by Carol Lynne
“Thanks for helping me unload earlier,” Bear said, sitting on the edge of the bed across from Liam’s.
“No problem,” Liam answered. He realised his legs were sprawled out and quickly crossed them at the ankles.
“So,” Bear drew out. “You gonna ask?”
“Ask what?”
Bear worried his fingers through his dreadlocks. Liam watched as Bear’s arms flexed with each movement of his hands. “I like your hair that way,” Liam blurted out. Shit, he hadn’t meant to say that out loud.
A slow smile spread across Bear’s chocolate brown face. “Yeah? Thanks. My sister decided I needed a new image.”
“Oh, you have a sister?” Liam sat up a little and leaned his back against the wall. He suddenly realised he knew very little about Bear’s home life.
Chuckling, Bear nodded. “I’ve got five. I’m the only boy.”
“Wow. I have no idea what it would be like to share a house with that many people. It was just mom and me.”
“Not only am I the only boy, but I’m also the baby of the family. Mom said she thanked the heavens when I was born because she knew dad would insist they keep trying until he got his football player.”
“Your dad’s a football fan, huh?”
Laughing, Bear reached for his suitcase and unzipped it. “You could say that. He was a player at the University of Alabama in the sixties. He played under Bear Bryant, which is why I have the nickname that I do.”
Liam watched as Bear began putting his neatly folded clothes in the drawers under his bed. “So why didn’t you attend the University of Alabama?” Liam questioned.
Bear stopped dead and looked down at the pile of clothes in his hand. “At the time I wasn’t good enough to make the team. North-Central offered me a full-ride scholarship so I came here. Dad hoped I’d gain some experience and try-out at Alabama my sophomore year, but I like it here.” Bear shook his head slightly. “It’s an ongoing argument with him. He and I both know I’m good enough to play for his alma mater, but they didn’t want me before so I won’t give them the chance now. Sounds stupid, I know.”
Liam sat up and scooted to the edge of the bed. He put a hand on Bear’s shoulder. “Not stupid at all. Coach William’s believed in you enough to give you a full-ride. That’s the reason I’m here. Coach Billings came to Eureka to scout out a player on my high school team. I’m still not sure what I did to catch his attention but we ended up talking after the game and the next thing I knew I received a letter in the mail offering a scholarship.”
“And the other guy?”
Liam smiled. “The other guy ended up at UCLA. He wasn’t interested in playing for one of the smaller universities. Last I heard, he’d been cut from the team.” Liam still remembered how Nathan Santos had treated him in the locker room. Coming out of the closet at the age of sixteen had been hard, but Liam’s mom had supported his decision one hundred percent.
Bear resumed putting his clothes away and Liam withdrew his hand. “Need any help?”
“No, I think I’ll just finish this drawer and do the rest later.” Bear continued to fiddle with his clothes and Liam got the feeling something was bothering him. Finally, after another ten minutes of fidgeting, Bear continued. “Sorry about the way I treated you a couple months ago.”
“It’s okay,” Liam said automatically.
“No, it’s not. I’ve suspected I was gay for years, but until I started hanging around you I didn’t know for sure. I’ve never been attracted to anyone really, not male or female. I started to think I was asexual. But the minute I met you, I knew, and it scared me. The more we hung out the deeper my feelings became.” Bear turned and sat on the floor. Looking up at Liam, Bear sighed. “I wasn’t ready to admit my feelings or desires to you or anyone else. Football’s my life, and I’ve seen the way the other players treat Koby McIntire. Then there was my family to think about.”
Bear put his face in his hands. Liam didn’t say anything because he could tell Bear wasn’t finished. “When school ended and I went back home to Birmingham I went out to a couple of gay bars, just to see if something had awaked in me. I found a few nights of easy sex, but no connections. I didn’t feel anything for the people I fucked. My head was so screwed up I became depressed. My sister, Shonda, knew something was bothering me and sat me down one day for a long talk.”
Getting up from the floor, Bear sat on the edge of Liam’s bed. “In the end I told her everything. She smiled and hugged me,” Bear said his eyes lighting up for the first time. “Shonda said it sounded like I was in love with you.”
