Chapter 17

17

Baylor

I t’s exactly how I imagined it would be. The gym all decorated in streamers and lights. Every girl dressed in colorful sequins and satin dresses, and all the guys decked out in tuxedos. The music’s pumping loud and everyone’s dancing and having a good time. Even Ryes got out on the floor a little, shocking me with his rhythm. I look over my shoulder and he’s standing by the wall, staring right at me. Before I turned, I’m sure he was staring at my ass, which immediately clenches at the thought.

“Baylor!” Chase comes up, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. “Why are you standing over here when you could be dancing with any one of those beautiful girls? Just look at them all staring at you.” I look to the crowd of girls who have crept even closer. They were dancing off in the corner earlier in the night, but they keep getting closer and closer. I feel like the DJ should be playing the Jaws song over the speaker because the sharks are closing in.

“Nah. I’m having a blast just being here with you guys and hanging with Ryes. Shit, man. Can you believe it’s our senior prom?”

It’s crazy to think that in just a month we’ll all be graduating and going off to college. I don’t even want to think about it. Ryeson and I agreed we’d end things and put this in the past, but that was before things changed between us. Now, I don’t want to let him go. But I don’t know where he stands on the situation. And I’m too afraid to bring it up. I don’t want to come across as a clingy girlfriend and scare him off. Every time a girl got too close, Ryes pulled away.

“Fuck.” Chase shakes his head. “I don’t want to think about it, man.” He turns and looks toward his girlfriend. “Ruby’s going to be halfway across the country from me. And with football… I don’t know how often I’m going to get to see her. Not sure how I’m going to survive.”

He’s right. Before we bring down the mood of the night, we need to change topics.

“Man, just look at my beauty. Sorry, Bay. I’ve got to go have a dance with my girl.”

He stalks right over to Ruby and sweeps her into his arms, dipping her right back. She leans up and kisses him, and envy trickles down my nerves. I wonder if I’ll ever have that with Ryeson. Being able to kiss him freely. Not having to hide the way I feel for him.

“You hiding out in the dark corner?” I ask, stepping up to the guy I’m in love with.

“The girls were getting a little too close. Besides…” He smirks. “I’ve got the best view in the house. I can stare at your fine ass without anyone noticing.”

I step even closer to him, but he tenses, and I back off. It’s obvious he doesn’t want anyone getting the wrong impression about us. At this point, I’m so fucking in love with him I almost don’t care. But I also don’t want our last few weeks of high school to be spent up on the gossip chopping block. We’re supposed to be going to graduation parties and having fun, not dealing with drama.

“So, what were you and Chase talking about?” He asks, looking back over at the crowd.

“Going off to college and how he’s going to miss Ruby.”

“Are you going to miss me?”

I turn my head and look him in the eyes. It sounds like he really wants to know. There isn’t even a hint of a joke in his voice.

“Yeah. I am. And you?” It’s the moment of truth.

“I’m definitely going to miss your mouth.” He smirks. “And your big hands.” His eyebrows wiggle. “I’m going to miss the way you wake me up every morning.” He practically groans. “And that ass.” His voice grows even deeper. “I’m definitely going to miss that. But I plan on calling you every day, and kicking your ass at video games, so I’m not too worried about being lonely. You’ll just have to send me pictures and videos to keep my dick company until the next time I get to see you.”

It sounds like he’s given this a lot of thought, and it doesn’t sound like he wants to call it quits.

“You know what I’m going to miss the most about you?” I turn to face him, not wanting anyone to read my lips. “I’m going to miss you ordering me to my knees and forcing me to take you.” I love when he loses control and nearly cuts off my airway with his cock. His tight grip in my hair. His hips pumping fast. Fuck, it makes me so hot.

“You need to get your ass in the training room right now,” he grits through clenched teeth, his nostrils flaring. “I want you on your fucking knees.”

If it weren’t for the look in his eyes, I’d think he was teasing. He’s been adamant from the beginning never to mess around in public. And even when I tried to tempt him during school, he refused.

My dick gives a good throb, and I turn and start walking toward the exit. I hear Rye letting the guys know that we’re stepping out for a drink. Good news is no one will come looking for us in the weight room. It’s locked, and only us football managers have the code.

As soon as we’re locked inside, I’m slammed up against the wall and Rye’s kissing the shit out of me. My tongue becomes a victim at his mercy as he sucks and licks. His teeth taking nips at my swollen skin. He suddenly pulls away and grabs my arm, dragging me to the back corner of the room. Finally, I’m going to live out my fantasy.

