Seth
I was runningout of time.
We were down to a week to go, and things were finally starting to improve, but they weren’t moving fast enough. Not enough for me anyway. I’d lost track of how many hours I’d spent practicing my footwork or how many kilometres I’d clocked up trying to get my fitness where it needed to be. My feet bled in my socks from the blisters, and each night I passed out, exhausted. It was working, just slowly. I needed it to hurry the hell up. My patience was wearing thin, and so was Luca’s.
Stumbling through the door, I carried the takeaway bag under my arm to find Luca and Elise curled up on the lounge watching Friends re-runs. “Seth?” Elise called out as I shut the door as quietly as I could.
Most of the time these days I hid out in my room, not wanting to get in their way. It was time for me to move out, but I hadn’t had the time to even think about looking. It was yet another thing on the never-ending to-do list. First thing though was I needed to ice my calf.
“Hey. I’m just gonna head upstairs…” I called out, swiping a bottle of water from the fridge.
“No, you’re not. Get your arse in here, Masters,” Luca called back out.
“Yeah! Come sit on my lap, Sethysauras!”
Oh great. Jax was here. Exactly what I didn’t need tonight. I was tired, grumpy, sore, and so not in the mood for Jax’s brand of humour. But I couldn’t be an arsehole either. Elise and Luca didn’t deserve my shitty mood. It wasn’t their fault.
“Just a second!” I replied, unwrapping my sandwich from the paper and setting it on a plate before carrying it into the lounge room to find the whole place buried under piles of bridal magazines, empty chocolate wrappers, and from what I could see they were already on the second bottle of bubbles. Dropping down into the couch I took a huge bite, groaning. I hadn’t realised how hungry I was until I started eating.
“Having fun?” I teased around a mouthful.
Luca flipped me the bird and raised his beer. Guess that answered that question. “You haven’t been overdoing it again, have you?” Luca asked, sounding like my father.
Dad had asked the exact same thing two days ago when I’d spoken to him. Apparently, Mum was worried. I’d missed too many calls and forgotten to return one too many texts so she’d recruited Dad to check-in. After reassuring him I was fine, and everything was on track for the first game of the season, just a little white lie that hopefully wouldn’t come back to bite me in the arse, he made me promise to answer the next time she called. If not, he’d be sending Bryce over. Families. You gotta love them.
“Nah. Just doing a bit extra.”
“Is your coach that much of a hard arse?” Jax asked.
“Nah, he’s okay.”
“Well, if he is, you just let me know. I have ways of persuading him to ease up,” Elise offered with a wink.
“Oh, you do, do you?” Luca chuckled, dragging Elise into his lap and tickling her ribs.
“Hell, yeah, she does! And she tells me all about it. Every deep, dark, dirty detail. Cause they’re my favourites.”
“Jax!” Elise’s cheeks turned red and I got the distinct impression she’d just been busted. “What I tell you is between us. Geez!”
“Oh, I know. It’s not like I said anything. Not really. I mean I didn’t tell Seth that Luca likes it when you…”
I watched it happen almost in slow motion. As Jax spoke, Elise launched herself out of Luca’s grip towards Jax before landing on him with a thud and clamping her hand over his mouth. I guess Jax really did know all Luca’s secrets. Details Elise wasn’t keen on sharing. Not with me anyway. And to be honest, I was thankful for the fact. The last thing I needed to know about my coach was what he liked in the bedroom. Knowing how he took his coffee was enough information for me.
“Right. Well then, on that note. I’m going to head up to bed,” I announced, rising out of the chair and collecting my things.
“Want some company?” Jax offered with a wink.
Guy was a shameless flirt. Funny as fuck, but shameless. Briefly, the idea crossed my mind to say yes just to see his reaction, but after a couple of glasses of bubbly, I wasn’t sure he’d see the joke in my words. Instead, I thanked him for the offer, cleared away my dishes and headed up to bed.
After a hot shower, I was coming out of the bathroom when there was a knock on my door. No one ever knocked on my door. No one really ever had anything to say to me once I came upstairs most of the time.
“Just a second,” I called out, pulling on a pair of grey sweatpants before opening the door to find Luca standing there, arms folded over his chest and a frown on his face. “What’s up?” I asked, trying to keep the panic from my voice.
“Just checking in. You’re not overdoing it…are you?” He asked nervously.
“Are you asking as my coach?”
“I’m asking as a concerned friend.”
