by Sean Michael
Vince had to admit Austin seemed easy, happy. Clueless. “Yeah? I’ll have to make sure I get her recipe.”
Their drinks and the guacamole came, and Vince realized he hadn’t even looked at his menu. “I’ll have a burger and fries, and a salad on the side, please. Same for you, Austin?” If they’d been together longer, he’d have ordered for Austin without asking, but he figured with it only being day two maybe he should hold back a little on the taking-charge-of-everything thing he had going.
Austin pondered. “I want a taco instead of fries, I think, but yeah, that spicy ranch.”
“Oh, I’ll have the spicy ranch on my salad as well. Thanks.”
He waited until the waitress had gone and then went back to business. “So how are you set for equipment? I know you have a trampoline, and you can come and use my weights for now. How many pairs of swimming trunks have you got?” There’d be a list of things Austin needed right away and stuff that could wait until they had money coming in.
“The ones I was wearing. I wear cut-offs down to the lake, but they won’t let me at the pool.”
“We’ll need to go shopping, then. Get you a couple pair of trunks and a couple Speedos—you’ll need Speedos to compete. How are you set for towels?”
“Speedos?” Those eyes went wide. “Dude, those things are obscene!”
Vince raised an eyebrow. “You have seen the divers, right? I mean, you have to have picked up the moves from somewhere. Not a one of them wears trunks. You want full aerodynamics. Speedos. Hairless. The whole nine yards.”
One white eyebrow spiked, lips going tight. “My momma’ll swallow her tongue.”
Vince chuckled and shook his head. He hadn’t even considered this might be a problem—it was just something that was done. But then he’d been around divers since he was eight. “Oh, I bet the first time you dive after being waxed, you are going to be addicted to the sensation.”
“Waxed?” That jaw went stubborn. “I don’t think so.”
“Well, you can go with shaving, but that’ll chafe your more sensitive areas, and you’ve got to pretty much do it daily. The waxing’ll last a lot longer. Weeks. Even months until the meets start coming fast and furious.”
“Hush, the waitress is coming.”
Vince snickered, but he didn’t say anything as their salads were put on the table. He went back to the subject after she left. “I could make an appointment for you in Waco on Monday to have the waxing done. I’ll drive you down. Hold your hand through it.”
“Man, I can’t do that! I’d get my ass kicked at work. What if someone found out?” Austin shook his head. “No. We’ll have to find another way.”
Vince frowned. “Are you going to tell them about the diving?”
“Yeah, sure I am. I mean, not that anyone cares, but I am.”
“Well, then, if they razz you about the waxing, tell them it’s for that.” It wasn’t really that big a deal, was it? He started in on his salad, the spicy ranch dressing turning out to have been an excellent choice.
Austin didn’t answer. Instead he dug in. “I need to remember to bring my glucometer with me.”
He let the change of subject go for now. He supposed he could buy a couple of waxing kits, get Austin drunk, and deal with it himself. “You need to. In fact, I should have one too, as backup. You keel over at a meet, and we get into all sorts of questions and investigations and stuff.”
“Okay. Do you know about diabetes and shit?”
“I looked it up yesterday on the internet. Read up on the diet, on control. I know you need to pay attention to the sugars, make sure they stay in a certain range, and you do that by diet and insulin. And if you’re exercising—that’s gonna affect them too, make them lower. They go too low and you pass out. Am I in the ballpark?”
“Pretty much. If I get sick, my sugars get really weird. If I get super bitchy? My sugars are low.”
“Bitchy means ‘feed me.’ Got it.” He smiled and had some more salad. Damn, Austin was fun. He’d missed having someone around to coach, to take care of.
“Once we have enough sponsors, we’ll move into Austin. Or I suppose we could go to Dallas or Houston, if you’d prefer. I figured you’d rather somewhere closer. We’ll get a house, and that’s when the diet and shit really comes into play—when I’ve got full access.”
“A house? But….” Austin looked at him. “That’s a shitload of money.”
