Chapter 138 Chapter 138

Chapter 138 Chapter 138
The redhead rolled his eyes before patting Ravi on the back, telling him to hurry. It was Friday, and Seamus and Dean had invited the team to a party at the Badger dorm. Sebastian had wriggled his eyebrows, telling him he’d brought another batch of ginger-shots, this one even stronger, even more disgusting if you will. The raven-haired lad’s lips twitched. Sometimes Sebastian was fucking ace. 
There would be a friendly game tomorrow – the Griffins versus the Huffles. The Huffles were the girls' team, and the game was a tradition at Harvard. Every year, the teams would face one another, but they did not play regular rugby, but flag rugby, with the element of tackling removed. Each player had a string of cloth (a flag) stuck at the back of their trousers. In order to take possession of the ball, the other team had to snatch the flag rather than run someone into the mud. 
The girls had been having a winning streak for three years, not even last year with captain Wood; the boys had beaten them. This year, on the other hand, they are better.
Still, the prospect of the game did not stop the lads from going out to party. Friday nights out were by now a ritual – it did not matter if they’d just won a game or not.
As the lads disappeared out of the changing room, lockers banging and rowdy laughter echoing against pale tile, Coach appeared through the masses, sliding up to Ravi with crooked lips. 
“Do you have a second?”
He had.
Sebastian followed the rest after asking Ravi if he wanted him to stick around. The raven-haired lad had declined, telling him he was perfectly capable of finding his way to the Badger’s dorm by himself, not a child, you dick. Sebastian had pulled him into a one-armed hug, muttering against the crown of his head that he could be a sassy twat when he wanted to be. The redhead had placed a sloppy kiss on the side of his cheek before being pulled away by the team, Theo asking Sebastian if maybe he had some more of that disgusting yellow liquid they’d had last time.
“You do know it’s ginger, right? Not even one drop of alcohol in it.”
Theo had gasped, shouting about Sebastian with his woke agenda, trying to turn all those good-ole-pint-loving lads sober. He’d called Sebastian a mad, scheming lunatic who should be put in jail. Lowering his voice, he repeated his question.
“But you do have some shots, right?”
The rest of their conversation was drowned out in laughter as the boisterous bunch vacated the room, the door slamming shut as a large silence settled. Both Ravi and Coach stared at the door, stuck in inertia at the loss of the loud lads. Black snapped out of it first, shaking his head like a dog might shake its wet fur. 
“Sorry for holding you back.” His face softened, something warm glimmering in his obsidian eyes. “Just wanted to check in with you.”
Ravi shuffled his feet, still not used to this frightfully warm feeling in his chest. Thomas wanted to make sure he was doing fine, that he ate, slept, and that the workload from his classes wasn’t too much. He’d started doing all this on the regular, always checking in with Ravi. It did not matter if they had practice or not, he’d call him, text. Sometimes they’d meet up to take some walks. Before parting, always, Thomas would pull him into a bone-crushing hug, the man trembling as badly as Ravi as he told him his parents would be so goddamn proud of their powerhouse son. The orphan didn’t quite know what to do with all this. It was too much. Surely Thomas would tire of him soon. Walk away, like adults were prone to do.
They talked a bit about the exams coming up, Thomas offering to maybe help Ravi with some of his English classes since he knew nothing about computers or math. Ravi had told him they had one English class, and that was on writing scientific papers. The older man had thrown up his hands, surrendering. 
“Guess I can’t help you for shite, huh?” The smile crossing his face had been rueful.
Ravi had breathed out a sigh. “But you do. You help.”
Both of them had looked at anything but each other, both with crazed smiles grazing their faces. Things were so warm, scorching even. Then, Thomas had grown grave, clearing his throat and bumping his shoulder into Ravi’s.
“Just wanted to check on the offer you got from Mr. Moody. Have you thought about it more?”
In a flash, he remembered the imposing man, tall and broad, if not as tall as Ravi. He’d worn an eyepatch, the unveiled eye an icy blue that appeared to possess the ability to peer through walls. When he’d spoken, Ravi had straightened, almost unintentionally. He’d asked Ravi to go professional, to play in the national team. It had been as if the sky had fallen from above, crashing into earth and warping reality. At one point in time, playing rugby professionally was everything Ravi had ever wanted. But things had changed.
Both Mr Moody and Thomas had looked quite surprised when he’d asked if he could have some time to think about it.
Ravi scratched the back of his neck. “No, I'm still not sure. Not completely.”
“It’s a big decision.” His godfather was acting graceful, but beneath the surface, the question marks were popping up. As he watched Thomas’ face, he could almost hear them scream at him. 
Ravi didn’t want to delve into the reason for his hesitation. He already knew that it wasn't good manners to push away opportunities because of boys. But it wasn’t just any boy; it was Denis. If he went professional, perhaps things would fall apart? Right now, both of them had just started merging back together, and he refused to be the one to break their fragile balance. It wasn’t a good reason, and both Sam and Sebastian would look at him with that disappointed expression, the one he hated above all else. 
But things were good. He had his friends, he had Harvard, the Griffins, and his studies. Now, he also had a godfather and an inheritance (still not thinking about that too much). There was no reason to go professional.