Shepherd's Crook - 9. Chapter 9

Monday couldn’t arrive quick enough. Thoughts of Tanner teased Gibby as his mind drifted off to images of the handsome boy standing by the edge of the pool, the muscles of his broad back, his round butt in that tight wet underwear. Gibby let a groan rumble his chest with the memories of the delightful, yet brief encounter.

Rushing into class just as the bell rang, Gibby nibbled at his lower lip to hide his smile. Tanner had already set up their work area and was gazing into the microscope.

“Hey,” Tanner glanced up, giving Gibby a quick smile before flipping the page of his science book and inserting the next set of slides. Leaning back from the equipment, Tanner nodded to Gibby, “Do you want to take a peek?”

Gibby turned the microscope slightly and looked in the lens. The specimen was a flat cross-section of a shaft of hair. Smiling, Gibby recognized the slide. “Curly hair,” he was confident in his identification.

Tanner looked impressed. Crossing his arms over his chest stirred the air around him bring a wave of rich masculine scent that was a mixture of soap and earth. “What are you, some kind of science whiz?” He asked, genuinely fascinated with Gibby’s knowledge.

Debating if he should tell him that his class did the same experiment last year back at Lockner, Gibby just shook his head no.

Ms. Stein’s lecture was interesting, but Gibby had a hard time concentrating with Tanner beside him. He felt a flush of heat whenever he was close. Not wanting to embarrass himself by popping a boner, Gibby was glad when class was over so he could put some space between them.

***

“Thank you for seeing me, Principal Grady,” Tanner smiled at the older man sitting behind his wooden desk as he pulled his backpack over his shoulder, preparing to head off to class.

Mr. Grady glanced up from the neatly typed letter that Tanner had just given him. “Anytime Tanner, I’ll get back to you as soon as I’ve looked into this.”

Amanda’s eyes popped open and her mouth hung wide. She had just entered the school office and noticed Tanner leaving her father’s office. Tanner gazed at the floor as he crossed the threshold into the hallway and darted up the steps towards his next class.

“Tanner!” Amanda growled as she took the stairs two at a time to catch up to him.

He spun on his heels, unaware that he was being followed. “What do you want now?”

She gasped, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.

“Well,” Tanner was irritated with her and if she didn’t hurry up and say what was on her mind, they would both be late for class.

Her face flushed red with anger. “What the fuck was that about?” Pointing at the school office that they had just run out of.

Tanner rolled his eyes as he shrugged and turned his back on her. “Really, Amanda, has anyone ever told you that you’re freaking paranoid?”

“Then what were you talking to my father about?”

Tanner stopped and glared at her over his shoulder, “It’s none of your fucking business!” His lips curled as he swore at her through his clenched teeth.

“If you--”

Unwilling to listen to another word, Tanner turned his back and headed off to class. Amanda screamed when he started to walk away.

“Tanner?” She tried to get his attention. He only shook his blond head, but he didn’t stop.

Her shrill, “Tanner Mitchell!!!” could be heard in the entire east wing of the school, but he wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of stopping.

***

Morning sunshine filled the Grady’s home. Amanda primped in front of her mirror like she did every morning, except today she wasn’t in a rush to get downstairs. Her father got ready for work then followed his nose to the kitchen for his usual cup of coffee.

Waiting until she was sure that he wasn’t coming back to his bedroom, Amanda dashed across the hallway to her parent’s bedroom and then quickly opened the bottom dresser drawer. Her hands dug under the mound of socks, finding the black velvet bag that she knew was hidden underneath.

The weight was distinctive. She opened her backpack and pulled out the rolls of quarters that she’d taped together and swapped them with the handgun. Tucking the velvet around the imitation looked good. It would pass if someone happened to move it around in the drawer. Happy with the replacement, Amanda buried it under dozens of identical matching socks before pushing the drawer back closed.

Her hands trembled with the weight of the weapon. Giving a quick flick to make sure the safety was on, Amanda smiled as she stood up and shoved it into her bag.

“I’m not stupid enough to let it accidentally go off in my locker,” She sneered at her reflection in her parent’s mirror.

“Amanda Beth Grady,” Her mother’s voice echoed through the house, “Get your butt down here right now. Your breakfast is getting cold and you’re going to make your father late for work.”