“I mean rent, not buy. And I need an office. We each need our own room. Be nice to have a room where you can take off to that isn’t your bedroom, you know? And a workout room—if you factor in a gym membership into the price of the house, it brings it down.”
He finished up his salad and took a nice long swig from his beer. He was starting to feel better, back in control again. It still felt strange, thinking about being back in the thick of things, but Austin was so good, it would be a crime for him not to be competing.
And Vince wanted to be the one to coach the kid. Bring his discovery into that world.
“Things are gonna change for you.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Austin nodded, eyes on the salad.
“You’re going to be a star, Austin. Once the press gets a look at you, we’ll be beating the sponsors off with a stick. Everyone’s going to want a piece of you. Balancing things is going to be important. And, look, I’m used to coaching, used to kind of running my divers’ lives. You let me know if things are moving too fast or losing balance for you.”
“I. Yeah, it’s a little weird, you know? A little unreal. I mean, I feel like Alice in Wonderland.”
“Don’t eat the cake and you’ll be fine,” Vince teased gently. He reached out and gave Austin’s hand a squeeze. “At least you’re not down the rabbit hole on your own.”
“Yeah? Okay. You…. I don’t want you to think I’m stupid. I… Hell.” Austin squeezed his hand back. “I’m sorta having to trust you on a lot, and we met less than a day ago.”
“I know. And I’m sure this whole thing seems kind of like a dream. Look, I’ll make sure I have that contract drawn up to give you to tomorrow. I mean, I know I’m trustworthy and that I’ve got your best interests at heart here, but you’ve got no way of knowing that. This piece of paper should help reassure you that I’m not out to screw you.” He leaned in and looked right at Austin. “I’m not doing this all for you—coaching diving is what I was meant to do, and I’ve been without for three years. You’re my chance to get back into that world, Austin. But the way I do that is by making you the best and making sure you’re equipped to win. So it’s a win-win for both of us.”
“Yeah. You… you’ll show me what I need to do next?”
The food came, Austin falling on it like a plague of locusts.
“I’ll be with you every step of the way, Austin. I promise. We’re in this together.”
Although if he found that the sponsors wouldn’t take a chance on him, he would make sure another coach saw Austin. Oh, he’d fight as hard as he could to be the one to coach the kid, but Austin deserved to be out there regardless.
“Okay. Cool.” Austin was bright and sunny and sexy as fuck.
He smiled back, beaming at Austin. Man, he was going to have to be careful—it would be too easy to fall for the kid. He dug into his own food, trying to concentrate on it, trying not to watch Austin eating his own, trying not to watch as Austin slid that little pink tongue out now and then to lick his lips clean.
“Your burger okay?” Lick, lick. Fuck.
“Yeah. It’s….” He cleared his throat a few times and then took a swig from his beer bottle. “It’s good. Yours?”
“Real good, thanks.” Austin drained his glass of milk and called out to the waitress as she passed by, asking for a refill.
Vince realized he was watching Austin’s long throat as he swallowed, and he sighed at himself. He’d never fallen for one of his divers before. Never. Of course, he usually started out with them when they were young, some of them younger than ten, even;
they were like his own kids. Austin was full-grown.
“So what’s next?” Full-grown and focused and sexy.
“You wanna come back to my place?” The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them, and he quickly added, “To work out. I’ll show you the best exercises to help you develop the muscles you need.”
“Sure, so long as you don’t mind your house smelling like chlorine.”
“Nah, it’ll finally smell right again that way. And you can always take a shower if you like.”
“Cool.” Austin finished his food, then stole a french fry. “Where do you live? Why did you move here? How long have you been here?”
He sat back and finished off his beer.
