Tayrym blurb:
Tayrym has dreamed of becoming a Galactic Defender since meeting the infamous Bryce when he was just a boy. Finally an adult and awaiting the day cycle he is set to leave for training, Tayrym learns his long-time crush shares his affections. Now, he’s unsure whether he wants to leave, which dream matters more.
With the threat of being sent away for his sexuality haunting him, Guri keeps his feelings for his former classmate to himself. Even with a new progressive ruler on Hemera, he still hides his attraction to the young man. But when he catches the other shadowing him, Guri decides to take a chance. The only problem is, the man of his desire is leaving the planet soon. Possibly forever.
With obstacle after obstacle in their path, will Tayrym and Guri ever have a chance to be happy together? Or are they destined to fulfill their dreams light years apart?
Tayrym (Galactic Defenders book 4)
Copyright 2018 Jessica E Subject
Published by Jessica E. Subject
Cover Art by Fantasia Frog Designs
ISBN: 978-1-988428-10-9
Edited by Kate Richards of Wizards in Publishing
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
TAYRYM
Galactic Defenders book four
By
Jessica E. Subject
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Thank you from Author
Bibliography
About the Author
Chapter One
Tayrym groaned at the sudden burst of light in his face. He put his arm over his eyes before turning over in bed.
“Oh no, you don’t. It’s time to get up.”
What was his best friend, Gwenodyn, doing in his room? “Go away.”
“No.” She yanked the blankets off him.
In a panic, he grabbed one of them back and covered his waist, not remembering if he’d worn anything to bed. Peeking under the blanket, he sighed with relief when he saw the elastic waist of his night shorts. Thank the universe!
“We don’t have school today.” Gwenodyn tugged on his wrist. “I thought we could hang out, since you’ll be leaving for Defender training soon.”
“How did you get in here?” His mom never would have let a girl in his room before he’d become an adult. Not that it would have mattered.
“Your mom was leaving for the market. She let me in and told me to wake you up.”
Market? It was that close to full sun already? “Cosmos! I’m late!” He scrambled off his bed and searched for a pair of pants and shirt to wear.
“Late?” She rushed out of his path and stood in the doorway. “For what?”
“My morning run.” He pulled the clothing over his night shorts, not wanting to waste any more time.
“Since when do you run?” Gwenodyn glared at him with her hands on her hips.
“I started two weeks ago.” He hoped that was enough of an explanation to get her out of the way so he could leave. Sure, she was his best friend, but there were some aspects of his life he kept secret even from her.
“Oh, to get ready for your Defender training?” Her lower lip stuck out as she moved to the side.
“Sure.” He didn’t want to tell her the true reason or listen to her whine about how much she’d miss him when he left. Not this morning.
She jumped in front of him. “You lie.”
Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. “Stay out of my head, Gwen. Isn’t it unethical for Mingots to read minds without permission?”
“I don’t have to read your mind to know you’re lying.” She poked him in the chest. “You won’t look at me when you’re fibbing. Plus, you’re flinging your thoughts at me, so it’s hard not to know what you’re thinking. I can’t block you.”
Tayrym sat on his bed and cupped his face in his hands. He’d hoped to get off planet before telling anyone his secret, to go somewhere where he’d be accepted as normal rather than an outcast.
Gwenodyn sat next to him. She wrapped an arm around him and leaned her head on his shoulder. “C’mon, Scrym. You know you can tell me anything.”
Scrym, the nickname she’d come up with when they were both much younger. One only she was allowed to call him. They’d known each other for so long. Yet, he still kept part of him from her.
“I was going for a run.” He rested his head on hers, hoping she wouldn’t leave when he told her the truth. “To the Defender barracks. There’re a few guys who play kickball there.”
“And you play with them?” She turned and scrunched her eyebrows. “What’s wrong with that?”
“I don’t play.” He ran his palms across his lap. “I go to watch.”
“Oh, I get it.” She nudged him, a weird smile plastered on her face. “Is there one you think is cute?”
His insides seemed to disappear, leaving him empty, hollow. She knew? How? “Uh....”
She rubbed his back. “I’ve known for over a Galactic year. It’s why I stopped insisting we were going to get married someday.”
That long? She’d known for over one rotation and was still his friend? He released a heavy breath. Why had he doubted their friendship? Why hadn’t he told her earlier? “Yes. There’s a guy I like to watch. But he probably isn’t like me, in that he likes women, not guys. I’m probably wasting my time admiring him from a distance.” Those who’d admitted to being attracted to someone of the same sex on Hemera were shunned, forced out of the kingdom and never seen again.
“Only one way to find out.” Gwenodyn jumped to her feet and tugged on his hand. “I’ll go with you and read his mind.”
He froze. “But you can’t.” Did he really want these two parts of his life to collide? His mind said no, but his gut, unlike every other time he’d gone to watch, gave no objection. Yet, he couldn’t ask her to do something unethical just for him. “It’s not right.”
