Chapter 11 #2
A sudden smile lit Lee’s eyes, and when he leaned back in, there was no hesitation, no gentleness—steady pressure and a wicked flick of Lee’s thumb, water dripping from Alex’s wet hair into his eyes, the rest of the room slipping away because Lee was all Alex could see.
A rush to the head each time Alex blinked, biting his lip to keep quiet, spiraling higher and trusting Lee to catch him.
Close.
Jesus, so close.
Just a little more, please, yes.
Alex tried to nudge Lee back and met resistance.
With both hands, Lee trapped Alex’s hips against the tiles, limiting Alex’s movements to tiny shudders as Lee’s tongue flattened against the underside of Alex’s cock.
The tiniest sting of pain, Lee’s nails biting into Alex’s waist, and maybe that was what did it or maybe it was just Lee—Lee and the way he kept blinking water out of his eyes, glancing up at Alex every so often.
Alex’s orgasm pulled him under, irresistible.
He was loosely aware of Lee steadying him, swallowing, and then Alex slid to the floor and reached for Lee, wasn’t quite sure about the protocol until Lee kissed him, the slight taste of salt and a hint of sweet bitterness shared between them.
Somehow, Alex got one hand around Lee’s cock.
“Whatever you’re comfortable with,” Lee whispered, almost lost in the rush of the shower.
“This is good.” Alex didn’t wait for a response, just twisted his wrist in a way he liked himself. Lee’s hips jerked with a tiny moan that Alex swallowed.
The angle was slightly different, but the weight and silky warmth of skin wasn’t, water making it an easy slide.
It didn’t take long at all for Lee to gasp into Alex’s mouth, clutching Alex’s shoulder as he spilled sticky-warm between them.
Maybe that meant something—how little it had taken, how close Lee had already been by the time Alex got a hand on him.
Maybe.
That was a question for another moment, though. For now, Alex was happy to lose himself in more kisses shared between them, urgency fading as the water grew cooler.
Lunch could wait a little longer.
So that was… a thing now.
Sex with Alex.
Kissing too—quick and close-mouthed in the morning, deep and slow in the evening, and whatever they could get away with during the day.
The night before the match against the US, Lee talked Alex through his first blowjob.
It wasn’t perfect, of course it wasn’t because Alex needed a moment to find his rhythm and he took a few breaks, loosely circling Lee’s cock with one hand, grinning up at Lee as he mouthed at the head—but God, it was Alex, and that was enough to make Lee bite his own hand when he came so he wouldn’t give them away to the entire team.
He hadn’t planned for them to fall asleep together after that, naked and tangled on his bed.
When he woke up in the morning though, Alex tucked up against his side, it felt like the most natural thing in the world, as inevitable as gravity.
Alex blinked his eyes open some minutes later, sunshine brightening the tips of his lashes because they hadn’t bothered closing the curtains last night, and found Lee watching him.
His smile was soft and sleepy, no surprise at their proximity.
“Creep,” he mumbled, and Lee chuckled.
“It’s not every day I wake up with an earl in my bed.”
Could get used to it. Lee didn’t say that.
The corners of Alex’s eyes crinkled. “You complaining?”
“Not even a little,” Lee told him before he leaned in for a lazy kiss, morning breath be damned. They were the last ones at breakfast, and Oliver shot Lee a knowing look that Lee countered with a sheepish grin, ducking his head.
He should have known it was too good to last.
It was their first match in Madrid, and Alex spent most of the train trip staring blankly out the window while Jeff, Lewis, and Lee slagged off the US in general and American portion sizes and accents in particular, even Oliver chiming in every now and then.
When Jeff launched into a made-up country song about a rusting truck and a regrettable lack of beer, Alex cracked a brief grin that faded all too soon.
Jeff clearly noticed and turned up the volume on his attempts to distract Alex, teasing him about his pretty face and his popularity on social media.
For a little while it worked, but as soon as Jeff left their compartment to call his new girl who was going to be at the match tonight, Alex fell back into morose silence.
Only once Lewis left as well did Lee get a chance to reach over and cover Alex’s hand with his own. “Hey.”
Alex looked up sharply, gaze sliding to Oliver. At Oliver’s sunny smile, Alex relaxed and turned to Lee, tangling their fingers. “Hey.”
Wrong. Too quiet, lacking Alex’s usual energy.
Oliver appeared to think so too. He got up and grabbed his phone, pointing a thumb at the corridor outside the compartment. “I’ll be just outside, yeah? Give Sanna a quick call.”
“You’ll stand guard for us?” Lee aimed for an obnoxious smile. “That’s real kind of you, mate.”
