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“Agh- too tight…” Max hissed, hand flinching from the pressure of the tape he was wrapping around his arm. He loosens it slightly and begins wrapping it once again, softer and strategically this time. Upon his fourth loop, he stopped whatever he was doing and averted his attention to the gym door opening, expecting his half-an-hour-late teammate to come out of it. And lo and behold he did, walking in with his hair unstyled and his stuff all over the place. Max would be lying if he didn’t find him attractive with his messy look, he scoffed and got up, unraveling his arm from the wrap once again.
“Pfft… took you long enough.”
“My bad, my bad. Traffic down the road.”
“Traffic? Don’t fuck with me mate, it’s middle of the day!”
“Yeah, and it’s Monte Carlo we’re talking about. You never know when traffic’s gonna hit.” Sergio laughed, placing his bags beside Max’s and taking his gear out and hoodie off. Max sat back down and let out a grunt still trying to get his wrap to go around his hand properly. Sergio took notice of his struggle and he walked over to him, taking his hand and the wrap. Max looks up at him with a confused look and Sergio only gives him a warm smile, chuckling at the man who has been trying to get his hands wrapped for the past thirty minutes. “God, I’m so glad you’re a racer and not a boxer.”
Max jokingly takes offense to that and punches him in the gut with his other free hand, which earned a playful groan and laugh from the other man. They were both comfortable with each other, especially during free days like these where they can call each other to meet up with one another and do activities to pass time and spend a little bit of time to bond. Sergio continues to wrap his hand, showing him the techniques he did wrong in but Max couldn’t focus. He was too in the moment of feeling Checo’s soft and soothing hands brushing against his calloused ones every time he checked the pressure of the loop around it.
“This is what you’re doing wrong, you’re supposed to leave a bit of space around here so you don’t suffocate your bloodstream. And don’t pull too hard.”
“Right… Thank you.”
“No worries. This your first time?”
“Uhh… no actually, I sparred with Carlos and my trainer before but even they were the ones that helped me do my wrap and put on my gloves.”
“Hmm… Is it because you really can’t do it or you just like the princess treatment?”
Before Sergio could smirk, he earned another punch in the gut, this time slightly softer than before. Max laughed and got up, leveling to his height now- taller even, and gave him a smile. Sergio adjusts his loosened tank top and puts on his glove, walking into the matted area while Max chugs a good amount of water before following up. They both stretch before Max reaches his arm out for a fist bump. Sergio stared at it for a good few seconds, not realizing what he was trying to do as he makes that confused face every time he’s clueless about something, but ends up reciprocating once he understood what the blonde was trying to imply. Max giggled at the sight, he always loved it whenever Checo was clueless and he especially loves the face he makes when he is.
They both exchanged glances before doing a couple of warm up punches and blocks and Max couldn’t help but notice the brunette’s smile every time he blocks his attacks. After five minutes of warm ups, they began to get serious and Max started off with a quick jab, which was immediately countered with a slip and a soft cross. Sergio may not be as strong as Max, but he was quick, especially on his feet. He had a strong core too which helps him keep good balance when doing sports like these. Though, compared to Max, he did have more experience at this so it definitely is a given that he would be the better competitor of the two.
But there was one thing that Max had quickly noticed and it was that Sergio wasn't taking full swings at him. It was as if he was holding back his punches, more than how much he was supposed to. “Wait- Checo!” Max deflects his arm quickly before allowing them to continue the session.
“You alright?”
“Yeah just… I notice you’ve been holding back. Don’t.”
“Max but…”
“I wanna experience this fully with you. I’m having a lot of fun, but I know it’ll be more fun if it was the real deal. So don’t hold back.”
“Okay. Just don’t cry to me if you lose.” Sergio jokes once more. Max only chuckles and responds, “I never lose.” They resumed their sessions and their moves began getting more and more aggressive as the time went by. They only agreed to be doing this for about an hour but they’ve been at it for nearly two, including the very few breaks they took in between rounds. They didn’t keep score, they only agreed whoever gets worn out the fastest loses and neither of them are backing down. Though, within the last few minutes Max had been increasingly getting distracted and he didn’t know if it was because he was getting tired, or he was just impressed by Checo’s moves and attracted to the way he looks when he’s sparring with him. His distraction interfered with his performance so bad to the point that Checo nearly swept him off his feet, and Max took a powerful hook to the face.
With that, Max lost balance and subconsciously pressed his hand against his reddened cheek. Sergio’s eyes widened in surprise and took his gloves off immediately, cupping his hand above Max’s and the other against his open cheek.
“Max, are you okay!?”
Max didn’t respond at first, still under the distraction of his thoughts about his teammate. He then realized the man he was thinking about was calling him back to earth with a concerning look in his face.