“If he’s blasting his thoughts around the way you sometimes do, I won’t be doing anything wrong.” She tugged on him again. “C’mon. Let’s go.”
“Okay.” He stood and gave his best friend a shy smile. “Thank you. For this. And for not leaving me when you realized we’d never get married.”
She cupped his cheek. “I was sad at first, but I can’t make you someone you’re not.”
“But you’re royalty now.” He leaned into her palm. “What would your new parents say if they learned I’m attracted to guys?”
She grinned and shook her head. “Hemera’s changed from when we were little kids. Lalia lived on Terra for many years. And Bryce was a Defender. Your homosexuality is not a big deal to them.”
Tayrym drew back. “You told them?”
“No.” She pushed him out of his room then shoved some naip into his hand. “They know one of my friends is a homosexual, but not which one. And they don’t care.”
“Oh. Okay.” Though Gwenodyn didn’t have any really close friends other than him. He still couldn’t believe she knew, the royal family knew, and yet he hadn’t been sent away. He doubted his own mother would be so understanding. She kept telling him he needed to find a good girl to settle down with instead of chasing his dreams of becoming
a Defender.
“Let’s go, already.” Gwenodyn waited for him at the front door with his boots in her hands. “You don’t want to miss him, do you?”
He didn’t talk on the way to the barracks, and she didn’t ask any questions. But once the playing field came into view, Tayrym slowed down. “Let’s watch from over here.” He guided her to a patch of trees near the end of the field where his crush played. The spot he normally watched from.
There were five players again, the sixth guy only showing up occasionally. The missing player and another on the field were both teachers at his school. The guy he had a crush on, Guri, played on the same team as the teachers. He used to go to school with Tayrym, but within days of Tayrym admitting to himself he had a crush on Guri, his classmate stopped attending school. It wasn’t until two weeks ago, when he’d wandered around the Defender barracks that he saw him again.
“This isn’t going to work.” Gwenodyn left the trees and headed toward benches at the edge of the field.
“No.”
She didn’t respond to his whispered objection. He stumbled after her, hoping she didn’t embarrass him, make it impossible for him to ever come back and watch. Though he hadn’t yet told her which guy he liked.
She sat on the very front bench and leaned forward, examining all the players. “So, let me figure out which one you have the hots for.”
Gwenodyn might as well have thrown him onto the field with that statement. He wanted to run and hide. Thank goodness most of the players were at the other end.
She nudged him. “I can eliminate one already. The guy who’s the net minder at this end is one of our teachers. If it were him, you’d find ways to stay after school instead of coming here.”
True. He didn’t dislike the teachers. They were only a few years older. But, they didn’t leave him with ylafats in his stomach the way his crush did.
“And I doubt you’d go for the two shorter guys on the other team. They’re cute.” She bit her bottom lip. “Really cute. But, not your type.”
How did she know his type when he’d just told her he was attracted to guys? Though she was correct, so far.
“That leaves the best players on each team, the one with the strong cheekbones who looks like he’s dancing across the field or the younger guy on this side who is determined to win even down a player. He used to be in our class, sat behind you. I think it’s—”
The ball rocketed toward them from center field. Gwenodyn wasted no time moving in front of him to catch the ball.
“Fornax Raw! What was that for?” Sol, the net minder-teacher, called to the other player on his team.
Guri shrugged in response, his gaze on Tayrym. Or maybe Gwenodyn. Most likely her. Tayrym didn’t stand a chance.
The one Gwenodyn had said danced across the field ran over to them to collect the ball and bowed. “Sorry about that, Princess.” Once he threw the ball back onto the field, play resumed.
“Well, I wasn’t sure before, but now I’m positive you like the guy who kicked the ball right at your head. Though, after that, I’m not sure why.” She pinched his cheek. “He could have ruined your beautiful face.”
“Raw, eye on the ball,” their teacher yelled.
“Whoa, that was interesting.” Gwenodyn let go of his cheek and slid away from him.
“What are you doing?” Tayrym whispered, wondering what she knew that he didn’t.
“I think it’s time for me to go.” She scooted off the bench.
“No, don’t leave me here alone. What are you doing?” He couldn’t just sit there by himself and watch the guys play. Not this close. He’d seem even creepier than he did with her beside him.
“Your crush, the one they call Raw, is not happy with me being here.” She turned away from the field. “I’m not sure how he feels about you, but he has some strong dislike for me.”
“Then I should go, too.” If Guri didn’t like his best friend, it would never work out, anyway.
“No.” She reached out to touch him then quickly pulled away. “No, stay here. I’m not sure what’s up with Raw, but I’m getting some promising thoughts from his friends. Stay and see what happens.”
After watching his best friend leave, Tayrym sat frozen on the bench, unsure whether to chase after Gwenodyn or trust her. What thoughts had she read to make her believe he had any chance with his crush? Or maybe she wanted him to stay to punish him. Did she expect him to embarrass himself in front of all of the men on the field as penance for liking guys instead of her? Against all the doubts bouncing around in his mind, he had a strong urge to remain watching from the bench. He did trust his best friend. And if he made a fool of himself, he’d simply hide in his mother’s house until he left for Defender training.
