“Hey baby, how are you?”

With just a couple words, River had thrown cold water over any heat smoldering inside of Hunter. His mind sobered immediately. How could he lust after a taken man? 

River didn’t speak for a while, smiling and nodding silently to the person on the phone. Then he gestured to Hunter, pointing at his open office door before leaving. Nice of him to not force Hunter out of the office. But regardless, Hunter could still imagine every word being exchanged over the phone.

Was River cheating on his partner? Pretending to be faithful to his girlfriend or husband while flirting with people at the bar? Hunter felt disgusted to have been a part of his ploy. Or maybe, he wasn’t really cheating at all. River did try to push him away, Hunter just assumed it was due to a fear or lack of trust. Maybe River was just trying to let him down easy. 

The speculation was driving Hunter up the wall. He just had to know for sure if River was taken.

Hunter stilled his breathing and willed his ears to pick up as much as possible. Maybe he could hear something important. Unfortunately, from his position, all he heard were muffled noises. Holding his breath, Hunter began to tiptoe towards the door. His steps were light but he still winced from every creak the floor tiles made. Finally, he was at the doorway, leaning his body to get a better look at River.

The man was still listening, nodding at what seemed to be a bounty of words coming from the person on the other end of the line. The expression on his face was soft and caring in a way Hunter had never seen before. He’d seen glimpses of it, sure, but never this. The love on River’s face was reckless, every emotion on full display. But not for Hunter. For that mystery person on the phone. A voice broke through Hunter’s thoughts and he realized that he’d missed some of River’s conversation.

“ . . . when I get home, alright?” River whispered, his low, rocky voice foolishly making Hunter react. “I love you.”

By the time River’s call ended, Hunter was already standing back in his office, staring at those aged band posters. It would be so much easier to be one of those posters, just stick to a wall. Maybe he would stay glued there forever. Maybe he would peel off with time. Either way, he would never have to mourn a love that never really existed.

This whole thing would have been a lot easier if he knew that River was taken. All of that progress Hunter thought they’d made and he never mentioned a partner? What a cruel way for Hunter to remember that he still didn’t know this man at all. Even in the face of another rejection, a failure, Hunter was upset to find out just how little River was telling him.

The sound of steps grew louder and louder and Hunter snapped his hand back from the wall, curling his fingers into a fist. Who was he to feel jealous or hurt? At the end of the day, River was unavailable. It was high time Hunter accepted that he didn’t have a chance.

“I’m sorry about that. I hope you weren’t too bored waiting for me,” River joked, slipping his phone into his back pocket. Hunter’s eyes followed the movement of that device. He wished he could see what River’s love’s contact looked like. Did it have hearts surrounding the name? Or maybe River simply put ‘wife’ and that was the end of it.

“Nope, not bored at all,” Hunter chuckled. He could feel how hollow his voice sounded and swallowed, hoping to correct it before River noticed. “I was just wondering if you were free this Saturday. I play flag football on the weekends, thought you might want to join me.”

“Flag football?”

“Yeah, my friends and I do it all the time. And since we are friends, I thought you might like it too.”

Friends, the only sort of relationship the two of them could have. Hunter learned what his place was. He knew what position he was expected to hold. A friend. So he would be the best friend River ever had. 

—————

River couldn’t remember the last time he sweated this much. The beads of sweat were obnoxious when they grew on his face and fell so conveniently into his eyes. But while he struggled to keep his eyes sweat free, Hunter was frolicking like a child. 

Maybe the term frolicking wasn’t fair. The way he ran wasn’t child-like at all. It was distinctly powerful and fast too. Whenever the man started thundering his way, River was quick to get rid of the ball and remove himself as a target. 

Flag football was fun: River would tell anyone that. He just had to take himself out of the fray sometimes to enjoy. For a moment, River wondered if he wasn’t getting involved enough. Maybe he should be more eager to grab the ball and try to get touchdowns? Then, he would see TJ get swarmed by a bunch of angry adults and feel better about his choices. 

In the midst of all the chaos, Kian was the person River got to know the most purely out of convenience. Kian was the most likely to be standing back from the mess and they would get to talking. At first, River thought that person would be Audrey, the only woman among Hunter’s friends, but he foolishly underestimated her. In River’s mind, the award for ‘most time holding the ball’ always came down to Audrey or TJ.

“River!”

River was pulled from his thoughts to find Audrey barreling towards him, ball in hand. In his attempt to stay away from the action, River was now the last person who stood a chance of stopping her. Briefly, the thought came to mind for him to just let her take it. He liked Audrey enough in the few interactions they had. And, he was a big supporter of women in sport. Still, it would look bad if he didn’t try at all when Audrey was right there.