“You’re going to kneel down and get me all nice and wet, and then I’m going to bend you over that weight bench and fuck you so hard. You good with that?”

I drop to my knees. I’m fucking great with that.

I pull him out from his slacks and suck him right between my cheeks, not wanting to wait a second longer. His taste hits my tongue and I swallow him all the way down the back of my throat. He lets out a groan and his head drops back onto his shoulders. The room is only illuminated by the emergency exit lights but I can still see the pleasure etched on his face. He’s so fucking sexy. Every part of him makes my pulse spike.

I start sucking him in and out, drawing out this moment. We’ve spent years training together in this room, and now were finally going to christen it. The bass of the music gets louder through the walls, and I start to match the beat. Ryes’ hand grips onto my head, trying to pull me off, but I’m not ready to let go.

“Shit. I think someone’s in here.” His whisper breaks through my trance and I listen close but don’t hear a thing. “Dude.” He tugs me harder this time. “Get the fuck up.”

“Relax!” I hear Chase’s voice from the other side of the room. “It’s just us. You don’t have to hide the bottle.”

I quickly scurry to my feet and Ryeson works to tuck himself back in his pants. We both turn right as Chase and Ruby appear.

“What are you two doing in here?” I ask, trying not to sound winded, but I can barely breathe. I look over at Ryeson and notice his fly is still open. When I look at Ruby, I see that she’s noticed too. I’m sure she sees the massive erection he has too.

“We came in to grab the trophy, so those Viper fuckers don’t try to steal it,” he says. “Are you guys in here getting wasted?”

I shake my head as Ryeson nods.

“Um…yeah.” I try to play it off. “We can hide the trophy if you guys want to get back to the dance. They should be announcing who the prom queen is soon.” I look toward Ruby. “You don’t want to miss getting your crown, girl.”

Chase nods. “Yeah, come on, babe. We should get back in there.” He practically rushes her out of the room, and I turn to Ryeson ready to finish what we started.

“Fuck, that was too fucking close,” he barks, looking pissed.

“They didn’t see a thing or have a clue. They probably think we snuck booze in here like we did for homecoming. Not a big deal. Now, where were we?” I try to reach for him, but he slaps my hand away.

“No, Baylor. We almost got caught. I knew this was a bad idea.”

The fuck? He’s acting like the room was on fire and we almost died.

“It’s not a big deal, man. They didn’t see anything.” But even if we had gotten caught, so the fuck what? At some point we’re going to have to stop sneaking around and face the world. If people want to judge us, so be it.

“It is a big deal, Baylor.” His anger nearly knocks me back. He’s really pissed. “It’s not just about what our friends think. It’s about our futures. Our college teammates, our coaches, the fucking media. Our parents. No one can find out about us.”

Seriously? He’s acting like his life will be over if people find out he’s gay. Look, I get the fear over telling our parents, and about what our friends who have known us our entire lives will think, but all the strangers out in the world, who gives a fuck what they think? If they can’t accept us, fuck ‘em. So what? Does he think we’re going to live the rest of our lives in secret?

“Look, I understand that you’re afraid, Ryeson. I have the same fears, but we shouldn’t have to live our lives with a cloud of shame hanging over our heads. We didn’t mean to fall in love, but we did. So, if people can’t accept that, accept us, then who the fuck needs them?”

He takes a step back like I’ve just punched him in the chest. His head is shaking and my stomach tightens at the look on his face.

“This isn’t going to work, Baylor.”

The fuck?

“What’s not going to work?”

“Us. We’re not going to work. We’ve been caught up in the sex and it’s been fucking fun, but we’re never going to have a future together.”

But he was just talking about our future at college when we were in the gym.

“Really? You’re going to tell me that this has all just been about the sex?”

Sure, we fuck like rabbits, but we also hang out and laugh and talk for hours at night about life and our goals. We’re so connected on so many levels. The sex and our friendship are intertwined, and now, I’m in love with him.

“We had an arrangement, Baylor.”

“Fuck the arrangement.” That shit got thrown out ages ago. We have a relationship now.

“I’m sorry, Baylor. It’s over.”

He turns and storms from the room, and I stare at the door waiting for him to turn around and come back in. Waiting for him to realize he made a haste decision. He’s going to rush back in and sweep me into his arms, tell me he freaked out for a second. But as the minutes tick by, he never returns. The silence echoes. The pain starts to set in. And reality crashes down. I got too close and now he’s running.

The room becomes blurred, closing in. It feels like I can’t breathe. It feels like I’m dying inside.

I thought he was in this with me. I thought he would fight for us. But he’s gone. It’s over.

And now…I feel like a broken man.