by Carol Lynne
He tried to bow his back enough to get it off the abrasive wall, but with every thrust Liam was slammed back against the bricks. Managing to get a hand between them, Liam gripped his cock. “Gonna,” he wailed.
“Not without me,” Nate growled. Two more thrusts and Nate buried himself so deep, Liam was painfully ground against the rough wall. Liam’s cock erupted at the combination of pleasure and pain.
As Nate emptied his seed into the condom, Liam covered his torso with cum. He felt Nate’s grip on him begin to falter and he looked into his eyes. Nate was blinking rapidly as he eased Liam down. “You okay?”
After several seconds, Nate gave his head a shake and blinked once more. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’ve never come so hard in my life, just shook me up a bit.”
Liam wondered if that’s all there was to it. As he bent to retrieve his clothes, a noise to his right caught his attention. Looking over, Liam watched as Michael disappeared back around the corner of the building. How long had he been standing there? Nate still had his hand braced against the wall as he disposed of the condom.
“I know you aren’t drunk, since we’ve both had nothing but Coke all evening. What’s up?” Liam watched as Nate fumbled with his zipper, finally taking pity on his man and doing it for him.
“I’m fine, dammit, I’ve already told you that once, so get off my ass,” Nate snapped.
Taken by surprise at the vehemence in Nate’s usually smooth voice, Liam shoved his feet into his shoes. Pulling his shirt down he winced. Fuck he was going to be sore the next morning. The pain in his back was nothing like the pain in his chest, however. Nate had never spoken to him like that. Deciding the best thing to do was just walk away for a while, Liam turned on his heels and started towards the parking lot.
“Wait,” Nate said from behind him. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I didn’t mean to snap.”
“Whatever,” Liam waved his hand in the air and kept walking. He spotted Michael leaning against his truck as soon as he rounded the corner. Walking right up to him, Liam poked his finger against the much bigger man’s chest. “Promise me you won’t ever do that again and I won’t tell Nate.”
Michael’s hands went up in surrender. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist. The two of you almost set off the smoke alarms in the building, but it was nothing compared to watching you fuck. Shit, I’ll remember that for the rest of my life.”
Liam narrowed his eyes and looked up at Michael. He actually saw a hint of sadness in their green depths. Turning back to see Nate slowly walking towards them, Liam glanced back up at Michael. Maybe he was being overly sensitive. “Unlock the door and help Nate in.”
Michael gave him a strange look but nodded. As Liam slid to the centre of the bench seat, Michael held the door for Nate. As soon as Nate was buckled in beside him, he took Liam’s hand in his. “You hate me now?”
Liam leaned his head against Nate’s arm. “Never gonna hate you.”
They rode back to the dorm in silence. Liam dissected the evening’s events over and over. He knew a lot of his problems were caused by jealousy. Although he wanted Nate to make new friends, Liam didn’t like it when they came in six-foot-two-inch packages, especially when that package had pretty green eyes and sun-kissed blond hair.
Michael made Nate laugh, something Liam was also jealous of. Who would want a boring economics major with a scrawny body when they could have the human Ken doll who was also fun to be around?
Dropping them in front of the dorm, Michael waved as he drove off. Hand in hand, Liam led Nate inside and up to their room. The small altercation earlier between him and Nate weighed on his heart. He knew he’d badgered Nate a little about his obvious dizziness, but he hadn’t meant to sound like an old wife.
After everything that had happened, Liam just wanted to crawl into Nate’s embrace and fall into a deep sleep. As he watched a quiet Nate get undressed, Liam grabbed the bottom of his shirt to pull it over his head. The action caused him to gasp.
Nate’s head snapped up. “What’s wrong?”
“My shirt is stuck to my skin. I’m gonna need to get it wet. I’ll be right back.” Liam grabbed his towel and started out the door towards the shower. A hand on his shoulder stopped him.
“Liam?”
Bowing his head, Liam looked at his bare feet. “I got scratches on my back from the brick. Evidently they bled and have now dried to my shirt.”
