Chapter Text
Roy knew today was going to be a challenge, Jamie had done reasonably well with his grounding this week, well, reasonably well for the little shit that was. His fucking brat never did anything the fucking easy way. They’d survived the week without too many extra fucking strops from his boy, but Roy was relieved that today was the last fucking day. Keeley was pretty good at keeping the little prick somewhat distracted when she was home and that did have a bit of a secondary benefit of making Keeley have to spend some time not over working herself, but she did have work she did actually need to do. Unfortunately that meant that managing most of their boyfriend’s whiney, dramatic fussing was down to Roy, and there were only so many times he could send the little shit out to run laps around the garden, plus the cleaning service Roy paid for meant there really weren’t that many chores he could give the little twat. If Roy heard the words ‘I’m bored’ from Jamie again any time soon, he might just strangle the little shit.
Normally in the mornings his brat started fucking chatting before Roy could even get his bearings. Jamie had the infuriating ability to go from being asleep to being awake in the blink of an eye and as soon as he was awake, he was ready to go, like a fucking energiser bunny. Fortunately his boy knew Roy well enough to know not to expect more than a grunt or growl in response before he’d had his own time to fully wake up and thaw out. Those days were normal days, normal Tartt levels of trouble and challenge, and their boyfriend didn’t need anything outside of the ordinary from Roy or Keeley.
There were times where Jamie needed a little time to wake up, there didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to it, just every so often the muppet would be having a slow start to his day. He’d be quiet to start off their 4am training, a little stumbly as he tried to find a good jogging rhythm. Roy tried to set the pace those days, letting his boyfriend just fall into step beside him, letting him settle and come to himself on his own terms. He also tried to be a little better about engaging in the often inane ramblings his little shit came out with – once he started up. Roy could count on the brat to be a little more clingy and needy on those days, to need more of Roy and even Keeley’s attention. How exactly Jamie went getting that attention Roy had no way of fucking predicting, but he did know every one of them would end up with their little twat cuddled up, snuggling as close as he fucking could, on the sofa or in their bed – the only other variable would be whether or not the fucking muppet would have earned himself a red arse.
The final kind of morning was what was happening right now. The little shit, for whatever reason, was in a mood, and not a fucking good one. The reason for Jamie being in a fucking snit could be just about anything, little twat was good at getting in his own fucking head about shit. Sometimes Roy could figure it out pretty easily, like a couple of weeks ago, his boyfriend had gotten himself all worked up about missing a sitter, which could happen to fucking anyone, but the little prick wouldn’t fucking let it go, got himself properly all worked up about it. Fucking brat had been a silent and moody fucking companion for the morning jog, been silent and short during the exercises Roy made him do, silent and stewing on the jog home, until he was snapping at Keeley, once they got home, and earned himself a red arse. Roy’d told his little twat that if he needed help getting out of his own fucking head, all he needed to do was ask for it, but of course Jamie couldn’t do things the fucking easy way. Other times Roy couldn’t for the life of him work out what had the little muppet so fucking worked up, until he was in a full fucking strop about it, at which point he either finally came out with it, or didn’t until Roy’d spanked it out of him. Today, Roy was fairly sure he knew exactly what had his boy all worked up, the fact that he was grounded.
Roy did not, for one second, blame his partner for not liking being fucking grounded. He wasn’t supposed to fucking like it, it was punishment, wouldn’t be much point in it if he did fucking like it. Roy didn’t like having to ground him, little shit was a pain in the fucking arse when he was grounded, but it was what Jamie fucking needed. Had his brat just missed his curfew, then Roy wouldn’t have grounded him, and if he’d just broken his alcohol ban, he wouldn’t have been grounded either. The fact that the little twat did both, and tried to defend doing the shots, saying that he had to, for team spirit – despite the fact the whole fucking team knew of his little prick’s alcohol ban and wouldn’t have thought a single fucking thing about the little shit not doing the shot – that told Roy Jamie needed more than just a spanking. That told Roy that his boyfriend was fucking pushing. That told Roy that his brat needed his boundaries enforced. It was never a good fucking idea to ignore Jamie when he was pushing, because the little prick found ways to escalate and force Roy’s hand in ways Roy really didn’t fucking like. It was never pleasant having to take the man he loved to task, he did it because it fucking worked, for Jamie and for him. It was a lot fucking worse when the muppet spiralled because Roy didn’t respond to his pushing and the little shit found some truly spectacular way to land himself in trouble. No, Roy would rather head off any spirals before they pushed his boyfriend to do something really fucking stupid, like sign up for Lust Conquers All.
