I canât get enough of the popular fandom notion that Rooster is a human furnace - he runs so hot he can run around in jorts and a tank top with snow on the ground. And then thereâs Jake, who starts shivering the minute it gets below 70 degrees, but heâs got to be a tough macho guy (like Rooster!) so he never brings a jacket with him, either. So Bradley, being the protector of the group, starts carrying a few of his own hoodies in the Bronco âjust in case someone needs oneâ (he starts this even before they figure out their feelings for each other).
Sitting in Mavâs back yard during a BBQ after the sun goes down and it gets a little breezy? âHere Jake, donât be stupid, put this on. I can hear your teeth chattering from across the deck.â At a carnival at night, and Jakeâs a little sunburned from a day at the beach? Heâs got goosebumps on his goosebumps and canât stop shivering, until Bradley drapes a big, soft hoodie around his shoulders, and its so warm from baking in his Bronco all day that Jake just sighs and melts into it.
So yeah, everybody just gets kind of used to seeing Jake wearing Bradleyâs hoodies everywhere. His old college sports hoodies or Navy hoodies, all with BRADSHAW or ROOSTER written in block letters across his shoulders.
Maybe the sight drives Bradley a little bit crazy, even when they arenât âtogetherâ together. Maybe seeing his name branding Jake as his own, seeing him a bit swamped in them because theyâre slightly too big for him, starts a slow-burning smolder in his core that he doesnât know exactly what to do with. Maybe his hands get sore from where they clench so hard to keep from reaching out to grab something that isnât his (yet), even if its quite literally got his name on it. Maybe his eyes track that name bobbing and weaving in amongst the crowd, and he feels even hotter than he usually does, because thatâs HIS name, HIS claim.
And maybe Jake can feel those eyes on him. Maybe he shivers just a little bit more noticeably when Roo is around, so Bradley will inevitably go and get a hoodie, and shoves it into his arms, because even chivalrous heâs got to be a little bit of a jackass, and now heâs got an excuse to wear that name on his body. Maybe it sends a thrill down his spine when people mistakenly call him âBradshawâ.
Maybe it sends a thrill down Bradleyâs spine when he hears that, too.
Maybe, when theyâre all lying around together watching a movie, Jake sidles up to Bradley closer than he normally would âbecause youâre a freaking furnace and Iâm cold, deal with it Bradshaw,â and Bradley âdeals with itâ by stealing an arm around his shoulders with a deep, put-upon sigh and the barest beginnings of a grin that he canât seem to control.
And maybe the Daggers and the 86 boys roll their eyes (affectionately) at these two insufferable idiots who arenât quite as subtle as they think theyâre being.
^ âYouâre warm and Iâm cold. Shut up and cuddle me, Bradshaw.â