Into The Team (12 page)

Todd nodded, feeling unenlightened but intrigued as they walked through the kitchen towards the stairs. The rest of the lads were ahead now, their voices distant.

“You’ll be paired up soon,” Trent said quietly as they reached the hallway. “Then it’s up to you and your partner what happens.”

“Paired up?”

“Yeah, the boss has us all partnered with one other guy on the team. I’m partnered with Gavin. Luke and Marco are pretty tight. Brad and Jake are sort of getting there.”

Todd realized he was the odd one out. Number seven.

“What does it mean to be partnered?”

“You have to work together on the pitch. You have to get to know each other’s moves, each other’s weaknesses and strengths….” He laughed. “It’s almost like having a serious relationship, but one that’s kept within the team. No one other than the lads know about it.”

Todd thought about Jason Collier and wondered if the boss was pairing him with the guy. But it seemed an odd match seeing as he was fifteen years his senior.

“So who decides?”

“You decide,” Trent said as they reached the top of the stairs and headed down the corridor.

Todd scowled, wondering what criteria would make him choose one guy over another. “How?”

Outside Trent’s room, they stopped. Trent turned to him. “You have to find who you get on best with, who you play best with. For you, it’s likely to be one of the first team, unless the boss gets another rookie.”

Todd thought about it and saw the logic. The idea fit well with all Aiden had said to him last Friday.

Trent opened his door and loitered. “The idea is not to go looking for it,” he said. “It won’t work if you force it.” He smiled and gave Todd a soft squeeze on his upper arm before turning into his room.

Before he closed the door, Todd noticed someone else in the room. He couldn’t see who it was, only saw their legs, stretched out on the bed.  Legs that were covered in dark hairs.

He stood for a moment wondering if he had this right. They paired with each other? Like a relationship? He glanced across the hall to where Gavin’s room was. The door was closed and he wondered if he should give a soft knock to see if he was in there. He didn’t.

The next few days were tough. Wayne had them training with the first team, setting up nine aside matches each morning.

Jason was back in action and he spoke to Todd a few times, often giving affectionate rubs to his neck. Todd found he liked it more as the days went by, and at first it made him wonder if Jason was sizing him up as a possible partner. But as Todd watched him casually over the days, the older player spent most of his moments with Sean Thompson, and they gave each other a lot of pats, squeezes, and brief hugs.

Craig and Wayne were definitely together. Todd had hardly seen them separate in the last week. Leo and Josh were clearly bound to each other too. So that left Eduardo Manila, Kieran Lewis, Adam Conner, Gary Swift, and Daryl Atkins.

After watching those five players for most of Friday morning, Todd couldn’t work out if there were any pairings between them and gave up by midday. He remembered the words of Trent; the secret was to let it happen naturally, he shouldn’t go looking for it. So he decided not to think about it.

But the idea of ‘being paired’ intrigued him, and he spent the odd moment looking at each member of the first team, trying to assess which one he’d feel most comfortable with.

After lunch they showered and went back to the house. Saturday’s game was away, and the boss had picked Gavin, Trent, and Jake for the bench. They were off to London for a game with Westhampton Rangers - one of the other top clubs - and had to leave early in the morning.

After eating and relaxing for an hour, those playing tomorrow disappeared to their rooms to rest, while Todd, Luke, and Marco chilled in the pool.

After being told of the parings, Todd watched Marco and Luke together. The two of them had shared quiet moments during training over the last few weeks, and they always sat next to each other at lunch. He wondered if it was like having someone who rose above the title of best mate. Someone who you’d become so close to, you felt he was the only one who’d understand if you had some issue or other that nagged your mind. Not just a guy who would be at your side at a moment’s notice should there be trouble, but someone who, deep down inside, convinced you that he was going to be at your side on your deathbed.

Sometimes only another man will do, and Todd began to see this ‘pairing’ as a positive thing, something that most people only experience once in their lives, if lucky.

He knew girls had friends who’d listen and dote over ‘women’s matters’, but men often failed in these things, preferring to put on the brave exterior and battle alone through the problem. Men had pub mates, men had work mates, but Todd guessed it was rare that a man got to experience a relationship with another man that could compete for the title of soul mate.

