Page 57 of Love at First Rep

“Tobias, I was wondering if Garrett and I could use the boxing ring at the gym for a sparring session. Is there an open gym time for that?”

“Oh my God, can we watch?” Josh asked as he returned with the trivia form and retook his seat. “That sounds awesome. It’d be cool to see Garrett in action.”

“I second that. I’ll bring the drinks,” Cole said.

“Two hot guys rolling around and getting sweaty together? I’m in, too!” Lucas chimed in, drawing a groan from Garrett.

Tobias chuckled, and a few of the guys stared at him in shock. Apparently, they weren’t used to a chuckling Tobias.

“Yeah, we could arrange a time for it. We should have done that instead of coming here.”

“No way. We’re about to dominate trivia,” Josh said. “How about tomorrow night?”

Tobias shrugged. “Works for me.”

Around the table, everyone nodded and voiced their excitement, Lucas and Cole even threatening to place bets on the match.

A pink-faced Carson tried to ignore the conversation while sipping on a pint of beer.

“How about you, Carson? You gonna come watch me take down Garrett?”

Carson spluttered, some of his drink escaping his mouth.

“Uh, yeah. Sure. Maybe,” he said once he settled his beer on the table and wiped a napkin across his face.

Poor guy. Carson had no skills in subterfuge, but that explained why he preferred working with computers.

Hunter grabbed a couple napkins and helped clean the table from where he sat across from Carson.

“You okay, Car?” Hunter asked quietly. He didn’t expect a guy who resembled a Norse god to be so soft with someone. Hunter’s pink face matched Carson’s, likely thanks to the huge crush Garrett told him about. Carson could use someone like that in his corner.

The DJ cut off Rafe’s wandering thoughts and started the first round of trivia.

“Question number one. On the color wheel, what’s the opposite of blue?”

“Pink maybe?” Hunter suggested. “Like the gender reveal colors?”

“Nah, it’s orange,” Josh said as he filled in the answer sheet. As an artist, they all figured he had the best handwriting. “Red and yellow are the other primary colors and they mix to make orange so that’s on the direct opposite side.”

Riley beamed proudly at his boyfriend. “Nice one, babe.”

Josh’s answering smile was so loving that a pang hit Rafe’s chest. Would he have that with Garrett one day? Or would Garrett walk away once he discovered Rafe’s secrets? The anticipation was killing him.

“Number two,” the DJ continued after repeating the first question. “Who is considered to be the mother of science fiction?”

“Mary Shelley,” Cole whisper-shouted. “I do a short unit on Frankenstein every year.”

It blew Rafe’s mind that Cole was an English teacher, considering most of the words that left his mouth were inappropriate. He figured Cole exploded with innuendos once he got home from work every day, but maybe that explained why he secretly wrote romance novels. Rafe only found out after the deep dive he did on each of the guys from Garrett’s gym group, and that fact had surprised him the most. After meeting Cole, though, it made a lot of sense.

“Number three: What measurement is equal to 1.151 miles?”

“Nautical mile,” Garrett and Rafe said at the same time. Rafe’s gaze found Garrett’s, and they shared a sweet smile. It mirrored the looks between Chase and Tobias and Josh and Riley so much it escalated Rafe’s hopes for a forever with Garrett.

“Well we gotta trust the SEALs on that one,” Chase said, amusement in his voice.

“Honey, I would trust a SEAL with just about anything,” Lucas agreed.

“Why is it different?” Riley asked.