Chapter Twenty-Four
Danny
“What the fuck do you mean what did I achieve today in training?” I asked with my hands on my knees, sweat dripping off my mullet and down my face as I looked up at Ezra with something I hoped looked vaguely like annoyance. Or anger.
Not that I could move my fucking face properly.
Every single muscle in my body hurt, including the ones I hadn’t realised I had.
Fuck, I was going to need a serious massage after this. And a lie-down. And food, lots of food. And sex. Yeah, I was gonna need at least two orgasms to make up for this afternoon and the drills Gavin and Tommy had put us through.
Sadists, the pair of them!
“Language,” Ezra said softly as he held out a bowl of sweets, which today were little nets of chocolate rugby balls. “What did you achieve in training? Answer the question and you can have some chocolate.”
“I survived,” I said, sticking my hand in the bowl to quickly retrieve my prize before Ezra decided that answer didn’t count. I’d half been expecting him to call me puppy until I’d realised we were in public.
It felt kinda weird that he hadn’t. I liked it when he called me puppy.
Ezra hummed as he turned to Charlie, phone and sweets in hand. “Charlie, what about you?”
“Made some good passes, didn’t drop the ball,” he said in between pants, giving Ezra a nod as he picked out some chocolate.
“You know, if you’re looking for content ideas, I vote that you and Adam join us for training one afternoon,” I said. “We can film you trying out all the stuff we have to go through, see how you get on.”
I grinned, really hoping he’d say yes because I wanted to see Ezra in gym shorts running up and down the pitch.
We’d still not managed to find time for a gym session together, since I went every morning and the training centre gym was for players only, but I was holding out hope we’d get there one day.
Mostly because I really wanted to see what Ezra’s dick looked like in shorts.
“That’d be so funny,” Charlie said. “You should totally join us. We’d go easy on you.”
Ezra raised his eyebrow and shot me a look that told me I was going to be in so much trouble later. I couldn’t wait.
So I decided to make it worse.
“Right?” I turned my head to see who else was following us off the pitch. “Mason, West, Jaden—don’t you think it would be fun to get Ezra and Adam to join us for training one day? Get them in the content they’re making for once instead of us.”
“Could definitely be fun,” Jaden said as he swigged from a large bottle of water.
“Yeah, like show off how difficult this shit really is,” I said.
“Sort of content team versus rugby team?” West asked, wiping his massive brow.
“I mean we’ve done drag queens versus rugby team, so why not?
” Mason grinned and I resisted the urge to do a little victory dance, because if he was on board, then other people would be too.
Mason was pretty good at swaying people with his relaxed, easy charm, although he did have a sharp side too.
A couple of times he’d snapped at me when I’d pushed too hard and asked shitty questions, like the time I’d tried to ask West about bottoming and Mason had nearly ripped my head off.
At the time I’d been pissed because I was only trying to ask a question, but later I’d realised what a dick I’d been when everything had come out about West’s homophobic housemate.
I’d hated knowing I’d crossed the line between banter and bullying, and it’d forced me to start to reconsider what I said to people.
Because even if I didn’t think things were a big deal, it wasn’t up to me to decide how people felt about what I’d said.
Clive had framed it as putting ourselves in each other’s shoes and choosing kindness over trying to be clever and one-upping each other. And that’d made me realise how much I’d hate people asking me the sort of things I’d asked West.
I’d probably never have gotten to the point I was now if they had. I’d have lashed out and become a complete wanker instead.
“See, I knew you’d agree with me,” I said, looking at Ezra in the hope I’d be able to see how frustrated he was.
Oh, I was going to be in a fucking delicious amount of trouble later.
I couldn’t fucking wait.
That would teach him for asking me nonsense questions after training.
“I’ll think about it,” Ezra said with a polite smile. “I’d have to talk to Adam, obviously. And Clive. I wouldn’t want to intrude on your work.”
“I’m sure they’d be fine with it,” Mason said.
“Yeah, we might even be able to get them to join in,” Jaden said, a slightly vindictive smile on his lips. He was clearly angling to get a bit of petty revenge after today. I didn’t blame him.
“Oooh, coaches versus players. That’d be fun,” West added.
“Oh yeah, definitely add that to the list,” I said with a nod. “See, aren’t we being helpful?”
“So helpful,” Ezra said, his polite smile stretched to its limit but his eyes twinkling with amusement.
“You can tell him to sod off if he’s being annoying,” Charlie said, grabbing me playfully around the neck and ruffling my hair. “It’s the mullet. It’s full of bad ideas.”
“Fuck off, the mullet is hot!” I laughed as I pushed him away, trying to tidy my hair up despite the fact the sweat had ruined it anyway. I looked more like a scruffy, wet dog right now than the sexy bastard I usually was.
“Says who?”
“Says me!” I stuck my tongue out at him as I flipped him off.
“All right, if you’re done, can I ask this lot my question, please, so I can get back to work?” Ezra asked, giving Charlie and me a wry smile as he held up the bowl of chocolates and shook them vaguely towards West, Mason, and Jaden.