Watching Luke and Marco, with hands on each other’s shoulders as they waded in the pool, left a pleasing sensation within him. The way they laughed and looked at each other spoke of a strength and bonding that reminded Todd of those days in infant school when he realized that he actually liked the kid he sat next to, and looked forward to school simply because he’d get to talk to him and run around the school yard like a hooligan with him.

Maybe the boss saw this too, and after being inspired by Aaron and Pete, and learning of their relationship, he was trying to recreate the kind of male bonding that lies at the heart of some men.

As Luke and Marco made it back to him from their trek across the pool, he began to feel alone. It was a strange thought, as he knew he wasn’t alone - he had Cherrie. But he didn’t have a best mate.

In Blackmoor his mates were not fanatical about football. They loved watching, and hardly missed a game on the screen at the pub, but they were far from obsessed. Even the Blackmoor Pits lads had nowhere near the commitment Todd showed in his training routines. He’d always felt isolated in his football-focused mind, one of the outsiders, someone who didn’t do what was normal.

Now he was in a house full of like-minded footballers, which made him feel justified and part of something he wanted to be a part of, it was like being normal again. But, he felt he was missing out on something else.

“Where’s Brad?” he asked Luke. “He’s not playing tomorrow, why’s he not come down to the pool?”

Luke shrugged, glanced at Marco.

“He’s probably sorting Jake out,” he said. “Jake gets a bit nervous the night before a game, especially if it’s an away match, and especially if it’s against one of the big names.”

“He needs psyching up.” Marco nodded. “He’s the youngest of us.”

Todd could imagine Jake, with his boyish face, winding up over the game tomorrow; he sympathized with the lad. “He just needs to turn it into adrenaline and let it rip on the field.”

“He knows,” Luke said. “He just needs a bit of TLC right now.”

Todd wondered what that meant.

“What you thinking?”

Luke smiled curiously, and when Todd didn’t answer, Marco seemed to twig his thoughts.

“Trent told you about the pairing, didn’t he?”

Todd nodded. “He mentioned it.”

“What do you think?” Luke asked.

Todd shrugged, trying to cover up the intrigue that was brewing inside. “I can see it must work,” he said. “The boss told me about those players he was on a team with.”

“Pete and Aaron?” Marco asked.

Todd nodded while looking down at the twinkles coming off the water. There were questions in his head, but he had no idea how to word them.

“It’s alright,” Luke said. “You’ll have to just chill about it, and see what works for you.”

Todd glanced up. “I’m just wondering who I’ll end up with.”

Marco glanced at Luke, mouthing the words without saying them.

Luke shook his head. “Nah, not Adam, he’s in goal, he doesn’t need a partner does he? I’d say Kieran Lewis.”

Marco nodded indifferently and returned his focus to Todd.

“What do you think of him?”

Todd hadn’t yet spoken to Kieran, other than to introduce himself. The player had been curt with his greeting and had seemed busy with the other players on the first team.

“Atkins!” Luke said.

“Nah.” Marco shook his head. “Daryl’s too quiet.”

“I don’t think he’s paired with anyone at the moment though,” Luke said. “And he’s a hot player, so if you got in with him you’d probably be selected often for matches.”

Marco’s face lit up as if remembering something. “Actually, come to think of it, Daryl was the first one to say yes when we saw that video of Todd.”

“Oh, yeah, he was.” The two players gazed at each other with a meaningful frown.

“What video?” Todd asked.

“The boss had us all watch this video footage of you playing with your local team,” Marco said.

“The Blackmoor Pits?”

“Miles Dixon had filmed you one day,” Luke said. “And the boss got us together to view it. It was a good clip, you tackled this guy, took the ball, and snaked all the way up the field, twisting and dodging the tackles, before chipping it into goal. There was more, but that was the best bit. Anyway, Daryl was the first to say he wanted the boss to get you in for a session with Wayne. The rest of us said yes too, but he was like instant with his verdict. As soon as you were on that run for goal he shouted yes, even before you scored.”

