Catching Chance

by M. E. Parker

  A few seconds later, Cam had the puppy cradled in his arms like a baby. Gabe was on his back. His little legs were limp. His pink tongue hung out of his mouth as he relished the belly rub that Cam was bestowing upon him. He smiled up at Andy. “I can’t believe I’m a guncle. What are we naming him?”

  “Gabe,” Andy said quickly.

  Cam furrowed his brow. “I’m not sure Gabe suits him.”

  Jordy said, “I don’t know, he sorta looks like a Gabe.”

  “Umm, I don’t know. Why Gabe?” Ben asked.

  Andy looked at me and smiled. “After Roman Gabriel.”

  I chuckled while Ben asked, “Who’s Roman Gabriel?”

  “Quarterback from NC State, first round draft pick, played for the Rams, voted NFL player of the year in 1969.” Andy winked at me. My stomach swirled. I couldn’t believe he remembered all that. I kept thinking that it wasn’t possible to fall more in love with him, but every day he surprised me.

  “Okay, that’s completely random. But I suppose I could get on board with Gabe,” Ben said.

  “Hear that Gayby? You have a name,” Cam cooed leaning down to kiss the puppy’s head.

  I rolled my eyes. “It’s Gabe, not Gayby. Isn’t our apartment gay enough?”

  Cam looked at me and squinted his eyes. “There’s no such thing as gay enough. How old do you think he is?”

  I smiled at Cam. “Six weeks.”

  He shook his head and smiled for a second before scowling again. “I knew you did this.”

  Andy took the opportunity to tell everyone the story of the hot summer day when we found the lost puppy. He walked over and stood behind me as he finished the story. “I cried that night when I had to give him back to the neighbor, and Chance promised that someday he’d get me a puppy just like him.” He put his arms around my neck and leaned down to kiss me on the cheek.

  Jordy put his hand over his heart. “Oh my god, I think I’m gonna cry.”

  Ben chuckled and shook his head. “Andy, I can one hundred percent say that you’ve won the boyfriend lottery.”

  Cam scrunched up his nose. “I don’t know if I’d go that far, have you smelled his socks?” I laughed as Cam winked at me with a grateful smile. The puppy began to squirm in his arms. He looked down at him with concern. “Do you think he’s hungry. What do we feed him?”

  “There’s some food in the bag,” I said, pointing toward the door.

  Ben went to retrieve it and set it beside Cam as he began to pull the items from the bag and place them on the table. I had bought a tiny red harness and leash, a toy, a dish for water and food, and a small bag of puppy chow. Cam picked up the bag of food and examined it. “Is this even organic?”

  I laughed. “I don’t know. It’s puppy food.”

  “Oh my god, you can’t just feed him anything. We need to consult a vet. He’s just a baby.” Andy ignored him and pulled the bag of food out of his hand and began to fill the dish with food and water. Cam scrunched up his nose. “Where’s the rest of it?”

  “The rest of what?” I asked.

  “His stuff. Where’s all of his stuff?”

  Laughing, I shook my head. “What else does he need?”

  Cam’s face turned red. “I don’t know—clothes. Where are all his clothes? He needs a bed. You got one toy. He needs more toys. Oh my god, he has nothing. Poor baby,” he cooed at Gabe as he ran his fingers across one of the puppy’s floppy ears.

  “Settle down. I figured Andy and I would stop by a pet shop on the way home from camping tomorrow and get him a few toys and anything else he needs. But I wasn’t thinking he needed clothes,” I said, smiling at Cam.

  Cam gasped. “Oh my god, we’re going camping. He needs gear.” We all laughed as Cam looked at us like we were crazy. “What’s so funny? He’s a baby. He needs stuff.” He lifted the puppy to kiss him on the head. “Don’t you, Gayby?”

  I rolled my eyes and Andy smiled as Cam began to give orders. “We need to go shopping. Jordy you drive. I’ll google and Ben can make a list.” He stood and walked over to me, gently handing over the puppy. “Here. You two try to keep him alive while we’re gone.”

  I smiled at Cam as I cuddled with Gabe for the first time. “We need to leave in a couple of hours to meet my parents at Black Bear.”

