Page 96 of The Fullback
CHAPTER THIRTY
Bailey
It wasour last match before our weekend off and we were determined to turn our fortunes around after two back-to-back losses, first to Exeter, then to Cardiff on the road. The Cardiff one had really fucking stung because we’d been leading up until half-time. Then they’d gotten their act together while we’d languished and let them walk all over us.
We should have done better and we all knew it.
The bus ride back had been filled with cold, bitter silence as we all processed what had happened.
Hunter and I had barely said a word to each other until we’d gotten home. Then we’d called Aiden, stripped off our clothes, and fucked the stress away under his instruction, his soft praise and firm directions giving us everything we’d been craving since we walked off the pitch.
In the two weeks since we’d last seen him and figured everything out, we’d fallen into an easy, comfortable routine. Most of the time we woke up to voice notes and videos from Aiden making cookies in the kitchen of The Nag’s Head, andwe’d reply as we got dressed and made our way to training. Then in the evenings we’d usually video call and hang out—doing our own things but in the same digital space. Sometimes we’d all watch the same show, or we’d game. Not always talking, but still there for each other.
We had a lot of phone sex too.
And while Hunter and I definitely missed Aiden’s physical presence, he’d come up with plenty of ways to keep us occupied.
“Ready to kick some arse today?” Mason asked, jolting me out of my thoughts as he walked past and clapped me on the shoulders, a wide, excited grin on his face.
“You know it,” I said.
“Awesome! Ryan already messaged me to say he and Rory found Aiden, so I apologise now if they adopt your boyfriend. Again. I don’t think they’re going to let him go. Rory already wants to add him to the partners’ group chat. Apparently, they’re all super cool and the whole thing is locked down tighter than Clive’s supply of Tim Tams.”
I chuckled, but my chest warmed at Ryan and Rory’s welcoming enthusiasm. Aiden had already let Hunter and me know he’d been kidnapped by two beautiful men and that Ryan had waxed lyrical about his cookies. I’d told him not to let it go to his head, but it was already too late for that. “I probably should be worried, but it would be cool for Aiden to know people here.”
“Yeah, Jonny mentioned he might be looking to move after the whole shitshow with his kitchen,” Mason said casually. “Maybe if he knows more people, he’ll be tempted to find something in Lincoln. I’m pretty sure everyone at The Court would have cookies on a standing order if he did. Probably shouldn’t give them the kitchen address or they’ll be lining up outside the door.”
I snorted. “I think half the team would be too.”
Aiden had sent us a box of cookies as soon as he’d gotten up and running in the pub, and we’d made the mistake of bringing some to training. It was like being mobbed by a pack of seagulls.
“By the way,” Mason added, looking between Hunter, who was sat on the bench next to me taping his thighs, and me. “Me and West were talking about maybe putting a group chat together for queer players. Anyone here who wants to join. Then, I don’t know, any we find on other teams.”
“People aren’t Pokémon. You can’t collect them all,” Hunter said teasingly. “But if so… I call dibs on being Incineroar.”
“Aw, what, you can’t… You know what, fine. You’re in then?” Mason asked.
“Er, maybe. Is it for anything in particular or just solidarity?” I liked the idea in principle, as long as it all stayed private. But it would be nice to chat to some of the guys about our experiences without everyone overhearing.
“Community, solidarity, that sort of thing. And it’ll be private. We’ll only invite people we trust.”
“Who else did you ask?” Hunter asked.
“So far it’s me, West, Devon, and Jonny. Need to ask Matty and Danny too. I was thinking about asking Clive, but he’s not a player anymore.”
“Do you think they’ll join?” Hunter asked, glancing over at Danny, who was giggling with Charlie about something on his phone. He’d grown up a lot over the last few months, and he seemed a lot more settled in himself now he had Ezra. It had surprised me when he’d come out, but in hindsight, I could see how much work he’d done to construct a playboy persona nobody would look too closely at.
He was still a little shit, but not in the same way he had been.
“Yeah, I do,” Mason said, his eyes following Hunter’s, a wry smile pulling at his lips. “And I think it’ll do both of them good to have a bit more community, especially Danny now he’s figuredthings out. I think it’d be good for all of us. West made a point that we’ve all got a rugby community, but there’s not really a queer space for us—at least professionally. There are queer non-professional teams, but we exist in a different place, a more public one. And it might be good to be able to talk to each other about that. It doesn’t mean you have to be out publicly, though. I know you guys don’t want to do that.”
“No, not yet,” I said. We’d mentioned our relationship with Aiden to a few people over the last week or two but asked everyone to respect our decision to keep it private. There’d been a few questions but nothing too personal. The most pointed one had come from Danny when he’d remembered that Aiden was the one who’d made cookies for us in the past, but it’d been whether we were going to bring baked goods to training as his reward for figuring everything out.
He’d been giddier than a kid at Christmas when we’d turned up with a box of them two days later.
“It sounds good, though—the chat idea,” Hunter added. “Count us in.”
“Cool, I’ll set something up tomorrow,” Mason said as Matty wandered over. “Oh, Matty! I have a question for you.”
