The Quarterback

by Mackenzie Blair

  “No, like pre-packaged.”

  “Girl Scout Cookies? Ice cream sandwich?” Trevor guessed.

  And then it hit Matt. He was so going to burn in hell for this, but whatever. “A skinny, hairless, pretty boy,” Matt stage-whispered.

  “Twink? Twinkie!” Trevor shouted with glee.

  “Oh my heavens.” Aunt Sally giggled.

  But Matt was having way too much fun to worry about horrifying them. Okay, and maybe he was a bit loopy from the pain meds too. “Ah this is awesome,” Matt said after flipping over the next card. “You’re dating Bodine’s . . .”

  Trevor groaned but replied, “Quarterback.”

  “Time, time, time!” Summer shouted.

  “Six! We got six.” Matt waved their cards around in triumph.

  “Like I was saying,” Aunt Sally replied tartly. “It is totally a reflection of how good your relationship is!”

  Uncle Larry groaned at her joke, then stood up to grab himself another beer. “I think I’m gonna need another one of these to make it through this game. Try not to shout out anything that’ll scar me for life, huh, boys? I’ll never look at a Twinkie the same again.”

  Trevor and Matt dutifully nodded and managed to play the rest of the game completely PG. They tied with Summer and Hope, which Matt considered a victory.

  “Okay, gang, it’s time for bed,” Aunt Sally said a while later. “Matt needs his rest.”

  Everyone trooped off to their respective rooms, so that Matt and Trevor could set up the pullout sofa. Aunt Sally brought them sheets as well as pillows and a warm blanket. She kissed Matt on his cheek.

  “Are you okay, honey?” she asked. “I can’t imagine how awful this has been for you. I just wish your uncle and I had done more, gotten you away from him earlier—”

  “Stop. Don’t beat yourself up.” Matt pulled her into a hug. “He was mean, sure, but last night was the first time he ever really got violent with one of us. And you’ve always been there for us.”

  “And always will be,” Aunt Sally said, getting a little choked up.

  She turned and hugged Trevor next. “You two behave,” she warned, and then headed off.

  Matt and Trevor took turns in the bathroom down the hall, then crawled into bed together. Matt reached out to link his fingers through Trevor’s, drawing him closer so they were lying face to face.

  “Thanks for coming,” Matt said.

  “Thanks for having me,” Trevor replied. “But what do you want to do when we’re back on campus?”

  Matt sighed. “I’m not giving this up. My dad finding out was always one of my biggest fears. Because of how things might go down with my sisters. But they’re safe now. And even if the dean or Coach found out, getting rid of me in the middle of the Championships would just be stupid, right?”

  “Yeah, but what about your team? Your offensive linemen? What if they just let you get sacked and killed?”

  “Killed?” Matt asked with a small laugh.

  “Fine, seriously injured,” Trevor corrected with annoyance.

  “Connor, Damian, and Ryan have my back. I’m sure a lot of the other guys will too.” Matt leaned back on his pillow, rubbing his forehead in frustration. “I guess it’s more about team morale falling apart. We need to be focused, working together.”

  “So this is a problem,” Trevor said quietly. “If people are already wondering . . .”

  Matt stubbornly shook his head. “That could just be O’Donnell being paranoid. Look, we’ll be discreet. Very discreet.” Matt shifted so that he could grab Trevor’s chin and look him in the eyes. “I want to see you. You make me play better, knowing you’re in the stands,” Matt admitted with a small smile.

  “Oh yeah, trying to impress me?” Trevor made a face. “I kinda feel like the head cheerleader.”

  “You have the hair for it,” Matt said. “And the pretty cheekbones and plump lips—”

  “Fuck off,” Trevor snapped, but he didn’t really seem mad. “Behave or no victory sex for you.”

  “No,” Matt groaned. “I need victory sex. And we did win Taboo . . .”

  Trevor shoved away Matt’s roving hand.

  “No way—that is so taboo in your aunt’s house, perv,” Trevor warned and flipped over so his back was to Matt. But now his ass was against Matt’s groin.

  “Not helping, man,” Matt complained.

  Trevor wiggled his ass, torturing Matt, but remained turned away. “You’re so hopped up on pain meds, you’ll be asleep in minutes.”

