Chapter Sixteen
Ezra
“Do you think that will be enough?” Adam asked as I picked the box of mini Haribo bags up off my desk and tucked it under my arm. “It should be about one each, but maybe I should have ordered enough for two.”
“One each will be fine,” I said. “And if they complain, they get nothing.”
Adam chuckled hesitantly. “Better you than me telling them that.”
“Exactly, which is why I’m doing it,” I said, adjusting the bag that had a few other bits in it on my shoulder.
“You can have the joy of editing it together later unless Leigh feels up to it.” She was off again with illness, which I’d told Adam was a migraine but was actually hyperemesis gravidarum, or extreme morning sickness.
It sounded like hell, and we were currently working on a plan to adjust Leigh’s work to things she could manage from home, although I wondered if it continued whether she’d be signed off from work by the doctor so she could focus on resting.
“I can do it. I need to get better at editing,” Adam said.
“Sounds good. Back in a bit.”
I headed downstairs with the box tucked under my arm, the work phone and microphone stashed in my suit pocket, and stopped outside the dressing room.
Most of the players were currently at breakfast, but they’d be coming out in a few minutes to get changed for their morning gym session and that was when I was going to ambush them.
The video we’d done on the first day of training had performed very well, with a lot of views across all platforms, which had converted to a strong engagement percentage and a solid uptick in our follower counts, so we’d decided to do more of them.
And since sweets were still the best form of bribery we had, one of Adam’s jobs had been ordering a wide variety of things for us to offer as prizes.
The lollipops had been popular, but I had a suspicion the Haribo would do even better.
I pinned the microphone onto my shirt, ripped open the box of sweets, took the collection bowl out of the bag, and primed the phone camera, adjusting the tiny ring light that clipped to the top of the case. Now all I had to do was wait for my first victim.
It wasn’t long until Matty appeared with Frankie and Kegan, the three of them deep in conversation about the best way to get slime out of a carpet. Kegan saw me and sighed while Frankie laughed and said, “What’ve you got for us today?”
“Simple really,” I said, holding out the box of Haribo and watching their eyes light up. “Bring me something from your locker for a bag of Haribo.”
“Done!” Kegan said with a grin. “I’ll be right back.”
“I’ve got something too,” Matty said, a slight twinkle in his eye as he strolled past me, quickly followed by Frankie. As they searched, another group of players appeared and I told them the same thing.
“Do these have gelatine in?” Jaden asked, his face falling slightly. “Only I’m vegetarian.”
“Yes, but I’ve got something different if you can’t have them,” I said.
In a move of excellent forethought, Adam had also ordered some small bags of chocolate rugby balls and some small silly toys that we could use as an alternative for anyone who couldn’t have the jelly sweets, and there were some in the bag the bowl had been in.
“Score,” Jaden said as he dashed off, almost colliding into Frankie, who’d returned with a small plastic dinosaur.
“Here,” he said. “One of my kids keeps leaving them in everything! My car, my shoes, my training bag. I found one in my tea yesterday—nearly choked on it.”
“Thanks,” I said, offering him the box of sweets and putting the tiny dinosaur in the collection bowl.
“Amazing, thanks, mate,” Frankie said happily.
The dinosaur was quickly followed by a spare pair of rainbow laces from Matty, a dirty bowl from Kegan, who’d apparently borrowed it out of the canteen last week and forgotten to take it back, and a friendship bracelet from Jaden, who asked if he’d get it back later because it was from his niece. I promised him he would.
Soon after that, Jonny brought me a spare charging cable for his phone, and Devon added a roll of sports tape.
Bailey’s offering was a clean pair of pants patterned with bananas, which he said were his lucky spare pants, and Hunter brought me a hoodie he’d apparently stolen off Bailey.
I smiled to myself as I handed them sweets, watching as Bailey teased him about finally getting his hoodie back.
I hadn’t really noticed the dynamic between them before, but I had to agree with Danny that it seemed like there was more going on than just friendship.
“What’s going on here?” Charlie asked, popping up beside me as Harry handed me a picture of his daughter.
Behind him, I noticed Danny lurking and watching me with curiosity.
We hadn’t talked about how we should behave around each other at the club, but maybe we needed to.
It had to be professional, obviously, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t talk to me.
It might look odd if he didn’t, considering how much of a chatterbox he usually was.
I smiled charmingly and held out the box, which was already half empty. “Bring me something from your locker in exchange for some sweets.”
“Did I hear sweets?” Mason asked as he appeared with West.
“Yes, all you have to do is bring me something from your locker.”
“I can do that,” Mason said, patting West’s enormous chest. “Come on.”
“I don’t know if I’ve got anything,” West said with a frown. “I cleared it all out at the end of last season and I’ve been trying to keep it tidy.”
“This is what I’ve got so far if it helps,” I said, gesturing towards the bowl and the few items stacked beside it, like the hoodie and Kegan’s toxic cereal bowl, which I was sure had grown mould.
Mason snorted. “Of course Bailey would give you his pants.”
“I’m more worried about who’s keeping mouldy crockery,” West said.
“Can’t be Charlie. I’d have cleaned it up,” Danny piped up, sliding between the two massive members of the front row. “Fuck, that is gross.”
“Not you then?” Mason asked.
“Definitely not! Unlike you lot, I’m actually tidy.”
“Yeah, he is,” Charlie said. “His flat is fucking spotless. I’ve never seen anything out of place there. And once he got really mad at me for walking wet mud in on the bottom of my trainers.”
