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“I’m saying that this thing here?” Alex waved his free hand between them. “I’d like to make it real.”
Something in Lee’s chest loosened abruptly, and finally,finallyhe could fit enough air into his lungs. “It’s already real,” he told Alex.
“Let’s put a label on it, then.” Alex’s second dimple staged an appearance, and Lee didn’t know why that was what swung it for him, his disbelief melting away. He turned to drag Alex closer, pushed him over onto his back so he could stretch out on top of him. Alex went easily, grinning, his legs coming up to frame Lee’s body. Up close, the hazel of Alex’s eyes was speckled with flecks of green.
“So.” Lee dipped his head to let their lips catch, aiming for a cheesy tone. “Wanna go steady?”
“Yes.” Alex paused. “On one condition.”
“You already said yes.”
“Ononecondition,” Alex repeated. “Next time, you don’t just jump to conclusions. Ask me, all right? Let’s fight about it if we need to. But don’t just give up.”
It triggered a faint memory of Alex saying that he counted on Lee to not just walk away, trusted him to stay and fight. Lee would have. Of course he would have—if he’d realised there was anything to fight for.
He curved a hand around Alex’s jaw and kissed him, slow and deep, until Alex was pliant under him, fingers loosely fisted in Lee’s T-shirt. Only then did Lee pull back slightly, just enough to meet Alex’s eyes. “I wasn’t giving up just because, yeah? I thought I was doing you a favour, giving you an easy way out. Also saving my dignity, and protecting the team from any fallout.”
Alex tipped his chin up. “Because you jumped to conclusions.”
“You didn’t say anything last night and you were gone this morning. What was I supposed to think?”
“That between the mess with my dad and this thing with us, my life’s been tipped upside down and I needed a moment to process?”
Okay, that was fair.
“Yeah, guess that could have occurred to me.” Lee glanced away. “I’m just not—I don’t ask for things. From people. But I askedyoufor something, and then you were gone.”
Alex brought one hand up to cup the back of Lee’s neck, the touch warm and light. When Lee looked back at him, Alex’s eyes were serious. “Why did you ask, then?”
Lee paused before he replied. “Because I was even more scared to lose you.”
It wasn’t quite an admission of just how much Alex had come to mean, but it was pretty damn close. Lee pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth as he watched Alex’s face, holding his breath as he waited for a reaction. He got it in the form of Alex uttering a soft, “Lee,” before they were kissing again, minutes melting away against the faint buzz of voices that passed outside their door.
Fuck, Lee loved him.
It didn’t feel heavy anymore. Instead, it filled Lee with a bright sense of calm, like underwater rays of light. Even if Alex wasn’t there yet—well, Lee could be patient, now that the deadline looming over them had faded away.
They’d get a short few weeks off after this, before they’d have to return for pre-season training with their clubs. Lee had intended to spend part of that time travelling with his sisters and part of it relaxing at home, but he hoped there was room for a change of plans. France, maybe? Or a week in Sweden or in the Alps? Escape the summer heat, rent a little cabin by a lake or a mountain chalet that was just for them?
A loud bang on their door startled them apart.
“Breakfast!” Jeff called out, and Alex huffed out a laugh as he met Lee’s eyes. Alex’s cheeks were flushed, hair a mess, and Lee suspected he himself didn’t fare any better. They’d need a moment before they went down.
“Coming!” Alex yelled in the direction of the door.
“TMI, mate.” Another knock underlined the statement. “Make it quick—I’ll save you both a seat.” With that, Jeff presumably moved on.
Alex snorted, voice pitched for Lee’s ears only. “Fun fact? If this was anyone but Jeff, we’d have been outed just now.” He didn’t sound terribly upset at the idea, and that was something they’d need to discuss because while Lee wasn’t in a rush to come out publicly, he could see wanting to do so eventually. He had no idea where Alex stood.
A conversation for another time, though. Today, they needed to focus on Belgium.
So all Lee said was, “He’s your best mate, and I’m judging.”
“They do say we become an average of the five people we spend the most time with.” Alex’s soft laugh tempted Lee right back into another kiss, just one more, before he rolled off Alex and onto his back, taking a moment to adjust himself in his shorts.
When he glanced over, Alex was watching him with open interest. Lee grinned, couldn’t help it. “Hold that thought.”
“Right.” Alex nodded, gaze still focused south of Lee’s belly button.
