Naked Hero - The Journey Away

feigned a look of disappointment. “And there was me thinking you were doing a tour of the art galleries.”
    Lee laughed – an easy laugh, not forced in the slightest. “That happens, but not on the first day... So is this how you normally prepare for a match? I expected to come in to find some major planning session going on. Jim busy drawing diagrams on a blackboard and showing you where to run.” Lee realised too late that he had brought up the wrong subject. He needed to refocus on the prize! But his sight was getting blurred, and no matter how hard he tried - all he could see was Lewis Macleod.
    “That’s football,” replied Lewis with an equally easy laugh which was followed by the most sublime of smiles, causing Lee’s vision to polarise further. “You’re getting Jim mixed with up Alex Ferguson. Tennis is a lot easier, you just need to hit the ball hard, try and get it in and hope it doesn’t come back... But anyway - enough of that! Let me have a quick dip to cool down, and then we can sit over there in the shade... You want to be careful in the sun with that jacket. It would be a shame to spoil it by get all hot and sweaty.”
    “You’re right, it is a bit hot,” said Lee standing up and removing it, teasingly enough to make it perfectly clear that he’d be happy to go a lot further.
    Lewis watched on, looking forward to seeing him do exactly that , making no attempt whatsoever to disguise the lust in his eyes. Why pretend anymore? They both knew what was going to happen, and more than ever after his earlier rejection, Lewis needed to embrace acceptance, if only for one night. “There’s plenty to drink inside if you’re thirsty,” he said, once the jacket had been draped over a chair.
    Lee smiled, enjoying the foreplay. “Good idea, I’ll get some juice. What about you?”
    “There’s a special concoction in the fridge for me. They’ll show you the one,” said Lewis as he stood up and went over to shower before plunging into the pool to cool his body and his ardour, leaving Lee to cool down for a moment as well before he went to fetch the drinks.
    By the time he returned a few minutes later, Lewis had dried himself off and donned a pair of Bermuda shorts. He was now seated at a table shaded by a parasol. “Thanks, Lee,” the youngster said as he accepted the drink. “You know, I haven’t really had a chance to talk to you properly since Sydney. It was a bit weird when we met before in the players’ lounge. I was seriously on edge, what with all the drama that was going on. And when we’ve spoken on the phone, it tends to be about me. It would be nice to hear about you for a change.”
    “What do you want to know?”
    “Anything, as long as it doesn’t involve tennis, okay?”
    Happy to oblige, not thinking it his duty in the slightest, Lee gave him a potted history of his background and his life, sensibly editing out the more shady elements like the riot of men and parties that had featured so prominently. Lewis made it easy for him with his questioning - innocent questions which had no obvious motive other than interest in him. Lee found it refreshing, and tried to reciprocate with innocent questions of his own. It was a rare experience for him, to chat aimlessly, but with a purpose - to get to know someone. For an hour they put aside their own purposes for the evening, and relaxed in each other’s company: two players of consequence from different worlds finding neutral ground where neither was king, nor particularly wished to be. They gloried in each other’s company, relishing the words that were spoken and the faces from which they emanated. They spoke of this and that, always avoiding two subjects: tennis, and what would happen after the tennis. But between the lines it was made perfectly clear - that whatever the result of the match to be played there would be no refusals tonight. By the end of the hour they were looking forward to that long-overdue event, but in no rush to move the verbal foreplay on. It came as a disappointment to them both when Jim appeared and drew their time to an end.
    “Duty calls,” said Lewis. “There’s a routine to be followed now.”
    “Is it best I stay here and keep out of the way?” asked Lee.
    “Only if you want to,” replied Lewis as he stood up. “But you’re not in the way, far from it. I’m glad you’re here. I really am.”
    Lee rose as well, and seeing that Jim had gone back into the house, he touched the young