Team captain. It was an honor I hadn’t expected, and something that sent a strange mix of pride and anxiety coursing through me. I made my way to the locker room, my steps feeling lighter despite the hangover still pounding at my temples.
The team was already in various states of undress when I pushed through the door. The familiar cacophony of voices,laughter, and locker doors slamming hit me all at once. The smell of sweat, grass, and whatever enchanted body spray half the team used, filled my nostrils.
“There he is!” Karrick bellowed when he spotted me. “The dryad fucker himself!”
Several guys laughed, and I flipped him off with a grin. “Better than being a witch-fucker,” I shot back, which earned me a chorus of “ooohs” from the team.
Karrick clutched his chest in mock offense. “Hey, Phoenix is a catch and you know it.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I said, making my way to my locker. “Just like I’m a catch for whoever’s lucky enough to get me.”
As I stripped off my practice jersey, I noticed Daisuke watching me from across the room. The kirin’s expression was unreadable, but there was tension in his shoulders. He knew something was up. Maybe Coach had already told him he wasn’t getting the captain spot.
“Hey,” I called over to him. “Good hustle out there today.”
He gave me a curt nod before turning back to his locker. Shit. That wasn’t a good sign. I’d need to smooth things over with him sooner rather than later. The last thing I needed was team drama in my final year.
“So,” Jackson sidled up beside me as I sat down to remove my cleats. “That dryad. Was he, like, splinter-free down there? I’ve always wondered.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Completely smooth, actually. Like polished wood.” I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively. “And the way he could bend... let’s just say it opened up a lot of possibilities.”
“Damn,” Jackson sighed wistfully. “Maybe I should start going for guys instead of that vampire bitch I ended up with. She bit me in places I didn’t even know could be bitten.”
“That’s why you were moving so slow today!” Karrick hooted from across the room. “Got some extra holes in your dick you didn’t want?”
The locker room erupted in laughter, and even I couldn’t hold back a snort. This was what I loved about the team. There was an easy camaraderie, a shameless oversharing of hookup stories, and a sense of safety where we could all just be ourselves without judgment. Well, without too much judgment anyway.
As I showered, letting the hot water soothe my aching muscles and clear my head a bit, I thought about what being captain would mean. More responsibility, sure, but also more visibility. More attention. That could be dangerous for my secret. I didn’t want people to find out I was a prince, to treat me differently than they had before. I was just Silver, and that’s who I wanted to remain.
The locker room gradually emptied as my teammates finished their showers and dressed, still trading jokes about their escapades from the night before. I lingered under the hot spray, letting it wash away the last remnants of my hangover. My mind kept circling back to Coach’s words. Team captain. The responsibility of it weighed on me. I had yetanotherrole to play.
When I finally heard the last locker slam shut and the door swing closed, I let out a deep breath. The sudden silence was a relief. I needed these few moments alone to process everything. I’d only been at school for a day and already I felt like there was far too much going on in my life. I hadn’t even gone to my first class yet.
I closed my eyes, tilting my face up into the spray. The water pressure at Widdershins was always perfect, another small luxury I’d miss when I returned to the Twilight Realm. There, even as royalty, our water was infused with magical properties that made it feel like liquid silk but never quite had the satisfying pounding force of mortal plumbing.
“Just one more year,” I murmured to myself, running my hands through my wet hair. “Make it count.”
I was so lost in thought that I didn’t hear the door open. Didn’t sense the presence of someone else in the locker room until a startled gasp echoed off the tiled walls.
My eyes snapped open, and I whipped around to find the source of the noise. Standing there, frozen in place with a mop in one hand and a bucket in the other, was a young man I’d never seen before. He was thin, with dark hair that fell across his forehead in a way that made my fingers itch to brush it back. His eyes were sapphire blue and wide with shock, his mouth slightly open in surprise.
And I was, of course, totally naked, with my cock to the wind.
Water cascaded down my body as we stared at each other, neither of us moving. I watched as his gaze involuntarily traveled downward, taking in my chest, my abs, and then lower. When his eyes reached my cock, his cheeks flushed a deep crimson that spread down his neck and disappeared beneath the collar of his hoodie.
“I—I’m so sorry,” he stammered, nearly dropping his bucket as he took a step backward. “I didn’t realize anyone was still—I mean, the schedule said?—”
“It’s fine,” I said, making no move to cover myself. Why should I? I was proud of my body, and from the way this guy was looking at me, he appreciated the view. “I was dawdling anyway.”
“Right. Of course.” He seemed to be having trouble deciding where to look. His eyes kept darting from my face to the floor, occasionally slipping back to my chest or cock before he caught himself. “I’ll just... come back later.”
Something about his awkwardness was endearing.
“It’s alright,” I said, reaching up and turning off the water. “I was just leaving.”
His eyes were still locked on me as I grabbed my towel but made no move to wrap it around my waist. I walked towards him, pausing only for a moment in front of him. From here I could see that he wasreallyenjoying the view. The bulge in his jeans told me everything I needed to know.
“So,” I said softly as I cocked one hip to the side, making my purple cock shift to the left. “You must be the new cleaning guy.”
