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Will Smith lay on the edge of his king sized bed in a hotel room in Arizona, Mack next to him on his side of the bed as they watched the USA/Finland game of the Four Nations tournament.
They had spent the majority of the Thursday out golfing with some of the guys, and had pretty much the same plan for the next day, but to no one’s surprise they had all made sure to wrap up the day to watch the game. Will and Mack opted for sharing a hotel room, and they ended up getting upgraded to a single king bed that they honestly just didn’t care enough to change.
Mack turned on his side to face Will on the other side of the bed. “Hey, Smitty,” he started, continuing as he got Will’s attention, “would you want to maybe do something tomorrow night? Dinner or something, after golf?”
Mack almost seemed a bit nervous asking, but Will didn’t really think anything of it. “Yea, dude,” he replied, “sure. Did you have a place in mind?”
“Not really, we can maybe look at some places around. Although probably everywhere nice will be busy, y’know?” Mack laughed.
Will did not know, but he laughed anyway to match Mack, “We can just see what we’re in the mood for.”
Mack smiled, that small smile that made something flutter inside Will’s chest, before turning back to the game. “That will be us one day,” Will said then, “playing for our countries on a big stage like that.”
“We would be playing against each other. We would be rivals.”
“It would be my honor to be your rival again, Mack.”
Mack blushed, keeping his eyes on the TV and hoping Will didn’t notice.
“Fuck off, you’ll lose your mind without me in the locker room.”
“God, you’re probably right,” Will smiled, similarly keeping his eyes glued to the TV.
~
“Are you going to change before we go out?”
Mack walked a few steps ahead of Will, turning backwards to face the older boy as they walked down the hall to their hotel room.
“Uh,” Will looked down at his outfit. It was nothing special - a regular polo and shorts you would wear golfing. He looked fine though, he thought.
“No?” Will took the golf bag out of Mack’s hands while he searched for the hotel key, “Should I?”
“No, I mean I was gonna- you look fine. I wasn’t saying you look bad,” Mack got the room door unlocked and stumbled in, “I was just. I was going to. Since we’re here.”
Will laughed as he put down both of their golf bags in the corner of the room, “Ok, I’ll change then. No big deal.”
He wasn’t sure what Mack was so worked up about, but he laughed it off and began searching through his suitcase while the younger boy rushed off to the bathroom.
“Did we decide where we want to eat?” Will asked through the door as he began to change.
“No,” Mack replied, his voice muffled, “do you wanna look up places nearby?”
Will paused what he was doing and sat down on the bed, pulling his phone out of his pocket. He searched up Food near me before scrolling through some of the options.
“What about Chick-Fil-A?” Will asked, “there’s one walking distance from here.”
“Yea, that-” Mack paused as he left the bathroom, his eyes landing on Will’s shirtless figure on the bed just for a moment before continuing, “that sounds good.”
Will smiled at Mack, “Freak.” He moved to put on a shirt while Mack continued, “I’ve only had Chick-Fil-A like once.”
“Yeah, man,” Will had nothing to add to the conversation, he just felt like he had to finish it. “You look nice,” Will stated then, noticing the not particularly fancy but nicer-than-he-expected outfit on Mack, a button-up and a pair of slacks.
He watched Mack blush, just a little bit, at the comment, “You too, man.”
Will definitely did not think he looked nice. He looked like he had just been golfing, and then changed his shirt to something with less sweat stains on it, because they are going to Chick-Fil-A and not a steakhouse for dinner.
He appreciated it anyway. “Thanks. Should we get going now?” he got up, making his way towards the door.
“Yeah, let’s go.”
~
The Chick-Fil-A was moderately busy, about what Will expected. The place was covered in pink streamers and balloons, a clear indication that Valentine’s Day was soon. They stepped into line, and as they were waiting and looking at the menu, Will noticed Mack start to lean into him a bit, putting his body weight onto Will.