Liam held his breath. Bear was in love with him? He tried like hell to be patient and wait for Bear’s response to the statement his sister had made. When Bear continued to look at Liam, he couldn’t take it anymore. “And? What did you say to her?”
Bear reached out and placed his hand on the back of Liam’s neck. He pulled him forward until their lips were within an inch of each other’s. “I’m here aren’t I?” Bear answered seconds before his lips connected with Liam’s.
Chapter Three
Oh God, Bear tasted good. Liam closed his eyes and opened himself to this beautiful man’s questing tongue. Strong arms wrapped around his slight frame as Bear pulled Liam against his massive chest. Burying his hands in Bear’s hair, Liam repositioned himself atop Bear’s lap. His lungs were beginning to burn with the desperate need to take a breath, but Liam couldn’t make himself break from the searing kiss.
Bear was the first to withdraw, sucking Liam’s bottom lip as he did. “Wow,” Liam said, dragging in some much needed oxygen. “Wow.”
“Yeah,” Bear agreed looking into Liam’s eyes. His face turned from astonishment to questioning. “Is this what you want? I mean, really want?”
“Oh yeah,” Liam whispered, lips placing soft kisses on Bear’s jaw.
Strong hands moved their way down Liam’s back to land on his ass. With a quick pull, Liam’s hard cock was pressed against Bear’s stomach. “Am I moving too fast? Sorry, I don’t have much experience in slow and seductive.”
“You’re doing just fine.” Liam ground the proof of his desire against Bear’s washboard abdomen. “I’ve fantasised about you since the first day you walked into my dorm room with Coach Billings.”
Bear’s hands moved back up and then under the waist of Liam’s sweat shorts. God, he’d never been so glad he’d foregone underwear. Bear’s fingers seared a trail of heat into Liam’s skin as he brushed them over the bare skin of Liam’s ass. He nipped at Bear’s neck as a finger ran down the valley between his butt cheeks stopping to apply a small amount of pressure to Liam’s hole.
Moaning, Liam sought out Bear’s mouth again. “Make love to me,” Liam pleaded against Bear’s lips.
“Not yet,” Bear said, pushing the tip of his finger inside Liam’s body.
Liam cried out at the exquisite invasion. “Why?”
“I don’t have any stuff with me. Do you?” Bear began moving his finger in and out of Liam’s welcoming hole.
“No.” Liam shook his head. “I have lube but no condoms and the dispensers in the restrooms haven’t been filled yet.” He moved back and forth between Bear’s finger and the pressure of his stomach against Liam’s cock.
In a split second move, Bear toppled them both back onto the bed. “Naked.” He withdrew his finger and pulled off Liam’s shorts. As he broke away to take off his own clothes, Bear stared down at a totally nude Liam. “Damn you’re sexy.” He licked his lips as he pulled his shirt over his head.
Liam was too busy drooling over the rippling muscles of Bear’s stomach to feel self-conscious about his nakedness. The ridges and valleys on display were enough to make a body builder weep. “Fuck,” Liam groaned, taking his own cock in hand.
Smiling, Bear stripped off his jeans and boxer-briefs to reveal his own erection. Liam swallowed. Shit, oh holy shit. Liam stroked faster as Bear approached the bed again.
With a shake of his head, Bear covered Liam’s hand.
“Not yet,” he whispered as he insinuated himself between Liam’s spread thighs. “I want to feel you come against my skin, feel your warmth bathe over me.”
Crap, those words alone were enough to set Liam off. He struggled to take a few deep breaths as Bear pressed his body down on Liam’s already heated flesh. The slide of Bear’s heavy cock against Liam’s was like nothing he’d ever felt. “Gonna come. Sorry, I can’t not.”
Taking his mouth in a passionate, tongue thrusting kiss, Bear began to move faster. Liam’s legs automatically wrapped around the heavenly body pressed against him as he came. Liam felt Bear’s breath hitch seconds before more hot seed spilled between their writhing bodies.