Already naked, Nate pulled Liam out the door and down the hall towards the bathroom. He turned on the water and waited for it to warm. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Nate asked as he settled them both under the spray.
“I knew you’d feel bad.”
Nate started to protest, but Liam kissed the words away. “I loved every second of you fucking me in the alley.” He winced slightly as Nate peeled the now wet shirt up and over his head. “I’ll be fine.”
Turning him around, Nate got his first look at Liam’s damaged skin. “Fuck.” He traced the individual abrasions with gentle fingers. “I never meant to hurt you.” Nate rested his head on top of Liam’s. “I’d sooner cut off my right arm than hurt you.”
Liam pulled away enough to turn around. He took Nate’s beautiful face into his palms and tilted his head downward. “Don’t apologise again. I’m fine, really. I’ll be sore for a few days, but you can doctor me every spare minute we get.”
Nate looked at him for several seconds. “I love you.”
“I know, and I love you, too.” He placed a kiss on Nate’s chest. “Get me back to the room and start doctoring. I have a feeling I’m going to be a very needy patient,” Liam said, running his hand down the length of Nate’s cock.
Chapter Nine
“Good game,” Aaron said as he thumped Liam on the back.
“Thanks, Coach,” Liam replied, stuffing his game uniform in the laundry hamper. If he hurried he could catch the last quarter of Nate’s football game on the campus radio station. It had been five weeks since their seasons had officially started, and Liam had only watched Nate play twice. Luckily the soccer team had a few Thursday games scheduled in the upcoming weeks. He missed watching Nate plough through a defensive line.
Liam smiled as he put on his jacket and headed out of the locker room. They had their best sex on game days and he couldn’t wait for Nate to get back into town. Ignoring the other players loitering in the workout room, Liam was almost to the door when he heard Rudy’s voice.
“Off to the fairy house?”
Liam’s steps faltered for a second before walking out into the parking lot. Damn, he wished that asshole would leave him alone. It was bad enough when Rudy said that stuff when it was just the two of them, but when the rest of the team was around, it really pissed him off.
Cursing under his breath, Liam kicked the tire of Rudy’s new car. “Wow, what did that car do to you?”
Liam turned around and spotted Sam Howard. He’d met the junior a couple of times but hadn’t really talked to him much. He knew that Sam was Aaron’s half-brother. He was supposed to have played soccer but had hurt his knee over the summer. “Sorry, just Rudy. God I hate that guy.”
“You and me, both,” Sam said. “Care if I walk back to the house with you?”
Liam looked at the handsome guy. “You live in BK? I haven’t seen you around.” Liam didn’t mention that he hadn’t realised Sam was even gay. Wow, his gaydar was evidently not worth shit. First he’d missed Nate and now Sam. He wondered how many other gay men were around that he hadn’t picked up on.
Sam slung his backpack over his shoulder and walked beside Liam. “I moved in about a week ago, but I’ve been spending a lot of time with Aaron and Demitri.”
“They’re good people,” Liam said remembering. “They really helped me out a while back when I was having trouble at the dorm I lived in.”
“That’s when you met Bear isn’t it? I remember Demitri talking about what inspired him to build BK House.”
Liam stopped dead. “What? You mean assholes beating me up every week inspir
ed BK? I never knew that.”
“Yep, Demitri said everyone deserved to live in a safe environment.” Sam clapped Liam on the shoulder. “Sorry that it took so much violence to bring about change, but from what I can see, BK is making a difference.”
Giving a nod, Liam continued on to the house. As they reached the front door, Sam turned back to Liam. “You planning on listening to the game?”
“Sure, I thought maybe I’d get lucky and listen on the kitchen radio as I made me something to eat. Are you interested in joining me?”
“I’d like that,” Sam said.
After saying hi to Charlie and a few other guys, Liam led the way into the kitchen. He remembered how alone he’d felt when he first got to college. Despite the fact that Sam was a junior, he was still a newbie around campus and probably hadn’t had time to meet people his own age.
