by Teegan Loy
The day of the funeral, the weather was hot and humid and made wearing a suit almost intolerable. I stood outside the church, waiting for Ashley and Mama to show. Mama had insisted I go over early to make sure things were ready. I figured she wanted me out of her hair.
People paraded by me, nodding or pausing for introductions. When Mama and Ashley finally showed, Gavin strolled over to the car and opened the door, offering his hand to Mama and then aiding Ashley. He escorted them into the church, something I probably should’ve done. I kept waiting for Ashley to push him away, but she never did, and I was sort of happy to see a familiar face.
The funeral was a blur of people speaking, music, and choked back tears. I desperately wanted to get out of the confines of the church and away from all the stares.
When the service ended and most people had gone home, Gavin snuck up behind Ashley and nuzzled her neck.
“Can you leave yet?” he asked.
“Could you quit mauling my sister,” I grumbled.
“What? Oh, sorry,” Gavin said sheepishly.
He released Ashley, and she glared at me.
“So, do you think you can leave?” Gavin asked her again.
She sighed and leaned against him. He gently placed his hand around her waist. It was subtle but looked so intimate it made me feel like an intruder. My face flushed, and I had to turn away from them.
I scanned the few people who remained, mingling in small groups. Movement caught my eye and I spotted a tall, lanky guy quickly approaching us. The sun had disappeared for a few minutes but suddenly broke through the clouds again, filtering through the trees and hitting his messy golden-brown hair and stealing my breath away. As he moved closer, intense hazel eyes stared back at me, making my stomach swoop. He wiped sweat from his brow and a crooked grin spread across his face.
“Hi,” he said casually when he was within a few steps of me. “I’m Skye Olsen. You must be the new guy in town.” He extended his hand and I managed to grasp hold. “Sorry for your loss.”
“Thanks. I’m Tyler Rask.”
“I heard you play football,” he said.
“Jeez, what the fuck? Does everyone in this town know my business?”
“Yeah, pretty much.” He chuckled. “V said you’re trying out for the team.”
“V?”
“Gavin.”
“Oh, right. Ashley refuses to call him by his nickname. I haven’t really figured out what I’m doing,” I muttered, finally deciding it was safe to look at him.
He snorted and quirked an eyebrow at me. “If you’re half as good as they’re saying . . . well, shit . . . we need you . . . I fucking need you. Our current quarterback can’t find an open receiver to save his life.”
“Why, specifically, do you need me?” I asked.
“Number one wide receiver for the team,” he said, smiling at me.
My gaze went straight to his red lips wet with saliva. It was hard not to stare at him. He was a good-looking guy. I’d always admired the male form as much as the female body once puberty had hit, but it still shook me when I drooled over a guy.
Someone placed a hand on my shoulder and I almost jumped out of my skin. “I see you’ve met Skye,” Gavin said.
“He’s been bragging about his football skills.”
Gavin stepped around me and punched Skye in the arm.
“Hey! I’m just trying to convince blondie that he’s needed on our football team. He seems a little undecided,” Skye said as he placed his hand on my shoulder.
Gavin frowned. “No one is undecided. I’ll be dragging his ass to the first day of practice.”
“We still hitting the gym tomorrow?” Skye asked.
“Ah, brilliant idea.” Gavin turned to me. “I’m gonna pick you and Skye up tomorrow morning around nine o’clock. You can dazzle us with your physical abilities.”
Telling them all to fuck off crossed my mind, but Ashley came up behind me and whispered in my ear that it was time to go. I squirmed out of Skye’s grasp and followed Ashley toward the car, almost happy to go with her.
I climbed into the backseat, squeezed my eyes shut, and tried desperately to clear my mind of everything. Of course, Skye’s hazel eyes invaded my thoughts and wrecked everything.