  “Doubtful,” Matt mumbled, his arm sneaking around Trevor’s waist to pull him close. But, a minute later, he was snoring, out cold.

  Dating the quarterback of Bodine was way more stressful than he’d ever imagined.

  Trevor was actually glad they weren’t openly a couple. He wouldn’t have been able to deal with all the pressure, the scrutiny. It was bad enough that everywhere he went around campus he heard people talking about the Championships. Lancaster’s weaknesses, strengths, his mistakes, his brilliant plays. The opposing team, the stats of the other quarterbacks, the chances of Bodine winning.

  It was enough to make Trevor sick with anxiety. How the hell did Matt handle it?

  But Matt seemed to take it all in stride. Bodine’s first week of the Championships had been a bye, and then they’d easily made it past the second round. The game was held at the other team’s campus in Mississippi, so Trevor had sat in the dorm lounge with Emily and Drew, proudly wearing the horrid orange sweatshirt, cheering until he was hoarse. Matt had called him as soon as he’d made it back to his hotel room. He’d been excited and high on adrenaline. They’d spent two hours talking on the phone before Matt finally crashed out.

  Their next game was at Bodine. Trevor, Emily, and Drew headed out early so they could tailgate, which Emily insisted was the best part of football. But sitting in a concrete parking lot with a few hot dogs was not exactly Trevor’s idea of fun. He just wanted the game to start, because waiting was the worst part.

  Finally, fans started filing into the stadium. They headed to the student section, but luckily Matt had gotten them seats a bit closer to the actual field than the nosebleed area they’d been in last time.

  First quarter passed rather quickly with Bodine scoring a touchdown early on, then their opponent scoring a field goal. Second quarter was way more brutal as Bodine received penalty flag after flag to the booing of the crowd. Trevor had no idea what any of it meant, but those around him were calling foul.

  Then Matt’s pass was intercepted. “Fuck,” Trevor cursed.

  “Honey,” Emily said, leaning in so she could be heard above the crowd. “Any chance you could ease up on my hand?”

  Trevor looked down to see that he was clutching her hand way too tightly. He released it with an apologetic smile. “Sorry.”

  She gave him a wink in forgiveness as Drew arrived back with their refreshments. Emily quickly scooted over so Drew could deal with him. Luckily, his roommate had survived many stressful exam weeks with Trevor and knew exactly what to do.

  Drew handed him red Twizzlers.

  Trevor gratefully took them, then twisted, knotted, and gnawed on them as he watched the rest of the game. It was his coping mechanism. He didn’t breathe normally again until the game was over, with Bodine the winner. By two touchdowns. Despite the crap calls.

  Emily hooked her arm through his as they headed down the bleachers. “What are you going to do when it’s a close game?” she asked. “Right down to the last second?”

  “Xanax?” Trevor said with a shrug, making his friends laugh.

  Two hours later, Trevor headed over to Matt’s dorm. They’d agreed Matt would stay away from Trevor’s dorm since they’d had a few too many run-ins with O’Donnell. And they didn’t exactly want to explain themselves to the guy.

  Matt had left the door to the quad propped ajar, so Trevor didn’t have to linger in the hallway. Luckily, no one really spared him a glance as he headed inside. Everyone else had their
own shit going down with exams and the coming holidays.

  As Trevor stepped into the living area, he could hear Damian and Ryan playing a video game in their bedroom. He called out a greeting, and they shouted back. Then he headed to Matt’s room and found him with bags of ice strategically wrapped to various parts of his body.

  “Shit, what happened?” Trevor asked.

  Matt looked at him in confusion, then smiled. “Oh, this is normal after a game.”

  Trevor leaned over and kissed him, pulling back to say, “This is so not normal. Good call on not going pro.”

  “Thanks,” Matt said with a laugh as Trevor sat down on the bed next to him. Connor was staying at Danielle’s so they had the room to themselves.

  “So what is your dream job after graduation? Got any plans?” Trevor tried to casually ask. They’d never spoken past graduation, and he was realistic. It wasn’t like they were going to run off and get married. But, still, he didn’t want it to end. Okay, well, he wanted some of it to end—like the hiding and sneaking around—but he knew Matt wasn’t ready to go public. Question was: would he ever be?

