Archie too felt his ears heat up in response to the lingering stare from his captain, yet it didn't feel forced or mocking like when the other lads took the piss out of his suit. In fact, it caused him to feel butterflies in his stomach, even bringing a shy smile to his face.
"Okay everyone, let's get on the coach. London is calling." Manager Farke announced, clapping his hands.
'SAVED BY THE BELL!'
Rio inwardly rejoiced; he had been rescued from his own awkward internal monologue. However, he still needed to smoothly extricate himself from the teenager in front of him, hopefully making up for the intense staring contest.
"Okay, see you on board."
With that, he turned around and headed to the team bus.
'W-What the fuck was that!?'
Rio was mortified. He would need to set up a performance meeting with his brain at a later date to talk over these past 30 seconds of non-verbal decisions. He was a 30-year-old soul in a 19-year-old body, acting like a schoolboy.
