by Chris Scully
“What are you talking about?”
“Nothing. Never mind. Just don’t forget this, okay?”
After a few more minutes, he raised his head. “My mom’s working the night shift tonight. Want to come over?”
In football there’s a type of move called the draw play, in which the opposition is tricked into advancing on the quarterback as though he was going to pass, when in reality he has already handed the ball off to his running back. I hesitated, not knowing quite how to set this one up yet, but if I could get Jake to go home then maybe I could at least keep him out of danger and divert the attention to myself. I still couldn’t escape the feeling that something bad was going to happen.
“I’d like that,” I said.
Jake’s teeth flashed in the shadows as he grinned. “Great. I just have to go tell Becca.”
“Tell me what?” Both of us jumped at the sound of another voice nearby. A shadowy figure stepped forward into the moonlight spilling in through the window.
“Becca! What are you doing here?” Jake stepped away from me, and I immediately felt the loss.
“Well, I had to make sure he wasn’t going to beat you up or something.” She crossed her arms over her chest and looked me up and down. I liked this girl. “That was really something. A little too Pretty in Pink but definitely romantic.” She shrugged. “I don’t mind leaving now if you want to go. This party’s pretty lame, anyway.”
Jake held my hand as I walked them to the exit. When we got to the door, I pulled him back. “I should go talk to Trish first. Why don’t you take Becca home, and then I’ll meet you at your place.” A frown crossed his face, and for a minute I thought he was going to argue but he relented.
“Promise,” he demanded.
I nodded. A surge of panic crested in my chest at the thought I might never see him again. “I’ll find you. It may take me a while, but I’m definitely going to find you.”
“You’re crazy, you know that?” Jake cupped my face and raised himself on his toes so we were almost eye to eye. “You make me feel safe,” he whispered. “That’s why I wanted you. Because when I’m with you I’m not afraid or worried about anything.” He gave me a quick peck on the cheek and then stepped with Becca out into the night. I watched them go until I couldn’t see them anymore then turned around to go back to the gym. Halfway down the hallway I found my way blocked by Brad, George Kotsopolous, and Billy Waylans. They made an impressive wall of defense.
“Aw, shucks, wasn’t that sweet.” Brad made obnoxious kissing sounds. He cracked his knuckles.
Despite my size, I wasn’t a fighter. I’d only ever hit two people in my life, one of them my father, but I’d learned to be quick. I had to be to survive. So I managed to land a solid blow to Brad’s already swollen nose and a knee to Billy’s balls before my arms were roughly grabbed from behind by George and pinned behind my back. My shoulders felt like they were being ripped from their sockets, and I couldn’t hold back a cry of pain.
“Not so brave now, eh, homo?” Brad breathed in my face. Blood trickled from his re-injured nose. I glared at him, defiant.
The first punch got me in the stomach. I barely had enough time to catch my breath before Brad’s massive fist connected with my jaw. My ears rang, and I sagged against my captor.
I could take this; for both of us, I needed to take this.
As if underwater, I heard the muddled sound of alarm bells going off just before the final hit to the side of my head. I barely registered the release of my arms before I fell to the floor and everything went dark.
THE throbbing in my head told me I was still alive. Surely if I were dead it wouldn’t hurt so much. I could feel the cold floor beneath my back, but my head was pillowed on something soft and warm. Gentle fingers stroked my forehead. With a groan, I forced my eyes open and willed them to focus. A concerned face loomed over me, and I blinked in surprise. “Hi.”
The man in whose lap I lay smiled, and I knew immediately that I was back in my own time. “Hey. Seems we’ve been here before. I didn’t realize this hallway was so dangerous.”
“You have no idea.”
“Lucky for you I happen to keep saving you.”
His hair was longer and age had softened his features, filled out the narrow face. I never would have recognized him on the street, but on closer inspection, I could see in the square chin and dark, unmistakable eyes the boy I once knew. I had to swallow repeatedly to hold back the tears. He was still there, only different. “Wow, you turned out good,” I thought.
“Gee, thanks, I think. You’re not so bad yourself.”
“Oh God,” I groaned with embarrassment, “Did I say that out loud?”
He bit his lip in a gesture so familiar my heart skipped a beat. “Afraid so.”
“Are you real?” I asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.
“Last time I checked. Do you want to pinch me?” he asked with a laugh. I struggled to sit up, but Jake put a firm hand on my shoulder and held me down. “Don’t try to move. I don’t think you have a concussion but you should rest for a minute. Doctor’s orders.”
Perfectly content to stay forever with my head in his lap if that was what he wanted, I gave in and relaxed. “Do you treat all your patients like this?” I asked as his fingers continued to caress my brow.
