Ace, Part Three by Kate Aaron

Author:Kate Aaron
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: gay romance, gay, gay athletes, tennis, british, romance, gay tennis, wimbledon, contemporary gay romance, sortsmen, gay sportsmen, athletes, contemporary romance
Publisher: Croft House

“I love you. You’re my son, I just want you to be happy.” He frowned. “I wonder sometimes if we didn’t push you too hard. When you were fourteen, fifteen. You wanted so badly to quit—”

“I was confused, Dad. I was a teenager, it was all hormones.”

“Hmm.” He didn’t look convinced.

“Besides,” I laughed. “What else would I do? I’m not qualified for anything but tennis.”

“You’re a smart lad. You’d figure something out.”

“Something that would pay as well?” I raised a wry eyebrow.

“Not everything is about money.”

“It can’t buy happiness,” I quipped.

“No.” He gave me a long look. “It can’t.”

***

By the time I got to Lexi’s hotel, it was early evening. He answered my knock with an easy smile that illuminated his sweet, open face and I leant in to kiss him, heedless of the potential for witnesses to come strolling down the hotel corridor.

“What have you brought?” he asked, taking one of several paper bags out of my hand as I stepped inside and kicked the door closed behind me.

“Dinner.” I grinned wolfishly. “Told you I’d cook.”

He threw a sceptical look over his shoulder as he set the bag on the dresser and opened it, the scent of lemongrass wafting through the room.

“You expect me to believe you cooked this?”

“Well… I ordered it. That must count for something.”

Ordered it, in fact, from a really rather ridiculously priced Thai restaurant on the high street.

Lexi opened a container carefully. “Green curry? But how—you couldn’t—this is my favourite!”

“I know.” I stole another kiss as I placed a second bag beside his and produced plastic plates and cutlery from its depths.

“How the hell did you know?” he demanded.

“Jake Ross.” I’d managed a brief conversation with my opponent after the game and post-match interviews. Belatedly realising he and Lexi trained at the same Academy, I’d casually fished for information.

Lexi paused, sucking sauce from his finger in a way that made me want to throw him down and have my way with him, dinner be dammed. “You told Jake about us?”

“No, don’t worry. We were just chatting.”

“I don’t mind.” He set the little tinfoil tub down and opened another containing sticky white rice.

“So you’re out?” I kept my tone conversational as I laid the plates and looked for a spoon to dish the food.

Lexi nodded. “Pretty hard to hide it in an academy environment.”

A hot spike of jealousy pierced my gut but I kept my tone teasing as I asked, “Any great romance I should know of? Should I be worried?”

“Idiot.” He pushed me gently, his tone affectionate.

“Come on, the must have been someone.”

He paused, going misty-eyed as he remembered. “There was this one boy—Alex. I was so crazy about him…”

“Unrequited?”

“Of course.”

“Where is he now?”

Lexi shrugged. “No idea. He was talented, but he never turned pro.”

I nodded and filled our plates.

“What about you?” he asked as we carried our food to the bed and settled atop the covers. He took a bite, closed his eyes and groaned with appreciation, completely distracting me.

“Huh?”

“Who was your first crush?”

“Oh, just some kid…” I waved a hand dismissively.

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