Chapter 15
Levi
I know the moment the rugby team shows up. The place gets a lot louder. Oddly, they all look in good spirits. Normally, when they lose, they come to drink themselves out of a funk. Yet all of them look happy.
Tiffany, one of the girls from my calculus class who went to the game, kept me updated about their loss.
I did text Austin about it, telling him I was sorry, but they were going to kick ass the next time, but I haven’t gotten a chance to check my phone since.
Clearly, I’ve missed something because as I head over to the table they all flocked to, my brows jump when I see almost all of them sporting some sort of facial injury.
“What the hell happened to the lot of yah?”
“Hey. It's my boyfriend.” Austin grins, his eyes a little glassy. Is he already drunk?
“I knew stopping off at the liquor store was a bad idea.” Charlie snickers.
“Nah, man. It was a great idea. Now I can drink the cheap shit without remembering what it tastes like.” Austin grins.
“Since when did you worry about money?” Cole asks. “You’re the richest of us all.”
Austin frowns and flips my best friend off. “Just for that, I no longer like my boyfriend's best friend.”
Cole shakes his head. “Sorry, Levi. Your boy here is already trashed. He needed something to take away the pain.”
“Pain?” That's when I notice Austin’s face in the dim light of the bar. “What the fuck?” I cup his face, angling his head towards the light to get a good look at his bruising eye.
“You should see the other guy.” Austin grins up at me proudly. “Broke the fuckers nose.”
“I know rugby is a contact sport and all, but normally you all don’t look so beaten up.”
“That’s because the football fuckers thought they could start something with us,” Cole grumbles. “Fuck with one of us, fuck with all of us.”
“Football?” I frown, eyes dropping back to Austin. I grimace, feeling bad for him. My thumb brushes over the cut under his left eye. He hisses, and I shake my head. “You are crazy.” I sigh.
“For you,” he says in a drunken haze.
“No more letting this one drink,” I warn the guys.
“Hey.” Austin pouts.
“Come with me.” I let go of his face and grab his hand.
“Where are we going?” he asks, getting to his feet. “Oh, are we having bathroom sex?” his eyes light up, and my cheeks go red.
“No.” I hiss, trying to ignore the snickers from the team. Austin pouts. “I’m taking you to the staff room to get this cleaned up.”
I tug him through the bar and to the back. “Sit.” I shove him down on the couch, and he stumbles backwards with a grunt.
“Damn baby. If you want to manhandle me, I’m all for it. But could we do it with less clothes on?”
Crouching down, I grab the first aid kit from under the sink and smile, shaking my head. “No naked playtime.” I head back over to him.
“But I like naked playtime,” he groans, closing his eyes. “We don’t have naked playtime enough,” he sighs heavily.
“Well, now that we live together, that can change.” I chuckle, sitting on the coffee table in front of the couch.
His eyes snap open. “Yeah?” He gives me a drunken, sultry smile. “Be careful what you say, sexy man. If I had it my way, we would have a no clothes rule for the house, and I don’t think we would ever leave the bedroom.”
I shift in my seat, my cock perking up at the idea. Now is not the time to think about sex, Levi. Your boyfriend needs to be taken care of.
Boyfriend.
Fuck. But he’s not my boyfriend. But everyone out there thinks he is. So, it’s the same thing, right?
“Shut up and let me take care of you, would you?” I laugh softly, grabbing some supplies from the first aid kit.
Grabbing his chin, I hold his face still as I spray wound wash on his cut. Austin stares at me, this soft look in his eyes as I work. It looks something like adoration, or maybe he’s just sloshed.
“What?” I ask, licking my lips.
“Hhm?”
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I ask, moving to clean the cut on his lip.
“I like you taking care of me.” He smiles, then winces when his lip cracks and starts to bleed. “Shit.”
“Stop talking,” I growl, dabbing at the blood.
“So bossy. I like it,” he hums. “But I want to be the bossy one in the bedroom.”
A blush creeps onto my cheeks, but I ignore him. Good, because I don’t have any plans on being the bossy one in bed.
Sex with Austin is something I’ve been anticipating, only it hasn’t happened yet.
He said he’s never had sex with a man before.
So, maybe he’s nervous? Either way, I’ll wait as long as he needs.
This friends-with-benefits thing doesn’t have an expiration date.
At least not on my end. I have no interest in being with any other guy but Austin.
“So, you wanna tell me how you got these cuts?” I ask. “And this black eye?”
“We fought the football team,” he grumbles.