“Yeah, I suppose,” I said. “Have fun, guys!”
I turned away to walk back towards the dressing room, desperate to shower and find something to eat.
But I couldn’t resist glancing back over my shoulder to look at Ezra, my heart bouncing erratically like I’d given it a trampoline.
It was an odd feeling but I didn’t want it to stop.
I took a long time in the shower and got changed ridiculously slowly, spending more time chatting than getting dressed, so by the time I was ready to slip out and find Ezra, there was barely anyone else around.
Slinging my bag over my shoulder, I strolled out of the changing room and glanced around, double-checking before I headed for the stairs.
Technically, there was nothing wrong with me going upstairs, especially not since Clive had announced that Wayne, the sports psychologist they’d brought in, was now on staff for us to talk to at any time.
But since my plan had nothing to do with chatting to Wayne about my mental health and everything to do with getting on my knees for Ezra under his desk, then I was probably crossing a line.
“Going somewhere?” Ezra asked, making me jump out of my skin as he appeared from the direction of the canteen holding a cup of coffee in his hand, a delighted smirk on his perfect lips. Fucking bastard!
“Jesus Christ! Don’t sneak up on me like that!”
“I don’t think walking out of the canteen and back towards my office counts as sneaking. It’s not my fault if you’re not paying attention to your surroundings.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t think anyone else was here. And I thought you’d be upstairs.”
“I went to get myself a coffee,” he said casually. “Since you took so long coming up. I wondered if you’d gotten lost somewhere or decided to go swimming in the shower.”
“Ha ha, very funny. I was waiting for people to leave,” I said, folding my arms as I leant against the wall.
We were still stood by the bottom of the stairs, but that wasn’t illegal.
We could be talking about anything for all anyone else would know.
Like my plans to get Ezra and Adam involved in training with us.
“If it’s easier, you can ask me to come to yours once I’ve finished work. Or you can come to mine.”
“Yeah but…” I trailed off and glanced away, feeling my cheeks heat as I shuffled my feet.
“But what?” he asked, stepping a little closer. “Tell me, puppy. Come on, don’t be shy.”
“There’s not a desk at your place. And I don’t have one either.” My stomach squirmed at the admission, but I wanted him to know. Otherwise I’d never get what I really wanted, which was to be bent over his desk and fucked senseless and to sit under it with his cock in my mouth while he worked.
We’d tried it last week when he’d brought dinner over, and I’d really fucking enjoyed it.
If Ezra hadn’t been a sneaky bastard and made me put my hands where he could see them and lie on my side so I couldn’t hump the sofa and get friction on my dick, I’d have easily come in my pants. But he had made me come afterwards, and it had been so good I’d seen stars.
“Oh? Is that what you want? To sneak into my office when everyone else has gone home so I can fuck you?” he asked, lowering his voice as he moved his head closer to mine. I squirmed and nodded. “I thought so. My naughty, needy puppy can’t even wait until we get home.”
“Yeah, well, you keep winding me up!”
“Do I? How?”
“I dunno, you just do,” I said. My heart was thundering but from excitement rather than nerves, and my cock was already rock hard in my jeans.
Ezra had called me puppy too, and it had soothed that weird, aching spot in my chest that had appeared earlier.
Obviously, I didn’t want anyone else to know about us, but I was also starting to hate the weird formality we had to stick to.
I just wanted to know I was his.
“I mean, I only have to look at you and I’m horny,” I continued as I gazed up at him. “You don’t even have to try! One look and I wanna drop to my fucking knees for you. And like, I know this isn’t anything but—”
“I know,” he said softly. “I feel it too.”
He was so close now, his mouth right there and too tempting to ignore.
Fuck it, I couldn’t wait any longer.
I grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him in for a desperate kiss, my tongue sliding into his mouth as I fought to keep myself under control.
Until a quiet but pointed cough from somewhere to my left made the world come crashing down around me.
Ice flooded my veins as I slowly turned my head, nausea suddenly churning my stomach, to see West fucking Russell looking at us with wide eyes and a shocked expression. He had the decency to look embarrassed too, although I guessed I was the one making out with Ezra in public.
“Sorry,” West said quietly. “I, er… sorry.”
He turned away, training bag swinging on his shoulder.
And my body reacted instantly.
Overwhelming panic took hold of me, making nothing but white noise echo in my ears. My stomach lurched and my eyes burned, my limbs shaking as I tore myself away from Ezra. I thought I vaguely heard my bag hitting the floor. And felt his fingers graze my wrist as he tried to grab me.
But I was a winger for a reason, and it was easy to slip through his grasp as I sped towards the door.
I didn’t even know where I was going.
All I could focus on was the fact that West knew.
West knew and he was going to tell everyone.
West knew and he was going to make my life hell for being a dick to him.
West knew and my life was over.
At some point I let myself into my flat. But I didn’t know how I’d gotten there.
I was too busy listening to my dad’s voice screaming in my ears as I sank to the floor and curled into a ball.