Chapter Three
When I was safely hidden in my room, tucked away for a night’s sleep, my mind wandered to my Texas girlfriend. It was easy to remember how her lips had looked stretched wide around my dick. I thought about her perky tits and the squeals falling from her mouth when I flicked her nipples. I jerked off and finally exhausted myself physically and emotionally, dropping off into a dreamless sleep until someone kicked my bed and ruined a perfectly nice evening.
“Hey, blondie,” someone whispered.
“Ash, get out of my room,” I grumbled and rolled over, pulling the blankets over my head.
“Come on, blondie. Rise and shine.”
I growled and wondered why Ashley’s voice sounded low and gravelly.
“Fuck off.”
Suddenly my blanket was removed from my head, and warm breath tickled my ear, making all the little hairs on the back of my neck stand up. “It’s not Ashley, sweetheart.”
My eyes popped open when I realized it definitely wasn’t my sister.
“Jesus, fuck,” I yelled, grabbing the blankets and pulling them up to my chin as piercing hazel eyes met my gaze. Fucking Skye Olsen was hovering above me, grinning like a lunatic.
“Relax. It looks like you forgot about going to the gym this morning.” Skye sat on the bed, still smiling.
“What? Oh shit, the gym.” I yawned, inhaling a wonderful fresh scent that made my dick twitch.
He tried to pull my blankets off again, but I kept my grip firmly locked on them.
“Where’s Gavin?”
“Accosting your sister, so that left me to get you out of bed.”
I rolled to my stomach and he slapped my ass, which did nothing to weaken my morning wood.
“Asshole,” I grumbled. “I’m moving.”
“Wow,” Skye said.
I immediately made sure I was still covered and my dick wasn’t hanging out, but Skye wasn’t looking at me. He was checking out my room, and when he spotted my guitar, he caressed the neck.
“Do you play?” he asked.
I cleared my throat. “Yeah.”
“Any good?”
“Good enough.”
“Would you play for me sometime?”
He stared at me, and it felt like he was trying to break into my head and reveal all my secrets.
“Yeah, sure,” I said, shying away from his gaze. “Make yourself at home. I’m going to get dressed so we can get moving.”
I wrapped the sheet around my waist, scurried to the bathroom, and slammed the door.
“Get it together.”
I ran my fingers through my unruly hair, quickly brushed my teeth, and pulled on a pair of shorts, T-shirt, and a baseball hat. A good workout would help straighten out my head.
“What the hell are you doing in there, Tyler? You better not be jacking off. It’s time to go,” Skye shouted.
I threw open the door. “I thought I should put some clothes on so I wouldn’t scare you.”
“Good luck with that,” he said in a low voice that resonated down my spine.
I shuddered and bolted up the stairs with Skye close behind. Gavin was waiting for us by the front door with a dopey grin on his face. Ashley was nowhere to be found. Gavin’s smile made me wonder what my sister did to put it there.
“What the hell is wrong with you, V?” Skye asked.
“Huh?” he grunted. “Oh, hey, let’s hit the gym.”
“Christ.” Skye punched Gavin in the gut. “Let’s go.”
I thought about grilling Ashley when I got home, but asking could bring answers I didn’t want to hear. It was probably better for me to pretend nothing was out of the ordinary.
Gavin headed toward his truck, but Skye cut me off and motioned for m
e to get into his car.
“I thought we were riding together?”
“I might have to leave early,” Gavin said as he slammed his door.
Skye winked at me. “That’s V-speak for ‘I’m leaving early because I want to do unspeakable things to your sister.’”
I groaned and climbed into Skye’s car.
He patted my shoulder. “Gavin’s a good guy.”
I sighed and wished he would quit touching me. It was almost as bad as thinking about Gavin with my sister.
Music blasted through the speakers the moment Skye started his car. I recognized the tune immediately. Our crazy neighbor in Texas had seen Rod Stewart nineteen times in concert and loved to crank his music.
“Nice choice.”
“I like the classics.”
I relaxed into the eclectic mix of songs filling his car.
“Do you play an instrument?” I asked.