Fortunately Jamie wasn’t on the edge of a spiral right now, just a fucking strop, not even a big one, and Roy knew how to deal with his boy on the edge of a fucking strop. His partner wasn’t one who could be talked down from a strop, made to run laps, or work out until he was too worn out to strop, those methods worked for some lads, but not his brat. Jamie, once he was on the edge of a strop, needed to go over that edge and have his fucking strop, luckily with the little prick it didn’t take much to knock a stuck strop loose when he was building himself up for one. Roy could do it, right here, right now, on the fucking edge of Richmond Green, but as much as spanking was acknowledged as a regular part of sports, and seeing one of the lads getting spanked by their coach on the fucking sidelines was just part of the game, this wasn’t the pitch.
Letting Jamie stew, ignoring his shitty fucking mood, was rarely a good idea, but pushing the prick into a strop in public like this was, nine times out of ten, a worse idea. Having to ‘wait until we get home’ was an excellent way of getting his fucking brat right back into his head and ready for another fucking strop by the time they got home, or even before. When the little twat was wound up, instant consequences were the most effective most of the time, since he did not do well when he felt fucking guilty. Sometimes though, when whatever had his boyfriend up in his head was easily solved, a strop about it could be avoided, if it was caught in time. Considering what Roy was pretty sure the little shit was wound up about, he was also fairly sure this wasn’t one of those times. He nodded his chin in the direction of the green. “Stretches,” he ordered.
Jamie didn’t acknowledge Roy’s order verbally, just jogged towards the bench Roy usually sat at and barked orders at him from. Being grounded was so fucking stupid. He could admit that it was kind of his fault that he was grounded for a week, it should have just been three days, but when Roy announced that he was going to be grounded, Jamie had gotten a little argumentative. When Roy had threatened to increase the length of his grounding from three days to a week, Jamie had just scoffed, because he never had before, Jamie had never been grounded for more than five days, so Jamie insisted that Roy wouldn’t do that, so Roy had. Jamie had argued about that too, until Roy threatened to increase the grounding again to two weeks and he’d finally bitten his tongue. It was just so fucking boring being grounded, and of course it couldn’t be like a normal grounding when he just wasn’t allowed out, no Roy had to make the whole thing extra fucking miserable. Fucking morning spankings, no screen time, no going anywhere without Roy, early bed time, and fucking bed time spankings too!
Most of that was fine. The morning and bedtime spankings sucked, but they weren’t proper spankings unless Jamie was being a brat, mostly just Roy warming his arse up and making him cry about it, reminder spankings. Roy only made Jamie really fucking sob during his bedtime or morning spankings when Jamie pushed him. Jamie knew this, he knew it would go much easier for him if he just did as he was told and put himself over Roy’s knee, just behaved and didn’t push at his boyfriend or his girlfriend. It would still hurt, because it was Roy and it was a spanking, but it would stop once he started crying and then he’d get cuddles, but sometimes he couldn’t help pushing. Even then, that wasn’t as bad as the fucking boredom that came with being grounded. Jamie didn’t mind not being able to go out with the lads, not being able to go anywhere without Roy, but the no screen time was torture. It wasn’t like Jamie spent hours watching TV or anything, but it was part of their evening routine, to cuddle and watch something before going to bed, and Jamie did spend a lot of time on his phone, on his socials, and now he wasn’t allowed his phone at all, Roy had it and Jamie couldn’t have it until tomorrow. Keeley assured him she was keeping on top of his socials for him, so no one thought he died, but it wasn’t the same.