Liam turned on the radio as Sam started pulling lunchmeat out of the fridge. They still hadn’t found a cook so their meals usually consisted of sandwiches.
“So what time is the team expected back?” Sam asked.
“Sometime after seven, I think. I’m making spaghetti for Nate if you want to join us? Charlie usually eats with us, so it won’t be like you’re breaking into a romantic dinner.” Liam grinned. He knew the romance would come after dinner.
“Thanks, I’d like that.”
They listened to the game as they began building huge sandwiches. Liam caught Sam glancing at him from time to time. He was just about to ask what was wrong when Sam opened up.
“So what’s up with Rudy, and why were you taking it out on his poor tire?”
Liam swallowed his bite of sandwich and took a drink of his milk. “Rudy’s a homophobe. He’s given me a hard time since the first day of practice my freshman year.”
“Why don’t they do something about it?”
“Because he has family connections on the college’s board of directors.” Liam shrugged. “I can usually handle the crap he throws at me, but it pisses me off when he calls me names in front of the rest of the team.”
“He does that?” a deep voice asked from the doorway.
Liam turned to see Charlie standing there. “Hey, Charlie. Yeah, unfortunately. I know Aaron’s complained to the administration several times about him. Last season I hurt my leg and Rudy refused to treat me. Luckily Aaron was friends with Julian and asked him to help train me. I wouldn’t be playing if it weren’t for him.”
Charlie scratched the top of his head. Liam knew the wheels were turning in that brilliant mind of his. “Would you be willing to write out a formal complaint?”
“Sure, but I don’t think it will do much good. From what Aaron said, Rudy will pretty much have to quit before he loses his job.”
“I’m still feeling my way around the administrative aspects of the school, but I know one thing. If I get a formal complaint, I can make sure Rudy gets more tolerance training. How much training is up to my discretion.” Charlie finished the statement with a devilish grin.
Liam didn’t know exactly what Charlie had in mind, but he’d love to be a fly on the wall of those sessions. “I’ll write it up as soon as the game’s over. And by the way, I’m making spaghetti for dinner. Don’t suppose you’d like to make up a batch of those garlic cheese biscuits I love so much?”
Charlie smiled. “I’d love to.” Charlie turned towards Sam. “Will you be joining us, Sam?”
Liam chuckled as Sam’s jaw dropped. “How did you know I was in here?”
“Because you can’t be still. Every time you sit, your legs start bouncing with too damn much energy.”
“Amazing,” Sam said in awe.
“Better get used to it,” Liam continued to laugh. “Charlie sees more than most sighted people.”
Laughing, Charlie waved as he exited the kitchen. “You guys be good. I’ve got a hardcore tolerance training session to plan.”
By the time Bear walked through the door, he was in a shitty mood. The last thing he wanted to see was Liam sitting at the dining room table laughing with Charlie and some other good-looking guy. The sight almost had him growling. He held up a hand in greeting and started upstairs.
“Nate, wait. Aren’t you hungry? We made spaghetti,” Liam called out after him.
“I’ll be down in a few. I need to call my dad and get changed.”
Liam stood beside his chair and nodded. Bear could tell by Liam’s body language that he knew something was wrong. Bless Liam for giving him the space he needed right then.
After changing into a pair of sweats and a T-shirt, Bear sat on the edge of the bed and picked up the phone. His dad answered on the second ring. “Hey, Dad.”
“Hey, son. Better luck next week, right?”
Bear lay back on the bed and covered his eyes with his forearm. “It was my fault we lost that game.”
“Bullshit. It takes a team to lose, just as it takes a team to win.”
“I couldn’t protect Koby from that sack because I was dizzy. I’ve been getting light-headed a lot, Dad.”
Bear heard his dad sigh. “Maybe you got hit earlier in the game and you just weren’t yourself.”
“Maybe,” Bear mumbled.
There was silence over the phone for a few very long seconds. “Bear, I know I told you it was an injury that kept me from playing professionally, but I wasn’t quite honest with you. The doctors detected the same heart defect you have. It’s the reason I knew to get you tested in the first place. I let them convince me to stop playing. To give up my dreams because of something that might happen. I’ve spent the rest of my life regretting that decision. I won’t let you throw away your dream for the same reason.”
