36. Chapter 36

New Year's Eve last night had been amazing, celebrating only with Aspen and sharing our first kiss of the New Year. He had to work, and though the doctors didn't allow me to drink yet, I stayed to ring in the new year with him. After work, we drove home and fooled around until we finally fell asleep. Simply holding him in bed all night, inhaling all things Aspen as he slept in my arms, became my favorite thing.

Now, on New Year's Day, the Sugar Bowl would be on soon, and I was tightly wound live wire. I'd talked on the phone with Ronnie and Bryce earlier, and they assured me they would play their hardest, and they would, but I just wouldn't be there to play with them, and it fucking stung. My body itched with the need to be there for my team. I thrummed with painful energy, which made it nearly suffocating. Only Aspen's presence kept me relatively sane.

No one was to blame for my appendix rupturing. The timing had been awful. But all I could do now was sit and watch my Longhorns win or lose without me. I felt disjointed and incomplete.

Aspen's friends had come over tonight to watch the game as a show of solidarity with me. While they chatted, drank, and laughed as if I wasn't missing out on one of the biggest games of my life, I pouted on the sofa, filled with anxious energy and so much disappointment I could practically taste the depression coming on.

While Aspen stood in front of me, chatting with Mac and Lisa, I tugged him by his hips and pulled him into my lap.

"Whoa, hey there, Superstar." He leaned in, about to kiss me, but stopped, unsure of how much PDA I was willing to do in front of his friends, but I was beyond caring, needing to touch him, to have his lips on mine, to feel… whole. I needed Aspen's strength. So, I leaned in the rest of the way and kissed him.

All our friends knew about us already, but I'd yet to come out to my team and my coach… and the fucking school. I planned to wait until I was fully recovered and back at practice, but Aspen told me I didn't have to hurry. That our families and friends knew was enough for him. It wasn't nearly enough. I wanted to go out on dates with Aspen, and there would be times people would recognize me. No, if I wanted to have a healthy and proper relationship with Aspen, I couldn't hide him. The entire thing was ridiculous, anyway, and I never understood why people gave a shit.

Aspen rested a hand on my face, and I closed my eyes. "I know this is going to be rough for you because you want to be out there with your team so badly. You worked your ass off for this. I'm so sorry that you can't."

I pulled his hand from my face and kissed his palm. "Me, too. It fucking hurts."

Ethan dropped right next to me on the couch, jostling us, handing a drink to Aspen before resting his head on my shoulder. "You two look fucking adorable together."

My face burned as Aspen rolled his eyes, smirking. "Tell me something I don't know," he said.

"Shh! Game's starting," Zayne snapped, sitting on the floor, leaning against the couch as he grabbed Eliza and pulled her onto his lap.

My stomach dipped, pulling Aspen tighter against me like a shield as we watched my boys play against Washington State, the game that would bring us to the championships if we won. The announcers didn't waste time talking about me missing the game, still recovering from surgery, and wondering how it would affect the game today.

As the game went on and the quarters ticked by, I grew increasingly frustrated at my teammates. "Come on! Stop fucking up!" I shouted at the screen. "That's the fucking eleventh penalty, guys!"

My team scrambled on the field. They were definitely off their game, making way too many penalties, two of which were facemasks, one was holding, but most were false starts.

Bryce did his best to sack their quarterback, but their fucking offense was spot on. No one could touch him. Meanwhile, Ronnie had been sacked three times. "Goddammit!" I yelled along with everyone else by the third sack. We were all grumbly.

Despite the Longhorns struggling, they held their own against a team that, unfortunately, just played better and more cohesively.

But at the last thirty seconds in the fourth quarter, we had the ball, and Ronnie found his receiver waiting in the end zone. We all held our collective breaths as he threw the ball downfield at the end zone. If caught, this would put us in a tie and into overtime.

Please, please, please.

Unfortunately, the ball was just out of the receiver's reach, and he missed it before being tackled.

"Fuck!" we all yelled simultaneously.

That was it. Game over. We lost.

I struggled to hold back the tears. I felt stupid for being this upset, but it seemed like I'd let the team down.

"They held their own, baby," Aspen said.

"I know, but maybe we could've won had I been there. Ronnie and I would've played as one together."

Zayne, Ethan, and Mac patted me on the back and offered their condolences as if I were grieving instead of losing a game, but I muttered my thanks.

"You couldn't help getting sick, Superstar. It was completely out of your control. Next year will be your year. I know it. You're going to help take the Longhorns all the way."

I smiled and nuzzled my face into his throat, which had become one of my favorite things to do, as I inhaled him.