  “You heard him, we don’t have much time,” he said, clapping his hands, looking back at Jordy and Ben.

  Jordy groaned. “Ugh. Do we have to?”

  “We’re his guncles. It’s our job to make sure he has everything he needs, especially since his dads are completely clueless.”

  Thirty minutes later, Andy and I were lying face to face in bed. Gabe was nestled between us snoozing. We’d managed to clean the kitchen, feed the puppy, and take him for his first walk outside in record time. Andy gently ran his finger back and forth over Gabe’s ear and smiled at me. “I can’t believe you did this.”

  “I made a promise.”

  He shook his head. “I’m surprised you remember that day.”

  I reached up and moved a piece of hair out of his face. “Why?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. I think maybe that day, I wondered for the first time if I was gay.”

  “Really?”

  He grinned. “Yeah, that night, I wondered what it might be like to kiss you.”

  I smiled at him and gently picked up the snoozing puppy and laid him on the other side of Andy. “I’m wondering what it might be like to kiss you right now,” I teased. We made out like teenagers for nearly half an hour before I pulled away from him, breathless. “I don’t know if I can take much more of this, without getting you naked.”

  He chuckled. “We don’t have time. The guys will be back soon and we have to pack.”

  I rolled over on my back and let out a breath. I reached over and grabbed his hand and placed it on the angry erection that was straining against my shorts. “What am I supposed to do about this?” He laughed, sat up, lifted the hem of my shirt, and kissed me just above the waistband of my shorts.

  He looked up at me with red cheeks. “I think you deserve a blow job.”

  “I do?” I asked, smiling down at him.

  He nodded. “You bought me a puppy.”

  I intertwined my fingers through his hair as he pulled my shorts down. “Oh god, could you make me a list of all the things I can buy you that will make me deserve blow jobs?”

  Several hours later, I found myself up at Black Bear, feeling completely relaxed, surrounded by friends and family. After the guys showed up, with so many bags that I wondered whether there was anything left in the pet store, we managed to get packed and drive up to the campsite to meet my parents without being too late. A bunch of us made the hour-long hike up the mountain together. I noticed that Cam and my father were hiking side by side and seemed to be deep in conversation the whole time. I smiled to myself and wondered how many times Cam managed to offend my father on the way.

  I looked around to find my father sitting on a blanket next to Landon, Levi and Lennox’s little brother. They seemed to be deep in conversation. Landon was laughing. It made me smile to see that he was getting along with my father. Cam, my mom, and Jules were sitting on a blanket together drinking wine. Gabe was curled up on Cam’s lap sleeping, wearing a tiny pink camouflaged vest that Cam put on him before we made the hike up the mountain. I wondered what and who the three of them were gossiping about. Everyone else was gathered around Levi who was strumming on a guitar.

  I looked over at Andy. “You wanna take a walk?”

  “Sure,” he said, standing and offering me his hand. As we passed by our mothers and Cam before we left the campsite, he stopped. “We’re going for a walk, do you want us to take Gabe?”

  Cam looked up at us with a frown. “No. He’s sleeping. You can’t wake sleeping babies. Really, I’m going to sign you two up for some parenting classes.”

  Our mothers laughed as we walked away. “Don’t go too far boys,” Jules called out.

  Andy laughed. “I�
��m not sure we should be letting Cam hang out so much with Lizzy and Jules.”

  I shook my head. “I’m not sure we have any say in that.”

  We walked quietly for a while, hand in hand. Andy cleared his throat. “Landon seems cool.”

  “Yeah, he’s a good kid,” I agreed.

  “That was nice of you to throw ball with him. I think he may be crushing pretty hard.”

  I smiled at him. “I don’t think so. I think he knows that I get him, you know?” Andy nodded. “I was thinking maybe I could volunteer to coach at one of his football camps this summer. Maybe if he saw how the kids acted around me, it would help him decide if he’s ready to come out.”

  Andy kissed me on the cheek. “I think that’s a great plan. I’m proud of you, babe.”

  As soon as the river came into sight and we reached our usual spot, Andy stopped walking. I looked over at him. I could tell by the look on his face he was remembering that night. I turned to face him.