Will wasn’t quite sure how to react. At first, he froze. He liked the idea of Mack leaning into him, his body pressing into his. Then, he remembered they were in public, and reacted the way he knew best: annoyingly. As the person in front of them in line stepped forward, Will quickly moved forward as well, not warning Mack and causing him to lose his balance.
“Bitch,” Mack muttered, not an ounce of fortitude behind it.
They both ordered, Will getting a grilled sandwich and Mack a salad. “Do you want a milkshake?” Will leaned over to ask, after the cashier asked if they wanted anything else. “Oh, uh, sure,” Mack smiled.
“And one cookies and cream milkshake, please.”
They both got their wallets out, but Mack beat Will to the machine, “I asked you to dinner, I’ll pay.”
“Fine, but I’ve got next meal.”
They found a table near the door, behind a wall so it was a bit more secluded, while they waited for their food.
“You been enjoying break so far?” Will asked once they sat down.
“For sure. I think I needed it, it’s been a long few months.”
“It’s definitely pretty different from the college schedule. Honestly, I’m so glad I’m not in Boston right now, it would probably be like thirty degrees.”
“God, me too. This is nice, Arizona. I don’t think I’ve ever been before. It’s almost too warm.”
“Seriously, could you imagine living in this? Imagine what it’s like in the summer.”
“I didn’t even like San Jose in the summer during training camp.”
Mack’s name was called from behind the counter, and Will got up to grab the milkshake waiting on the counter for them. He came back with one cup and two straws.
“Oh, are we sharing?” Mack asked playfully.
“Well I wasn’t gonna let you keep all that for yourself, Celly.”
Mack picked up one of the two straws, racing Will to put it in the milkshake and take a sip first, “Oh, yeah, that’s good.”
With his straw already unwrapped from racing Mack, Will took the milkshake back and took a sip of his own, “That wasn’t even — oh, yeah it is — that wasn’t even fair, you got a head start.”
“I think it’s perfectly fair, Kibble.”
“Oh fuck you I thought we’ve moved on from that nickname.”
“Not if it annoys you.”
Will stuck his tongue out at Mack, giggling.
They fell into a comfortable silence for a moment, passing the milkshake back and forth and playing with their straw wrappers and the condensation left on the table until Mack’s name was called again for their food. Will started to get up before Mack stopped him, “I’ve got it.”
“Oh, yeah sure,” Will sat back down into his seat, watching Mack get up and grab their food. It was stupid, Will thought, how good he looked for their Chick-Fil-A dinner. He dressed up nice, and the button-up he wore hugged his back, showing off his back and shoulder muscles even just as he walked.
Will was grabbing a fry off of the tray before Mack even sat back down. They spread out their food across the table, taking their own meals but still expecting to share with each other, and poured both fries onto the tray.
“Do you think you’re going to play Worlds this year?” Will asked once they were settled back in.
“Oh, I haven’t really thought about it. It's still a few months away but, yeah, probably. Why?”
“Just, with Four Nations going. Just thinking about it. We could play against each other,” Will smiled in Mack’s favorite way, the type of smile that’s teasing but happy, thinking about both of them and what they might do together.
“You think you’ll make the Olympic roster next year?” Will asked then. Mack seemed surprised by the question, “What? No, not really. That’s…” He wasn’t really sure what he was going to say. That’s a tough standard to meet. That’s terrifying. That’s just insane. “Why would they want a rookie?”
“You won’t be next year,” Will pointed out, “You’re insane dude. You can see your skill through the shitty team. I know it’s a stretch, but, I don’t know. I think you could.”
Mack could just barely feel a blush starting to form over his cheeks.
“I’d totally go to Italy to watch you play if you did, just saying.”
”Yeah, like you need an excuse to go to Italy,” Mack countered back the way he knew best, by chirping Will.
~
On the walk back to the hotel, Will noticed Mack hovering oddly close, their shoulders bumping and their arms brushing. Will wasn’t bothered by it.