Liam held on to the buns of steel under his hands as the kiss turned feral. Sucking and biting at each other’s lips and tongues, they couldn’t seem to get enough of the other. The kiss went on and on until Liam’s lips felt bruised and swollen. He broke away and looked into Bear’s beautiful brown eyes. “We’re going to be dangerous together when we actually make love.”
“Probably,” Bear chuckled and rolled to Liam’s side. “Definitely going to have to do something about the sleeping arrangements. These beds are barely big enough for me. We’ll have to rearrange after dad leaves, put them together.”
“Yeah?” Liam asked. He was a little surprised Bear wanted to sleep with him every night.
“Oh yeah. I want to wrap you in my arms every night, keep you close to my heart.”
Liam grinned. “Who knew you were such a romantic?”
“Never felt this way before. I’m learning all kinds of things about myself.”
“I like it,” Liam admitted. “As long as it’s directed towards me. Not much on sharing, only child and all.”
“I’ll never cheat on you,” Bear said with a stern set to his jaw.
“Ditto.” Liam whispered, curling his body against his new lover’s.
“Sleepy?” Bear asked Liam.
Liam finished yawning and looked up from his plate of scrambled eggs. “Kinda,” Liam replied, a small grin in place.
Taking another bite of his own eggs, Bear brushed over Liam’s ankle with his foot. He knew he should probably feel guilty for waking Liam several times during the night, but Bear was too happy for regrets. His dad was set to leave as soon as they all finished breakfast in the dining room.
Bear looked over at his dad who seemed totally engrossed in his food. He felt at peace for maybe the first time in his adult life. Looking up from his plate, his dad looked into Bear’s eyes and nodded. Bear nodded back and went back to eating.
Suspecting your six-foot-five-inch son was gay and actually knowing it were two different things, and Benjamin Tucker had done well with both. Bear credited his sisters for talking him in to coming out to his dad. Bear shook his head. Hell, he’d done more than just come out, he’d told his dad he was in love with another man. None of it seemed to bother Benjamin as long as it didn’t interfere with Bear’s football career.
The two of them had discussed in detail the need to be honest with any team scouting him for the pros. His dad thought as long as Bear was skilled enough, the professional teams wouldn’t care who he chose to love. Bear hoped his dad was right. The thought of having to choose between Liam and football was unimaginable.
Bear watched as his dad wiped his mouth and pushed his empty plate back. “It’s about time for me to head out.”
“It was nice to meet you, Benjamin,” Charlie said from the end of the table.
“You, too. I’ll be back for a couple of games this season, though I imagine you won’t have an empty room for me by then,” Benjamin chuckled.
Charlie shook his head. “We won’t have an empty room by next month. We had no idea the response we’d get to BK House. Demitri is already talking about expanding.”
“Good. It’s nice to know my son and his friends have a safe place to live.”
Charlie turned his head to face Bear. “From the size of Bear, I’d say he wouldn’t have much trouble keeping himself safe anywhere.”
Bear felt his dad’s hand land on his shoulder. “He’s a big one. A man could never ask for a better son.”
Pride filled Bear. Not because of the things his dad had said, but because his dad was so accepting. He would have never guessed he’d be sitting at a table of gay athletes, one of them his lover, talking this calmly with his dad. “You ready, dad?” he finally asked, picking up his plate and heading towards the kitchen. Until they found a cook and housekeeper everyone was responsible for cleaning up after themselves. Bear didn’t mind. In fact he found being in the kitchen comforting. Growing up he spent a lot of time watching his mother cook. With six kids his mom always seemed to be cooking something.
After rinsing his and his dad’s dishes and stacking them in one of the dishwashers, Bear turned to his dad. “I’m going to miss you.”
“Naw, you’ve got a nice fella to keep you from getting homesick. Speaking of…” Benjamin stopped talking and dug an envelope out of his pants pocket. “Your sisters wanted me to give you this before I left.” He handed the envelope to Bear.
“What is it?” Bear asked as he opened the bulky envelope. His eyes opened wider as he looked at the contents. “Dad? What’s this for?”
Even through his dark complexion Bear could tell his dad was embarrassed. “Your sisters said you might need a bigger bed. I don’t know if that’s allowed, but they all chipped in for a new mattress and box-springs. I added a little something for a frame.”