The game continued in front of him with no balls flying his direction after Gwenodyn’s departure. Somehow, Guri kept scoring even though it was him taking on the three players on the opposite team. Sol simply stood in between the goal posts, watching the action. Guri saved more goals than he did. How did one person play so well? One more reason to add to the list of reasons Tayrym had for crushing on him so hard.
After the next goal—finally one for the other team—the action stopped. Guri yanked off his sweat-drenched shirt before heading toward Tayrym. Was he actually coming over to talk? Or maybe to tell him to quit staring and scram. Wouldn’t be the first time he’d heard that.
Tayrym admired his toned pecs and well-defined abs. Perfection defined, his entire body was pure muscle. Guri was the same age as him. How was he so powerfully built? Tayrym’s mouth dried while his palms sweated. And though he knew he should turn away, he couldn’t help himself.
Guri stopped just steps away from him, grabbing a container of water from the side of the field. Of course. Tayrym should have noticed it there with the others’ belongings. After playing so hard, his crush needed to refresh himself. He had no interest in the strange guy creepily staring at him.
Not until he glanced over and caught him. Tayrym stopped breathing, could have sworn his heart stopped, too. He yearned to flee, let his feet take him far away from the barracks and his crush. Yet, he couldn’t move.
Guri wiped his arm across his mouth but didn’t leave. His stare was so intense, he could have been a Mingot purposefully reading Tayrym’s thoughts until he knew every last detail of his life. Tayrym gulped under his crush’s scrutiny and chewed on his bottom lip.
Guri tilted his head to the side. The moment was broken. Tayrym ran his sweaty palms across his lap, wondering what would happen next. Would Guri send him away?
“You wanna play?”
Tayrym looked up at him. “Wha—?” Had he heard him correctly?
“Play.” Guri pointed his thumb behind him. “I’m down a player. Plus, I always see you here, so I figured you want to play.”
Tayrym wrung his hands in his lap. “I’m not that good.” Surely his crush had to remember picking teams for kickball in the last two years they’d attended school together. Tayrym was never the first one picked. Not even in the top ten. But never last, either. Guri had for some reason always saved him from that embarrassment. Around the same time, he’d begun to feel a slight attraction to the man in front of him. “I’ll probably trip over the ball or something like that.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll catch you if you do.” Guri felt the corner of his mouth twitch as he tried to hide a smile. Difficult when red crept over Tayrym’s cheeks and neck. Though that color suited him better than the paleness he’d displayed when Guri had first come over to get a drink and talk to him.
Tayrym, the one kid he’d often thought about after getting an early leave from school to begin working. Though he was hardly a boy anymore. Thick and firm. Not gangly as he’d been when they were both students.
“So, do you want to play?” Having Tayrym on the field would be better than catching glimpses of him hiding in the woods as his former classmate had done all the other times he’d come to watch them play.
Tayrym
stood and brushed the back of his pants with his hands. “Are you sure, Guri?”
“Raw.” He draped an arm over the other and ushered him toward the field. “It’s what my friends call me. And yes, I’m sure.”
Catching sight of his net minder, Guri tried to keep Tayrym from seeing the wry smile the older man gave him. He didn’t want to scare his former classmate away before finding out some critical information. When Sol’s expression changed back to neutral, Guri decided to guide Tayrym over to him. “Sol, guess who’s on our team?”
The older man nodded to Tayrym. “I wondered how many times you were going to stand among the trees before we got you on the field.”
Tayrym squirmed in Guri’s hold, staring down at his feet.
But Guri pulled him in closer. “Don’t worry, Scrym. It’s all good.”
The other tensed, slightly shaking his head. “Please don’t call me that.”
Guri let go of him. “Why?” The princess called him by that nickname all the time. Was it a special name only she was allowed to use?
Rocking back and forth, Tayrym still wouldn’t lift his gaze from the ground. “I just don’t like it.”
Guri suspected there was much more to the story, but he didn’t want to make him uncomfortable. “Can I call you Tay, then?”
He finally looked up, giving him a brief smile. “That works.”
“Perfect.” Sol ushered both of them onto the field. “We’re team Tay-Raw-Sol. Now, let’s play.”
“Hold up.” Guri waved over the other three players. When they stood in front of him, he once again draped his arm over Tayrym. Any excuse to touch him. “Guys, this is Tay. He’s joining our team.”
He squeezed Tayrym’s shoulder to gain his attention. “You probably remember Coop from our classes, but I’m not sure if you’ve ever met the other two. The guy with the ball is Dunn, their team captain, and the other is Rosh, who I’m surprised hasn’t decided to curl up on a bench somewhere.”
Tayrym (Galactic Defenders Book 4) Page 1