Jamie knew, deep down, that he had no one to blame but himself for his grounding, he knew, understood and accepted that, he did, but it was Friday, and Keeley had her girls night. Girls night usually meant he and Roy got to have lads night together, go to Roy’s little, seedy, old pub, have a drink, play darts and pool, and banter with the regulars. Roy’d even let him have a drink, and eat pub food that definitely wasn’t on his meal plan. It wasn’t fair that they couldn’t do that because Jamie was grounded. Jamie had done his time, being allowed off his grounding one day early wouldn’t hurt anything. He wasn’t even supposed to have been grounded for a week, just three days, but he was an idiot and had pushed and Roy extended it to a week. Which was fine, he deserved it, he had, but he’d done most of the week now, almost the full week, learnt his lesson, Roy could make an exception for tonight. The fact that Roy wouldn’t, was insistent upon Jamie being grounded for the full week, was such a load of fucking shit.
That would be okay though, it would be, because it wasn’t like Roy wasn’t going to be there still, Jamie wouldn’t be home alone on his own, but it was going to be so fucking boring. Jamie could entertain himself just fine, he didn’t need constant entertaining like a child, but when he wasn’t even allowed to scroll his socials on his phone, what the fuck was he supposed to do? Roy might like to read, and Jamie did like it when Roy read to him, really liked it, especially when he was struggling to sleep and he could cuddle up on Roy’s chest and Roy would play with his hair as he read to him, but reading wasn’t Jamie’s thing. He didn’t mind audiobooks, Roy had put him onto them, but actually sitting and reading a book was frustrating and boring and just not something Jamie could focus on, and not being allowed his phone or any screen time, meant no audiobooks anyway. All Jamie wanted was his phone, just for a couple hours, he wouldn’t post or anything, just scroll his socials and maybe react to shit Keeley wouldn’t think of reacting to.
Jamie was done with his stretches when Roy came to the bench with his fucking coffee and pastry. He fixed Roy with a glare, because that was just rubbing it in, wasn’t it? But Roy always did that, got himself a coffee and pastry whilst barking instructions at Jamie, it was just part of what they did and Jamie didn’t even really mean the glare, he just had to.
Roy ignored the glare Jamie sent him and just started giving out instructions, running his brat through his morning workout. He pushed the little shit hard, just like always, and just like always, even with him in a fucking mood, his boy rose to every fucking challenge. Roy had to be careful with his partner’s additional training, because the little prick would push through any pain signals his body gave him and keep going. Roy had to be constantly checking in and assessing, making absolutely sure Jamie wasn’t pushing himself too far. It was humbling, how much his little twat would do just because Roy told him to. His brat’s limits and the little shit’s body’s limits were two different things, Roy could work him until he was flat on the floor, insisting that his legs were too worn out to even hold him up, but if Roy said he had to go and run laps of the park, Jamie would do it. So Roy had to set the muppet’s limits for him, he was the one telling his boyfriend to push through or that he’d done enough. Since they had a game on Sunday and so Saturday’s training had to be light, to keep all the lads fresh for Sunday’s game, Roy pushed his boy hard today, and would be pushing the rest of the lads hard during regular training, to make sure they were all ready for the match on Sunday. He did have to stop early, like he had every day this week, so they had time to get the brat’s morning spanking done at home and to get to the club without being late. He tossed his empty coffee cup and pastry wrapper in the bin before standing up. “Good job, home now,” he ordered.
Despite the fact Jamie was still unhappy with Roy, his praise had Jamie puffing up a bit. He liked knowing he’d impressed his boyfriend or done well, and Roy was sincere with his praise; it was hard earned and he didn’t toss it around if he didn’t mean it. Jamie drank deeply from his bottle of sports mix then started off back home. Keeley would be awake now, getting ready for her day at work, maybe he could persuade her to let him just check his socials real quick. She knew how important it was to keep on top of them, not like Roy who wouldn’t even have Insta if it wasn’t for Keeley and still wouldn’t get TikTok. The jog home was supposed to be part of his cool down, but he didn’t want to jog in step with Roy, so he set his own pace that he knew Roy wouldn’t push his knee to keep up with.
Roy let the little shit pull ahead on the jog home, already mentally prepared for this morning’s morning spanking to become a proper fucking spanking and not just a reminder, as it had for the past two mornings. He was so ready for Jamie’s grounding to be done, it was almost more annoying for him and Keeley than it was for their little prick, which was why he’d set it at just three days at first. Although if his brat pushed again, he would extend it, and his boy knew that. “Cool down stretches then shower,” he called when they were almost home.
“I know,” Jamie snapped back. He wasn’t stupid, he knew he needed to do his cool down stretches.
