HARRY
"Harry, you're staring again."
"He wants me to."
Louis purposely turns around once he's in his boxers, pulling on his shorts and putting on his jersey, TOMLINSON stretched across his back above the same number he has tattooed on his fingers.
"It's a wonder you haven't hooked up yet."
"It's a tragedy."
Liam snorts, but I'm caught up in Louis as he secures his shin pads and pulls up his socks and ties his boots. I'm still undressed once he's ready, grinning when he winks at me and heads out with Zayn and Niall.
We start our pre-match warm-ups 30 minutes prior to our match. Liam stays put in our goal and stops most balls that are kicked his way, only missing some as we shoot and stretch and run around to warm up.
I turn around to run back so I can snatch another ball, only I bump into Louis instead, tripping us both so we end up on the grass. Louis loses his breath in response, groaning as he lands beneath my body.
"Fuck."
"Fuck indeed," I say. "I'm sorry."
He relaxes against the grass. "I knew I was gonna end up underneath you eventually, but I always pictured us more naked."
I snort as I move away so I can help him up again. "Do you think about it much?"
"I think about it some," he says. "Don't you?"
"It's been hard not to when you look so good."
He grins, but his cheeks are burning as he turns away—it really is a wonder we haven't hooked up yet. I'm not sure why that is, but being a professional athlete equals being busy. And we keep winning and moving up, so there's not much time between matches and sleep—we can hardly squeeze in a proper wank.
As much as I want to spread Louis out on the grass right now, my mind remains where it needs to as our match begins. It's not an easy win, so the stadium cheers extra loudly once we bring it home—once Louis brings it home. We stay as long as we see necessary, then cheer our victory in our locker room.
"No one brought champagne, but we have beer."
We drink said beer as we cheer and jump around on our benches. And we're nearly all shirtless by the time several cans are upended over Louis and our coach, beer soaking them so thoroughly that they're not going anywhere unless they clean up beforehand.
"Party at Harry's house!"
I turn to look at Niall. "Excuse me?"
"Yours is closest," he says. "And we can buy alcohol on the way."
"Yeah," Louis says. "We won today. And we have an entire week to... catch up on certain things."
"Fine," I say. "Party at Harry's house."
There's more cheering and more wasted beer. And then everyone is undressing and stepping into the showers to clean up and rinse away grass stains and sweat. Liam and Zayn buy alcohol as I head home so I can let people in once they start showing up. Some are bringing their partners to catch up, but others are merely around so they can drink until the morning now that we can stay in tomorrow. And several days to come until we're back in training.
"Hey," Liam says, nudging my arm. "Perhaps tonight is the night."
I look at Louis. "Depends on how much he drinks."
"He's not drinking right now. I saw him pour Sprite in his cup."
"Interesting."
I approach him soon enough. He's leaning against my wall, watching me intensely as I bring his cup into my hand so I can make sure it's still not alcohol.
