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“Jesus fuck,” Rhodes mumbled. Under his breath, he added, “What have we talked about with your volume?”

“Sorry,” I muttered.

“No!” Jude exclaimed, slamming one hand on the table. He pointed at us. “None of that! No more… sex things with you two! Got it? As far as I’m concerned, you two are virgins.”

“Please,” Rhodes scoffed.

“None. Of. That.” Jude enunciated every word as he glared at his brother. “No dicks talked about ever—well, your dicks anyway. Mine isn’t off limits.”

I pressed my lips together tightly, trying my best not to laugh.

“Good luck with that,” Sariah commented as she walked into the room. She wore a loose tank top and leggings. “I’ve been trying to tell him that for years.”

“Oh, you’re so goddamn dramatic!” Rhodes turned in the chair to stare at her. “Are you going for a run?”

“No, I thought I’d walk around your house in my jogging clothes for the hell of it,” she quipped, making me laugh.

“Yeah, you’re a smartass,” he muttered. He got to his feet and tapped the table once. “Since this is going nowhere productive, I’m going for a run with her. You two have fun.”

Sariah headed toward the back door while Rhodes quickly drained the last of his coffee. I expected him to follow her immediately. Instead, he stopped behind my chair. Before I could look at him, his hand brushed lightly over the back of my head. He bent down and pressed a quick kiss into my hair.

The gesture lasted maybe a second at most, but it still made me freeze. It wasn’t because Rhodes had never kissed me like that before, but because Jude was sitting directly across from us. Rhodes didn’t hesitate, as if it wasn’t some remarkable moment.

But it was.

Before I could fully process it, he straightened and followed Sariah out of the kitchen. I stared after him, a little in shock and a little in awe.

The kitchen fell painfully quiet the second the door closed behind them. I stared at it for a moment longer than necessary before slowly turning back toward Jude. He was staring at me, his expression carefully masked once more. The humor was gone, and somehow this was worse than when it was the three of us.

“You know,” Jude began finally, “when people find out, it’s not you who’s going to get the brunt of judgment, right? It’ll come back on him. People are already treating him coming out as some kind of… stupid town gossip thing.”

My stomach did an uncomfortable flip. I knew that. Or at least, I thought I did. I’d considered it from a professional point of view, but I’d never once stopped to consider it on a personal level.

“I know,” I said quietly. Jude studied me as he leaned back in his chair.

“I’m not saying that because I think he’s doing anything wrong, and I’m not telling you to end it. I just…” He rubbed the back of his neck as he faltered. “Rhodes will probably tell you he doesn’t care what people think of him, but he does. Maybe not enough to change things, but he cares. And when you go pro, you’ll be taking him with you. It won’t take long for people to start talking about the fact that he was your coach. And people are fucking cruel. It’d be unfair to drag him into all of that if you aren’t sure.”

There wasn’t an ounce of accusation in his voice, and he wasn’t trying to scare me off. He was just trying to protect his brother.

“So, just make sure you know this is what you want, Theo,” he said. “Because if this is temporary for you, please don’t drag him into the spotlight with you. It’s not fair to him.”

“I love him,” I replied. “I’m not stupid. I know this whole thing is complicated. I know people will have opinions, but he won’t have to deal with them alone. I’m not going anywhere, Jude.”

I didn’t feel the need to fill the silence as I waited for him to consider my words. Still, when he nodded, I couldn’t deny the slight wave of relief that rolled through me. I didn’t want Jude to have a reason to doubt me.

“Okay,” he said. And that was it. The conversation shifted to breakfast—rather second breakfast for him—and the simplicity of it all almost got me.

After months of sneaking around, lying by omission, and bracing for what Jude would think when he found out, apparently there wasn’t much more to it than the reassurance that I was all in and a no-dick rule.

CHAPTER 82

Theo

MOM: Are you okay?

MOM: You didn’t come home last night, and you disappeared from the funeral without telling us where you went.

MOM: We’re worried about you, honey.