  “Well, I’m kinda fascinated with water rights, conservation, that sort of thing,” Matt replied, clearly oblivious to Trevor’s deeper question. “We are seriously running out of freshwater in this country.”

  “Great, another thing to worry about along with the zombie apocalypse.”

  “Zombies might actually be good for the environment.” Matt smirked.

  “You gonna say that in job interviews?”

  “If it’ll make them hire me,” Matt shot back.

  “It better, because I’m not gonna be your sugar daddy,” Trevor warned, then wished he could take back the words. He hadn’t meant to push for staying together after graduation, but apparently he was stupidly hoping.

  Matt didn’t seem to mind. Instead, he moved to straddle Trevor’s lap. “But what if I wear a Speedo and clean your . . .” he reached down to grab Trevor’s growing erection through his jeans, “pool.”

  “How original. But I’d rather you just be naked,” Trevor replied and yanked Matt down for a kiss.

  Matt hurriedly undressed, but winced repeatedly in pain. Once naked, he tried to roll Trevor over, but the ice made him yelp. He was pretty damn pathetic.

  Trevor took pity on him. “Relax.” Trevor pushed Matt down on his back. Then he gave his boyfriend one hell of a blowjob and let him pass out afterward without any thought of reciprocation.

  The next morning Trevor awoke to Matt groaning.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “Nothing. Just my shoulder. Did you see that asshole, number seventeen, slam into me?”

  Trevor had, and he’d almost thought for one second Matt might not get up. But he had, and the stands had gone wild, and Trevor decided there was no way he’d ever survive more than one football season watching Matt play.

  “Here, let me help,” Trevor said, pushing Matt over to his stomach and crawling atop him to straddle his ass. He reached over to his desk where Matt kept lotion, and then began to knead his boyfriend’s sore muscles.

  “Oh sweet Jesus,” Matt muttered in appreciation.

  “Yes,” Trevor replied. “You may not know this about me, but I used to work as a masseur.”

  “Really?” Matt mumbled into his pillow. “I had no idea.”

  Trevor smiled and found the knot in Matt’s shoulder muscle and started to work it loose.

  “Oh my god, that’s so good. I love you,” Matt groaned, and then froze.

  Trevor froze too. Okay, that wasn’t exactly a real declaration of love, but still, should he say something?

  Before he could decide, Matt looked over his shoulder. “I do, you know, love you,” he calmly said.

  Trevor caught his breath. Damn, this boy was fearless sometimes. “I love you too,” Trevor found the courage to reply back. The smile Matt bestowed on him made his heart stutter. Fucking stutter. Oh hell, he was a total goner.

  Matt flopped back down. “After we win the semifinals, I want you to top me,” he casually threw out.

  Trevor’s eyes widened. They’d only had anal sex a few more times, and so far, Trevor had stuck to the role of bottom while Matt had been excelling at topping. He hadn’t really thought Matt would want to try bottoming anytime soon. He seemed pretty happy with their current arrangement. So all Trevor could think to stupidly say was, “And if you lose?”

  Matt reached back and slapped Trevor’s ass hard. “Seriously? Did you just jinx me? Now you have to suck my cock to make up for it.”

  Well, that only seemed fair. Trevor rolled Matt over and lowered his boxers, reversing the jinx with all his considerable skill.

  Matt raised his hands in victory, back-slapping his teammates, as their fans shouted from the stands. Matt knew Trevor was up there somewhere, amid the thousands of Bodine students. He wished he could celebrate the moment with him right then. Bodine had made it to the championship game. He’d done it. His team had done it.

  They were one win away from being Division II National Champions.

  “You’re staying at Danielle’s tonight, right?” Matt asked, shouting into Connor’s ear as they headed off the field.

  Connor grinned. “Why? You got something special planned?”

  “Hell yeah, I do,” Matt replied with his own smile.

  The energy in the locker room was ecstatic. Matt made his way toward his locker, pausing for high-fives and bro hugs. Damian had seemed to be right where he’d needed him to be for every pass. Connor had blocked every opponent coming Matt’s way every time he made a run for it. And Ryan had pulled off a brilliant recovery in the third quarter, proving he was one hell of a tight end.

