All Bets Are Off

by Marguerite Labbe

  “Sometimes I forget how lucky I’ve been.” Ash’s gaze dropped to his plate. “At least with my family. They’ve never given me any grief over being gay.”

  “You still know what it feels like,” Eli said quietly. “I’ve heard you talking about what it was like being in the Marines, how they were a family for you.” And if Ash had let it be known he was gay, he would’ve been drummed out of there as quick as Eli had been booted out of his father’s house. Like Eli, Ash had a few people in his group that he could trust to be himself with. And that was worth more than words could say.

  “Look at us getting all self-pitying.” Ash tossed his napkin down onto his empty plate. “There’s a baseball game waiting for us, and I haven’t been to a post-season game since I was in high school. Let’s go make a ruckus.”

  “Well, when you put it like that, how can I say no?”

  “There is a streak of romance in you that’s unexpected,” Eli teased as Ash opened the door for him as they walked out. “Surprising me with tickets and holding open doors.”

  “You wouldn’t call me romantic if you knew what was in my pocket.”

  Eli shoved him with a laugh. “Good point. You’re wicked to the core, Georgia.”

  “I just wish you hadn’t felt the need to pay for the second ticket.”

  “I had to. Technically I’m a state employee, and there are laws about accepting gifts from students. That would get me fired in a heartbeat.” He was walking the line enough. “Still, I thank you for the sentiment.”

  “You know you’re really sexy when you get all ethical on me.” Ash grinned and leered mockingly at him.

  They continued to joke as they walked down Yawkey Way and lined up outside the entrance. Eli stuffed his hands in his pockets, finding it hard to keep still in his excitement, until Ash leaned over with a snicker. “You know you do that in class too, sometimes, when you get all worked up on a subject.”

  “Do what?” Eli asked, cocking his head in curiosity.

  “Bounce on your toes.”

  “I do not.” Eli’s mouth dropped open and then his eyes narrowed as Ash snickered again. “You’re making that up.”

  “Ha, you don’t remember that day when Bron and Hannah got into the debate over Ben Franklin’s letters and Nori forgot her shyness enough to join in? You did it then. I thought Isaac and Elsa were gonna bust a gut trying not to laugh, and Whitney was making calf eyes at you over it.”

  Eli tried to picture it, but all he could remember was elation because Nori had opened her mouth without prompting and irritation because Whitney had been late again. “If you say so.” He shrugged and mock glared at Ash. “And were you snickering too?”

  “Nah, I was too busy trying to tame all the indecent thoughts I was having about you.” They handed their tickets to the attendant and crossed through the turnstiles. “Let me tell you, this is the first English class I’ve had where I didn’t fall asleep once.”

  Eli shook his head as he led Ash toward the seats along the first-base line. “Thank you for the stroke to my ego, but I could wish that a part of your interest was because of the content and not just because you know what I look like naked.”

  “Spoken like a true professor,” Ash said, touching his hand to the small of Eli’s back before letting it fall away. “I will admit, other than the sexual tension the class is pretty cool. I’m enjoying it.”

  Eli leaned forward in his seat, watching all of the activity on the field as the players warmed up before the game. “Man, I don’t know I’m ever going to thank you for thinking of me. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get post-season tickets at Fenway? You’re one lucky bastard.”

  “What can I say? I lead a semi-charmed kind of life.”

  Eli warmed inside as their knees brushed up against each other. It would be nice to be able to hold hands or snuggle up together like the couple down the row in front of them. Not being able to definitely made the little touches mean more.

  “You know it’s going to be a tough game,” Ash said with a quick, teasing sidelong glance as the seats filled. “You’ve won one and they’ve won one. Are you sure you can handle the pressure?”

  “Those are the best type of games.” Eli shifted, too restless to give in to Ash’s attempts to bait him. Of course that only led to renewed curiosity over what was in his blasted pockets… probably Ash’s intent all along.

  They continued to talk as the clock wound down toward the game, exchanging stories of past baseball games they had been to and the memorabilia they’d collected over the years. “My dad used to have this baseball card collection when he was a teenager. Grumpy told me about it. I’d’ve loved to have had a chance to go through it and see what he’d gotten.”

  It was too damned bad his dad never shared them with him. His dad had once loved baseball too, but somehow had lost that love long ago. Eli never could understand that.

  “Have you been having any more problems with break-ins? Or weird stuff going on at your place?”

  Now, those unsolved mysteries had led to a few nights where Eli had found it difficult to fall asleep over wondering who it could be. He found himself locking his doors before he left his house now, something he’d never done before, and he hated feeling like he had to. He doubly hated the idea that anyone he knew or respected might be behind it. Especially since he couldn’t come up with one single reason why anyone would target him.

  “Not one thing. Maybe whoever it was came to the conclusion that I have nothing they want.”

  Eli could certainly hope so. At least whoever it was had the decency to only come in during the day. Probably because he knew Jabbers would raise a holy racket if anyone came sniffing around in the middle of the night. Which meant they also knew that Eli had a shotgun, even if the thought of pointing it at another human being made him sick inside. All thoughts that led back to it having to be someone who knew him.

