Tyler's leg nervously bounced against mine in the silent car.
My hair was still a bit damp from the shower I'd taken when Ty and I were finally able to break away from the groups of people congratulating us.
My fathers were driving us back home to have a celebratory dinner for our win and for us coming out. Though my fathers had been fairly normal when they'd approached Tyler and I after the game, I knew that once we were home, an avalanche of questions would fall down on him from both my dads and my sister. He was obviously feeling the pressure as shown by his hyperactive leg. Luckily, we were in the third row of my Papa's three row SUV so we had privacy, however, I kept catching my fathers' eyes glancing back at us every now and then through the rear view mirror.
I put my hand on his leg and used my thumb to gently stroke his knee. "Ty, relax," I said, my voice reduced to less than a whisper. "It's alright. You've been around my family before and my dads already like you, so do my siblings. Trust me, Ty, you have nothing to worry about."
"Yeah, well tell that to my heart. It's about to bust out of my chest and go on the run, man."
I softly scoffed as I took his hand in my own and kissed the back of his knuckles. He leaned his head over so it was resting on my shoulder. I pressed my cheek to the top of his head, allowing the feeling of Tyler's skin and the darkness that surrounded us to be enough to occupy me until we arrived back at my house.
Light quickly flooded into the car as we pulled into the parking garage of our building since my dads didn't like parking out on the street. "Alright everyone, up, up, up," Papa said with the clap of his hands after he'd parked.
"Come on you two," Azalea said as she gently nudged Emerson and Adryan, both of which had been occupied by whatever TV show they'd been watching on their tablets. She led them out though neither one of them lifted their heads from their screens.
"Aye, you two, badre (pay attention), huh?" Padre chastised as he pulled Adryan's headphones off of his head before he did the same to Emerson.
"Daddy!" he whined as Azalea let down the seats so Tyler and I could climb out.
"Adryan!" Padre mocked with a fake frown before he ruffled Adryan's hair, which everyone knew he hated more than anything.
"Alright lovebirds, hop out," Azalea lightly jabbed as she motioned for us to get out, and since my fathers were too distracted with the little ones, I was stealthily able to flip her the bird not only on one hand, but both which she lovingly returned, going as far as to kiss her middle finger before raising it at me.
I scoffed. "Uh huh, keep that in mind when I finally get to interrogate Josh, and I'm going to get him good." I shuffled out of the car with Tyler hot on my heels.
"Oh yeah? Well luckily for me, I get Tyler now, so you better be careful around me tonight."
Tyler all but blushed as a nervous chuckle escaped his lips. "Don't worry, I'll be right here," I softly said so that only he could hear before I slid my hand into his, gave him a tight squeeze, then let my hand fall back to my side, not wanting to make him uncomfortable when he was already anxious around my family. I couldn't blame or fault him, though. If I were in his place I'd be doing the same thing.
The journey up to our apartment was usually fairly fast, but for some reason, today it felt extra long between the not-so-subtle way my dads were fan-girlling as they glanced at us, Tyler's nervousness, and the silent battle Azalea and I were partaking in with our only weapons being our glares and facial expressions. Though I knew that she was bluffing about going after Tyler, she was 100% going to come after me in the form of embarrassing stories. And to make matters worse, even when I finally got my hands on Josh, I wouldn't be able to do half of the damage Azalea could because our dads would stop me and remind me that I'm supposed to be the "bigger person", but the bigger person doesn't exist between siblings. I didn't settle. I got even.
"Alright, Addi, since you and Ty played tonight, you obviously don't have to take care of dinner tonight. It's Azalea's night, so you two go and relax until dinner is ready," Padre said once we entered the house, taking off his shoes as he said so.
"Ok," I said as I copied his actions, not putting up a breath of a fight against that decision. Extra alone time with Tyler was always a perk. As soon as everyone's shoes were off we all started dispersing: my fathers and Azalea to the kitchen, Adryan and Emerson to the living room, while I led Tyler up the stairs to my room.
"Oh, Addison," Papa said as he did a double take and looked at me, "tieni la porta aperta, ok (keep the door open, okay)?"
Now it was my turn to blush. "Okay dad," I rushed out before I grabbed Tyler by the wrist and practically dragged him upstairs in an effort to get away from my father's amused grin at the embarrassment he'd put me through. I was so lucky that Tyler didn't understand a lot of Italian.