Bear was stunned. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“Because your mother doesn’t know anything about it, and I didn’t want to worry her. I didn’t meet her until after I’d already graduated. I figured my dreams had already ended, so why not find a steady girl and get married.”
“You love mom though, right?” Bear felt as if his entire foundation was crumbling.
“Of course I love your mom, but that doesn’t mean I wish my life hadn’t been different. Looking back, I wish I’d ignored the doctors and gone on to play professionally. That’s what I’m trying to get through to you, son. Don’t give up on your dream, because someone says you should. There are days when I think I’d rather have died out on the field doing what I loved.”
The longer his dad talked, the worse Bear felt. “I need to get downstairs. Liam made spaghetti for me.”
“Okay. Well, just learn from your mistakes and do better next week.”
His mistakes? Bear might blame himself for losing the game, but it wasn’t because of a mistake he’d made. “Sure, Dad,” Bear said and hung up.
He knew he needed to shake off his mood before Liam started questioning him. He couldn’t let his man know he’d been having problems. It would only turn into another argument, and Liam would worry every time Bear stepped out of the room.
After taking a deep breath, Bear headed back downstairs. By the time he arrived the table was set. “Sorry about that,” he said, stopping beside Liam’s chair to give him a quick kiss. “You know I always get in a mood when we lose.”
Liam seemed to study him for a few seconds before releasing his hand. “Yeah, I know,” Liam finally said. “Sit down and eat before everything is cold.” Liam gestured to the new guy. “By the way, this is Sam Howard, Aaron’s brother.”
“Nice to meet you,” Bear said, trying to put on a smile. He shook Sam’s hand and gave himself a high-five for keeping his jealousy under wraps.
As they dug in, Bear noticed Liam’s continued gaze. He was relieved when Jace entered the room.
“Hey, all. Thought I’d stop by and have a word with Liam. I can wait out in the living room until you’re finished eating.”
“Are you hungry? We have plenty,” Liam said, smiling at Jace. Damn, did Liam have to flirt with everyone?
“Well…okay, t
hanks.” Jace sat at the table and Charlie jumped up to get the man a plate and silverware.
Bear didn’t know Jace very well. He’d met him on a couple of occasions but they’d never really had a conversation. The only thing he really knew about the man was that he was the new vice-President at Bianchi Bytes and he was a little too perfect to be real.
Jace accepted the plate from Charlie and loaded it with spaghetti and biscuits. “So, what did you want to talk to me about?” Liam asked.
Jace looked around the table. “Is it okay to talk in front of everyone?”
“Sure, we’re all friends here.”
“I think I found a way for you to pick up some extra cash. I talked to Tony and we’re prepared to offer you a part-time job. I know you have the soccer season to get through, but I hoped in the meantime you’d be interested in a little data entry from home. After the season ends you can work at the office in your spare time.”
Bear started to object but stopped himself when he saw the look on Liam’s face. What the hell was wrong with him? He knew Liam needed the money, but the thought of Liam working with Mr. Perfect really got under his skin.
As Liam profusely gushed and thanked Jace, Bear stabbed at the rest of his dinner. When the last bite was in his mouth, he stood with his plate and went into the kitchen. Why would Liam want damaged goods when it was obvious he could have his pick of handsome men?
“Nate?”
Bear finished rinsing his plate and set it in the dishwasher. “Thanks for dinner. I’m going to go on upstairs. You stay and visit with your new friends.”
Liam stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Bear’s waist. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” Bear answered. “I just need a little time to myself.” He knew he was grumbling but diplomacy wasn’t in him at that moment.
“Okay. I’ll clean up and meet you upstairs.”
After giving Liam a kiss on the forehead, Bear unwound himself from Liam’s arms and left the kitchen. He nodded at the table of people as he passed. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Sam, Jace.” He continued into the living room and spotted Michael sprawled out on the couch. “Hey, what’s up?”
