Page 118 of Cross the Line

Antonio opens his mouth then shuts it. “Yeah, a little bit.”

“So you don’t hate me?”

“Nothing in the world could make me hate you,” Antonio says seriously. “Which is amazing, considering how fucking difficult you are.”

“Can we backtrack to the love fest? That was more fun.”

“I love you,” Riley offers.

“See, was that so hard?” Alec says. “Now if only the team were so easy. They’re going to hate me.”

“The team is going to miss you because you’re a beast on the field, but all the guys want you to be happy. Well, maybe not Chaucer, but he can fuck off.” Antonio lowers the friendship bracelets onto Alec’s lap. “You’re always going to be one of us, Alec. Even if you never play again, for SLU or anywhere else. You were a part of this team, the heart of it really, and nothing can change that.”

“Don’t make me cry, asshole. It hurts.”

“Does it hurt being so pretty too?” Riley teases.

Alec smiles, flipping him off. “It does, actually. It’s exhausting being this gorgeous.”

“You should probably rest, then, from all that hard work being sexy.”

Alec hums, perfectly aware of what his friends are doing and helpless to resist.

“Might close my eyes, just for a second.”

“Gotta get that beauty sleep,” Riley deadpans, playfully ruffling Alec’s curls.

Antonio and Riley quietly start to bicker over what to put on the TV, letting Alec know they’re not going anywhere anytime soon, and giving him the freedom to relax. He only means to close his eyes for a few seconds, but the next time he opens them Antonio and Riley are gone, and Hunter and Logan appear. After they leave, the rest of Alec’s team takes turns filing in. He strongly suspects Antonio talked to them because not one of the guys mention Alec coming back to the team or quitting, avoiding the word soccer altogether. Most of his teammates take turns making sure Alec wears their bracelets, though, filling his room with crude jokes, raucous laughter and just enough hope for Alec to imagine one day everything might not feel so raw.

The hours tick by, yet the number of visitors never slows. In between friends and teammates his family makes an appearance, as does Theo, each of them taking their leave when more of Alec’s friends show up. By the time the sun has set and the announcement that visiting hours are almost over comes over the intercom system, Alec is exhausted in ways he didn’t even know was possible. He’s always been an extrovert, always felt exhilarated by being around people, but today took it out of him in unexpected ways and gave him a glimpse of how Theo must feel after social situations.

When Theo walks into the room with ten minutes to spare, there’s a smile on his face and a familiar cup in his hand.

“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.” Alec manages a smile despite his bone-deep exhaustion.

“You saw me an hour ago,” Theo says, but it doesn’t escape Alec’s notice that the tips of his ears—visible because the longest bits of his hair are pushed behind them—turn red. Alec tucks that away, deciding that while he’s stuck in recovery mode, his new favorite game will be to see how much he can make his boyfriend blush.

Boyfriend. Fuck, Alec likes the sound of that.

“An entire hour, Theodore. That’s forever. Get your ass over here and kiss me. Also is that a Sonic Coke? There are other more traditional ways to propose, but the answer is yes.”

Theo’s laughter is warm and rich as he crosses the room, dropping a kiss to Alec’s forehead and then his lips. It’s chaste, but satisfies something needy in Alec that longs to be reminded Theo really does want him. “Nice to know for future reference, all you want in a marriage proposal is a Coke.”

He knows Theo is joking, but what Alec also knows is that he wasn’t kidding when he told Theo that he was it for him. Without a doubt Alec is going to marry this man. He knows it. He just needs to let Theo find his footing first and figure that out for himself, no matter how long it takes.

As long as Theo is his, he doesn’t much care what word they use to define their relationship.

“Coke is one way. I also accept gold,” Alec asserts, not about to pass up the opportunity to tease. If there’s a little, or perhaps a lot, of truth to his words right now, no one needs to know yet. “Make sure it’s engraved with something sentimental about how much you can’t live without me. Oh, and flowers, lots of flowers—white dahlias with babies' breath. Probably a big party, too. On the beach.”

“Anything else?” Theo grins, and the fact that he’s not running away screaming from Alec joking about forever makes Alec’s eyes burn.

“You,” Alec says. “Maybe in a blue shirt.”

“Blue shirt, white dahlias and gold. Got it.”

“Don’t forget the Coke,” Alec says, voice quivering.

“Who could forget Coke?” Theo whispers, bringing the straw to Alec’s lips. He takes a drink, little tingles of bliss flooding his nervous system at the first chug of the sweet, highly carbonated beverage.

---