Chapter Text
He doesn’t really notice Roy is not behind him anymore until he hears a loud “FUCK.” behind him and snickers to himself before turning back.
“Coach?” He tentatively calls out, hoping the man wasn’t ready to hit or anything, instead he hears a grunt and finds him, fallen into a bush on the ground and the bike between his legs. He tries, hard too, not to laugh but the image right in front of him was exhilarating and if it wasn’t for Roy deadly glare he’d be in a fit of laughter.
“Stop fucking laughing and help me fucking get up.” He says.
“Right.” He says and he’s quick on getting off his bike and moving Roy’s out the way.
“You could just stand up.”
“My knee. I fucking fell so many times on it it’s probably fucking shattered.”
“Okay come here, elderly people complain so much.”
Roy growls, he lifts himself on his elbows and Jamie is uncharacteristically delicate, extracting the bike from in between Roy, who groans, throbbing pain in his knee but he is free.
“You're a little bruised up but you’ll live mate.” Jamie says with a small laugh as he’s crouched towards Roy who was ready to strangle him.
“Fucking help me up will ya?” The older man says. Jamie smiles before extending his hand towards him. Roy grabs it, maybe a wee bit too forcefully and tips Jamie over, who was absolutely not ready for that kind of strength and falls over, he braces himself fast enough to not knock the wind out of Roy who was now weighed down again by Jamie this time.
“This is fucking perfect isn’t it?” Roys says with a grunt, Jamie burst out in a fit of laughter and he could’ve sworn he heard Roy make a sound, something distantly similar to a faint laugh and Roy Kent never laughed.
He lifts his head, immediately met with Roy’s gaze and it’s softer and the lines at the side of his face indicating that he was in fact smiling.
“Thought our trainings were supposed to make you stronger.” He says
“Well you took me by surprise coach.” Jamie says eyes now on Roy’s lips asking himself if it was worth throwing all caution out of the window and know what they feel like against his.
Roy was mentally begging for Jamie to move, stand up and break from this trance like state before he did something he’d regret doing.
“Hey.” He says almost breathless.
“You’re ruining the moment.” Jamie says.
“There’s a moment?”
“Yeah.” He whispers, gently and almost shaky and scared. Jamie was a lot of things but rarely Roy could ever describe him as scared.
Jamie closes the distance between them, and much to his surprise Roy’s lips were moving alongside his, so soft and so gentle unlike the hard exterior he showed and Jamie could not believe he was kissing him back.
“Definitely makes up for pulling me down with you.”
“Not my fault your fucking reflexes are shit.”
“Oi! My reflexes are amazing I was just caught off guard again.”
Jamie rolls off him and he kinda misses the warmth of his body on top of his, but it helps that there’s less pressure on his leg now though he would still like to sit properly and ice his knee.
They stay in silence for what could’ve been forever, Jamie looking up, his hands behind his his and humming a tune. Roy looks at him and wishes he could just trace the lines of Jamie’s face and his lips… and kiss him again.
He doesn’t know where it comes from, maybe it was the heat of the moment, or seeing a softer, more vulnerable side of the younger man or he himself was getting softer but Jamie Tartt was doing something inexplicable to him.
“It doesn’t have to mean anything, it can just be Amsterdam.” Jamie says turning his head towards him. The sides of his lips still slightly turned upwards but not meeting the look in his eyes.
Maybe it was for the best if it was a one time thing, an accident. Maybe Jamie felt like he had to kiss him, looking for comfort in his own way, his head swam with the different reasons as to why Jamie would do what he did.
He was his coach and he was training him to become a better player and if he entertained whatever was going on it could lead to a terrible terrible path.
Jamie felt like it was the right thing to say, because ‘I think I’ve been harboring feelings for you since I was a kid and they’ve been increasingly consuming me since we’ve started spending more and more time together.’ was going to be met with instant rejection. Roy probably took pity on him that’s why he kissed him back.
“Just Amsterdam.” Roy says.
But Jamie has been wanting to do so for much longer than that night, but he knew their relationship had clear boundaries. He was the player and Roy was the coach, nothing could happen.
“We’ve been cycling all night, it’s almost morning.”
Roy grunts, mostly out of habit instead of replying to Jamie with actual words, and Jamie took it as sign to keep talking.
“We should go for some breakfast. I think I deserve it after after teaching you how to ride a bike and looking for windmills.”
“And laying in dirt looking at the stars with you.” He adds, nudging Roy with his elbow who immediately turned his head to glare at Jamie.
Almost faltering in doing so, looking at the younger man’s grin and the glint in his eyes. Roy could not do this.
“Didn’t ask you that now did I?”
“No but it would be cruel making you walk with that shattered knee.” Jamie eyes shooting down towards his leg and he wouldn’t put it past him.
And Jamie wasn’t wrong, his knee was hurting despite it all.
They fall into a silence again, not awkward, not unwanted and simply basking in each other’s presence for a while.
“Thank you for tonight.” Jamie lets out.
“What for? You’re the one who taught me how to ride a fucking bike.”
“I guess for listening. Besides Doctor Sharon, there was no one I could ever talk to about… stuff. Heavy stuff, ya know?”
“I know.” Roy says in a voice that almost didn’t seem his but Jamie has been bringing out sides of him he never thought he had so it doesn’t shock him.
“I'm starving. Let's go find some breakfast.”
Jamie jumps up, extending his hand to lift him up. His reflexes were definitely not shit and his strength was improving, not that he needed it Roy thought to himself.
“My bike’s gone to shit remember?”
“I’ll let you ride with me.” Jamie says on his way to his bike.
“No fucking way.”
Jamie groans out loud looking up before turning to face the older man.
“You plan on walking behind granddad?”
