“And I’ll take longer if you keep asking,” I said, tapping his nose teasingly. “Behave, puppy.”
“Woof,” he said with a grin as he dragged me in for another kiss. “Also, er, you should know, I, er, kind of came out to Charlie. Not like fully or like told him about you, but yeah, I kinda said I was doing some exploring, that I thought I might be gay.”
“What did he say?” I asked, holding my breath and wondering if I was going to have to pick up the pieces of his heart like he’d done mine. “Is everything okay between you?
“Yeah, it was a couple of weeks ago actually. When I went for that really awkward dinner at his. He, er, said he was proud of me. That he wants me to be happy, that he’ll love me no matter what. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.”
“You don’t need to apologise. That’s good though, that he reacted so well. How do you feel about it?” I wasn’t upset he hadn’t mentioned it. This was Danny’s journey, and it was completely up to him who he told and when. I was just happy to be a part of it.
“Not sure. Relieved, maybe? But also, like, not totally convinced I didn’t make it up. And telling Charlie is different from telling the team.”
“It’s still a good step, and I’m proud of you too.” I kissed his nose and watched as he wrinkled his face in confusion. “You don’t have to tell anyone you don’t want, okay? And there’s no rush to label anything. I’m not going to force you to say anything. You can still have your slut era with me.”
“Every day?”
“If you’re good.”
He grinned. “See, I’m already wearing you down. You’re gonna say yes to me. I told you I’d get what I wanted.”
“At this rate, all you’re going to get is a smacked butt.”
“Not sure that’s a punishment, though,” he said, stealing a kiss before turning away to start getting bowls out.
My heart ached as I watched him, the butterflies in my chest swirling faster than ever. I was so proud of him and so in awe of the man he was starting to become in front of me.
He was bratty and handsome and radiated joy in a way I’d never seen before. How could I not be charmed by that?
Danny had bounced into my heart and made himself at home without me even realising, and I wanted to give him everything because how could I not?
But I was a broken man with a shattered heart that was barely beginning to heal. What could I give him beyond praise and good sex? That was all I had to offer.
And I doubted that was enough.
Nothing ever would be.
Because, in my experience, nothing ever was.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Danny
“What the fuckdo you mean what did I achieve today in training?” I asked with my hands on my knees, sweat dripping off my mullet and down my face as I looked up at Ezra with something I hoped looked vaguely like annoyance. Or anger.
Not that I could move my fucking face properly.
Every single muscle in my body hurt, including the ones I hadn’t realised I had.
Fuck, I was going to need a serious massage after this. And a lie-down. And food, lots of food. And sex. Yeah, I was gonna need at least two orgasms to make up for this afternoon and the drills Gavin and Tommy had put us through.
Sadists, the pair of them!
“Language,” Ezra said softly as he held out a bowl of sweets, which today were little nets of chocolate rugby balls. “What did you achieve in training? Answer the question and you can have some chocolate.”
“I survived,” I said, sticking my hand in the bowl to quickly retrieve my prize before Ezra decided that answer didn’t count.I’d half been expecting him to call me puppy until I’d realised we were in public.
It felt kinda weird that he hadn’t. I liked it when he called me puppy.
Ezra hummed as he turned to Charlie, phone and sweets in hand. “Charlie, what about you?”
