Page 7 of The Fullback
Aiden laughed, the sound making warmth bubble through my gut. It was different from the heat of the sun and I had to swallow before I said something I shouldn’t. “What does fun look like? Sun, sea, and a lot of sex?”
“Pretty much,” Bailey said. He’d been looking forward to this trip for months, and every morning he woke up more and more excited. His attitude was infectious. It was part of the reason I’d been able to push through some of the stress and fatigue of the last few weeks.
Both of us loved playing rugby union, but like any job there were times we needed a break.
Being a professional athlete wasn’t just rocking up to training and smashing a game out every weekend or so. It was an immense amount of work and dedication, encompassing our entire lives. We lived and breathed the sport at every waking moment, and half the time I dreamt about it too.
It wasn’t always healthy, though. And I’d learnt the hard way how quickly passion could turn into something far more toxic.
“I’m sure you won’t have trouble finding people,” Aiden said as he looked between us, still smirking in a way that made my cock take notice. “Of course, none of them will be me.”
“Cocky bastard, aren’t you?” I teased, putting my hand on his thigh. His skin was hot to the touch and as he spread his legs a little wider, I spotted his matching box-shaped Eat Me tattoo on the inside of his other leg. Fuck, how I wanted to lick them. Trace every line with my tongue and then follow the instructions, eating and drinking every drop of him until both of us were satisfied.
“Have you seen me? Why wouldn’t I be confident? I’m hot as fuck.”
“Yeah, you are,” Bailey said. He put his hand on Aiden’s other thigh, his fingers dipping low enough to trace the edge of the Eat Me box. “What’re you doing after this?”
“Depends. What are you offering?”
“Come back to ours,” I said.
“Mmm, that is very tempting. Might have to wait a few hours, but I can sneak out.”
“Does Jonny not approve?” I asked, glancing around to see if I could spot him. Jonny was well known for being a possessive bastard who didn’t like people touching things that were his. He’d nearly knocked someone out when they’d tackled Devon badly earlier in the season, causing both Clive and Matty, our head coach and captain respectively, to tell him to get his shit together. Since then he seemed to have gotten better, but I didn’ttrust him not to lose it at Bailey and me for getting handsy with his little brother.
Aiden shrugged. “I don’t give a shit about his approval. I just can’t be arsed to deal with the questions. He’s a bit… overprotective. But I guess you knew that already.”
“Yeah, it’s fucking obvious,” Bailey said. “I mean, you heard about all the shit last year when he and Devon were figuring things out?”
“Oh yeah.” Aiden chuckled fondly. “Dickheads.” He sighed and took another sip of his drink. “Jonny’s always been the most supportive person I know, and me being trans has never been an issue for him. I think half the time he kinda forgets. Like, I found a photo of us as toddlers recently and he asked me who the kid in the dress was. He thought we had a cousin he’d forgotten about. But he’s my big brother and we didn’t grow up in the best place. He still thinks he has to defend me, despite the fact I’m twenty-fucking-seven now. Anyway, fuck, I’m rambling. I’ve realised what he doesn’t know can’t hurt him, so sometimes it’s easier not to tell him shit.”
“I kinda get it. How Jonny feels, I mean,” Bailey said, his smile turning soft. “I’ve got a little brother too—Jules. Man, his ex-boyfriend was a twat. And his ex-best mate, Darius, was even worse. They were proper cunts, like, truly horrible, narcissistic, self-centred, manipulative wankers. I kept saying if I saw Darius in person again, I’d punch his lights out. Luckily, Jules’s got a new boyfriend now, Tai, and he’s awesome. So yeah, I sorta get his protective shit. But don’t worry, I won’t rat you out.”
“Mostly ’cos if you do, you’re not getting your dick sucked,” I said teasingly, shooting Bailey a casual smirk. He’d always loved getting blown, and if I was being really honest with myself, I liked watching him fuck people’s faces and come down their throats.
The first and only time we’d kissed had been on that night with Aiden. Afterwards, we’d promptly gone back to pretending it wasn’t a thing we wanted to do.
The problem was the line had been crossed, the gate had been opened, and it was impossible for me to ignore the feelings that making out with Bailey had sparked.
I’d tried.
Fuck, for nearly six months I’d tried to put them back in the box and hope they’d fade if I ignored them for long enough.
But that hadn’t happened, and I couldn’t bring myself to blow up our friendship or our life together over a few kisses. Bailey was the reason I’d managed to make it through the shit my body and my mind had inflicted upon me. Saying he was my best friend felt almost insulting because he meant so much more than any friend I’d ever had.
I’d never told him that. Didn’t even know if I had the words to.
But I’d realised if I never said anything, then nothing could go wrong. We could just carry on with our lives and it would all be okay.
“I mean, that’s one reason,” Bailey said. He smiled at me with a softness that was difficult to ignore. It was easier to tear my eyes away than try and process what that smile might mean. My stomach turned uncomfortably, but if it was attempting to tell me something, then I didn’t want to hear it.
“Shall I get us some drinks?” I asked, squeezing Aiden’s thigh again before standing up. “Since we’re going to be here a while.”
“Sure,” Bailey said.
“That’d be great, thanks,” Aiden said. “There’s some cider in the fridge if you don’t mind getting me one.”
“Back in a minute.” I nodded and smiled, hoping I could fool both of them into thinking nothing was wrong. Because nothingreally was. My feelings were just trying to get the best of me and I didn’t really want to deal with them. Not right now.
I’d get some drinks, we’d chill here for a few hours, then Aiden would sneak back to ours, and we could fuck.
There was no need to overcomplicate shit.
Especially not when I had something I actually wanted to ask Aiden about.