“Max, hey! I’m so sorry- Agh! This is why I wanted to hold back, I didn’t wanna hurt you…”
“No hey I’m alright, I’m alright… I just… I just got distracted is all…” Max gave a defeated smile, slipping his hand off his cheek, allowing Sergio’s to hold it now. He didn’t realize the position he was in right now, until he felt the other man’s hand slowly caressing his cheek to ease the pain. They stayed like that for a good ten seconds until Max broke eye contact from embarrassment. He was red all over while Sergio’s hands left his cheeks to scratch the back of his head before saying, “I’m gonna… I’m gonna get some ice, sit down and wait here.” And off he goes to look for an ice pack in the mini fridge at the back of the private gym they were in.
Max looks down and reflects a little, looking back at the times when Checo had pulled off moves he’s never come across, or at least had to dodge before and he had to admit, he looked good doing it. With his hair all messy and his shirt sticking closely to his chest because of his sweat and his biceps flexing every time he pulls or pushes his arms. Again, Max would be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t attracted to the man. He flinches as he once again breaks away from his daydream and realizes that Sergio had come back with an ice pack that was placed very gently on his cheek.
“Sorry… I kind of stopped paying attention during those last minutes of the spar.”
“Hey don’t be sorry. I should be the one to apologize for going a little too hard on you.”
“But I did ask you to.”
“Why were you getting distracted anyway? If you were tired you could’ve just said so.”
“And lose against you? No way. I’m the two time world champion, I’m not letting anyone beat me, even in other sports like this.”
“Haha still stubborn as ever, huh?”
“No I just… God- fuck this is kind of embarrassing…”
“Hey, nothing can be too embarrassing for me. Besides, I think we’re comfortable enough to tell each other things, no?” Max only sighs in defeat, smiling and looking up at the older man who’s still holding the ice pack for him. He softens his gaze and gathers the courage to admit to him why he was so distracted for nearly half the sparring session they had.
“Well it’s just… I don’t know, you look good alright? You just look… attractive? Nice? Hot? While you’re boxing… and yeah… Jesus I can’t form words.”
“Oh. I didn’t expect that but… thanks. And… what, were you thinking of other things with that too?”
“N-No! Just… I don’t know I see you all messy and sweaty like this quite often but this time you just look… different… Like, I see you in a different light where your eyes were full of determination and your mouth just- ah! No, I’ve said too much…” Sergio couldn’t help but smile. He removes the ice packs and gives a gentle peck on the reddened area. Max, taken aback by surprise but didn’t punch him in retaliation this time. He was flustered, even more than he was before and he couldn’t do anything but just let out a little confused ‘eh’ at his sudden action.
“Y’know… whenever I had gotten a bruise or injured, my mom would always give it a little kiss to make it feel better. I was actually thinking of wanting to kiss you for a while but I didn’t know if you were into that, or into me for that matter. But after what you said, it gave me a bit of confidence to at least give you a kiss on the cheek. I hope you feel a little better, leoncito.”
It felt like Max was losing his mind, he didn’t expect any of this to happen. His hidden feelings for his teammate were suddenly confessed to and he did not see Checo wanting to reciprocate it. He didn’t know what else to respond with except to pull him down to kiss him on the lips. The kiss was long, but sweet and tender. It was something Max had never felt before, at least with a guy and here he was sucking up all the courage to do all this with his teammate, the man who he’s spent his past two and a half years in red bull with, the man who has always been there for him at his lowest and highest moments, the man who he has been the most comfortable with since day one, and the man he was proud to call one of his closest friends. Sergio couldn’t help but deepen the kiss and pull him closer with his hand on the back of his head. After a few more seconds, they began to lose their breath and they let go of each other.
They looked at each other for a good second and averted their gaze, both flushed red from what had just happened. Sergio breaks the silence first, chuckling and giving a relieved sigh. Max followed with the same as he spoke, “But… I don’t know if I want to be in a relationship just yet… But I like you, I’m just conflicted…”
“We don’t have to be in a relationship if you’re not ready yet. I know we’re probably already close now, at least that’s what I think but… What if I had taken you out? Once twice as many times as you need for you to figure out if you want to be with me?” Max smiles back at him, appreciating the other man’s patience and nodding to his proposal.
“Yeah, that sounds lovely. I’d like that very much.”
“If you’re down we could go to dinner tonight?”
“Didn’t we plan that in the first place?”
“Right… well, better get cleaned then. You look absolutely worn out, it means you lost right?” Once again, with what Sergio said he had deserved a punch to the gut. The strongest Max has given today and they both share a warm laugh together out of it. The sparring session may have hurt Max’s body, but it truly had cured his heart.