I flipped on the lights as soon as we walked into my room, once again glad that it wasn't a complete disaster. Tyler released a breath he'd likely been holding since I asked him to come with us for dinner as he crashed onto my bed. "Sorry about them," I said as I wandered over to my dresser and changed into my pajamas, opting to slide on a slightly cropped shirt with my pajama pants instead of remaining shirtless like I usually did before I slid onto the bed next to Tyler.
"It's alright," he said with a shrug as he looked me over. "I think I just found my third favorite thing to see you in, other than gray sweats and nothing."
I looked down at myself, confused. "This?"
"This," he confirmed. "Especially the crop top. You should wear it more often, but only around me though. I should be the only one who can see you looking this good."
I rolled my eyes as I shoved him. "Whatever, Tyler, you're just saying that because you think it's what I want to hear."
He raised a brow. "Is it?"
"No...I mean, kinda. Everyone wants to hear that they look good, but you know what I mean."
Tyler shrugged. "I was being honest."
I scoffed. "Whatever. What do you want to do?" I asked as I settled myself into his arms and rested my head on his broad chest, looking up at him.
"Whatever you want to, I guess."
I raised a brow before I sat up so I was level with him. "Well, if that's the case..." I finished my sentence by gently pressing my lips to his. No matter how many times I did it, the familiar taste would never get old to me. Ever.
We held it before he pulled away. "Aren't you going to close the door?"
I shook my head. "Can't, it's against the rules. I guess my parents are afraid of you getting me pregnant or something."
Tyler rolled his eyes as an adorable grin stretched across his face. I placed one more peck on his lips before I settled back into his chest. We alternated between watching television and talking about whatever was on our minds. Despite the frequent moments that I simply wanted to make out with him and do nothing else, I refrained, mainly because I knew that Tyler would freak out knowing that there was a possibility that someone in my family could walk by the wide open door and catch us, but I couldn't blame him. The last time we'd been in this room together, we'd been caught and things didn't go too well after that.
After a while, I grabbed my glasses from my night stand. Though I didn't wear them often, I got my eyesight from Papa and slowly, yet surely my eyesight was slipping away, and though I could see pretty well without my glasses, there were some nights that they were needed. This was one of those nights.
"Woah, Addi, I didn't know you were blind."
"I'm not. I just need a little help sometimes, that's all, no need to make fun of me." I poked my bottom lip out in a pout. "You're supposed to love me, all of me just the way I am, Tyler."
"I do, I do," he said with a slight chuckle before he reached down and plucked the glasses off my face and started inspecting them. "I think it's cute, that's all I'm saying."
"Tyler, I'm not cute. Beautiful, yes, hot, of course, but never cute. Now come on, give them back, I want them."
I reached for my glasses, but Tyler being the stubborn boy he was, held them beyond my reach. "No, I don't think I want to."
Growing frustrated, I pushed myself up and basically climbed on him in an effort to reach my glasses, yet he still somehow managed to keep them out of my reach. "Tyler, I swear to God I'll–"
"You'll what, Addi?" He teased, calling my bluff.
I narrowed my eyes at him, unable to come up with a witty comeback, especially because he caused something to come over me every time he looked up at me while I was on top of him, whether it was in the middle of a hot and heavy make out session, or in a playful moment like this.
I was weak for him.
So instead of trying to come up with something to say, I tried to use his moment of being distracted to make a final move for my glasses, however, the sudden shift in weight sent us both toppling to the floor with Tyler landing on top of me.
Laughter spilled from both of our lips and neither of us made an effort to get off of one another. "Okay, okay, Addi...you...you win," Tyler made out between laughs before he gently slid my glasses back onto my face. "There. Better?"
I nodded sobering up before I reached up and gripped the back of his neck. Picking up on what I wanted him to do, he craned his neck down and kissed me. I caged him in with my legs and deepened the kiss, my body hungry for his.
I started kissing down his neck. I could feel his muscles tensing beneath my lips as his control slowly started slipping away. "Addi, you have to stop. You're killing me," he lowly said in a way that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. His arms that were holding him up were slightly shaking.
Grinning, I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him down on top of me. He let out a yelp of surprise as he came crashing down on me, causing me to laugh as our bodies became tangled with one another. "Addison!" He said with a chuckle as I barraged his face with kisses. "Addison, baby, please–"
He was cut off by someone clearing their throat. I instantly pulled away from him to see my sister leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed and an amused look on her face. "Oh sorry, am I interrupting something?"
I quickly pulled myself free of Tyler and took on a semi-protective stance in front of him since I knew that he was more than likely embarrassed. "No, it was nothing. I was just getting my glasses back from him."
