Neil is staring. He is aware of the fact, and he can admit to himself he might have a problem. He simply cannot find it in himself to care when the subject of his attention does another bicep curl.
How Neil spent half a year without realizing Andrew Minyard was the hottest person he knew, he'll never understand. What he can say, is that his boyfriend is slowly trying to kill him.
Morning workouts are usually spent with weights and cardio, Neil's lean build lends him more success in the latter than the former. Andrew, however, is a 5-foot Adonis of muscle and bulk. He absolutely despises cardio, so he focuses his energy on adding an impossible amount of weight to the bar and putting the team to shame.
Neil admires the difference in their builds because Andrew's strength gives him strength. Neil can also admit how Andrew's strength makes him feel.
"I'd let him suffocate me with those thighs," he can't help but mutter under his breath as the blonde prepares himself for squats. A chuckle to his right tells him he did not speak quiet enough to go under the radar. He turns to see Matt and Dan trying and failing to keep straight faces. "What?" He whines.
"I totally get where you're coming from, bud, but you've got a little drool," Matt points to his chin with a wide grin on his face. Neil would very much like to smack it off.
"He's just so--ugh!" Neil throws his hands up and spins away before he can embarrass himself any more. As he moves towards Allison and Renee, he can still hear Dan and Matt cackling at him. "Your friends suck," he says to Renee with the appropriate amount of malice in his tone.
"Last time I checked, they were your friends too," Renee answers with a kind smile.
"Yeah well, that stopped when they started sucking." Neil absolutely does not pout, sulk, or glower because he is a grown man.
"Why are you glowering, shortstop?" Allison is about to join the list of ex-friends that started to suck. Just as Neil was gearing up to tell her of her status, Andrew picks up his water bottle and starts to chug fervently. Neil watches his Adam's apple bob. Neil scrutinizes how the florescent light gleams with the sweat on his forehead. Neil's eyes follow the droplets of water that don't quite make it into Andrew's mouth and instead trail from the corner to his chin, down his jaw and neck, to the beginnings of chest hair poking out of his—
"Neil!" Neil is pulled out of his reverie as a hand blocks his view. "You looked like you were stroking out," Allison's mocking tone doesn't quite hide the glee in her voice.
"You're on the suck list too," he says resolutely. He turns to see Allison with a shit-eating grin and Renee with the much more reserved version. "Don't look at me like that." He can feel his face heating up.
"You're totally allowed to ogle the monster, but you can't blame us for enjoying it" Allison's attitude is a little less vicious this time, so he feels less like a cornered rodent.
"I think it is very sweet that your affections for Andrew are so strong." Annnd leave it to Renee to make it mushy. Allison seems to agree.
"Babe, now it's weird. 'Andrew' and 'sweet' should not be in the same sentence." That, Neil had to take offense to.
"Hey, Andrew is very--okay not sweet per se, but he has his moments." Neil doesn't like how the Foxes still can't fully grasp what kind of person Andrew is after all they've been through together. "He's super funny, and he likes cats and cats like him back, and did you know he's really good with kids?" As he watches the girls’ amusement morph into something he could quite place, he feels a familiar presence behind him.
"What are you doing, junkie?" A strong arm wraps around his torso and pulls him against a wide chest. To others, the tone might sound blank, but Neil can hear the teasing lilt in the way the nickname is pronounced.
"Telling the world of your humanity," he can't help the smile that creeps onto his face as the warmth behind him engulfs his frame. He leans back, passing his weight onto strong, capable hands. "By the time I'm done, everyone will know you as the cuddling teddy bear you really are."
"Lies I say," the deadpan tone in combination with Andrew's other arm coming around to squeeze Neil even tighter makes Neil giggle like a schoolgirl. He leans his head back so he can look into those hazel eyes, Allison and Renee forgotten.
"Hi," he says with a smile he can feel radiating with affection.
"Hello bunny," Andrew whispers into his ear and he can feel himself shiver in response. "I could feel you watching me. Why is that?" Neil's heartbeat quickens as Andrew nuzzles into his neck with his nose.
"Y-you looked g-good working out." His stuttering response is met with a rumbling chuckle that he can feel to his toes.
"Mmm, an unexpected bit of honesty. I appreciate it, bunny." This is said as a quick peck is pressed onto his neck, and he shudders. He can feel Andrew's smug little smirk, but he’s not sure if moving is worth it just to check.
His decision is halted by a squawk in the corner. Nicky. “Coach, tell them to stop. My eyes are burning!” Aaron too.
“Your family is full of cockblocks,” Neil says to Andrew loud enough for the room to hear. This makes Andrew chuckle against his back.
“Josten! Minyard! Nobody wants to see that, get back to work.” Wymack’s bellow is heard from space.
“On the contrary, Coach, we were very much enjoying the show,” Allison says with laughter in her voice. “It looks like Matt was especially enraptured.”
Neil looks over to see a red-faced Matt turning away from him with Dan giggling while patting his back comfortingly. He looks back to Andrew in question, but his focus is pointed toward Allison. “I didn’t know ‘enraptured’ was in your vocabulary Reynolds.” His tone is mocking, but the squint of his eyes tells him Neil he is more amused than irritated.
“All those tutors had to have been worth something,” Allison says while nonchalantly checking her nails.
“Are we just not gonna talk about Boyd getting a boner over my brother and Josten?” Aaron’s annoying voice once again breaks everyone out of their moods.
“I’d really like it if we did,” Matt’s voice strained as he tries to calm himself down. As Neil looks around the room, he notices Kevin watching him back intensely with a slight blush to his cheeks. When Neil raises an eyebrow, the blush spreads to the rest of his face, and he turns away just like Matt.
He can hear an amused huff from behind him, “It seems like we’ve started a few awakenings.” Neil is confused. It must show on his face because Andrew exasperatedly rolls his eyes and kisses him on the nose. “You are lucky you’re pretty, bunny.”