With Shawn joining the football team, the ice between him and Eric was quietly melting at a speed even they themselves hadn't noticed.
At first, it was just a few brief commands on the practice field. "Pass the ball, Shawn!" "Run faster!" Eric's voice was still cold and hard, but it no longer carried that intentional distance. Later, it evolved into brief exchanges in front of the tactical board. "What do you think of this route?" "I think it could be half a second faster." They were like two pieces of metal drawn together by a powerful magnet; although a thin sheet of paper still separated them, they had unknowingly achieved a certain synchronicity.
The real shift in their relationship happened one evening after an intensive training session.
The training load that afternoon had been staggering, leaving everyone looking like they'd been fished out of a mud pit. When the whistle blew to end practice, the sky appropriately split open, and a torrential downpour began. Raindrops the size of beans smashed against the ground, splashing up a white mist.
The team members howled as they rushed into the locker room. Shawn, whose left hand hadn't fully healed, was half a beat slower and ended up being the last one. By the time he walked, soaked to the bone, into the shower room, only Eric was left inside.
Hot steam filled the air, and the sound of rushing water was loud, blurring the vision and isolating the noise from the outside world. Shawn silently walked to a showerhead in the corner, his back to Eric, and began to wash the mud and grime from his body. He could feel Eric's gaze on his back, a gaze that felt as warm as the hot water, making him a little uncomfortable.
"Hey," Eric's voice came through the sound of the water.
Shawn's body stiffened, and he turned his head.
"Your hand is inconvenient," Eric's tone was flat, betraying no emotion. "Need help?"
Shawn was stunned. He looked at Eric, who was leaning against the wall, letting the hot water cascade over his athletic physique. Droplets of water dripped from the tips of his hair, tracing the sharp line of his jaw, then following the strong muscles of his neck before disappearing into the thick patch of hair on his chest.
Shawn's heart skipped a beat uncontrollably. As if possessed, he nodded.
Eric turned off his own shower, and holding a sponge full of soapy lather, he walked toward him, step by step.
Shawn's breath caught in his throat. He turned back around, pressing his hands against the cold tiled wall, his heart pounding in his chest as if it would break free.
He could feel Eric approach from behind, could feel the heat radiating from his body. Then, a rough, calloused palm came to rest on his back.
The hand, slick with body wash and carrying Eric's own warmth, began to travel slowly and firmly across his back. From his broad shoulder blades, to his tight latissimus dorsi, and then to the sensitive hollow of his lower back. Shawn's body tensed. He could clearly feel a series of fine, tingling shivers with every stroke of Eric's fingers across his skin.
Shawn started to anticipate Eric moving lower.
Sure enough, the hand didn't linger. With a slick slide, it moved over the curve of his waist and came to rest on his firm buttock. Immediately after, his fingers followed the curve of his glute, unhesitatingly probing into the cleft between them.
Shawn sucked in a sharp breath, his body trembling violently.
Eric's movements didn't stop. He reached his hand further forward from between Shawn's legs, one hand covering the inside of his firm thigh, rubbing the sensitive skin back and forth with the pad of his thumb. As he pulled his hand back, his thumb, as if "by accident," gently but with an undeniable pressure, pressed against that sensitive spot in the deepest part of his cleft.
A strong electric current shot up from the base of his spine to the top of his head, making Shawn shudder uncontrollably as a suppressed grunt escaped his throat.
Eric's hands returned to Shawn's waist and, aided by the slickness of the soap, moved upward and forward to his chest. The rough palms rubbed back and forth a few times along the underside of his pecs, and then, precisely found his nipples, which had already hardened with excitement, and gently rolled them between his thumb and forefinger.
"Ngh..." Shawn could no longer hold back. He pressed his forehead against the cold wall and let out a soft moan.
A soft chuckle, somewhat hoarse and satisfied, came from behind him.
"Alright," Eric's voice sounded in his ear.
Then, Eric picked up the showerhead and, with a stream of warm water, carefully and gently, rinsed all the foam from Shawn's body.
Suddenly, a ding!
[Modified by the "Succubus System," the host's body has become extremely alluring. Thank me, host.]