“Of course I fucking did! The carpet is fucking cream, dipshit. Took me forever to get it out,” Danny said, fondly shoving his friend’s arm. “I pity Amanda having to live with your filthy arse.”
“I’m getting better,” Charlie said. “I fold my towels now. And I put underwear on when I make her coffee in the morning.”
“Mate, that is like bar on the floor level shit, especially with the towel folding,” Danny said, looking up at Mason and West to agree with him.
West nodded and grinned over at Mason. “Exactly.”
“We don’t even live together anymore,” Mason said in exasperation, and I bit back a laugh. Clearly, this was an issue they’d had before.
“So? You still leave your wet towels all over the locker room,” West said teasingly.
“I pick them up when I’m dressed.”
My eyes slowly drifted down to Danny as they bickered, cataloguing all the little details of him.
He’d styled his mullet this morning and smoothed out his moustache, the rest of his face carefully shaved to make it stand out.
He was wearing a slim-fitting Knights T-shirt and a pair of joggers that highlighted how toned his thighs were and the roundness of his arse.
He wasn’t as big as the two men stood next to him, but he didn’t need to be. Danny had to be fast and nippy, and what I’d seen during last season and his most recent training—when he wasn’t throwing a strop—was impressive.
He caught me looking and smiled casually, hooking his thumb into the waistband of his joggers and pulling them down a tiny bit to reveal a thin strip of skin. The brat knew exactly what he was doing, and he also knew I couldn’t do anything without arousing suspicion.
But it was good that he felt confident enough to tease me here, especially in front of his teammates. It might have only been something subtle that none of them would notice, but it was a huge step.
One I’d be happy to reward him for.
“Are any of you going to get me anything from your locker?” I asked, looking around at them. “If not, you won’t get any sweets.”
“Oh shit, I forgot we were meant to be doing that,” Mason said. He tapped West’s chest. “Come on, we can find you something.”
“What about you and Charlie?” I asked Danny as Mason dragged West into the locker room.
“I can think of something,” Danny said, his mouth curling into a mischievous smile.
“Something suitable for work, please. This has to go on social media,” I called after him as he and Charlie disappeared.
I had no idea if he’d listen to me, but hopefully he wouldn’t turn up with something dick shaped.
I’d already had to tell Ollie that he couldn’t use a pair of stress boobs as his offering.
But if Danny was looking to push my buttons, then who knew what he’d turn up with.
Two minutes later Mason returned with a few large plastic gems, which apparently his boyfriend used all the time for drag and had an annoying habit of ending up everywhere, and West handed me a couple of flat metal screws.
I frowned as I took them and held out the box of sweets. “Do I want to know where these came from?”
“Probably not,” West said with a worryingly serene smile. “But I will need them back at some point.”
“Why? Actually, you know what, I’m not going to ask.”
“Good idea.”
West took his sweets, moving slightly to the side as Danny and Charlie emerged through the dressing room door. Danny was holding a pot of what looked like hair pomade or wax.
And Charlie was holding Danny’s arm.
“Here you go,” Charlie said with a wry smile as he pushed Danny towards me. “A present for you.”
“Er, no,” I said with a snort. “You can’t give me your teammate. I’m pretty sure he didn’t come from your locker.” As much as I wanted to keep him, I couldn’t. Not in public at least.
“I mean, he sits in my spot half the time. Doesn’t that count?”
“Sorry, no. Go and find me something else.”
“I told you,” Danny said.
“Yeah, but I haven’t got anything else.”
“Mate, there is plenty of random stuff in your locker. We’ve only been back like two and a half weeks and it’s full of rubbish.”
“Fine, I’ll be right back.”
“You better be quick. We’ve gotta be in the gym in five minutes,” Danny yelled as Charlie dashed towards the door. He shook his head as he turned back to me, smiling softly. “Here.”
“Thanks.” I took the tub, which turned out to be a hair clay, then held out the box. As soon as Danny had taken his sweets, I stopped filming and lowered my phone. “You look good today.”
He smirked and did a little wiggle on the spot, hooking his thumb back into his waistband. “I know. So do you.”
“I think I prefer you in shorts, though.”
“Are you coming to the friendly on Saturday?”
“Yes, I am. I’m helping Adam with social media until he gets his feet under him.”
Danny’s grin widened, turning victorious. “Good. Might have a surprise for you then.”
“Do I get to know what it is?”
“No, then it wouldn’t be a surprise.”
“I guess not.” I had an idea of what it might be, but I wasn’t going to say anything in case I was wrong. I wanted to ask if he had any plans for tonight, or any night this week, but it was another question I couldn’t ask without looking suspicious.
“Are you working all day?” Danny asked, glancing around the corridor to see if anyone else was around.
“Probably,” I said casually. “Might be another late one.”
“That sucks,” Danny said, looking gleeful at the prospect of me being here long past when my work hours ended. Not that I minded. We were probably thinking the same thing.
I really needed to check if the office door locked.
Danny opened his mouth, clearly about to say something else, when the dressing room door swung open with a bang and Charlie appeared holding what looked like a seat cushion.
The pair of us stared.
“Charlie,” Danny said. “Please tell me you didn’t rip out your fucking locker cushion?”
“What? It’s out of my locker. It counts.”
I sighed and held out the box of Haribo because I couldn’t disagree with him on that.