  “I won’t let you fall, monkey.”

  He reached up and touched my cheek. “I know. Just freaking out for a second.”

  I guided him to the rock and sat down so that I wasn’t too close to the edge. I extended my hand to him and he took it as he sat down next to me. “You okay?”

  He smiled. “Yeah. Falling off this rock was scary as hell. But I’m glad it happened. We might not be together if it hadn’t.”

  I shook my head. “I’d like to think we would have found each other again, no matter what.” I was starting to feel like we were meant to be together.

  He shrugged. “Maybe. It doesn’t matter. I have too many good memories of this rock to be scared of it.”

  I smiled at him. “Yeah, like what?”

  He shrugged. “My first kiss.”

  “That’s a coincidence. I had my first kiss on this rock too,” I teased.

  Andy grinned. “The best kiss I ever I had.”

  I leaned over and knocked his shoulder with mine. “Me too.”

  He shook his head. “Really? I always figured Kara was a better kisser than me.”

  He meant it as a joke, but I knew that part of him might really believe it. I put my fingers under his chin and turned his head towards me. I shook my head.

  “No,” I said staring into his beautiful green eyes. “It was always you, Andy. I spent years being someone I thought I should be instead of just being me. But the real me, had the best kiss of my life right here on this rock.”

  He smiled and blushed at the same time. “Maybe we could recreate it,” he teased.

  “I don’t hate that idea.”

  He cleared his throat. “Do you want to practice making out with me?”

  I laughed. “No, I just want to make out with you, period.” I leaned down and gently kissed him on the lips. I pulled away. My heart was beating like crazy. My mouth was dry. I’d never felt anything like it. I was so in love with him it hurt.

  “Do you want to get married?” I blurted out.

  His face turned white. “What?” Clearly, he was freaking out. I hadn’t meant to say it. It just slipped out. It was crazy. It was too soon. I could tell he thought I was crazy.

  I stammered. “I mean—I didn’t mean—I mean, I never asked you, is that something you want someday? Marriage, kids, and all that stuff.” I felt my face turn red.

  He smiled at me. I could see relief pour over him. “Yeah, someday. Marriage, kids, and all that stuff. How about you?”

  I smiled back at him. “Yeah. Someday.”

  He nodded. “Someday.”

  “Someday?”

  He laughed. “Yeah, you know, after we graduate and have decent jobs.”

  I grinned at him. “You said we.”

  He shrugged.

  “I’m looking forward to someday,” I told him as I watched his cheeks turn pink. The truth was, if he was up for it, I’d marry him tomorrow.

  He leaned in and kissed me. “Me too.”

  “I love you, monkey.”

  “I love you too,” he said smiling at me.

  Epilogue

  Andy

  My hands shook as I buttoned my jeans. I reached up in my closet and grabbed the green Lions hoodie Chance had given me from the shelf. I was nervous. I couldn’t understand why Chance wasn’t. When he kissed me goodbye to leave for the stadium, it was like it was just another day for him. It wasn’t just another day for him. It was the last college football game he’d ever play. It was UNC. I wanted him to do well. I wanted him to do better than well; I wanted him to win.

  I couldn’t believe it had been a year since Chance and I had gotten together. Time had flown by. But at the same time, it felt like we’d been together forever. In a way, we had. We had a few years apart, but Chance had been a part of my life forever. He felt like a part of me. I was so much in love with him that there were times when I felt like I couldn’t breathe when we were apart. I must have been experiencing one of those times as I pulled my hoodie over my head, because I felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest.

  I reached down to grab my black converse and carried them over to the bed, where I sat down, intending put them on. Instead, I let them fall from my hands to the floor and fell back on the bed to stare up at the ceiling. Cam’s voice startled me as he burst through my door.

  “Do you have Gayby? What are you doing?”

  Ignoring the second question, I answered the first. “No. I thought he was with you. Gabe,” I called. He appeared a second later from the bathroom, looking guilty, with a small piece of toilet paper hanging from this mouth. “Gabe! What did you do?” I jumped up from the bed and went to the bathroom to find that he had managed to unwind an entire roll of toilet paper. The floor was covered in it. “Gabe. No. Bad dog!” I said sternly, as he looked up at me with sad eyes, immediately making me feel guilty for snapping at him.