“Oi, fucking watch the attitude,” Roy corrected sharply. Jamie’s attitude these past couple days had been getting worse and worse, even at training and it was starting to cross the fucking line into being punishable at work.
Jamie rolled his eyes, at least Roy couldn’t see that, and just ran into Roy’s house. He forced himself to take a breath and actually do his cool down stretches, even though now part of him didn’t fucking want to simply because Roy had ordered him to. He’d been doing cool down stretches since before Academy, he knew how important they were, he didn’t need to be told by Roy to do them. That Roy felt the need to remind him was fucking insulting.
Roy walked in as the fucking brat was working through the familiar cool down stretches, nodding approvingly. He went to the kitchen and grabbed a fresh sports drink from the fridge, tossing it to Jamie. “Drink,” he commanded.
Jamie caught the bottle, giving a huff at Roy’s command to drink it. “En’t a fucking dog, Roy,” he bit.
Roy crossed over to his little shit, took hold of his arm, turned him to the side, and landed a hard smack to his arse. “Enough, Jamie! Anymore fucking attitude out of you and we will be upgrading your morning spanking to a proper one, understood?” He growled.
Jamie yelped at the smack, even over his joggers it hurt! He glared stubbornly at the floor, mouth pressed tightly closed. Roy was the one being an arsehole, snapping orders at him like he was a fucking dog.
Roy shook his head and laid down a dozen hard smacks to Jamie’s arse. “Joggers come down next,” he warned.
Jamie danced up onto his toes, trying to arch away from Roy’s hand but despite his efforts he couldn’t dodge the smacks. “Fine! Yeah! Understood!” He spat.
Roy looked at his fucking brat carefully, reading his body language, he was not cowed, not in the slightest, still on the edge of a fucking strop. He could get it out of Jamie now, have it out right now, get it sorted, but it was almost definitely going to result in the little shit ending up over his knee and sobbing, so he decided to wait until after his little prick had showered and gotten some food in him. “Go fucking shower,” he instructed. He turned his boy again and landed another smack to his arse to get him moving towards the stairs.
Jamie would have protested being sent off to shower, but he wanted to speak to Keeley anyway. He made sure he was half way up the stairs before rubbing his arse, fuck, Roy had a hard fucking hand. He reached the landing and couldn’t help pouting seeing the steam coming out of the family bathroom, Keeley only ever used the main bathroom like that when she wanted to be left alone. Respecting Keeley’s boundaries and need for personal space at times had been something he and Roy had both struggled with when they’d dated her separately, but now they both knew better and did their best to not make her feel too overwhelmed. He stomped into the bedroom ensuite, he hated showering alone.
Roy watched Jamie go upstairs, fighting a smile as he rubbed his arse, the warning should keep his brat behaving long enough to get through breakfast, then he could deal with the strop the little shit was working himself up for. He headed for the downstairs bathroom, able to hear that Keeley was using the main bathroom upstairs.
Jamie didn’t have a full shower, just a rinse off, he would need another shower at the club after training and it wasn’t good for his skin or hair to be washed that frequently, even with his carefully designed skin and hair care routines. He had three separate ones now, since he trained three times a day, a more gentle morning one for after his 4am training, then the more detailed proper one for after training at the club, then a nice soothing relaxing one for after his extra evening training.
Roy was done with his shower before either of his partners were. He fucking loved them, both of them, more than he had ever thought he was capable of loving someone who wasn’t directly related to him, but it did baffle him a little how he ended up with two such high maintenance partners. Once he was dressed and ready he headed to the kitchen to start breakfast. Jamie’s meal plan was on the fridge and he checked it quickly before starting up the omelettes, so they’d be ready for when his little muppet came down. He knew his boy’s morning routine extremely well, so could time it fucking perfectly. Keeley was a little more unpredictable, but he knew she had meetings this morning, which was why she wanted to shower alone and have some fucking peace for herself before her long busy day. Tomorrow, he and Jamie would spoil and pamper her, help her relax, let her feel loved and treasured by them both, which would have the added side benefit of relaxing their little shit too before the match on Sunday.