“Keep it family-appropriate.”
“Boring.”
Oliver tossed Lee an unimpressed look before he stepped outside, closed the door, and turned his back on them, leaving the compartment in thick silence that was underlined by the steady hum of the train.
Lee shifted to face Alex properly, taking in the tense line of his jaw and the way he wouldn’t quite meet Lee’s eyes.
“How are you doing?” Lee asked in an undertone.
“I’m”—Alex dragged in a breath—“nervous.”
“You weren’t nervous last night.”
The faintest quirk of Alex’s mouth. “I was otherwise occupied.”
“By all means.” Lee slid a little lower in his seat and tilted his hips up with a small grin, keeping his hold on Alex’s hand as he gestured at the fly of his jeans. “Help yourself. I don’t mind taking one for the team.”
It had the desired effect—the tension around Alex’s eyes eased slightly. “Oliver would kill us.”
“As our captain, Oliver will understand that sometimes, it takes unorthodox methods to get the job done.”
“You are so full of shit.” Yet the upwards quirk to Alex’s mouth was more noticeable now, and when Lee pulled him in for a kiss, Alex turned into it, the pace languid. Even as they separated, it wasn’t by much, foreheads resting together, breathing.
“Want to tell me what’s going on in that head of yours?” Lee asked softly.
Alex sighed. “Nothing you wouldn’t have guessed already. Could all be over tonight, you know?”
“Could be.” Lee let their noses brush as he nodded. “We might lose and come home to a barrage of criticism. Been there, done that.”
“That’s not helping.”
“I think it is. It’s a possibility, so might as well get it out there, right? After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is scarier than Lord Voldemort.”
A near-smile. “Nerd.”
“Thank you.” Lee inclined his head. “But my actual point is—I don’t think so. This team? It’s better than four years ago. We’re a team, not just a random assortment of players, and Kieran’s got a way of making everyone feel valued and seen, even the guys who haven’t had any playtime yet.”
Alex was silent for a beat, then he exhaled, leaning further into Lee. “You’re not too bad at pep talks.”
“Plenty of practice with my sisters.” Lee caught Alex’s mouth for a brief kiss, then kept talking against his lips. “I mean it, though—we’re good enough. You’re good enough. And you and me, babe?” He nudged Alex’s nose with his own. “We’re magic.”
“You’ve got a bright future as a motivational coach,” Alex murmured.
He didn’t give Lee a chance to reply before tugging him in for another kiss, a hint of urgency now, open mouths, oh.
Lee nipped at Alex’s bottom lip and momentarily lost himself in Alex’s tiny moan before he remembered that their privacy was fragile at best.
He tangled one hand in Alex’s hair, squeezed Alex’s fingers with the other as he slowly, feathery kiss by feathery kiss, pulled away. The way Alex stared at him, eyes dark and dazed, was everything.
Lee swallowed. “So, uh.” Casual. “You’ve already met Prince Joshua, right? So you can help me prepare. Is he as tall as he looks on the telly? Does he like his guys athletic?”
“You’ve got a crush on him?” The way Alex’s gaze narrowed hadn’t been part of the plan, but oh, did Lee delight in it. He bit down on the inside of his cheek to stifle a grin as he held his thumb and forefinger apart by a small margin.
“Teeny tiny bit. It’s my nobility kink, you see? The fancier the title, the more I want to get on my knees.”
“His husband might have something to say about that.” Then Alex seemed to notice the grin Lee couldn’t quite suppress anymore. “Also, are you trying to make me jealous?”
“Is it working?”
Alex didn’t reply immediately, lips pursed into a frown. “Maybe,” he said then, with a glance from underneath his lashes that made something sweetly disorienting catch in Lee’s throat.
“Well, lucky for you, I like my men a little younger than me. Say, by a couple of years or so.”
“Now you’re just taking the piss.” The corners of Alex’s mouth curled up though, and Lee pressed his thumb against the slight indentation of a dimple.
“It’s how I show my love.” Tad too close to the mark, so Lee tagged a cheesy grin onto the end. “But rest assured, babe, that you are the fairest of them all.”
Just as Alex was about to reply, Oliver rapped his knuckles against the glass. Alex and Lee dropped back into their separate seats moments before Jeff barged back into the compartment to announce that they’d arrive in fifteen minutes—“Let’s get this show on the road!”
Lee couldn’t help but notice that Jeff stuck close to Alex for the rest of the journey, poking and prodding him, keeping him distracted with random chatter.
It was at odds with the devil-may-care image Jeff presented to the public, and it didn’t take long until Alex started smiling for real, countering Jeff’s playful insults with some of his own even as he kept glancing at Lee.