“Danny’s not dating at the moment,” Charlie said, neatly inserting himself into the conversation.
“Yeah?” Jonny asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “Got a few other things going on. Besides, not gonna have time for dating when Charlie finally gets his finger out and asks Amanda to marry him. ’Cos no matter who hechooses as his best man, I’m gonna be the one doing half the planning.”
Charlie snorted and nicked my juice. “Yeah, because you have such great taste.”
“Compared to you I do. You’d be sleeping on a mattress on the floor with, like, two pieces of furniture if you had your way.”
“Get your snack and get out the way,” Charlie said, giving me a nudge on the back of the shoulder. “You’re holding everyone up.”
I grabbed a banana and more juice and walked back to my locker, tempted to break the rules on phones so I could ask Ezra if he was watching me. But I wasn’t going to risk it because it would only lead to more explaining.
“You okay?” Charlie asked as he sat down beside me.
“Yeah. Thanks for jumping in,” I said, glancing around to see who else was listening. “And, er, sorry for throwing you under the bus.”
Charlie shrugged casually. “You’re fine. I didn’t think you’d want to talk about that stuff.”
“I appreciate it.”
“Devon’s right, though. You are happier. Whatever you’re doing, it’s working.” He smiled at me encouragingly and I managed to return it. He nudged my knee with his. “I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks,” I said with a nod, because it was all I could manage without emotion overtaking me.
I’d never thought anyone would say that to me. Not about this anyway. People were only proud of me for my rugby, not who I was.
Charlie changed the subject and began talking about the first half as I peeled my banana, nodding vaguely to what he said.
As a tiny seed of relief planted itself in my chest and started to take root.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Ezra
“I have to say,puppy, I’m not sure your shorts could have gotten much smaller today,” I said as I slung my bag over my shoulder, my phone held in one hand so I could leave Danny a voice note while I made my escape from the stadium. “I hope you’re going to wear them for every game this season. Although I amverycurious about what you wear underneath.”
I paused for a second as I ducked around a small group of people, players’ guests by the looks of it, and headed towards the nearest exit. “Also, I have a question about your socks. Is there a reason some of you wear them long and some short? Because I really like you in long ones, puppy. They suit you. You should wear them like that all the time.”
Another pause as I pushed the door open and headed out in the evening sun, basking in the warmth for a moment. I hadn’t been on holiday since leaving Reed, and I’d missed my yearly ritual of lying in the sun by the sea with cocktails and forgetting all my responsibilities existed.
Danny had mentioned something about going away with his sister… one of the Greek islands maybe… so it seemed like he enjoyed those sorts of holidays too. We weren’t anything to each other, so maybe it would be inappropriate to suggest, but I’d always found that having a sexy man to fuck made a trip so much better.
If Danny felt the same, we should take advantage of that.
“Do you have any plans for this evening?” I asked as I crossed the quiet car park, digging my keys out of my pocket. “If you don’t, or if you get bored, you are very welcome to come over. I can reward you for your performance today. After all, a couple of tries deserves at least a couple of orgasms. Let me know.”
Smirking, I released the button and sent the message, wondering how long it would be until I got a response. And how much swearing it would contain.
If it were me, I’d send teasing nudes and a video of me getting off so I could drive him wild. But my puppy did lack patience and got wound up very easily, so even if he wanted to tease me, I didn’t think he’d be able to go through with it. He’d be more likely to get in the car and come and find me.
I did want him to try winding me up, though, because I was desperate to introduce him to the concept of consequences. Sexy ones, obviously. Ones we’d both enjoy.
They could be a reward too, if Danny would prefer. But I knew there was a brat inside him that he was starting to unleash, and I thought if he let go, he’d really enjoy diving into that side of himself.
It could be too much at once, though, especially while figuring out his sexuality, and I didn’t want to overwhelm him.
As I climbed into the car and turned the engine on, I couldn’t resist checking my messages. Danny had seen my voice note. And by the look of it, was recording his own.