She raised a brow, an unconvinced look in her deep eyes. "Yeah sure. If your glasses were down his throat, I think you did a good job getting them, Addison."
A blush stained my cheeks but I refused to break eye contact and let her know she'd won. I mean, I loved her to death, but she sure as hell could be annoying. A real cock block too.
"Nothing, just wanted to let you two know that dinner's gonna be served in five, but it looks like you two are enjoying each other like four course meals or something, so I'll just go back down with Papa and Padre and–"
"Azalea." Her name came out as both a warning and a beg. I knew she was just messing around but I really didn't want her to tell our dads about how she'd found Tyler and I, especially not with Tyler already being so anxious. I just wanted him to feel okay and I couldn't do that if my parents were making jokes about me finding my glasses down his throat.
Her expression softened. "Don't worry, Addi. I've got you." Her gaze looked over my shoulder at Tyler. "I've got you too. I won't let them go too hard on you."
Tyler let out a nervous chuckle. "Thanks, Azalea."
She shrugged. "You make my brother happy, so the least I can do is make sure that our dads don't scare you off." As soon as she said that, there was a loud crash from downstairs followed by Papa loudly cursing in Italian before Padre called her name. "And that's my cue. It looks like dinner will be done in ten minutes now."
"Okay, thanks, Azzy."
She flipped me off as a special way of saying goodbye before she left without another word.
I looked back at Tyler who was obviously still flustered from being caught in a very compromising position.
I grinned at him as I stood up and offered him my hand. "Come on. Up, up, up."
He took my hand and allowed me to help him up. "Don't worry, she won't tell," I assured him as we settled on my bed.
"I know, I trust her, I'm still anxious, that's all. I mean, telling people still has me anxious. I like controlling when and how people find out so when people just do...it takes me back, you know?" He subconsciously stroked his thigh, his thumb moving slow and gentle as he was caught up in his own thoughts.
Guilt quickly spread throughout my chest like ink in water. Had he secretly felt the same way when I'd proposed coming out on the field? Did he only agree because he thought it would make me happy? Did my pride fueled actions "take him back"?
I swallowed. "I'm sorry. Did...Did what I did tonight take you back?"
His eyes instantly found mine and he shook his head. "No, no, I wanted to do that. You asked me and I said yes, I wouldn't have gone through with it if I didn't want to, Addison."
"Okay."
Silence festered between us and I raked my brain for a way to make things less awkward and make him feel okay. I just really wanted to make him feel okay, but I'd never been in this position before: being in love with someone with deep trauma beyond anything I could comprehend, let alone soothe. And I had common sense, I knew that kissing him could only soothe him so much. Whispering sweet nothings could only make him smile so hard. Saying I love you could only make him feel so good. I knew that sooner or later the anxiety would come back, especially because the last relationship he'd been in ended in flames and hurt.
I just wanted to be there for him; I didn't want to let him down.
So, I simply pulled him close and directed his head to my shoulder the way he'd done me in the locker room before the game.
He buried his face in my shoulder and I held him as tightly as possible. I could practically feel the muscles within his body relax with each passing second but I didn't dare loosen my grip on him.
However, our little pocket away from reality was interrupted when Papa called, letting us know dinner was ready. I looked down at Tyler. "Are you ready? We can wait or skip if you want to."
He instantly shook his head. "No, no, it's okay. I'm fine. Just...give me a playbook. What do I need to know? What should I avoid? What do I need to do?"
I chuckled and gently pressed a kiss to his forehead, letting my lips linger there for a moment before I pulled away. "My dads aren't scary, they're not going to try to rip you apart. Are they chatty and borderline cringy at times? Of course, but whose parents aren't? Just be yourself, il mio re (my king), and you'll be fine."
Tyler took a deep breath. "I've never been so nervous," he joked with a nervous chuckle before he laced his fingers with mine. "But alright, Romeo. I'm ready."
***
Hey y'all, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. It was still a bit cutsie but showed Tyler's anxiety that comes with his love for Addie. I loved reading y'all's comments under the last section and seeing y'all's reactions to them coming out, so let me know what you think about this chapter in the comments! What do y'all want to see next? Let me know that in the comments too! As always, the next chapter is already available on my Inkitt profile 1000% free, so if you want to read the next chapter before I put it here on Wattpad, click the Inkitt link in my bio because it really helps me out! Stay safe and healthy.
Love y'all– Jordan