”Thank you for going to dinner with me,” Mack spoke softly after a moment, startling Will. “Yeah, of course dude. When would I not?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“You’re being weird.”
“Oh. Well, yeah, it is kinda weird.”
”What? What’s weird?”
”Just-“
”Shit!” As they approached the crosswalk, Will noticed that there were only seven seconds left to cross. He grabbed Mack’s hand and started running across the road, the pair making it to the other side of the street just as the crosswalk signal turned red. They both started laughing when they made it to the other side, Will taking a deep breath and pushing his hair back out of his face.
Mack was watching Will intensely. He looked away when Will looked up to him, who started laughing, “At least we made it.” He noticed then that they were still holding hands. Neither one of them moved away from each other, and they continued holding onto each other as they continued their walk back to the hotel.
Mack dropped Will’s hand when they made it to the hotel lobby. Entering their room, Will sat down at the end of the bed, grabbing the remote and turning on the TV. “Are there no games tonight?”
”No,” Mack sat down next to him.
”Damn, do you wanna watch a movie then?” Will looked over to Mack right next to him.
Just a moment later Mack was leaning forward, their lips meeting. Will was surprised, leaning back before he truly processed what was happening.
“Shit, sorry,” Mack got off the bed, taking a step back.
”no, it’s. Sorry, I was just surprised.”
”No, I shouldn’t have anyways, it was stupid,” Mack hit the heel of his hand to his forehead and turned like he was going to leave. He wasn’t really sure where he would go if he did. Maybe Delly’s room.
“Mack, hey.”
Mack turned around to look at Will.
”It wasn’t stupid, I promise. I just wasn’t expecting it.”
“I just thought…” He trailed off, and Will looked at him confused. “Thought what?”
”I don’t know. I thought maybe you’d want to, since you said yes to the date.”
That just made Will even more confused. “What date?”
”The… Chick-Fil-A?” It was clear that neither of them were on the same page anymore.
“What made that a date, Mack? We go out for dinner all the time.”
”I just thought, ‘cause it’s Valentine’s day, and I asked you to dinner. I thought I was asking you on a date.”
Will’s eyes got wide as Mack spoke, “Oh my god, is it Valentine’s day?”
Mack nodded his head slowly. “Oh,” Will said quietly. “So. You were asking me out on a date last night?”
”Yeah.”
“And I said yes, and I didn’t realize it.”
“I’m sorry, I should’ve been more clear when I ask-“
”Do you want to try again?”
Mack stopped speaking, “What?”
Will shifted on the bed, looking right as Mack. “Ask me on a date again. Now that I know it’s Valentine’s day.”
“Oh. Uh,” Mack finally sat back down on the bed, “Since it’s Valentine’s day, did you want to go to dinner with me? Like, on a date?”
“Yeah,” Will smiled, “what about Chick-Fil-A? And we can share a milkshake.”
“Yeah, that sounds like a good plan,” Mack matched his smile.
“Can we do something else again too?” Will asked.
“What?”
Will leaned in, slower than Mack the first time, bringing their lips together. It was quick but nice, Will bringing his arms around Mack’s shoulders. They brought their foreheads together after breaking away from the kiss, laughing while they looked at each other.
“I’m sorry I didn’t realize you were asking me on a date. I would still have said yes, by the way.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t more clear, and I’m glad you’d still say yes.”
“Ok, now do you wanna watch a movie?”
“Yeah, I’ll change first though.”
“Ok,” Will settled back into the bed, scrolling through the hotel TV to see what was on. He found a movie before changing himself as Mack climbed into the bed.
A minute later Will got back into the bed next to Mack. He slowly cuddled up next to Mack, letting him rest his head on his shoulder while they settled in.
“I did have a nice time tonight, on our kinda date.”
“Really?” Mack looked up to him, “I did too,” he smiled.
“Let’s try it again soon, yeah?”
“Ok,” Mack settled back down onto Will’s shoulder, “yeah.”