“I’m a pretty good piano player.”
“Your hands look suited for the piano.”
He eyed me curiously and held his hands up, wiggling his fingers.
“Er, long fingers. Good for keyboarding,” I muttered and dropped my head down so my hair fell over my eyes. I needed to stop noticing things like that. It was just fucking creepy.
“Good for catching balls too,” Skye said.
My eyes widened. “Balls?”
“You know, footballs.” He chuckled, and I felt my cheeks heat. “Here we are.”
Gavin banged on the window, startling us, but thankfully saved me from saying anything else.
“Holy shit,” I muttered as I climbed out of the car. Skye was going to think I was a complete weirdo.
“C’mon, let’s hit it,” Skye said as he jogged across the parking lot.
They took me on a short tour and introduced me to a few of the assistant coaches who were on hand to open the gym.
Middleton Lake High had a decent weight room. I grumbled when Gavin actually whipped out a workout schedule, detailing all the lifts and reps we would do today. Skye leaned over and told me to ignore the big guy.
“He can get a little obsessed, and we’re not required to follow his insanity.”
We spent the next hour lifting weights and getting to know each other. Gavin was incredibly strong and quite fast for someone so big. He must be a decent linesman. He’d probably do a good job protecting me in the pocket. Last year I had to do a lot of scrambling because our offensive line wasn’t quite up to par. It would be nice to be on a team where I had some time for the plays to develop.
In between all the lifting, Skye seemed to be everywhere. He bumped into me, skimmed his hand across my biceps, or touched my thigh. The actions were brief, and eventually I told myself my imagination was running wild. Gavin didn’t seem to notice anything strange about Skye.
Gavin was also funny and got off giving Skye shit. It made time go quickly, and the workout didn’t seem quite so hard. Maybe playing football for Middleton Lake High wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
Weights clanged to the ground as we completed another round of reps.
“I have to split,” Gavin said. “You guys should go toss the ball around. See if there’s any chemistry.”
“Good idea. I’d like to see what that arm of yours is really like,” Skye said. He flexed his biceps and I stared at the lines of his well-defined muscles.
“What the fuck?” I mumbled. I needed a break from his arms and all his other muscles. Maybe there was something in the water that was making me crazy. Skye tugged on my sleeve, and I had no choice but to follow him outside.
He opened a gate and the football field spread out before us. It was a normal field equipped with goal posts, white yard lines, a scoreboard, and metal bleachers.
“Something wrong, Ty? You look a little nervous.”
“Not a chance,” I teased. “I promise I won’t throw the ball too hard. Wouldn’t want to hurt the pianist’s hands.”
“Don’t worry about my fucking hands, you dick.” He dug a football from his bag and shoved it into my gut. We ran onto the field and I started tossing the ball to him. Soon he was running some simple patterns and I was launching balls all over the field. The guy was fast, and I had to admit, he had really good hands.
After a bit, Skye caught one of my passes and came barreling down the field, heading right at me. I couldn’t back down from a challenge, so I steeled myself to tackle him or crash to my ass.
He tried to sidestep me and deke me out, but I didn’t fall for his fancy moves. I wrapped my arms around him and proceeded to bring him to the hard ground.
“Ha, fuck you, Skye.” I rolled off him.
He grabbed me, straddled my waist, and pinned my arms to the ground. Sweat dripped down his neck and his eyes sparkled. He laughed and sat up, pressing down on my hips. I couldn’t help but stare at his flushed skin and bright hazel eyes.
“Goddamn, Ty, they weren’t lying when they said you were fucking good.”
He stilled, and everything around us got incredibly quiet. He stared and a flash of heat ran through my body. I was losing myself in the pools of his eyes, and the weight of his body on mine was disturbingly pleasant.
Someone coughed, breaking the spell of whatever the hell was going on. Skye lightly slapped my cheek, laughing loudly.
“I was just trying to teach the new guy a lesson,” Skye said to Gavin.
