Cody blinked at him. He was probably too stunned to speak, because I knew I was.
“Bloody hell.” Grant rolled his eyes as he loaded burgers onto the BBQ. “Here we go again. How do you put up with him, Theo?”
Theo shrugged. “He has his uses.”
“I’m a man of many talents,” Jordan said, giving Grant the finger with one hand and tapping on the screen with the other. “Look at this chart. This is your carbon footprint per flight, and look, here—” He hit the arrow key to switch to the next slide. “—I’ve calculated how much it would be if you flew over every time you got a break.”
“Fucking hell,” Cody muttered, rubbing his hand over his face. I came up next to him, sliding my arm around his waist, and glared at Jordan like a good boyfriend should.
Stop calling him your boyfriend, Jude, even if all your teammates think you’re in a relationship.It’s only going to make it harder when he leaves.
Jordan smirked at my glare. “This applies to you, too, if you fly to him. So why don’t you stop glaring at me and be grateful for the fact you have such a kind, generous friend looking out for you like this?”
“Kind and generous? More like arrogant and wanker-ish.” Reuben swooped in, grabbing a handful of crisps from the bowl next to the laptop. He ducked out of range of Jordan’s attempted punch, laughing. “Nah, you’re alright. You grow on people. Like fungus.”
“Fuck off.”
“Love you, too.”
They blew a kiss at each other, and Cody snorted. “I heard the Brits were eccentric, but hanging out with you guys…”
“You love us,” Jordan said. “It’s okay to admit it.”
Cody just shook his head, his mouth set in a flat line, but I could see the humour in his eyes.
“Anyway, back to making your relationship more environmentally friendly. Have you heard about carbon offsetting? It’s easy to do. Look at this slide…”
After an unexpected crash course in carbon offsetting, which took place over the course of sixteen different slides, we finally managed to escape.
I ended up stretched out on the grass next to my team captain, beer in hand. “Thanks for making me feel so welcome. And Cody, too. I was— Uh, I guess I was worried about how he’d get on with everyone.”
It wasn’t my place to talk about his struggles back in Canada, but Grant nodded. “I could tell he was wary when he first met us, but I could also tell that he was trying his hardest.” He paused, glancing over at Cody, before turning back to me. “He was making an effort for you, you know.”
On some level, Ididknow that, but to have someone else realise the same thing and say it aloud… “Yeah,” I said hoarsely. “He’s trying. Or he was. I don’t think he needs to try now, does he? Everyone likes him.”
“Yeah. He’s a good bloke. Down to earth. He takes their teasing in the spirit it’s meant.” He jerked his head towards the patio table, where I could hear Reuben asking Cody to explain why hockey players were always losing their teeth, baring his own bright white set. “Some people wouldn’t understand their banter as love language, but Cody—he gets it. He fit in right away, just like you did. And I’m not talking about the team. I’m talking about our core friendship group. It was me, Theo, Reuben, Ainsley, and Lars. Then Jordan came along, and now you two. We’re lucky to have you both.”
Fuck. I gulped down half my beer, too overcome to speak. When I recovered, I admitted the truth. “He does fit in. It feels like he belongs. With us. With me. I wish more than anything that he didn’t have to leave.”
Back at the flat, I closed the front door behind us, shutting out the world. It was just me and the man I wanted more than anything in the world.
“Cody. Can we just…” I licked my lips, suddenly nervous. “I know our friends have been calling you my boyfriend. Would it be so bad if we were really boyfriends?”
A muscle ticked in his jaw as he stared at me silently.
Moving closer, I reached up, curling my fingers around his nape. “You can deny it as much as you want, but it doesn’t change the truth. You’re mine.”
“Jude…” His voice was low and rough.
“These feelings aren’t gonna go away. Not for me, and I’m pretty sure they’re not for you, either.”
He growled, slanting his mouth over mine and claiming me with a hard, biting kiss. Pressing me into the wall, he devoured me with his mouth until we were both breathless and panting, and my dick was like an iron bar in my shorts.
“Fine. Have it your way, you infuriating, fucking asshole.”
I drew back so I could see his eyes. “Was that your growly way of saying yes to being my boyfriend?”
“Fuck you,” he snarled, kissing me again, and I took that to mean that he was on board.
