d see how things went through the conference and national tournaments first. If he got drafted, he’d be traveling a lot, and while he’d happily take Kit with him, Kit’s job might not like that, which would mean living with periodic separations. And Kit had already told him how much that bothered him.

  Of all the things being in the NBA would change about his life to date, the travel was the one that excited and scared him the most. He didn’t know how to navigate a relationship when he didn’t see his partner for days or possibly even weeks at a time. How would they keep things going?

  At the same time, the chance to see so much of the country, possibly even the world, was an opportunity he’d only dreamed of until now. Sure he’d traveled with UK’s team, but they usually came straight home because of classes, and even when they didn’t, Linc hadn’t had the money to do more than wander around a bit. The idea of having the time and the money to actually explore the places they played was beyond tempting.

  When he finally finished with his workout, he showered quickly and headed back to the dorm to study before he went over to see Kit. A couple of people called his name and waved as he crossed campus, but without the immediate high of a big win or the rest of the team around him, most students let him be just another student on campus.

  He got back to the dorm and grabbed an omelet from the cafeteria, then headed upstairs to study. He had a history term paper due, and while he had most of his sources lined up and about half the paper written, he still needed to chase down some details or he wouldn’t get it done on time.

  He got so lost in his research that the alarm telling him it was time to go startled him. He bookmarked the page he was working on, saved the draft of his paper, and changed clothes quickly so he’d be up for whatever Kit wanted to do that afternoon.

  The temperatures had warmed up a bit from when he’d come in that morning, so he left his coat unbuttoned as he started the walk to Kit’s apartment. Some days he really wished he had a car, but that would have to wait a few more months.

  “I’m so glad you were able to get time off this afternoon,” Linc said when Kit opened the door to his apartment.

  “And best of all, Phillip and Ephah won’t be home for hours yet,” Kit replied with a grin, the one that spelled mischief for sure. Linc followed him into the living room. “Uncle Thane never lets them leave before five, and only then if he’s satisfied with the amount of work everyone’s gotten done for the day.”

  Linc returned Kit’s smile. “What are we supposed to do with that much time alone?”

  “I’m sure we’ll think of something,” Kit replied. “Do you want something to drink?”

  “No, I want you,” Linc said.

  “Wham, bam, thank you, sir?” Kit quipped.

  “You know it’s not like that,” Linc said, stricken at the idea that Kit could imagine Linc thought so lightly of him.

  “Of course it’s not like that, but I have to tease a little. You’d wonder what was wrong with me if I didn’t.” Kit sat on the couch and patted the space beside him. “I’m going to miss you this week.”

  “Me too,” Linc said. “I’ll call or text when I can, but it won’t be the same.”

  Kit curled into Linc’s side, leaning his full weight against Linc. The way Kit fit beneath the curve of his arm, Linc didn’t ever want to move. They could just stay like this forever, and the rest of the world could go hang.

  “I won’t call so I don’t interrupt something important, but I’ll text as often as I can,” Kit promised. “And I’ll watch every game. I wish I could come with you, but I can’t miss that many days of class.”

  “I know,” Linc said, all too aware of the problem and the likelihood it would continue for as long as Linc played basketball. They’d deal with it as it happened, he reminded himself. Right now, he had Kit in his arms, and focusing on anything else was a waste of time and privacy.

  “Do you like traveling?” Kit asked in as small a voice as Linc had ever heard from him.

  “I don’t know,” Linc replied honestly. “When I go to an away game, I don’t think about anything but the game, you know? We go, we play, we come home. That’s not the same as taking a vacation somewhere, or even adding a few days on after a game. We can’t do that right now, just like you can’t miss four days of class to come to the tournament games.”

  Kit nodded along as Linc spoke, so he hoped Kit understood what he was saying—and what he hadn’t said.

  “What about you?” Linc asked.

  “Never really had much of a chance,” Kit admitted. “Mom had the money from the Army after Dad died, but she was still a single parent. Then when she died, we came to live with Uncle Thane. He won’t admit it, but he’s a homebody. He and Uncle Blake took a big trip when they got married, but the rest of the time, even when they have vacation, we do things close by. I think we’ve been to every bed-and-breakfast in the state.”

  “Any good ones? After basketball season is over, if I can find a part-time job, we could visit a few of them,” Linc suggested.

  “A few, but my favorite of our trips was to Cumberland Falls. The lodge is beautiful, but they also have private cabins. If we timed it right, we might even see a moonbow. But you’ve probably been there already.”

  “We never went anywhere except to Hodgenville for supplies,” Linc said. “The farm… well, it took all of our time, for one thing, but more than that, it barely produced enough to keep us fed and in clothes for school and church. Anything extra was set aside in case next season wasn’t good. We ate what came out of the vegetable patch and took hand-me-downs from anyone who’d give them to us. Momma is a whiz with a needle and thread. She can patch anything. It won’t look new, but it does hold up. So no, I haven’t seen it.”

  There. He’d laid out the last of his “secrets.” Now if Kit didn’t run away screaming, they’d be good.

  “Then we definitely have to go,” Kit said. “The first weekend after the NCAA tournament is over.
”

  “I probably should go home that weekend,” Linc said. “I haven’t been home since Christmas, and they can’t really get up here to visit me. I want you to come with me, but maybe not that weekend. It’ll be bad enough for me right after the tournament. We might could go after exams before graduation.”

  “You want me to meet your family?” Kit asked.

  “Yeah. I mean, you don’t have to, but I figured since I met yours….”

  “No, I’d love to go with you, and that sounds like a perfect time,” Kit said in a rush. “Nothing’s more important than family.”

  Kit was well on his way to becoming as important, but then again, if Linc had his way, Kit would be family before long too. “You’re right. Nothing’s more important.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  KIT leaned back from the microscope and pulled out the slide he’d spent the last twenty minutes staring at. He couldn’t have even said what he was looking for, much less if he’d found it, as distracted as he’d been since Linc left for the SEC tournament. As the top seed, UK hadn’t played in the first two rounds, but they’d been expected to be there anyway, which meant two extra days of Linc being gone. They’d talked every evening when Linc got back to his hotel room after practice, but it wasn’t the same as being with him.

  He glanced up at the clock. Another twenty minutes and he’d be done at Alltech for the day. He could head to the frat house and study there until the game started. The UK-Florida game was the next to last of the day, which left plenty of time for him to finish the abstract for his research project.

  The lounge was empty when he got there, so he spread his papers out on the table and fired up his laptop. He had—he looked at the clock—three hours before the game started. If he couldn’t finish the abstract by then on a project he’d been working on for eight months, he was in trouble.

  He pulled up the file and read over what he’d already written, but he couldn’t stay focused on the familiar words. His thoughts drifted to Linc and what he was doing to get ready for the game tonight.