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The moment Shelly turned to lead the way back to the hotel, Alex threw Lee a wink. ‘Tomorrow?’ he mouthed, and Lee shrugged, then nodded. Alex’s smile was brilliant.
They separated in the hallway in front of Alex’s room, Lee’s a little further along, and this time, there’d be no knock on Lee’s door. It was true what Lee had told Alex earlier—he’d grown so accustomed to Alex’s presence that it was strange to go without him for even a night.
Not a thought to share with Shelly, mind.
They got ready for bed quickly, Shelly already sprawled on her side of the bed when Lee slipped under the covers and flicked off the light. He was about to mumble a good night when she beat him to the point.
“Hey, Lee?” Her voice was gentle in the darkness.
Lee made a questioning noise and rolled onto his side to face her.
“I like Alex.” A pause. “I like the way he looks at you.”
For a second, Lee didn’t know how to respond. “Me too,” he said then, quiet like a secret.
“So you’ll stop being a wuss about him?”
Lee snorted. “Shut up, brat.”
“Never.” Her giggle reminded him of when she’d been much younger, in a silly mood as she was getting ready for bed, dancing with her toothbrush sticking out of her mouth while Kira sang some pop song and garbled half the words. There’d been tough times, yeah, but they’d had fun too.
“Love you,” he told her, and even in the dark room, he caught the spark of her smile.
“Love you, too.” She reached over to poke him in the cheek. “Night, Lee. Proud of you.”
“Thank you.” He caught her hand to prevent another poke, releasing it after a squeeze. “Now go to sleep, yeah?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Brat.”
“Loser.”
Settling into the pillow, Lee closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths until the world slowed down around him.
Round of sixteen—already, they’d made it further than four years ago.
And it was just the beginning.
10
Something had shifted between them—again, caught up in a river of their very own making with change as the only constant.
At breakfast, Alex sat with Jeff and Marco, Lee a few tables away. Each time their eyes met, anticipation pressed thick against the back of Alex’s throat, a dizzying tangle of nerves and elation. He spent the trip back to the team hotel in Alicante with his headphones in, trying to catch up on sleep that had been elusive last night because …well. With things about to get real, he’d only meant to do a few minutes of research, brush up on his knowledge of guy-on-guy mechanics since gay porn didn’t seem like a reliable source of information. Turned out the internet was a rabbit hole.Surprise.
Back at the hotel, they had just a few minutes to drop off their bags before they were due for a strategy session. About to leave the room, Alex snagged Lee’s elbow to stop him from opening the door. Lee turned slowly, with a tentative smile, and Alex suddenly didn’t know what to say.
Several seconds of silence stretched between them, then Lee huffed out a small, amused breath. “So. This is awkward.”
Which was when Alex remembered that he was meant to be the charming one. “Not awkward, no. Just different.”
“Different, huh?” Lee tilted his head, smile growing.
Charming, right. Alex could do charming.
“Different,” he repeated, letting his voice tilt down a little. “For example, I can do this now.” He shuffled closer, tucking himself up against Lee’s body as he slid his hand down to tangle their fingers, nosing along the curve of Lee’s cheekbone.
“Not a girl,” Lee protested, but he didn’t sound genuinely upset.