  “Andy, don’t call him bad. You’ll give him a complex,” Cam complained as he scooped him up in his arms. “You’re not bad Gayby, you’re good. You’re so good.”

  I looked back at Cam in frustration. “That’s easy for you to say. You don’t have to clean this up.” I bent over to start cleaning up the mess.

  Cam put his hand on my shoulder. “Andy. Stop. I’ll get it. You take him.”

  I looked back at him skeptically. “Who are you and what have you done with Cam?”

  He rolled his eyes. “Clearly you’re stressed. Take Gayby and go sit down. I’ve got this.”

  I let out a sigh and stood. “Come here, Gabe,” I said, as I gently took him from Cam’s arms. I went back to the bed and sat on the edge before falling backward to stare up at the ceiling again.

  “I’m sorry I snapped at you,” I said, as I scratched Gabe between the ears. “You aren’t bad. But you are mischievous. Uncle Cam has bought you hundreds of toys. You’re not allowed to play with the toilet paper.” Gabe looked up at me with his big brown puppy eyes, let out a little whimper, and laid his head on my chest. I couldn’t help but chuckle. I could swear the little guy understood every word I said. “I know you’re sorry.”

  Cam appeared from the bathroom carrying a waste basket full of toilet paper. He dropped it on the floor, sat down next to me, and fell back on the bed. “You know, he’s actually pretty clever. How many other puppies could figure out how to unroll an entire roll of toilet paper?”

  I laughed. “I don’t know. All of them?”

  Cam shook his head. “Nope. Just Gayby. He’s a baby genius.” He reached over and scratched Gabe’s belly. “What’s wrong with you anyway?”

  I let out a breath. “I don’t know. I guess I’m nervous for Chance. It’s his last game. I want him to win.”

  “I’m assuming he will. His pass completion average is nearly seventy percent this season.”

  I burst out laughing and looked at Cam. “You have no idea what that is, do you?”

  He smiled. “No. But Ben seems to think it’s important, so I can only assume that it’s impressive.”

  I r
eached over and patted him on the leg. He looked over at me. “So, tell me what’s really wrong. You’ve been weird since yesterday morning.”

  I cleared my throat. “Sam’s closing the bakery at the end of the school year. He and his wife are moving to Florida. He’s looking for a buyer right now.”

  “Well, you have plenty of time to find another job. It’s not like you get paid all that well. And you have to wake up at god-awful hours. Maybe this is a blessing.”

  I shook my head. “But I’m really loving my pastry classes. Maybe it’s stupid, but I knew Sam was planning to retire soon and I was hoping that I could manage the place for a while and eventually figure out a way to buy it. But he needs to sell now. It’s the only way he can afford to retire.” I shrugged, realizing for the first time how bummed I felt about losing my job. “It’s the only bakery in town and moving isn’t an option. Chance has another year left. I guess I’ll check around with a couple of restaurants or maybe the hotel.”

  Cam rolled over on his side. “You’ll figure something out. We’ll help you. I’ve heard through the grapevine that some famous restaurateur is opening up something in Gilcrest. Maybe they’ll need a pastry chef. Or you could just start baking from home. My god, with Chance’s social media following you could probably stay busy twenty-four seven. We’ll figure something out.”

  People sometimes wondered why I loved Cam. One of the reasons, among many, was that he had some magical ability to make me feel hopeful. “God, you’re right. I’ve never thought of that.”

  “Okay. Now that’s settled, can we please talk about what you’re wearing. Because, no. Just, no.”

  I laughed. “This is what I always wear to the games.”

  “Yes, but you’re sitting in the good seats today. With the family and girlfriends. The girlfriends always dress up. They don’t wear hoodies.” I was sitting in the good seats. Chance had been trying to get me to sit in the friends and family section all season, but I’d refused. I didn’t like the attention, but most of all, I wanted to sit with the guys in the student section. When he showed up last week with tickets on the front row at the fifty-yard line for all four of us, there was no way to say no. But honestly, I would have preferred to sit in the student section.