River started running after the shorter woman, his focus on the strips of fabric dangling from her velcro belt. But Audrey wasn’t just good at football. She was good at flag football. Seeing River coming towards her, she shuffled quickly, moving her hips out of his reach. He tried to get her again but she jumped back, going around him to sprint for the finish. 

River found himself with hands pressed to his knees, gasping for air, while Audrey jumped and celebrated to his right. She was clearly too fit for him.

“Nice try, River. You almost got me there,” she congratulated him, giving the man three firm pats on the back. The pats may have messed up the rhythm River’s lungs were trying to set but he did his best not to let that show. 

Suddenly, a piercing whistle rang through the field and River started, turning to find the short woman who ran the game calling for them to take a break. He wished that he didn’t jump every time he heard it but the whistle was loud and River was still new. Luckily, his breath had recovered enough for him to walk normally as he went to the bench where all of their water bottles were. As River was half way to the bench, Hunter ran up to him, a wide smile on his face and two bottles in his hand. A part of River recoiled, fearful that Hunter was coming for his flags. He had to force his fingers to relax and accept his water bottle from Hunter’s hands.

“Thanks,” he told the taller man, a bit upset that he still sounded short of breath. Luckily, the solution was right in front of him and he took some hardy gulps of water. 

“No problem,” Hunter grinned boyishly. He watched River for a moment, the expression on his face conflicted before taking a drink of water himself. “And don’t worry about Audrey. She gets the best of us.”

“I’m sure. The way she twists out of reach is just nuts.”

River brought the bottle up to his mouth again, taking a few more gulps. This time, the trail of Hunter’s eyes was clear as he watched River’s throat move to take down the water. Hunter’s tongue peaked out to run over his bottom lip and River felt a shiver go through his body. 

“Hey guys!” Kian called, coming to stand in front of the pair. Sean and Audrey were not far behind him, all three with water and towels in hand. “I hope we’re not interrupting anything.”

“Nope, you’re good,” Hunter smiled at Kian, his mouth too tight and his eyes too narrowed for the expression to seem friendly. Hunter took a few steps back from River and the latter pursed his lips as he watched his retreat. 

The interruption probably came at a good time but River wished he could have seen if Hunter had anything else in store. He’d been giving him those sort of looks all day and while River was flattered by all the attention, talk was cheap without any action to back it up. And River was a man who thoroughly enjoyed action.

“Nice running out there,” Sean reached his arm out, lightly punching River in the shoulder. “I see why Hunter invited you.”

“I really don’t exercise at all and Hunter has never seen me run before,” River responded curtly, smirking when he saw Sean’s face drop. “But thanks for the compliment.”

Kian was cackling at Sean’s reaction and the latter seemed to realize that River was not, in fact, serious.

“No offense, River, but we knew he didn’t invite you because of your athletic abilities,” was Audrey’s response. Hunter’s eyes went wide as she took a swig of water, looking between her and River in panic. Audrey caught her friend's expression and briefly rolled her eyes before adding on. “Hunter’s too much of a workaholic to be more active than this.”

If Audrey’s comment didn’t make it clear that she thought Hunter liked him, Hunter’s reaction did. River did his best to keep his face neutral, it was best if Hunter thought he didn’t catch the interaction. What River didn’t know was if Hunter was worried about a misunderstanding or worried that River was finding out the truth. 

Hunter was the epitome of an open book. He wore his heart on his sleeve and his mind on his face. But River could never tell if he was flustered around him since he was naive to love or if those reactions were reserved for River alone. The answer to that answer perplexed River, forcing him to think about Hunter much more than he wanted to.

But now wasn’t the time to figure it out. Soon, they had the second half of the game to play and River needed all of his brain power to get through so much running.

By the end of the game, Hunter thought he had successfully integrated River into his friend group. He hadn’t met all of them yet, most of them never set foot on the flag football field, but this was a good start. Ambitiously, Hunter planned for River to meet all of them. They were going over to Luke’s house for the afternoon and Hunter had extended the invitation to him when he first told him about the game. But River was a busy man and he made it clear that he could only stay until the end of the game. In fact, their match ran twenty minutes behind so when they finally called it and tallied the points, River hightailed it back to the parking lot. Watching the older man’s retreating back, Hunter wondered who he was running for.

That was a lie. Hunter really wondered if he was running to get back home to his love.