Page 79 of The Fly-Half

Nobody seemed to mind the slight shortage of chairs, and the garden was filled with happy chatter and the smell of sizzling from the two barbecues, which were both under Ryan’s and Mason’s careful eyes. Apparently, neither of them trusted Jonny or me, which wasn’t very fair since they were just as likely to get distracted.

But I supposed when you accidentally set the smoke detector off by turning bacon to a charred husk because you’d started kissing, then maybe that suspicion was justified.

Although I maintained that it wasn’t completely my fault because Jonny wasveryeasy to get distracted by.

“I’ve brought more supplies,” I said, putting the meat down on a plate resting on the table between the two barbecues.“And Jonny’s just sorting the sides. Where are we going to put everything?”

“We were just talking about that,” Mason said, waving a pair of tongs. He was wearing his “Sorry for having great tits and correct opinions” T-shirt and a pair of shorts that were barely on this side of decent, and every so often Ryan’s eyes wandered to his ass, a smirk on his lips. “I think it might be easier to put everything out on the dining room table and people can go and grab whatever they want. There’s not enough room out here.”

“Sounds good,” I said. “I’ll tell Jonny and we’ll sort everything out. Do you two want anything?”

“Nah, we’re good,” Ryan said. He gestured at the garden where everyone was happily drinking and chatting. “Besides if we need anything, we can grab one of that lot to get it.”

“By the way,” Mason said, lowering his voice and beckoning me towards him. “I have a question.”

“Yeah?”

“What’s going on with Aiden, Hunter, and Bailey?” I followed his gaze to the corner of the garden where the three of them were all sat close together. Aiden was sandwiched between our two teammates, his thighs pressed against theirs. Any closer and he’d have been sitting in their laps. But the way they were looking at him didn’t suggest they were uncomfortable, especially not when Bailey put his hand on Aiden’s thigh.

“I don’t know,” I said quietly, looking away before I got caught staring. “I thought Hunter and Bailey were… but when Aiden came up at Christmas…” I shook my head. I had vague memories of getting up in the night to go to the toilet after our team night out at Christmas and hearing voices from Aiden’s room, but I’d also been drunk, so I thought I’d been imagining it. Especially since I’d gotten used to tuning out the sounds of other people having sex.

“Do you think?” Ryan asked as they turned some chicken kebabs over, the spicy-sweet smell of the marinade making my mouth water. “Maybe?”

“Maybe,” I said. “But I don’t know. Aiden’s kind of cagey about his sex life. He keeps telling Jonny he’s too busy for relationships.”

“Yeah, but fucking them isn’t the same as dating them,” Mason said, flipping a couple of burgers over before pointing at them with the tongs. “These will be ready soon.”

“I’ll finish getting things out. Then I’ll come and get what’s ready and you can summon the hordes,” I said. “Also, let me know what you two want to eat and I’ll make sure you get first dibs.”

I left the two of them to it and wandered back into the house but not before stealing a couple of glasses of whatever Peaches had made. It was a pretty peach colour and smelled very sweet, but knowing Peaches it would also be fucking lethal because apparently he didn’t believe in measures.

“How’s it going out there, angel?” Jonny asked as soon as I stepped into the kitchen. I didn’t know how he’d known it was me from my footsteps alone, or whether he’d assumed since everyone else was outside enjoying the sunshine.

“Good. Everyone seems to be having fun and Mason says the first burgers will be ready soon,” I said, walking over to him and leaning up for a kiss. A year ago, I’d never dreamed of being able to do this and now I got to do it all the time. It was almost unbelievable, and I kept waiting to wake up, only I never did. Because this really was my life. “I think we can put everything out on the table in here. There’s no room outside anyway.”

“Makes sense,” Jonny said as I handed him his drink. He looked at it suspiciously. “Did Peaches make this?”

“Yes.”

“I’m going to add some extra orange juice,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m not getting blackout drunk this early in the afternoon.”

I snorted. “It’s not that bad,” I said, taking a sip and sucking in my cheeks. “Yeah, actually maybe some orange juice would be good.” Jonny grinned as he walked over to the fridge and pulled a carton out of the door to add to our glasses. “Do you know anything about Aiden, Hunter, and Bailey?”

He frowned as he poured. “No, why? Did something happen?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe?” I took another sip of my cocktail, which no longer tasted like it was going to have me dancing on tables if I drank more than one.

Jonny shrugged as he finished topping up his glass. “It’s Aiden. I love him, but if something is happening, it’s not going to be serious. If they want to have fun, it’s nothing to do with us.”

“True,” I said. “But—”

“But you kind of want to know anyway.”

“Guilty.” I grinned as he plucked the glass from my hand and set it down on the counter beside us before wrapping me in his arms. His kiss was slow and deep, the sort of kiss that stole my breath and made me melt. “Mmm, you shouldn’t kiss me like that.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re going to distract me. And then we’re going to get in trouble.”

---