Chapter 32

Nathan must have been quite exhausted, as he was still fast asleep at 8:00 AM. Come to think of it, it was summer vacation, so sleeping in was perfectly natural. However, Alex had morning training to attend.

Lying in bed, he recalled David Mack’s words. Could David Mack really pull strings like that?

Thinking of David made a strange, heavy weight settle in a corner of his heart. Carefully getting up to avoid waking Nathan, Alex slipped out of the house as swiftly as possible. Since the distance from Nathan’s place to the stadium was quite far, he was already cutting it close.

Knowing he would lose cell service on the tube, Alex paused at the station entrance to shoot Nathan a quick text.

I had to head out early for training. See you later.

It feels like we’re living together. Feeling a bit shameless for even thinking it, Alex quickly shook his head. As if physically chasing the thought away, he hurried down the stairs.

He arrived at the pitch with practically seconds to spare, sprinting frantically to barely make it on time. Waiting in the locker room was Jenkins, the youth team coach. Having started his career at Barnes FC, a lower-mid-tier club in the First Division, Jenkins had bounced around similarly ranked clubs for nearly twenty years before returning here. Because there had been controversy regarding his loyalty among the fans during his transfers, he was notoriously touchy about his position and authority.

“You’re late.”

Since it was just past 9:00 AM, it was a factual statement. Alex bowed his head. “I’m sorry.”

“Be on time from now on. You’re going to have a tight schedule trying to build chemistry with the first string before the opener. It’s different from playing with the second string. You’d better work your ass off.”

“Excuse me?”

“Change your clothes and get up there.”

Jenkins delivered his piece and marched right out of the locker room. Alex stood frozen, staring at the man’s retreating back with wide eyes.

David Mack actually kept his promise. In a single day.

He was so stunned he felt utterly bewildered. It was because he hadn’t truly expected it, even though he had desperately wanted it. Alex had learned how to resign himself to disappointment at a very young age. If you don’t expect anything, you don’t get disappointed. That was the exact same logic he had used to quickly accept that his mother and father would never come to watch his matches.

That was why this was so astonishing.

Standing paralyzed in disbelief for several seconds, Alex finally snapped back to reality and hurriedly changed his clothes. His footsteps practically flew as he sprinted up to the training pitch. The thought of finally delivering good news to his father sent his spirits soaring. If he worked even harder and properly solidified his position, he might actually be able to kickstart his pro league career with a few minutes as a late-half substitute.

He began to fantasize about things he hadn’t dared to dream of, picking up right where his imagination left off last night: a future where he was dating Nathan, and a vision of himself playing not just in the Premier League, but in the Champions League.

On the pitch, the coach reintroduced Alex to the existing first-string members. He knew all their faces anyway, but seeing them like this felt entirely new.

Wearing the number 9 jersey, David Mack shot Alex a playful wink. Seeing him act so brazenly, completely contrary to the hostility he had shown yesterday, Alex just quietly nodded back. A thought crossed his mind that David might actually be a better guy than he’d assumed, even learning a sudden lesson about not judging people solely based on rumors.

Practice was thrilling. Since it was a youth team filled with peers who hadn’t even made their pro debuts yet, he had wondered how different the first and second strings could really be, but the difference was night and day. Passing the ball felt effortless, and the process of syncing up with each other was incredibly smooth. The training sessions that sometimes felt agonizingly long ended in a flash today.

Time truly flew by like an arrow. Even though his body was exhausted, laughter kept bubbling up.

After a refreshing shower, Alex changed his clothes and immediately checked his phone. Nathan had replied.

Did training go well?

It was sent around noon. Cute. Did he just wake up then?

Yeah. It was great. Did you eat lunch, Nate?

A text arrived just a few minutes later. He had just finished packing his bag and picked up his phone to see the reply waiting for him. This was another factor that made Alex’s heart flutter, the drastic change in Nathan’s response time.

Yeah. Mom just got home and made it for me. It tastes terrible.

Thinking he needed to try it next time to see just how bad it was, Alex quickly grabbed his bag. Slinging the duffel over one shoulder, he was just about to leave when someone called out to him. It was Kirk, a defender he had finally spoken to properly today. Running over from the exit, he looked incredibly excited.

“Alex, hey, get out there!”

“Huh?”

“You lucky bastard, I’m so fucking jealous.”

It wasn’t just Kirk. Alex stared in sheer confusion at the other teammates flooding into the room behind him. Amidst a chorus of urging him to go outside, Alex found himself shoved forward. Furrowing his brows, he was practically carried out of the building by his teammates.

Standing on the grass, waiting for him, was David Mack.

And standing right beside him was the brown-haired boy he had seen last time. If Liam’s words were true, it was his younger brother.

Leaving the whispering voices behind, Alex slowly walked toward them. He felt a strange sense of foreboding. As he drew closer, a sweet, cloying scent wafted from the boy. This was the first time he had ever been this close to an Omega.

His mind and body felt entirely disconnected. His body tensed up completely of its own accord, adding a layer of revulsion to the situation, as if his biology was trying to force him to feel attracted.

As a scowling Alex approached, David flashed a genial, picture-perfect smile. With that soft smile still in place, he placed a hand on his younger brother’s back, his voice incredibly tender. His eyes overflowed with affection, making it instantly obvious just how deeply he cared for his brother.

“Ian, didn’t you say you had something you wanted to tell him?”

The boy looked up at Alex with a shy, bashful smile. Green eyes, perfectly complementing the brown hair sweeping softly across his forehead, stared intently at Alex. Clutching the fabric of David’s clothes, the boy looked about two years younger than Alex. His gaze dropped, then fluttered back up. His pale pink lips parted slightly.

“Hello.” His voice was soft and lilting. “My name is Ian.”

David gazed at his brother with deep fondness before lifting his head to look Alex dead in the eye. His smiling eyes appeared gentle, but somehow…

“I’ve… liked you for a really long time.”

It sent a chill down Alex’s spine.

“If it’s okay with you, would you be my boyfriend?”

The second the words left his mouth, cheers erupted around them, as if the outcome had already been decided before Alex could even grant his permission.

Alex stared down at the boy in a daze. The rosy flush staining his cheeks conveyed an agonizingly clear truth. The feelings of another person, which had been so impossibly difficult to read when looking at Nathan, were cruelly, undeniably obvious in this very moment.

This boy truly liked him.

He slowly averted his eyes. David was staring right at him. He kept his mouth shut, but Alex was absolutely certain of what David was trying to say.

This was his ‘favor.’