“I live over on Magnolia Avenue. It’s my cousin’s childhood home. He couldn’t bring himself to sell it, but he lives in Dallas. I keep it lived-in and fixed up in exchange for low rent. And I’ve been here for two years. Spent a year in Austin after I was fired, but it was too rich for my blood after it became clear I wasn’t going to be asked back as a coach anywhere.” He shrugged. “I’ve kind of been doing this and that, picking up odd jobs and living off my savings. I told you I was made to be a diving coach, and that’s the honest truth of it. Without it I’m kind of….” He shrugged. “Lost, I guess.” Oh, that was good, make Austin think he was desperate for this coaching job.
“Man, that bites. So you only coached girls?”
“At the end I was one of the girls’ national team coaches. But I’ve coached boys during my career. I know what I’m doing.” He winked and finished the last of his fries. “You want dessert, Austin? I noticed they had fruit salad on the menu.”
“Nah. I’m full. Go ahead if you want.” Austin drank some more tea. “So is it different? Coaching girls and guys?”
“No, I’m good too.” He waved at the waitress and made a sign for the bill. “Yeah, some. Different centers of gravity, for a start. And they don’t do all the same dives. Men’s diving is the glamour sport of the two, but I think a lot of that is because the US men’s team has had some awesome divers and done really well. People love winners.”
“Everybody does, yeah? No one wants a loser.”
“True enough. Sometimes you need to build a team up, though. Most folks don’t start at the top like you’re going to.”
He checked the bill and left the money on the table, then stood, ready to take Austin home with him. “You need anything from home first? And, hey, if you’d rather go home and sleep so you’re up for your shift tonight, say so.”
“No, I’m cool. I’m good.”
“All right, then, let’s go.”
He put his hand in the small of Austin’s back, guiding him out and over to the truck. When he realized he was enjoying the simple touch a little more than he should have been, he let his hand drop. Looked like he was going to have to have a talk with his libido. It would have been a whole lot easier if Austin had been ugly.
Not to mention that it would have been easier to ignore the bulge in Austin’s pants.
He got them in the truck and back on the road, headed toward his place. Maybe going there wasn’t the brightest idea in the world. On the other hand, they were likely going to be sharing a house, and they needed to be able to work together. Maybe his place was exactly where they needed to be; they needed to talk about this, so it didn’t sit there between them.
He reached for his pack of cigarettes on the dash and put one in his mouth, patting his pockets for his lighter. Austin reached over, lit one up for him. Vince pulled in a long drag and smiled around the butt. “Thanks.”
“Anytime.” Austin settled, humming a little.
“There’s no smoking at the facilities we’ll be using. So we both might want to think about quitting.”
“Yeah? I can do that. I do it out of habit, really. To piss off my doctor.”
Vince laughed. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Yup. As a heart attack.”
Vince cackled, and then he sobered as a thought occurred to him. “You’re going to find something to do to piss me off too, aren’t you?”
“Probably. I tend to do that.”
“As long as it isn’t something that hurts the diving, I suppose I’ll put up with it.” He gave Austin a wink and pulled into the drive of the little two-story house he called home. “Here we are.”
“Cool place.” Austin got out, nodded. “Pretty.”
“Yeah, I got lucky. Robert needed someone to take care of the place.” He let them in, then dumped his keys on the table by the door. “You want the two-cent tour?”
“Yeah, sure.” Austin nodded, looking around.
“Front room and dining room here. Bathroom on the right. Down this hall here’s the kitchen.” He led the way, pointing the rooms out. “The weight room’s upstairs in one of the bedrooms. There’s three altogether.”
The stairs were by the front door, and Austin went up ahead of him. Vince closed his eyes a moment and shook his head. That ass? Looked damned good in jeans. Speedos were gonna look fucking sexy on Austin.
There was a little hole on the inside of Austin’s jeans, the skin peeking through. He licked his lips, curled his fingers into his palms to keep from reaching out and touching Austin. “The weight room’s the one right across from the stairs. Spare room to the left, and my room’s at the end of the hall.”
“Cool.” Austin got to the top. “Where should I start? Spare room? Your room?”
He choked, hands curling harder against his thighs. Jesus. His room was so not a good idea. “Go check them out. I’ll meet you in the weight room.”