“I saw him tackle you. He has moves.” Gavin chuckled, shoved Skye off me, and pulled me to my feet. “That was a brilliant tackle. Not many people can wrap this boy up in the open field.”
“Pfft, he’s not so great,” I said.
Skye snorted and quickly popped to his feet.
“What are you doing back here?” Skye asked.
“Ashley’s with the volleyball team, so I thought I’d come hang with you losers. I promised Ty the grand tour of Middleton Lake after you both shower.”
“What the hell? I don’t have anything better to do,” Skye said as he casually laid his arm over my shoulders. I ignored the hot trail of fire raging down my spine by telling myself it was the stress of the workout. Maybe I’d tweaked a muscle lifting weights or from all the balls I’d thrown. It had been a couple weeks since I’d seriously worked out.
We walked back to the school, and all the while, Skye stayed glued to my side. I was oddly comfortable. Since I didn’t have any clean clothes with me, Gavin decided to drive me home, telling Skye to meet us at my place when he was done showering.
I crawled into Gavin’s truck and figured it was time to play the big brother. I was four minutes older than her. Ashley could handle herself, but I needed Gavin to know that I had her back.
“So, do I need to give you a beatdown for fucking around with my sister?”
“Naw, she’s a sweet girl. I promise I’ll treat her right. She’s gonna be the one who breaks my heart.”
That definitely wasn’t the answer I was expecting. I’d never heard Ash described as sweet. We pulled into the driveway of my new home, and it suddenly hit me that we weren’t going back to Texas.
I closed my eyes and let the reality of the situation sink in.
“Time’s wasting, and you fucking stink,” Gavin said.
We scuffled as he pulled me out of his truck. When I manage to squirm loose, we raced into the house.
“Make yourself at home.” I tossed him the TV remote. He settled on the couch and started flipping channels.
After I cleaned up, I thought about asking Gavin some questions about Skye. Instead I settled on discussing football and Middleton Lake High. Gavin talked about the team and then launched into the inner workings of the school. I was able to find out that Skye was dating some chick named Brooke. It was an on and off relationship. Gavin made it sound like it should always be off.
I couldn’t decide if I was relieved or jealous. I decided to settle on neither. I didn’t give a shit who Skye was banging.
“Did I hear my name?” Skye asked as he strolled down the stairs.
“Just filling Ty in about Brooke and the rest of the school.”
Skye sneered. “You gossip like an old lady.”
“Fuck off,” Gavin yelled and chased Skye around the room and up the stairs.
I laughed and followed my new friends for a drive around town. It really did only take twenty minutes.
Chapter Four
Official football practice began a few days later. During the first week, we did nothing but conditioning drills. Gavin complained continually about the running portion but barked at everyone during weight training to work harder.
The guys all seemed decent and very happy to welcome me to the team. A week before school was due to start, the kids of Middleton Lake decided to have a big blowout down by the lake. Between Gavin and Skye, I was pretty sure I’d met almost every kid in town and the surrounding area. It didn’t hurt that I was the new starting quarterback on the football team.
The two guys I’d competed against for the spot were fair, but they didn’t put up much of a fight. Henry Nelson actually sighed with relief when he was relegated to second string. Sitting on the bench wasn’t part of the game plan for me. I needed an active role in winning or losing.
Ashley had also secured her role as starting outside hitter on the volleyball team, so she was happy too. Gavin seemed a little too pleased when Ashley came bouncing down the stairs to show off the booty shorts the volleyball team wore.
“Could you at least quit drooling until I’m not in the room,” I said. “She is my fucking sister.”
“Oh, Tyler, lighten up,” Ashley said as she flipped her hair in my face. “The only thing different from my last uniform is the color and logo.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t have to witness this up close and personal,” I said as she plopped down on Gavin’s lap. I swore he squealed with delight. It wasn’t healthy to think about one’s twin sister and what might be happening to the guy whose lap she was sitting on.
