Roy was acutely aware of what it felt like to sit in a dimly lit room with a woman's hands working over his body. But for some reason, the first time that Alex worked on massaging his overworked muscles after a long day of training, it felt like the first time. As he lay there on his stomach, his head comfortably nestled in the headrest, he tried to ignore the tightening in the pit of his stomach when her warm hands started up his thighs.
Alex felt him tense underneath her when she worked up the hamstring on his right side.
Despite his response, she continued, "breathe deeply for me." The way she coaxed a dramatic inhale and exhale from him made her smirk. She placed a hand on his lower back, "again." Watching him take another breath satisfied her, the second was not nearly as performative as the first.
"Something's got you all knotted up," she suggested, turning to work back on his hamstring. Roy didn't respond right away and the silence that fell between them felt like a louder answer than any one that he could have said. "Keep breathing," she encouraged, as she started to work on a particularly dense knot in the dead center of the back of his thigh. Roy's other leg kicked up in response and she chuckled at the "shit," that escaped his lips.
"I know," she consoled. "I told you."
"Coach has me fucking babysitting and it's shit," Roy's response was strained under the
deep pressure of her touch.
"What did he ask you to do?" Alex noticed that his breathing was starting to slow down to the ideal pace with the distraction of the conversation.
"Jamie's being a right fucking prick to Nate. Always has. And instead of-ah-" Roy gripped the table under him as she deepened the pressure.
"Sorry, almost there,"
"Instead of handling it himself, he wants me to tell Jamie to back off him."
"And I'm sure that's going as well as any of us could imagine," Alex offered and Roy
responded with a grunt."So Jamie's Jamie and it's getting under your skin."
"Always."
"Of course, always. Because that's what leaves him feeling like he has the upper hand in
all of his interactions with you. He gets under your skin simply by being Jamie Tartt."
Roy grunted again, and Alex finally started to feel the knot under her hands come undone.
"So instead of trying to be his minder and doing what Ted would do, why don't you just do what Roy Kent would do?"
"And what's that?" Roy had finally started to feel some relief in the tension in his hamstring. His abdomen on the other hand, was still acutely aware of every movement on his upper thigh.
"Well, I can't tell you that. But I'm sure you'll figure it out. Don't you usually just growl
at something long enough until it does your bidding?" She began to roll his shorts back down over his thigh to signify the completion of her work on his hamstring.
"Something like that," Roy smirked into the headrest, flexing his thigh to notice the quick job she did in creating complete peace in his muscles. Well, nearly.
It was under the guise of a "girl's lunch" that Rebecca was able to corral Alex and Keeley to sit and gossip a bit. Inspired by the countless lunches she had with any number of wives of elite London members of society, Rebecca knew to expect more intel in the hour she had reserved to chat over sandwiches and salads than she could count on from Higgins in the entire season. So when Keeley and Alex arrived at her door, it was easy to disguise the eagerness she had to learn more information to continue to plot the downfall of the club as simply excitement for well deserved "girl talk."
"This was so nice, Rebecca," Keeley smiled as she unwrapped her sandwich with a smile.
"It was my pleasure." Rebecca began to pick at the salad in front of her, "I was more than happy to give Higgins the afternoon to sit in a few unwanted meetings so I could spend time with the two of you girls."
Alex smiled and swallowed her bite, "I really appreciate it. Sometime it's nice to smell something other than shin guards and man stink,"
"Oh, I'm sure," Keeley empathized. "Jamie is rank after trainings. I can't imagine living in the hub of it all."
"I appreciate fresh air much more," Alex smiled.
"How have you felt you're adjusting overall?" Rebecca asked gently. A softball to start to ensure that Alex felt she was being taken care of.
"I love it," Alex nodded, smiling tight lipped as she worked on a bit of her food. "I was so surprised at how welcoming everyone has been."
"They love her," Keeley added. Alex was not sure what her metric was, but she was happy to hear the feedback. "It doesn't hurt that they think she's nice to look at as well."
Alex flushed and Rebecca smiled, "I hope they're aware of what an asset you are to the team. I didn't hire you because you're pretty." Rebecca felt a similar pang in her chest she recalled from the times in which she had been diminished to arm candy for Rupert. Being carted from gala to fundraiser and back again as an ornamental plus one and nothing more grated on her. It was only one of the many reasons why she was so laser-focused on reminding him just what a fool he was to discount her.
"I appreciate it," Alex responded graciously, "They have all been very lovely. I don't feel underappreciated in the slightest. Especially the coaches, they've been so good about consulting with me. More than I've done with any other teams in the past."
Rebecca was taken back by the alliance that seemed to be forming under her nose, "That's…wonderful," she steeled herself. "I'm glad to hear it."
Keeley shifted the conversation by prodding Rebecca about a recent discussion she had with a beer brand regarding Jamie being the spokesperson. She went on to share about the contacts she had made and her hopes to increase some stir around Richmond as they hit the mid-season lull. During their back and forth, Alex listened to the two women, who clearly knew the nuances of marketing and branding with a depth she could not imagine.
"I wanted to ask you as well about some of the suppliers you are using for the gala next week. I reached out to a couple of contacts of mine who are able to donate liquor if you hadn't already solidified it."
"That would be wonderful," Rebecca was shocked, "I have a lot of it squared away, but I think an event like that can always use more."
"Wonderful!" Keeley grinned, "are you coming, Alex?"
"Gala?"
Rebecca sat up straighter. She had not thought about inviting the new physio to the gala because involving staff outside of management was not something that had been done. Suddenly embarrassed to discuss it in front of her, and very aware of the opportunity that solidifying a friendship with these two that stood before her, she smiled sheepishly.
"Forgive me," she began, setting her fork down and getting up. "I'd love for you to make it, I just didn't know if you'd want to come." Rebecca crossed the room to her desk where a copy of the invitation lay and snatched it up.
"Oh," Alex took it from her hand and read the gold foil cursive on the matte cardstock. "How lovely."
Keeley was looking between the two of them with anticipation, "oh, you've got to come. It will be so fun to have you there."
"Um," Alex read over the invitation again, wondering if she even had the appropriate attire for something this formal. "I'd love to. But I don't want to impose. I know you have to have the headcount for these things prepped so far in advance, I wouldn't want to-" She was offering Rebecca up an opportunity to tell her not to come, but she interrupted her.
"Not when you're the one hosting the thing. Chicken, beef, or fish?" Rebecca smiled widely.
"Well…" Alex considered the invitation again, "Chicken."