Keeley was the first down. “Mmm, smells well lush, babes,” she grinned. She slid into her usual seat at the breakfast bar, letting Roy take care of her. “How’s our boy?” She checked. She gave Roy a smile for the mug of coffee made just how she liked it set by her, picking it up and inhaling the rich warm aroma.
“In a fucking mood, attitude up to fucking here,” Roy sighed. He leaned down to collect a kiss from Keeley. “Going to fucking push,” he warned her.
Keeley sighed and kissed Roy tenderly. “‘Course he is. Can’t ever do things easily, can he?” She couldn’t help the note of fondness in her voice, Jamie was a battler, and no, he didn’t fight those who were only trying to help him now, he let her and Roy help him, but he wouldn’t be her Jamie if he suddenly took the easy road. “You got him, babes? Or you want me to try and pull him out of it?” She offered. She didn’t have a whole lot of time before she had to leave for work, and often her efforts at getting Jamie out of his head were ineffectual – when they didn’t involve sex – but sometimes she could coax him into a better mood.
Roy gave Keeley a grateful smile but shook his head. “No, I’ve got him,” he assured her. He went back to making breakfast and slid Keeley’s omelette onto a plate and popped it in front of her just as the brat came down the stairs.
The kitchen smelled amazing, it always did when Roy was cooking, and Jamie wanted to tell Roy that, but he was still annoyed at him for barking orders at him, like he was stupid. “Gunna order me to sit like a dog now?” He sniped.
“Jamie!” Keeley gasped.
“What!? You din’t hear him earlier. Were barking orders at me like I were a fucking dog, being a right grumpy twat,” Jamie protested.
“There’s a perfectly free corner you can stick your fucking nose in if you don’t drop this fucking attitude right now, Tartt,” Roy warned.
“See!? I en’t done nowt and he’s all fucking over me!” Jamie exclaimed. He waved his arms at Roy to emphasise his point to Keeley.
“Jamie Tartt, you stop this right now. Roy hasn’t done anything but stand there and make you breakfast. You’re the one throwing insults and giving attitude,” Keeley corrected pointedly.
Jamie rolled his eyes. “Fucking figures you’d take his side,” he muttered.
“Oi! Apologise to Keeley right fucking now. Then sit down and shut up or go stand in the fucking corner and shut up. Make your choice fast or I’ll choose for you,” Roy ordered sharply. He turned from the hob and fixed Jamie with a glare, daring him to fucking disobey him. Little twat wanted to be a little shit with him, fine, Roy could deal with the little prick’s surly fucking attitude, but he didn’t get to take anything out on Keeley.
Jamie met Roy’s glare briefly before ducking his head, the tips of his ears turning red. “Sorry, Keeley,” he spat out.
Keeley glanced at Roy first, he had said Jamie was in a fucking mood, but she hadn’t fully expected this level of attitude. She looked over at Jamie, it definitely wasn’t his most sincere apology, but she knew she would be getting a more sincere one later, once he was out of his head. “Right, come take a seat, babes. Get some breakfast in you, huh?” She suggested.
Keeley’s encouraging voice made Jamie feel the first stirring of guilt, he loved Keeley, he did, loved Roy too, but Keeley didn’t deserve his attitude. She wasn’t the one enforcing this stupid grounding, keeping his phone from him, not letting him do anything. He did step forward and flop into his usual seat at the breakfast bar. “Am sorry, Keels. Shouldn’t’ve said that to you. Know you en’t dun nowt to deserve it,” he murmured quietly.
Keeley would have liked to push for Jamie to acknowledge that Roy didn’t deserve his fucking attitude either, but she knew how to pick her battles, and that was between Roy and Jamie. She reached over and took his hand, giving it a squeeze and rubbing her thumb over his knuckles. “Thank you, Jamie,” she smiled softly. She knew Jamie was struggling with the grounding and had already brought up to Roy that maybe next time he should just have restricted screen time if the grounding was going to be longer than three days. Roy agreed with her, and decided next time Jamie would be able to earn an hour a day on his phone with good behaviour.
Roy put a plate with a perfectly cooked omelette, just how the little twat liked it, down in front of him.
Keeley gave Jamie’s hand another squeeze before letting it go. “Eat up, love,” she urged.