“Not that kind of a doctor anymore. I do research now.” Jake grinned. “Turns out I liked the science better than I liked the patients.”
“Hey, you had your teeth fixed.”
He raised an eyebrow. “After twenty years that’s what you remember?”
“I used to love that gap. It made you a little less perfect.”
“Nobody’s perfect, Eric.”
With a sigh I sat up slowly and leaned back against the lockers next to him. Our shoulders touched, and I could feel the heat of him through my jacket. It felt good—better than good. “Are you here alone?” he asked hesitantly.
“Yeah. You?”
“No.” My heart stopped for a minute. Then Jake smiled and gave me a playful nudge with his shoulder. “I came with Becca Lister. She’s still my faithful fag hag.”
Oh, please let him be single. Surely the universe wouldn’t be such a bitch. “So you’re….?”
“Unattached.” He looked right at me when he said it, so there was no mistaking the meaning behind the words. I wanted to leap to my feet and give a fist pump but that would probably have been very immature. Jake turned away and stared down at his hands. His long fingers smoothed the creases of his charcoal trousers. “You never tried to find me,” he said softly. He sounded a little hurt. “I know you said it could take a while, but I got tired of waiting. So here I am.”
So it had really happened, then. Amazing. I tilted my head back against the lockers and gazed up at the flickering fluorescent lights. “I don’t really remember much about that night….”
“Becca forgot her sweater, so we came back.” Jake took a shaky breath. “I saw you… I pulled the fire alarm, and in the panic they stopped and dropped you. You knew, didn’t you? Somehow you knew and tried to protect me. After that night… your parents wouldn’t let me see you in the hospital. And then I had to leave for school and when I came back at Christmas no one knew where you had gone. It was like you disappeared.”
How could I explain to him without sounding crazy that none of this had happened the first time around? But none of it mattered anymore, because Jake was right here, right now, and looking at me like I was the most important person in the world. The weight on my chest eased and began to dissolve.
“Where’s Coach?” I asked suddenly.
“Coach Carter?”
“Yeah, he was right here talking to me before….” I trailed off before Jake started thinking I was a complete lunatic; probably not a good way to begin a relationship.
“Eric, Coach Carter died five years ago.”
“That’s impossible.” Drawing my legs up to my chest, I rested my head, which had started to swim, on my knee
s. Jake stroked the back of my neck.
“You okay?”
“Yeah. I’m… I’m great, actually,” I said, feeling the smile stretch across my face. For once it was actually true. Suddenly I heard the faint opening chords of a familiar song. At first I thought I imagined it, until I saw the blush on Jake’s cheeks. “Is that what I think it is?”
Jake rose to his feet and held out his hand. “I think they’re playing our song.”
I sent up a prayer of thanks to fate, fortune—whatever mysterious power had granted me this second chance—and allowed Jake to haul me up. I stumbled against him and felt how much he had filled out. He had muscles in all the right places. “You grew up,” I commented. He stuck his tongue out playfully because he still only came up to my chin.
Jake moved to put his arms around me, but I stepped away. “This time we do it right,” I said at his questioning look. Not releasing his hand, I led him into the gymnasium and right out into the middle of the dance floor. Only then did I take him in my arms. He came without hesitation, and we fit as perfectly as I remembered. Over Jake’s shoulder I saw Rebecca, older, of course, but looking fresh and pretty without all that goop on her face, give me a thumbs-up sign.
“Next time don’t take so long to find me, okay?”
Looking down into those piercing black eyes, I knew we had so much still to learn about each other, but all of that could wait. We had the rest of our lives. My heart beat faster. For the first time in ages, I was eager for the future—scared, but definitely excited too. As long as Jake was beside me, there was nothing else I wanted or needed. “No next times,” I said. “This game is definitely over.”
I smiled against the top of his head. Touchdown.
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About the Author
CHRIS SCULLY is a die-hard romantic, a lover of good books, hot men, and eighties music. She discovered M/M romance far too many years ago and immediately became an avid reader. Now, trapped in a minuscule cubicle for eight hours a day, this IT professional loves to indulge in the (not so) occasional daydream—and finally gets the chance to commit some of them to paper.
Chris would love to hear from readers at [email protected].
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Copyright
Fourth and Long ©Copyright Chris Scully, 2012
Published by
Dreamspinner Press
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cover Art by Catt Ford
This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of International Copyright Law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. This eBook cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this eBook can be shared or reproduced without the express permission of the Publisher. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press at: 4760 Preston Road, Suite 244-149, Frisco, TX 75034 http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/
Released in the United States of America
June 2012
eBook Edition
eBook ISBN: 978-1-61372-630-3