“Alright!” Amanda shouted as she continued to watch herself in the mirror. Holding up two fingers to her temple she muttered under her breath, “Jeez, woman, don’t have a fucking cow,” then pulled her fingers like the trigger making a ‘bang’ sound with her lips.

Satisfied that everything was tucked away where it belonged, Amanda winked at her reflection before skipping down the hallway to enjoy her breakfast before school.

***

Tanner milled around the locker room waiting for the rest of the team to head out onto the field. Ethan never told him what had led to the big blow up at the game the other night, but since he was acting like everything was back to normal, that was fine with Tanner.

Trying to avoid Amanda also meant avoiding Ethan, not that he wanted to avoid one of his closest friends, but wherever there was one of them, the other was usually nearby. At least practice was a safe zone. Since Amanda had cheerleading practice, she wouldn’t be around to annoy him.

“Everyone in the locker room,” Their coach’s voice boomed through the gym.

The coach wasn’t happy with their performance at the game. It could be read in his eyes and the vein that bulged in his neck, but he didn’t yell or lose his temper. Tanner smiled. It was one of the reasons he liked the man, he knew that they were still kids and understood that they made mistakes.

“Friday is gone; we are never going to get that back, so let’s move forward from here.” Coach’s eyes slowly moved around the locker room, connecting with every boy sitting in there.

“We need to focus on working together and learn teamwork, to help us face Greenville in two weeks. So I want you to look at the guy to your left…” He paused while they did as he said, “…and now look at the guy on your right…” Again, he waited, “…starting today, they’re your brothers and we are going to face this season as a family.”

Several smiles flashed across the young faces in the locker room. The coach’s pep talk was kind of corny, but it got the players nodding their head in agreement. They didn’t want to lose another game and they had to trust their coach.

“Now, come on and show me what you’ve got.” When he finished the guys jumped up, bumped chests and fists as they raced out towards the football field.

***

Gibby hung back a few minutes at the end of the day, trying to catch a glimpse of Tanner getting ready for practice, but when the field was empty after the buses has all left for the day, he thought that maybe the practice schedule had changed.

Tanner’s bike was still in the rack out front and several cars that he recognized as the other players’ were parked outside the gymnasium, but there weren’t any players in sight. Disappointed, Gibby dragged his feet along the gravel as he slowly pushed his bike along the road.

Most of the streets of Shepherd’s Crook had nice, clean sidewalks, but a few of the roads on the outskirts of town only had a gravel edging. The road was wide enough for two cars and a bicyclist to ride comfortably. Since his plans of watching practice hadn’t panned out, Gibby hopped on his bike and headed towards the library to exchange the books that he’d finished reading.

The library was empty. Already knowing which books he wanted to check out, Gibby easily found the science fiction novels and was back on his bike in minutes.

When Gibby turned the corner onto Silver Forest Lane, he noticed Jonathan’s black SUV in front of their rented house. Pedaling a little faster, he rode his bike up to the house and quickly parked beside the porch.

“What are you doing home so early?” Gibby called out to Jonathan somewhere in the house as he dropped his satchel onto the leather couch in the living room.

Jonathan appeared in the doorway of the study. “I have to head over to Mt. Jackson.”

Gibby frowned, “What for?”

“One of my patients’ needed a biopsy today and I don’t want to wait for the pathology pick-up some time tomorrow, so I’m going to run it to the lab so they can start working on the tests right away. Do you want to come?”

Spending the evening hanging out in an uptight sterile laboratory wasn’t very appealing. Before Gibby could shake his head no, Jonathan grinned, “I can drop you off at the mall while I get a few hours of work done.”

Gibby’s face lit up when his dad said the magic words…the mall! His voice was thick with lust as he moaned the name of his favorite store, “Hot Topic.”

Jonathan laughed as he thought he caught a glimpse of drool at the corner of Gibby’s lips.

“Hell, yes, give me five minutes to get ready,” Gibby told his dad as he turned and dashed up the stairs to fetch two gift cards left over from his birthday.

***

Coach worked the team twice as hard as their punishment for screwing up the Mt. Jackson game. It was one thing to give your best and lose, but it was another thing to hand the opposing team a victory because the Shepherd’s Crook boys couldn’t get their shit together.