Todd frowned; Dixon hadn’t mentioned making a film.

“And he came to introduce himself personally,” Marco said with a wink. “So Daryl’s pretty keen on you. Maybe you should make a move with him.” He laughed.

Todd thought Daryl was ok, but he still couldn’t understand his shyness. And he wasn’t sure he liked it. Sometimes shyness hid insecurity, or something underhand. But what Luke and Marco had said, about Daryl being quick to affirm his support in getting Todd in for a trial, warmed his guts.

“What am I supposed to do?” he asked. “Does the boss expect me to find a partner or is he gonna do it for me?”

“It’s tough for you,” Luke said. “You’ve come in as an odd number on the reserve team, and it’s too soon for you to play with the first team, so you’re likely to be hanging about for a while.”

Todd supposed he could do with more time to get used to the idea.

“So how long, or when did you two…” He wasn’t sure how to put it. “Get it…”

“Me and Marco got on well when we first started out a few years ago,” Luke said. “We both trained with the under 17’s and we sort of came together naturally. No one pushed us.” He smiled as he spoke and Todd noticed the eyes of Marco, watching him say those things. Those eyes spoke of a fondness that was often reserved for siblings when childhood memories surfaced.

“What about Trent and Gavin?”

“They’ve been close for as long as I’ve known them,” Luke said. “I think they’re probably the closest I’ve ever seen two people.”

Todd wanted to go further, his mind playing that moment outside Trent’s room just before the door closed. Those legs on the bed made him wonder just how intimate this pairing was required to be. But again, he felt it wasn’t his place to ask.

“Does it feel like love?” he asked.

The two lads laughed together, eyeing the other like coy children.

“I suppose it does.” Luke nodded. “I wouldn’t let anyone hurt Marco. I wouldn’t want any of the lads on the team to be hurt.”

“I feel unhappy when Luke is down,” Marco said. “And when he’s happy, I feel that too.”

“It’s like when a goal is scored,” Luke said. “That sudden feeling of euphoria, the one that makes you grab hold of the player who whacked it in the net.” He raised his eyebrows at Todd, as if to check he was following. “When that sudden euphoria is over, you have that safe, comfortable feeling that your team is winning. It’s like that kind of feeling. A warm, confident feeling.”

That was easy to understand; Todd had been in that situation many times and felt that uplifting glow after his team had scored.

“Does anyone get jealous?” he asked. “Like, say if I was getting on well with Trent, would Gavin get jealous?”

Luke shook his head.

“No, because you’re one of us now, and it’s vital that we all get on. It’s not that emotional ownership type of feeling that you might have with a girl. It’s purer than that.” He looked at Marco for a second. “I don’t think Marco could make me feel jealous.”

“Jealousy comes from insecurity,” Marco said. “The only time you might feel jealous is if your partner was picked for a match and you weren’t. And even then it’s just a fleeting moment. You should always remember we’re a team, not individuals.”

Todd understood what he meant, but he figured it might be hard to maintain this pair relationship while at the same time managing how everyone on the team related to each other. He had wondered today if Sean Thompson knew about his steam room experience with Jason Collier, and if he did, had it made him wary?

He supposed he was looking at this in the wrong way. It couldn’t be like the typical girlfriend/boyfriend relationship, where there may be a sense of ownership over each other. And it couldn’t be like what he had with Cherrie, which although not full on, was on the exclusive side. He wondered how she’d react if she knew about these requirements of the club. Would she see it as him being unfaithful? Maybe it would turn her on to know Jason Collier had massaged him.

He suddenly wanted to know if Luke and Marco had kissed. Not just kissed on the cheek, like they all do after a goal, but kissed properly, on the mouth. That would be the ultimate act of intimacy. Even if they’d slept together, like he thought Trent and Gavin had, or done each other sexual favors, kissing would be the true indication of how deep and strongly they felt for each other.

A guy could shag a girl senseless, but unless he kissed her while doing so, or either before or after, he hadn’t really been intimate with her.

But Todd refrained from asking that question. That might be the private act with a partner that never gets mentioned, even within the team.