  Ash rose as the players took the field. “Sheriff Cooper have any suspects?”

  “Nope. He thinks it was a passing thing, probably a student pulling a prank or trying to get at some records.” Eli didn’t believe that. His students were all good kids, and he only had one who was doing poorly in his classes this semester. Somehow, he couldn’t see Whitney risking breaking a nail on his file cabinets.

  “How’s Kurtis doing?”

  Ash sucked in a breath with a slight shake of his head. “Eager to be home. It’s been a long tour.”

  They pulled off their caps as the national anthem started. It never failed to send a shiver through Eli. There were just some things that being a military brat instilled in a person. He cast a quick glance at Ash, who stood rock still, saluting the flag. His face was impassive, but Eli couldn’t miss the emotion in his eyes.

  It gave him another shiver as he wondered just what Ash thought of at moments like this. What memories haunted him? Because as much pride as he saw in Ash’s gaze, there were bad memories there too. It made him want to soothe them away. Eli turned his eyes back on the flag with an ache in his throat as the music swelled to a crescendo.

  “Oh man, I think you jinxed me.” Eli shot a mournful look at Ash. “I cannot believe we lost like that.”

  “Don’t say that. Then I’ll never be able to talk you into going to another game with me. I wouldn’t be able to compete with a baseball superstition.” Ash wrapped his arm around Eli’s shoulders and squeezed his bicep before letting him go. He was finding more and more excuses to touch him. Eli invited caresses from his tumbled, tousled hair to his long, lean body.

  “I don’t think you’d have a problem,” Eli said with a smile. “Even if we did lose, I had a great time.”

  It was late, and except for the flock of disappointed fans leaving Fenway Park, the streets were mostly empty. If they didn’t have such a long drive home, Ash would’ve cajoled Eli into staying a little longer, maybe even finding a hotel for a few hours. He had a hankering to see Eli naked with nothing on but the little present that was currently burning a
hole in his pocket.

  “You might hate me, but I can’t say that I’m unhappy the Red Sox lost. Not tonight.”

  “That’s only because you won the bet.” Eli eyed him curiously as they turned toward the nearby parking lot, where Eli had left his Jeep. “So how long am I supposed to wear this thing?”

  “At least every Monday and Wednesday for the rest of the semester. Hell, while we’re at it, why not on the nights we meet at Dingers and the days we go hiking?”

  “So pretty much every time I see you. And it’s supposed to remind me to behave?” The crowd around them dwindled as people found their cars and began to drive off. Traffic had slowed to a crawl, and the cars seeking to exit piled up. “Don’t you think you should be the one wearing it? After all, you’re the one who pinned me against the wall outside of your apartment and—”

  “After you gave me the sex eyes and told me you liked to fuck when you were in that kind of a mood. I only have so much willpower, and you pretty much destroyed it with that statement. I was ready to drag you out by your hair right there.”

  And damned if that didn’t put an image in his head that Ash did not need. This waiting and buildup ate away at his patience. So what if they were only going to get a few hours sleep as it was by the time they got back to Amwich. Ash knew he was going to find it hard not to stake a claim on Eli once he gave him his present.

  Ash rubbed his hand along his arm. His scars always seemed to ache more in the extreme hot or cold. Eli unlocked his Jeep and motioned for Ash to go around the other side. “Hop on in. We can wait till the clusterfuck eases up a bit, then I can drive you to your truck.”

  Ash was not about to argue against the chance to warm his hands and spend some more time in Eli’s company. Whichever way, he was going to end up waiting, and he’d rather wait with Eli.

  He slid in and held his hands up to the vent as Eli turned on the Jeep and cranked up the heat. “I hadn’t realized I’d gotten so damned numb. That game was damn close right down to the last out.”

  “Don’t remind me. Next time I say I like tense games, remind me of tonight. I think my blood pressure rose into dangerous territory.”

  Eli turned in his seat and took Ash’s hand, chafing it until it was warm before moving on to the other one. “You don’t have to do that,” Ash said.

  Eli smiled at him, palms and long fingers still rubbing. “I’m more used to the cold than you are and I don’t mind.”

  Ash knew he could feel the scars where they ended at his wrist, but Eli didn’t comment on them. He never tried to make much of them like some others had, fussing over him like he was some kind of hero, which he wasn’t. He preferred to just not think of them, and Eli had respected that from the first night. He also didn’t ask Ash a bunch of stupid, thoughtless questions about what it was like to be on the battlefront, or to be shot at, or if he’d killed anyone.

  Questions like that had turned Ash off dating anyone for awhile. Eli wasn’t like that. It had surprised him earlier when Eli had opened up about his dad. That wasn’t something he had planned on pressing Eli about. Not with the underlying, lingering hurt he’d sensed in Eli.

  It made him want to give Eli something just as personal in return.