  And O’Donnell had seriously watched his back tonight on the offensive line. Not once did their opponent sack Matt, and not for want of trying. Matt still couldn’t quite wrap his head around O’Donnell being gay. He noticed as he passed O’Donnell’s locker that the guy seemed more exhausted than excited. Siding with the enemy had to be taking its toll on him.

  “Good game, O’Donnell,” Matt said.

  O’Donnell looked up in surprise. “Yeah, thanks, you too.”

  Fischer stalked up to his locker at that moment, but Matt decided not to congratulate him. He hadn’t played a single second. Jamal had taken care of all their extra points after their three touchdowns.

  “We’re getting drunk,” Fischer declared to O’Donnell and a few of the guys nearest him.

  “Sure.” O’Donnell shrugged.

  “But not at fucking Kappa Sig. That frat’s gone fucking homo,” Fischer added in disgust.

  Matt saw O’Donnell tense at Fischer’s words. Then he stood up and grabbed his towel. “Actually, I may just go home and crash,” O’Donnell replied.

  “Seriously?” Fischer snapped. “You’re such a pussy.”

  O’Donnell shrugged. “Maybe I am.” And then he headed off to the showers.

  Fischer stared after him in surprise. Matt tried to hide his smile. He really hoped all of Fischer’s friends would bail on him tonight. Matt had a feeling everyone was getting a bit sick of his bullshit.

  Matt hurried through his own shower and was halfway to the parking lot when he spotted O’Donnell leaning against the wall. He peeled off as Matt walked by, clearly waiting for him.

  “Can I grab a ride?” O’Donnell asked, falling into step beside him.

  “Sure,” Matt said, wondering if O’Donnell had noticed Trevor during the game. It was really none of his fucking business, and Matt didn’t feel like a lecture tonight. But O’Donnell remained silent as they headed to Matt’s car and pulled out of the parking lot.

  When they were out of sight of the stadium, O’Donnell finally said what was on his mind. “So what the hell really happened to you over Thanksgiving? You didn’t fall on ice.”

  “I did,” Matt automatically argued back. He’d gotten used to telling the lie. “I was chopping wood, slipped, fell, no big deal.”

&
nbsp; “Bullshit,” O’Donnell said. “You don’t get bruises in the shape of fists from slipping on ice.”

  “That was from the previous game, man,” Matt stubbornly replied.

  O’Donnell leaned in close. “They would’ve been faded a week later.”

  “You checking me out in the shower?” Matt countered. “Didn’t think I was your type.”

  O’Donnell tilted his head back and looked like he was trying to count to ten to calm down. “I’m trying here, asshole. This is me being all concerned and shit. Were you bashed?”

  “What? Fuck, no. Well, shit, in a way.” Matt sighed. “It was my dad. I told him I was gay.”

  “Damn, I’m sorry. Dads are assholes,” O’Donnell commiserated.

  “Yeah, yours too?”

  O’Donnell shook his head. “Nah, I don’t have a dad. Just my mom and me. But she had a lot of shitty boyfriends.”

  Matt nodded, not really sure what to say. And then he did know. “You need to stay away from Fischer from now on.”

  “I know,” O’Donnell said quietly. “But it worked. The dean and Fischer’s dad talked me up. Scouts are interested. And you’ve gotten us to the Championship.”

  “They would’ve noticed you without the dean or the reverend’s help,” Matt said. “You’ll get drafted.”

  “You don’t know that, man. But I hope so. God, I hope so.”

  A few weeks ago Matt had hated O’Donnell. Now he suddenly wanted everything to work out for him. “So . . . your boyfriend?” Matt asked. He couldn’t help it. He was fucking curious.

  O’Donnell scoffed. “Ain’t gonna happen, man. We’re not fucking sharing and shit.”

  Matt laughed. “Ah come on, man. You just made me share. I told you about my dad.”

  O’Donnell bit back a smile. “Fine, he’s a Navy SEAL.”

  Matt whistled. “That’s hot.”

  This time O’Donnell did laugh. “He wants to stay in the closet just as much as I do. ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ might have been repealed. But special forces . . . Anyway, he plans to reenlist for another tour. I’ll hopefully play for four years, save my money, then we both retire. Open up a bar in Mexico,” he finished with another laugh.