"That's the plan."

"We fucking missed you out there," Ronnie said on the other line as I paced the living room after everyone had left. I had called him and my team after the game, not to gripe at them, but to apologize for not being there. He'd put me on speaker so I could talk to the entire team. "But it's not your fault, baby. The timing could have been better." He chuckled on the other end, but I could hear the frustration in his tight voice.

"I miss you all, too. But we're going to kick ass next time. We're going to win the next championship. I won't let you down this time."

"You didn't let us down," Bryce yelled over the phone. "We're going to kick ass next year!"

The yelling and cheering on the other end made me chuckle. Fuck, I loved them. I just hoped they loved me back when they learned I was with Aspen.

A tugging of my shorts and underwear had me looking down wide-eyed at Aspen on his knees before me with a mischievous gleam in his eyes and a crooked smile. He spit in his hand and grabbed my cock at the base, giving a few languid tugs.

"When are you allowed to practice again?" Ronnie asked.

"I… uhm… not for… a while…"

My eyes rolled up into my head when he licked my dick from the base and curled his tongue around my head, swiping a pearly bead of pre-cum.

"You okay, Coop?" Ronnie asked.

"Uh-huh. Great… ah, you all did great… and, I, ah… Shit, right there…"

He snorted on the other end. "You're distracted, and I don't want to know by what. We'll talk later."

I simply dropped the phone onto the floor when Aspen swallowed my entire cock down, nearly reaching the nest of my hair. Fuck, he'd gotten good at this.

Before I could even let a moan out, Aspen turned me around and shoved me, face forward, onto the couch. "Bend over for me, Superstar. It's time to get your hole ready for some fucking… Not today, before you panic. We're just going to get you used to having something in your ass."

"What are you—"

Before I could finish my words, Aspen dribbled lube over my hole and rubbed it in, saturating the area, pulling out a groan from me. "Spread your cheeks for me," he ordered. "You're going to love this, and it shouldn't hurt, but if it does, you let me know."

"Okay." I swallowed, worried about just that, but when something probed my ring of muscle, Aspen slowly slid it in, careful not to hurt me. It wasn't huge, so the only thing I felt was some pressure.

"How does that feel?"

"Fine. Weird."

He snorted a laugh. "Yeah, having something in your ass takes getting used to, but you're going to love this. I bought this prostate massager a few weeks ago and have been dying to use it on you."

Aspen pulled my shorts and underwear all the way off before helping me up and turning me around. He wiggled a little remote control with a devious smile on his face. "Get ready."

"Ready for wha–Holy shit!"

The vibrating pulses hit over and over on my prostate, making my toes curl. The pressure went straight to my nuts and right up my cock. Before I could do anything else, Aspen was on me, swallowing my dick down again. The double stimulation sent waves and waves of arousal throughout my body, tingling my spine and making my groin throb with need.

"Fuckityfuck…"

"You like that, baby?" he asked, stroking me.

"Hell yeah… don't fucking stop."

I fisted my hands in his thick curls and thrust in and out of his mouth. "God, your fucking tongue, baby. Swallow me down… yeah, like that."

He groaned around my cock, sending jolts of vibrations through me combined with the vibrator in my ass, giving me this intense need to come.

And come I did. It came out of nowhere. Explosive as I shot my load down his throat. He fisted my ass in a tight grip, hollowing out his cheeks as he sucked my dick like a fucking straw.

My body shuddered, and my cock pulsed until I had nothing left to give. My knees grew wobbly, and my legs went weak as I fell back onto the couch. The vibrator shoved deeper into my ass, still stimulating me, sending jolts of electricity through my body, making it almost hurt.

"Turn it off! Turn it off!"

Aspen chuckled as he shoved my legs back and gently pulled out the vibrator. He walked back to his room, presumably to wash it, and returned a moment later to find I hadn't moved, with my shorts and underwear still wrapped around my ankles.

"You've slayed me," I mumbled.

"Just wait until my cock is in you."

He slid onto my lap, and I wrapped my arms around him before reaching for his mouth with mine, kissing him for a moment. "I'm looking forward to having you inside me, baby. I want all of you."

We kissed for a moment longer, and I pulled away. "I'm still wrapping my head around us and how much I love you. It's a little weird still, but not awkwardly. Just that I never thought I'd find love with a man. No, not just a man, but my amazing roommate and friend, this crazy, free-spirit who loves life."

Aspen's fingers trailed through my growing scruff. "I love you, too, Superstar."

I shoved him onto his back on the couch and kissed my man over every inch of his body before, ravenous for him, removing his shorts. "Your turn."