Finding someone who was willing to meet me at my level oftrywas like finding a unicorn. Yet, here Rhys was, this sweet, almost shy, rugby bro, and he was meeting me where I was at.
I couldn’t wait to see where we would go next.
CHAPTER 9
RHYS
“Wantto come to my game tonight?” I asked as soon as Sev woke up and attached his processor. It was five thirty in the morning, and he somehow looked just as sexy as he did last night.
“Can you even play on that ankle?” Worry clouded his pretty eyes.
I kissed his temple, loving the things his concern did to my heart. “Nothing a little extra tape can’t fix.”
He grumbled something aboutcrazy rugby boys, and I tightened my grip on him, loving how we were wrapped up in each other, a tangle of tattoos and muscles.
I couldn’t believe that he’d trusted me enough to go without his processor during sex last night. I could tell that he’d reveled in the deprivation and subsequent heightened senses. When he’d asked me to choke him, it was all I could do not to tell him that I loved him right then and there.
Obviously, that was ridiculous. I couldn’t be inlove. We’d known each other for less than a month. If we kept going down this path, however, falling in love with him would be easy.
Not just easy. Inevitable. All I knew was that I didn’t want to be away from him for a single second that I didn’t have to be.
Kissing my shoulder, he answered, “I’d love to go to your game.”
Needing to hide how freaked out and excited I was for him to say yes, I pressed my face into his neck. That turned into more kisses, which turned into more time naked and cuddled up in bed, taking turns tasting each other.
“Sorry, Sev.” I gave a gentle squeeze to his spent balls before rolling to a sit. “If I don’t leave now, I’ll be late for practice.”
“Shit, did I ruin your game?” he asked, wiping a bit of cum from his short beard. “Like, aren’t you supposed to abstain from sex before a match? Is that a thing?”
I smirked, way too cocky. “Maybe. Though, to be fair, you’ve only ruined, at worst, this morning’s practice. Either way, ask me if I give a damn.”
“Okay, but don’t send your rugby lads after me if it goes badly today. I can hold my own in a fight, but not against fifteen guys who look like you.”
Kissing his forehead—because tough-looking guys like us never got enough affection—I replied, “Don’t worry, I’ll get between you and anyone who tries to hurt you.”
Sev seemed equally pleased by my affection and words, like maybe no one had ever offered to snuggle and protect him before.
On the way over, I called the ticket office and had them set aside a seat in the team box for tonight. I jogged into the locker room right on time, but since I was known to show up early, I got some raised eyebrows from the fellas. Ruiz was sticking his tongue against the inside of his cheek, like he knew exactly what I’d been getting up to.
I sent him a friendly bird, then went to my locker and changed into my workout gear. The warmup was not too bad, considering how many times I’d come last night—this morning?— though I probably wouldn’t make a habit of it. Unless we won big tonight.
Like most athletes, I had my fair share of superstitions, and anything that led to a win had to be made part of my game day routine, regrettably. Heavy sarcasm on theregrettably.
By the time we were back in the locker room getting ready for the game, I was warmed up and ready to smash some heads on the pitch. Pulling my jersey over my head, I noticed a new patch: a rugby ball done up in rainbow colors. At first, I thought it was Ruiz pulling a kind of shitty prank on me, but then I realized that the same patch was on everyone’s arm.
I pulled Schultz to the side. “Did I miss something? Why do we have rainbow patches?”
“It’s Pride night.”
“How did I miss that?”
He shrugged, then chucked me on my shoulder. “Guess you were too busy gaying it up with your guy to notice.”
I grumped at him and finished getting ready. I’d had some notion of coming out to the team but hadn’t yet figured out how to do it in a way that didn’t fuck with team cohesion. We were very green still but had a few early wins and were filling the stands more and more now that we were in the regular season. The team could do something special in Austin if I didn’t fuck it up.
Looking around the locker room, I discovered that nearly every member of the team was good-naturedly putting on the jersey. Perhaps I’d been worried about nothing. Then again, Taavi, the massive hooker we’d lured from New Zealand-Aotearoa, was sitting in a slump, snarling at his jersey.
We hadn’t been able to pay him shit, but Coach’s wife had found some lucrative endorsement deals that made him more than he could’ve back home. It was a big move, and he’d absolutely been the difference in a few of those wins.