“Yes. But you must have really gone at it to get this bad. Who on the football team did you beat up?”
My heart races as I feel my stomach twist. I have a feeling who it could be, and I don’t know if I’m happy about it or not.
After coming clean about what happened with Brogan, part of me was expecting Austin to lose his shit.
I could see the anger in his eyes, but he kept it together for my sake, and I loved him for it. I needed him at that moment. If he lost his cool, I don’t think I’d have been able to handle it at the time.
But I did wonder if eventually he would do something.
“I don’t wanna say,” he mumbles.
My heart races faster. Is it fucked up that I’m excited at the possibility it was Brogan? And is it even more fucked up that my cock is getting hard knowing that this man beat up my ex in my defense?
“Austin.” I scold him.
He blinks up at me and sighs. “Brogan. He was there with the group of football players.” He shrugs, trying to look away, but I don’t let him, gripping his jaw with my fingers.
“Why did you do it?” I ask.
“Because someone on the team started something with Charlie.”
“Is that the only reason?”
He licks his lips. “No.” He whispers softly. “After you told me what that piece of shit did to you, I saw the opportunity to kick his ass, and I took it. I’d have done more damage if it wasn’t for Coach putting a stop to it,” he grumbles.
Emotions hit me in the chest. Austin looks at me like he expects me to be upset with him, but I’m here trying not to cry because this man cares so much for me. I just don’t understand why. Why me?
Pulling his head closer, I put my forehead to his and close my eyes. “Thank you,” my voice cracks.
“For what?” he whispers.
“For defending me. For caring enough about me to do what you did.”
Austin pulls back and cups my face in his big hands. “You never have to thank me for caring about you, Levi. You're the most important person in my life. The idea of someone hurting you kills me.”
My lips part, my heart pounds as I struggle to think of the words I want to say. I love you. Be mine for real. Never leave me.
“You're the most important person in my life, too,” I whisper. At least he’s one of them. Easily the top five. Would it be a bad thing if he were tied with my parents and siblings?
He really does mean the world to me. Having him in my life has changed me in so many ways.
I feel alive. My eyes were opened to see there’s so much more to life than just school and work. I look forward to seeing him every day. And now, getting to live with him? It’s thrilling.
Austin groans, grabbing the back of my head and pulling me down for a kiss. I can taste the copper of his blood, but I don’t care.
I kiss him back. It’s slow and sweet, but the heat of it sets me on fire.
If this man wasn’t drunk, I’d probably let him fuck me in the staff room right now. And by the way, my cock thickens in my pants, he agrees.
“I want you so bad,” he murmurs against my lips. “I’ve been dreaming about sinking my cock inside your tight little hole.”
“Austin.” I whimper.
“Mhhm.” He sounds sleepy. Pulling back, I see that his eyes are glazed and lidded before fluttering shut.
I snort out a laugh, shaking my head. “Lie down.” He sighs as I shove him to his side.
He goes down easily, grumbling but not protesting. “Get some sleep.” I lean down and kiss his cheek. I’ll deal with him when my shift is over, but for now, I still have a few hours left of work.
***
“So. I have a way for you to make it up to me about the Brogan thing.” I say that Saturday morning, stepping into the kitchen while Austin is cooking. It’s weird to have a full Saturday off. But after last night's shift, I did enjoy sleeping in and not having to worry about school.
Austin looks at me over his shoulder. “I wasn’t aware I had making up to do?” he asks. “I thought you were okay with what happened.”
I am. I wasn’t upset about what he did to Brogan. Not at all. When we got home that night, I jerked off to the idea of him defending me. Not my proudest moment, but still.
“I am,” I say. “But what you did was put yourself at risk of getting kicked out of school, and now you are on probation. And that's because you did something in my honor. I don’t want you risking your education defending me.”
The next morning, the whole rugby team, as well as the football team, had a meeting with the dean.
Everyone involved with the fight was put on probation.
Pretty much, if they fuck up again by getting into any fist fights on campus, they will be kicked off their respective team. After that, they risk expulsion.
Austin turns around and narrows his eyes. “Well, if you expect me to just stand around and watch while someone hurts you, sorry to break it to you, but fuck that.”
And there goes my heart, soaring amongst the clouds. This damn guy.
“Thank you for being my hero.” I roll my eyes. “But there's no need. Anyways. Here.” I hold out my phone for him to read the post on it.
He takes it and looks it over. “What’s this?”
“Did you even read it?” I laugh, taking it back.
“Kinda?”
I sigh, shaking my head.