  “I think I’ve lost you,” Eli said with a little laugh as he let go of Ash’s hand. “What’s got your mind wandering?”

  “You.”

  Eli cocked his head, looking at Ash in the dim light, and the teasing smile on his lips faded as his expression became more serious. “What about me?”

  “I was just thinking how you don’t press me for any more than I want to give.”

  Eli shrugged and combed his hair back with his fingers. “I could say the same about you with me.”

  Ash hesitated, searching for the right words, but they all sounded pretty damned awkward to him. “I’m sorry you went through all that with your dad. I was one of the lucky ones. My parents worried about me being gay, but they didn’t use it to guilt me into trying to change.”

  “It fucking sucked, I’m not going to lie, but my grandparents and Lu more than made up for my parents.” Ash reached for Eli’s hand again, tangling their fingers together. “And I do have to give my Dad some credit. He has been trying ever since I left for college. We have a tentative truce. And that’s better than what a lot of other people have.”

  Very true, but still it didn’t dismiss the pain. That much Ash did know. Eli didn’t seem like the type to let it embitter him. He lived in the moment far more than he lived in the past. And right now Ash didn’t feel like reliving the past himself. He didn’t want to talk about deceit and bombs, or of the terror that had struck him right before the pain when he’d gotten hurt anymore than Eli wanted to talk about how his parents had let him down when they were supposed to be his haven.

  The cars started to thin out, so Ash dug in his pocket and pulled out two flexible leather wrist cuffs with a buckle on one side and a small D ring on the other. He twirled one of them on his finger and caught Eli’s amused glance. “It is time, my friend, for you to make good on your bet.”

  “You do realize there is quite enough talk about me on campus already without me wearing those.”

  “Anybody who would recognize them wouldn’t care what you do on your off time, and Britton wouldn’t know what these were if he were slapped in the face with them,” Ash countered.

  Eli laughed and held out one lean wrist. “Good point, and if he were given a demonstration he’d run screaming in the other direction. You just want to find some way to stamp ‘Ashley Brandon Gallagher was here’ on me. And I think you succeeded.”

  “Well, not entirely, but it’s a start.” Ash secured the first cuff around Eli’s wrist, tightening it enough so that it couldn’t slip off his hand, but not so much that it would chafe him. It made him feel funny inside to see it there, and he wondered just what kind of a game they were playing. He wasn’t sure that it was just about waiting for the sex anymore.

  Eli examined it as Ash secured the second cuff. “And just what do you plan on doing if I don’t behave? Call me crazy, but tying me up is not behaving yourself either.”

  “Touché.” Ash hooked his finger through the rings, binding Eli’s wrists together. “What are we going to do about this thing between us, Elijah?”

  “Well, if it hasn’t burned out by now, I don’t think it’s going to, even if we do wait till the end of the semester.” Eli wet his lips and slowly leaned closer as the air in the Jeep seemed to sizzle. “Honestly, after last week, I’m not all that keen on waiting.”

  Ash slid his other hand into the weight of Eli’s hair. “Kissing you would be a very bad idea.”

  “Don’t let that stop you.” A quick grin flicked across Eli’s lips, and then he took matters into his own hands and leaned the last few inches in to kiss Ash instead.

  Ash’s breath caught, and he groaned deep in his throat as his hand tightened in Eli’s hair. The kiss was slow and drugging, no less intense than when Eli’s body had been trapped between Ash and the wall. Ash released Eli’s wrists and twisted his body in the seat to get closer, mentally cursing the seats and the stick shift between them.

  The glare of headlights broke them apart, and Eli turned away with a shaky laugh. “Come on, I’ll drive you to your truck.”

  Ash shifted in his seat, trying to ease the throbbing ache in his groin, without much success. There was a strange note in Eli’s voice, almost as if he was distancing himself, but that didn’t make much sense. Ash was just letting his frustrated cock do the thinking for him. Because there was no reason for Eli to pull back now. Not after initiating a kiss like that.

  The corner of the lot where he’d parked his truck was encased in shadows, and damn if it didn’t tempt Ash. “Any chance I could lure you over to my truck?” Where he had a long bench seat and room to stretch Eli out. He grinned and glanced at Eli to see the impact of his next words. “I’ve been thinking about cuffing you to the oh-shit handle and going down on you.”
>
  “Dammit, Ash, that image is going to keep me awake the entire way home,” Eli said with a groan.

  “That was kinda the idea. I like knowing I’m haunting your thoughts.”

  A cop car rolled on by, moving slow enough to get a good look at them, and Eli sighed. “They’re going to be patrolling until most of the crowd is gone. There are going to be some drunk, angry people out tonight.”

  “Enough said.” Ash had spent too many years hiding who he really was, and there were times when he’d been more than ready to explode from the pressure and frustration, but it would just be stupid to throw it all away when he’d be opting out and discharged this summer with his reputation intact.

  They’d already played fast and loose once and managed to not get caught. At least that had been in Amwich, so they probably wouldn’t have been arrested, though Eli didn’t need that kind of notoriety if the gossips got going.