“Now, now.” Austin turned suddenly, that cock at mouth level. “That’s not a tour.”
Vince stared for a moment, his own cock jerking in his jeans, hard enough to hurt. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, which only served to fill his nose with the scent of chlorine and musk. “Austin. I….”
“Yeah. I. Shit. Vince.” Austin stepped back, blinking. “Sorry. I.” The kid was hard. Really hard.
Vince stared a moment longer, his breath loud in his own ears as he panted. He finally tore his eyes away from Austin’s cock and stepped up the last stairs. Of course, then he was close to that warmth, and he could see the desire in Austin’s eyes.
“No,” he growled out, voice low and rough. “You don’t have to be sorry. We should talk. About this. So it doesn’t… interfere.”
“I won’t. I mean, I didn’t mean to. You’re such a stud.”
“Me?” He laughed suddenly, leaning against the banister. “You’re the sexy one, Austin. All lean lines and legs that go all the way up to that sweet ass. Shit. I probably shouldn’t have said that. But it’s the truth.”
Austin’s cheeks went bright red. “Thanks. Thanks… I…. Damn.”
“And I’m attracted to you. That’s true too. But I won’t. I never touched that girl, and I don’t push myself on people.”
“Yeah. Okay. I won’t either. I’ll be good.”
Vince nodded. “I don’t want you to be uncomfortable, you know? To feel like you have to do something with me or anything. Because you don’t. I’m your coach. For the diving.”
“I understand. I hear you. For real.” Austin’s cheeks were bright red, almost crimson.
“And if I make you feel uncomfortable, you should… you should find a new coach. I don’t want my libido to screw this up for you, Austin.” Man, he needed to fucking shut up already before Austin broke a blood vessel.
“Okay. I hear you. I’m sorry, okay? I’ve said I’d be quiet, yeah? You want to work out?”
He nodded, feeling like a jerk. “Yeah. Yeah, sure. Across the way there.”
“Cool.” Austin ducked his head, heading into the weight room. “Where do I start?”
“Leg curls.” He followed Austin in, deliberately not watching that ass, and went to the bench press. A few thousand of those and maybe his cock would go down.
Austin went to work, legs pumping, moving,
up down up down. Jesus Christ on a pogo stick, this wasn’t going to work if he couldn’t keep his mind out of the gutter. It might have been easier if Austin had been straight, or if he thought Vince was an ugly old guy.
Okay, enough. He was thirty-four years old, for fuck’s sake. He could control his attraction. He closed his eyes and started his reps, concentrating on counting, on the burn in his muscles. Unsexy stuff. Austin didn’t make a sound, denim rasping, weights creaking away.
He’d love to go over there and pounce on the kid. Maybe if they did it, that would get it out of his system. He snorted at himself. Sure, he had a raging hard-on the likes of which he hadn’t felt in a long time, and all signs pointed to Austin being a virgin. They opened that box, and he didn’t imagine they would be closing it anytime soon.
Okay, those weren’t unsexy thoughts. What he needed was a cold shower.
Every time he looked up, Austin’s eyes were closed, face sheened with sweat. He couldn’t tell if the kid was concentrating on working out or if he was as hot and bothered about all this as Vince himself was. And what was more, he didn’t know what to do about it. It had honestly never come up before with any of the divers he’d been responsible for. Ironic, really, given what he’d been fired for.
They kept working together, weights slapping, the sounds almost in time. And while they worked, the tension in him finally eased. They both wanted the same thing: Austin’s success. He had to focus on that instead of the kid’s ass. He had a feeling that Austin had already come to the same conclusion. Vince supposed hiding the fact he was gay all his life had given Austin excellent tools for this situation.
He put the weights back on the bar and sat up, then picked up one of the smaller weights and starting arm curls. Fate was a stone cold bitch with a wicked sense of irony, giving him his career back and wrapping it all up in a sexy, attractive package.
Vince grunted and focused on his workout.
This was going to work.
It was.
Chapter Four