Page 63 of The Fly-Half

Fifty minutes later, I emerged blinking into the corridor with my head spinning and feeling completely emotionally drained, like someone had wrung me out. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to cry, drink, eat, or lie down in a dark room and take a nap.

But considering I was still at training, the nap and drinking weren’t options unless I could somehow get hold of a can of beer. The canteen would be open for snacks, though, and I could easily find a quiet corner to have a cry if I needed one.

My feet carried me down the corridor towards the stairs as I wondered what snacks I’d be able to get my hands on and wondering if they’d have any ice cream. There was usually a little freezer the catering staff kept stocked throughout the year with mini tubs and ice lollies, because sometimes all you needed was ice cream.

When I got downstairs, I saw a familiar figure leaning against the wall outside the canteen, one leg stuck out with his ankle resting on the floor, his phone in hand. Just seeing him gave my exhausted emotional battery a jump, and I couldn’t help but smile as warmth flooded me.

“Hey,” Devon said as he saw me, putting his phone back into his pocket. “How’d it go?”

“Good, I think,” I said. “It was a lot.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” I bit my lip, wondering how much to tell him. I wasn’t sure I could even put it into words, though, not yet.

“Do you want to get something to eat?” Devon asked, reaching out his hand and sliding his fingers into mine. “See if the ice cream freezer is still open?”

“Sounds great.” I followed him through the door of the canteen and frowned when I realised it was just the two of us. “Don’t you have training to be doing?”

He grinned and shrugged. “Yeah, but I begged Clive to let me come see you. I’m pretty sure Gavin will make me do shit like a hundred burpees and pick the most brutal variation imaginable, but it’s worth it.”

“You’d do burpees for me?”

“Yeah, of course. Wouldn’t you do them for me?”

I smiled teasingly as we walked through the empty canteen to the ice cream freezer. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe? Depends.”

“Depends on what?”

“Why I’m doing them.”

“You bastard,” Devon said with a laugh as I pulled him against me, my other hand coming up to cup his neck. “Because you’re my boyfriend. And you… like me.”

We’d both noticed the pause, but all I could say was, “Well, yeah, of course I like you. I like you a lot, Dev.” I kissed him playfully. “But I’m not sure if I like you more than I hate burpees.”

Devon tilted his head back and raised his eyebrow. “Really? You’re going with that.”

I chuckled and kissed him again. “Nah, I guess I’ll do the burpees. But I want a lot of sympathy afterwards.”

“Aww, poor baby, will you suffer?”

“Terribly.”

“How terribly?”

“The worst,” I said, unable to stop smiling as I kissed him again. The blinds were down on the canteen windows, and the lights were off. There was nobody here except the two of us, and it felt like we were in our own strange little world. “Let’s get some ice cream.”

We opened the freezer and grabbed out two tubs of double chocolate, then got ourselves two drinks from the fridge and found some seats, Devon hooking his foot around mine as soon as we sat down.

“By the way,” he said as he popped the lid off of his tub of ice cream. “What are your plans for this weekend?”

“I don’t think I’ve got any,” I said, my brow furrowing as I tried to think of what I might be missing. But my brain was still soup. “Have we got a team thing? We’re going to the hospital next week, right?”

“Yes, and no, not an official team thing. But Bailey found out it’s Matty’s birthday on Thursday, which he keptveryquiet, and now Bailey’s trying to organise a last-minute team dinner and night out. I think Matty’s trying to resist because it’s hard to find childcare and Hannah is in New York on an emergency work thing, but apparently Charlie’s girlfriend, Amanda, and Andy’s wife, Katie, have both offered to help with babysitting in the past.” He waved his hand. “Anyway, do you fancy it? It’s like an absolute last-minute thing and I’m not sure he’ll pull it off, but you know how stubborn he and Hunter are.”

“Sure,” I said. “Sounds great. Matty could do with a break. We should get him a present too.”

“Yeah, I thought maybe we could all put some money in a pot and get him something nice. Something for him, not Jack. Because I know most parents don’t get much time for themselves and I’m pretty sure all Matty does is train and parent. So any and all ideas welcome.”

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