Bear felt his own blush work its way up his face. He looked from the envelope to his dad. “Never in my life have I felt more loved or accepted than at this moment.” He reached out and pulled his dad into a trademark Bear hug. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, son,” his dad said hugging him back.
When they finally separated, Bear spotted Liam in the doorway, empty plate in hand. He held out a hand and grinned at the uneasy look that passed over Liam’s face. “It’s okay. Come here,” Bear beckoned Liam.
Walking towards him, Liam kept glancing at Bear’s dad. As soon as he was close enough, Bear took the plate from Liam and set it on the counter before wrapping an arm around him.
“Take good care of my boy,” Benjamin said, reaching out to shake Liam’s hand.
“I will, sir,” Liam answered.
Benjamin nodded and turned to leave. “I’ll get my bags and meet you out front in five minutes.”
As soon as his dad was out of the room, Bear turned Liam in his arms and kissed him. The height difference between the two of them wasn’t noticeable until they were standing. At almost nine inches taller, Bear had to bend over as Liam stretched up on tip-toes. Finally giving up, Bear hoisted Liam up until he was seated on the counter without breaking their kiss.
When their kiss ended, Liam smiled. “We’re gonna have to do our kissing sitting down.”
“Or lying down,” Bear said with a wink.
Liam ran his palms over Bear’s chest. “Speaking of lying down, we need to make a run to the pharmacy after we see your dad off.”
“Oh, yeah,” Bear said, pulling Liam to the edge of the counter to rub his erection against him. “But first I need to speak to Charlie.”
“About what?”
Bear held up the envelope of money. “Bed swapping.” Bear started laughing at the surprised look on Liam’s face.
Chapter Four
After giving the bed situation some thought, they decided to use the old extra-long twin frames shoved together as a base. With the frames turned in opposite directions, Bear and Liam still had the use of their drawers underneath. A king-size mattress fit on top perfectly although the room seemed much smaller once they got it in place.
“Damn, that’s a big bed,” Liam commented. With the money they’d saved buying just the mattress, Bear was able to purchase two sets of sheets and a bedspread.
Bear sat on the edge and nodded.
“You okay?” Liam asked. Bear had lost his sparkle wi
thin the last few seconds. Liam started to think maybe he was rethinking the entire situation.
“I’m fine, just a little dizzy.”
Liam walked over and stood between Bear’s spread thighs. “Are you getting sick?” He felt Bear’s forehead but didn’t detect a fever.
Big arms wrapped around Liam’s waist and pulled him closer. “Nope. I’m okay now.” He lifted Liam onto his lap. “I just get dizzy every so often but it doesn’t last long.”
Before Liam could ask any more questions, Bear kissed him. Liam moaned and thrust his hips forward, feeling the thick ridge of Bear’s cock under his ass. “Ready to take this puppy for a test drive?”
Bear groaned, “I’d love nothing more, but I have our first team meeting in thirty minutes.”
Liam leaned back enough to look Bear in the eyes. “What? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
Bear had the good sense to look ashamed of himself. “Because I’ve had such a great day I didn’t want to bring it up. It’s only for a couple hours, but I don’t even want to be away from you that long, not right now, not when things are going so well.”
Cupping Bear’s jaw, Liam placed a chaste kiss on his lips. “I’ll walk over with you and work out while you have your meeting. How’s that sound?”
“Good but we’re having our first tolerance lecture from Charlie. I plan to ‘come out’ to the team afterward. Are you sure you want to be in the line of fire?”
Liam’s jaw dropped. “You’re coming out to the team?”
“Yeah. I think they’ll figure it out once they find out where I’m living,” Bear teased.
Biting his upper lip, Liam took a deep breath. “Are you going to tell them about us?”
Bear tilted his head to the side. “I was planning on it. Why? Don’t you want people to know we’re a couple?”
“It’s not that, it’s just, well, I’m not exactly the type of guy people would see you with. I don’t want them to tease you.” Liam knew it was coming out all wrong, but Bear was a top dog on campus and Liam was a nobody.