Exasperation written on his face but he didn’t seem annoyed, and Roy wondered why because all he did was almost act like a deadweight to him.
“Fuck.” He says walking up to Jamie and sitting down.
“Come on! Get on and just hold me will ya?”
Reluctantly he does so, he could feel Jamie breathing, and as he let his head fall on his back… he could faintly hear the beating of Jamie’s heart.
They make it to a small café where Jamie orders some waffles with a scary amount of cream and chocolate that Roy felt sick at the sight as it arrived to their table alongside the coffee he had ordered.
“That is fucking obscene, it should be illegal I’m making you train harder when we get back home.” Roy commented, staring at Jamie cutting and filling his mouth with the atrocity he called food.
“Absolutely worth it. You should try some.” Jamie says pushing the fork in Roy’s direction.
“Fuck no!” He said gently moving back the plate.
“For me, please?” Jamie pouted, if he only knew the effect it had on him and how he didn’t even need to try hard enough to convince him.
“I swear I’ll train more, harder, whatever. I’ll even- I don’t know pay you a dinner.”
“No and that’s definitive.”
“Fine…”
“It’s not like I taught you how to ride a bike, or took you to see windmills or kis-“
“Fuck’s sake okay fine!”
He takes a bite from Jamie’s fork and it’s not half as bad as be expected, definitely too sweet for his taste and age but he could see why Jamie would enjoy it and it doesn’t help that Jamie’s eyes light up the moment he puts the food in his mouth and how content he was with himself.
“You have some-“
Roy moves away from Jamie reaching for his face, raising a brow questioning as to what the younger man was trying to do.
“Will you stop moving? I didn’t even come at you fast this time you old twat.”
As he wipes it from his face with his thumb, and licks it, Roy could’ve sworn he saw a smirk on Jamie’s face because the little shit was nothing but a tease and he knew exactly what he was doing. Roy sat there eyes still glued on the other man's lips and he swallows hard trying everything in his power to keep his composure. All his brain seemed to want to do was kiss Jamie till he was left breathless, to know if his face would be flushed the same shade of pink his lips were and how bad he would get his hands all over that body he’s been seeing training for weeks now. Yet he closes his eyes and shakes his head.
“Such a child.” He says.
“I just cleaned your face for ya.” Jamie laments.
“Who is the child between us?”
The other man glares at him, letting silence fall between them before he spoke again low and dangerously close to sounding like the Roy who despised Jamie with his every being. “And then proceeded to lick your thumb.”
“I’m hungry, what can I say.”
“You still have a waffle on your plate.”
Jamie shrugged now, cutting up the waffle on his plate and eating it.
“You know if you want more I can always share.”
“No.”
“Still won’t tell anybody you know.”
“I ate the fucking piece like you asked.”
“So grumpy. Is it because you haven’t slept granddad?” Jamie mocks pouting, and Roy wants to wipe it off his face but he couldn’t get his eyes off Jamie and the sight of him after that goddamn kiss was making him think and feel things that he didn’t want to, that he shouldn’t. It was inappropriate, that kiss was not supposed to happen in the first place.
Jamie knew that he was probably pushing his luck by pressing Roy’s buttons, but it was so easy and fun to rile him up but also to see how far he could flirt, now that be had his chance to do so. He knew that all they had was a mere couple of hours, before they had to go back to their every day lives, back to trainings, back to acting like having Roy as his coach was enough, that the thought of them being friendly but not quite friends wasn’t eating at him and that he didn’t know what his lips taste like… it was all going to be left behind in Amsterdam.
They leave the cafè behind and the sun was starting to come up giving the pale blue sky it’s slight orange tint typical of sunrise, the night before did make him appreciate the day ahead of them even if most of it would be spent on the bus on the drive back home but still leaving Jamie with a slight sense of leaving something behind.
“I would’ve licked it meself.”
“What the fuck are you talking about Tartt?” Jamie so dangerously close to him and they were in public he couldn’t even push him or do exactly what was on his mind as of last night, kissing him.
The question did not seem to deter Jamie, at all, who had a smirk on his face.
“Come on Coach, Amsterdam. It doesn’t have to mean anything.”
“You know we can’t do this. Just let it fucking go.” He says, not harshly though he didn’t want Jamie to think he hated him, there were just things that to them were unattainable.
“Fine, we should start heading towards the bus. Wouldn’t want the others to leave without us now do we?” Jamie says turning around heading for his bike.
He turned to look at Roy, brow raised patting behind him.
“Get on and let’s go man.”
Roy rolled his eyes, Jamie having way too much fun teasing him and he if it wasn’t that his inability to ride a bike also cause him to ruin his he wouldn’t have been in that predicament but at least Jamie was having fun it.
He was smiling .
Since when did he care if Jamie Tartt was smiling?
And he didn’t care if Jamie was happy and smiling as they all started singing in the bus.
Nor was he staring as he looked so peaceful as he fell asleep on the drive back home.
Or noticed Jamie’s lashes and the curve of his lips and how he ached to taste them again.
He refused to engage with such thoughts.
They’re at the clubhouse when everyone is almost gone and it’s just the two of them in the parking space, not talking to each other awkward silence draping on them despite the fact that they had one of the best nights they could recall in sometime.
“Training tomorrow?” Jamie says looking up at Roy, hoping his tone and eyes don’t betray him that he was looking forward to it just to spend more time with the man.
“Four AM.” Roy replies before getting into his car, where he doesn’t start the car just yet because for some reason he had to avoid eye contact with Jamie who was still smiling in his direction as he was getting into his car. because if he stared too long at those big brown eyes any longer he’d do something he promised himself he wouldn’t even think of doing anymore.
“Fucking hell.”