Jamie bristled at being told what to fucking do again, biting back the retort on the tip of his tongue, because it was Keeley. He stabbed at his omelette and shoved a forkful of it in his mouth so he didn’t say anything. Roy would make him go stand in the corner until he was finished cooking breakfast, and had eaten his own breakfast, then Roy’d give him a proper spanking, if he did say anything. A small, traitorous part of Jamie’s mind pointed out that he was probably already going to get a proper spanking, not just a reminder, especially since Roy was threatening the corner and he’d been fucking rude to Keeley. It wasn’t on, being rude to Keeley like that.
Roy set down a glass of water in front of Jamie too. “Drink. And if I hear any more fucking attitude or sass from you, Jamie, then it won’t be my fucking hand wearing your arse out before we go to work, it’ll be the spoon,” he warned, his voice low and dangerous. He levelled his fucking brat with a look, daring the little shit to fucking try him right now.
Jamie almost choked on the mouthful of omelette he’d shoved in to stop himself from saying anything when Roy put down the glass of water for him. “Spoon, Roy!?” He spluttered. If Roy was threatening the spoon that meant he was getting a proper spanking!
“Spoon, Jamie. Or would you rather go and fetch the hairbrush?” Roy asked.
Jamie blanched at the threat of the hairbrush, fuck he hated the brush. A heavy, dense, ebony wood thing that left a deep, lasting, burning, throbbing, aching, million degree fire all over his arse, sit spots, and thighs. He shook his head rapidly. “No! No, Roy. Dun’t want that, please. Dun’t want the hairbrush, or the spoon,” he insisted.
“Then enough with the fucking attitude, Jamie. You earned this grounding. Fair and fucking square. Going to give you your last fucking morning spanking, which, yes, is going to be a fucking proper spanking this morning, and you’re going to fucking behave. You’re going to be a good fucking boy all fucking day at work, no attitude, no sass, no anything at the club. Going to do what you’re told, when you’re fucking told. Going to be respectful towards me, Beard, and fucking Nate. Going to be polite and nice to everyone. Going to be a good boy. Because if you aren’t, if I see you so much as roll your fucking eyes at anyone, then you’ll be right over my fucking knee, right then and right there, don’t care where we fucking are or who fucking sees, and you’ll be grounded for three more days. Understood?” Roy declared.
Jamie wanted to protest that. It wasn’t fair! But the look Roy was giving him made it fucking clear that he did not want to push right now. He dropped his eyes to his plate, staring hard at it. It wasn’t fair! But Jamie knew that tone from Roy well enough to know that he wasn’t going to listen to any protests Jamie was going to make.
“Oi! Is that fucking understood, Jamie?” Roy demanded.
Jamie had to bite back his first response, as Roy said no more fucking sass and he didn’t want the spoon or the hairbrush, or to be grounded any longer. “Yes, understood,” he gave in.
Roy looked carefully at Jamie, assessing, making sure the little shit was fucking listening to him, before giving a nod. “Drink,” he repeated, tapping the glass. He turned and went back to the hob, finally making up his own omelette.
For a second Jamie had the urge to pick up the glass and toss it across the room. He gripped his fork tight, pushing away that urge. He knew he was just wound up. Roy barking orders at him he never usually minded, in the bedroom it was even sexy – Roy just barking what to do at him. Right now, he didn’t know why, but it was just pissing him off.
Keeley’s heart ached for Jamie, he really was having such a hard time with this grounding. She wanted to reach out and either rub his back or scratch at his scalp the way he liked, but she knew Jamie well enough to know he wouldn’t appreciate her ministrations right now, he’d shrug her off, or snap at her, and then Roy’d definitely make him get the hairbrush. Jamie would feel fucking awful about it too, even after his spanking, and they’d all be late to work because Jamie would need more time and reassurances that they still loved him, that he was forgiven, that what he’d done wasn’t irredeemable. When he was all up in his own head he could face off against Roy, looking for a fight, and once he’d taken his dues for it, he would be just fine; but when Jamie took out his feelings on her, even just snapping a little, he beat himself up so badly about it.
Roy listened carefully for Jamie, ready to respond if his boy pushed, because the fucking brat sometimes just had to fucking push. He made up his omelette before joining his partners at the breakfast bar, keeping one eye on his sullen, sulking little shit, ready to respond if the little twat decided he was going to fucking push.