Page 76 of Dared

My eyes flew open to see Finn standing on the other side of the low barrier, looking gorgeous in his football kit.

I blinked, hoping he wasn’t a mirage I’d conjured up in my efforts to tune out the conversation that was still happening to my left.

“Leo? Baby, what’s wrong? Come here.”

I took the couple of steps forward that took me to the edge of the barrier, and he instantly wrapped his arms around my waist, pressing a soft kiss to the tip of my nose.

“Hi,” I whispered. “Your brother and Niccolò are planning our wedding.”

“They what?” he screeched, jumping back, his gaze flying to Ed and his co-conspirator.

“Yeah.” I sighed. “According to them, it’s going to be gaming themed, and Ed wants to be my best man half the time and yours the other half.”

“Is that so?” His initial shock faded away, replaced by amusement. “Where did this all come from? Is Niccolò influencing my brother?”

“What’s going on?” Bennett jogged over, coming to a stop next to Finn. “I heard my boyfriend’s name mentioned.”

“Apparently, he and my brother are planning our wedding.” He shrugged, smirking at his teammate. “I dunno about you, but it sounds like your boyfriend has marriage on the brain.”

“Don’t start,” Bennett warned him, his voice stern even though he was biting back a smile. “Do I need to remind you we’re still students, and not only that, not all couples get married?”

“Even so, you’re the one with the wedding-obsessed boyfriend.”

“Fuck off.”

They elbowed each other, grinning before a whistle sounded behind them.

“Gotta go. Wait for me afterwards, okay?” Finn kissed me softly. At his side, I was dimly aware of Bennett doing the same with Niccolò, but I only had eyes for one person.

“Good luck. Win the match.” I pressed another kiss to his lips before he stepped back. He nodded, giving me a bright smile.

A throat cleared next to me. “Yeah, good luck. Kick their fucking asses!”

Finn turned to his brother. “Thanks. I’ll try. Glad you’re here.”

Ed smiled, shooting him a thumbs up, which he returned before he gave me one final quick kiss, and then jogged away.

“Remember when you were pretending you two were just friends?” Noah teased me as Finn lined up with the rest of his teammates.

“OMG, bro, you should’ve seen Finn when he sat us down in the kitchen. All fucking dramatic, like he was gonna tell us something serious, and then he was all like, Leo’s my boyfriend, as if we didn’t know. I’m like, bro, I literally walked in on you dry humping, and I can never unsee that.”

“You did not!” I placed my head in my hands. “I hate you all. I miss the days when I had no friends.”

“Does my brother know he’s dating a liar?” Ed wondered, and then he threw his arms around me before I had a chance to respond. “I’m just kidding. You love us really, don’t you?”

“I guess so,” I mumbled from behind my hands. “Please stop embarrassing me, though.”

“Sorry,” he said sincerely, and I lowered my hands.

“It’s okay. I’m just…you know.”

“You’re Leo, and we love you, and we don’t want you to change.”

“That,” Nic said, sliding his arm around my waist.

As the whistle sounded to begin the match, I smiled.

I’d come a long way from that shy, stuttering little boy who wanted nothing more than to hide away from the world. It didn’t matter if I wasn’t magically cured of my shyness. I had people around me who understood. People who were my friends.

---