Fletcher heard the door to their room open and close. He quickly finished his shower and dried off before he heard a knock at the door.
“Hey, can I come in and grab my watch charger? I think it’s in my toiletries bag.”
“Yeah, hold on.” Fletcher wrapped his towel around his waist and unlocked the door to let Taylor in.
“Thanks,” he said as he walked around Fletcher and began to dig through his bag.
Fletcher looked at himself in the mirror and began to brush his hair back away from his face. It was already curling up a bit.
Taylor found his watch charger and left the bathroom, lightly swiping his hand on the small of Fletcher’s back as he walked out.
It added to Fletcher’s nerves. But it was a different type of nervousness that he only felt around Taylor. When he had first started on the team with the Seaporters, he had thought thatTaylor was some stereotypical lone wolf kind of guy. But as he and Taylor grew closer, he had learned that Taylor was actually pretty funny. Well,Taylorthought he was pretty funny. Fletcher thought he was corny and full of wit, which he had already seen through his interviews over the years. But to know he was like this in person too just added to his candidness. He didn’t dance around words like Fletcher sometimes did. The guy truly spoke his mind.
Fletcher had noticed the way Taylor had gotten more physical with him. The way he would lean into him if they sat next to each other. Or gave him a pat on the back and let his hand linger for just a second longer than he should’ve.
Fletcher knew it was purely platonic and casual, but he had a really difficult time pretending his body didn’t betray him and react in a certain way when Taylor touched him. It wasn’t like Taylor was the first touchy friend he’d had. Sánchez could getverytouchy, especially if he had a lot to drink. But it was something different with Taylor.
Sometimes his body felt drawn to him. Like Taylor was the sun, pulling Fletcher into his gravitational orbit. And for the most part he was able to brush the feeling off and ignore it, but sometimes the urge to go over and be near him was so strong it made his whole-body itch. Like taking a pre-workout or something.
His mind was racing.
He went through the motions of getting ready for dinner. Taylor had taken over the bathroom to shave his stubble. Fletcher thought he looked good with a little five o’clock shadow but he knew Taylor had an issue with having stubble on his face because he “could feel the hair grow.” The more they roomed together, the more Fletcher learned about some of his littlequirks.
He and Taylor rode the elevator down to the lobby, where Coach was already waiting for them. She was wearing a red blouse and some dark-wash jeans. Her hair had been blown out, and she had some light makeup on.
“Hey Coach,” Fletcher greeted.
“Auntie Nancy,” she corrected with a hint of sarcasm.
“Do I get to call you that too?” Taylor asked her.
“Nope. I didn’t change your diapers. It’s too weird.” She scrunched her nose and shook her head.
Taylor turned to Fletcher. “She changed your diapers and you still let her order you around on the ice like a dog?” He goaded.
Fletcher could only muster up a weak smile. “Guess I’m a sucker for obedience.”
The hostess brought them to their table, which was in a private corner of the restaurant. She pulled up an extra chair and placed an extra table setting for Taylor since Fletcher kind of brought him unannounced.
Taylor took a seat next to Fletcher.
“Are you okay, man?” he asked him quietly. Fletcher could see his parents approach them. His whole body tensed and he went rigid in his seat. Taylor placed a hand on his thigh beneath the table, which did not help at all. It made things worse.
“Yeah, fine,” he lied.
Coach turned her head back towards his parents. “Look who it is!” She got up out of her seat and gave Fletcher’s mom a hug.
His mom smiled at her. “Too long, Nance.” She looked at Fletcher and smiled. “Sweetie, you played amazing tonight,” she told him as he stood up to hug her. She squeezed him tightly, like she never wanted to let him go. Fletcher’s eyes met hisfather’s gaze. He gave his dad an awkward smile.
Sean walked over to Fletcher. He had expected him to maybe give him a handshake. Or maybe a nod of acknowledgment. But to his surprise, he pulled Fletcher in for a hug and patted his back. This was either really good or really, really bad. His dad was highly unpredictable and almost as unreadable as Taylor was. Actually, they were in a tie for first place.
Sean pulled away from Fletcher and reached over to Taylor to shake his hand.
“Sean Armstrong,” he said coolly.
Taylor wasn’t intimidated by him. He shook his father’s hand and gave him a nod. “Taylor Piers. Pleased to meet you.”
He sounded guarded and closed off like he did with most people he wasn’t close with. The way he had been with Fletcher in the beginning.