Extending the evening practice more than an hour past the normal time had a crowd of curious parents watching along the fence surrounding the field. They talked and discussed the reason for Friday’s upset, but none of them questioned the coach’s tactics.

The autumn air held a chill as the boys raced off the field to the locker room.

“Sorry for keeping the boys so late tonight,” The coach addressed the parents waiting to drive their kids’ home, “But I really think we benefited from it.”

Several parents nodded their heads, appreciating the coach’s dedication and murmured to those around as they agreed with him.

Sweaty, sore and tired, the players rushed through the locker room to shower and change before heading home.

Tanner hung back like he always did, following the same routine. He preferred to get his equipment cleaned and neatly packed away before heading into the shower to wash up after practice while most of his other teammates stepped over their uniforms and equipment still lying in the floor.

Glancing around at the boys exiting the showers in a steady stream, Tanner felt a familiar stir as he finished gathering his things together. Slow and steady breaths usually helped calm his racing heart, but the thick smell of masculine sweat made his chest ache. Tanner had to get cleaned up and maybe now that the locker room was clearing out, he could stand under the cold spray without anyone noticing his arousal.

Ethan strolled out of the coach’s office with his bare chest puffed out. Everyone praised his performance tonight at practice. Whatever demons were plaguing the young quarterback at Friday night’s game were gone and the boy was back to playing like a pro.

Tanner shivered when Ethan joined him in the large open shower room. Standing two stalls down, Ethan was close enough for Tanner to catch a whiff of his shampoo. It was a rich dark smell that had Tanner’s stomach nervously fluttering. Needing to get out of the locker room before he embarrassed himself, Tanner splashed water over his soapy body and rushed for the door.

Within minutes, Ethan was following him. He stepped into the locker room and looked around for Tanner. Noticing that he was acting odd in the showers, Ethan wanted to talk to him before he headed home. Ethan hadn’t apologized yet for the way he had acted during the game the other night, but standing alone in the darken room, he was obviously too late.

Ethan finished toweling off and quickly dressed, he grabbed his gym bag and stepped out into the cold night air. Steam rose off his hot wet body. Tanner’s bike was usually leaned against the solid brick wall that lead to the gymnasium except the bike and its owner were both gone.

Disappointed that he didn’t get to talk to Tanner before he took off, Ethan shuffled towards his sports car in the parking lot.

“Ethan,” Amanda’s voice startled him.

Grabbing the front of his shirt and clutching his chest, Ethan gasped before an embarrassed chuckle escaped from deep in his chest, “Damn it Mandy,” He playfully teased, “You scared the shit out of me.”

Normally, she would have given him a devious grin at catching him off guard, but tonight she just frowned. Worry flashed across her face.

“You waited for me?” Ethan forced a smile at her. “Practice ran super late tonight so I figured you would have gone home already.”

“No,” Amanda hesitated, “Ethan…we need to talk.”

Ethan noticed that her eyes darted over his shoulder instead of looking him in the eyes. His stomach sank. Suddenly nervous, Ethan dropped his bag by his feet and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Talk? Is that code for we’re going to break up?” Ethan growled.

Taking a step closer, Amanda started to reach out to touch him before retracting her hands back to her sides. “No, I don’t want to break up with you, but Tanner…” Her voice trailed off as she let Ethan’s spinning mind jump to his own conclusions.

The muscles flexed in his jaw as Ethan snarled through his clenched teeth. “…but Tanner what?” He demanded. Anger darkened his eyes. His voice was harsher than a punch, just as he intended it to be, making her jump. If she was going to dump him, he was going to make her say it. There was no way he was going to make it easy for her. Ethan needed to hear the bitter words before he would believe that their relationship was really over.

“Tanner wants me back. He thinks that I’m his.” Amanda skillfully lied. “He said if I don’t break up with you… then he’s going to tell my dad and the school board about us cheating on tests.”

It wasn’t a secret that Tanner and Amanda had dated their freshman year in high school. Ethan had always been jealous over Tanner dating her first and for as long as they have dated, she was constantly reassuring him that Tanner was history.

Ethan and Amanda had started dating almost two years ago. The summer of their sophomore year, Ethan shot up eight inches and lost twenty pounds of baby fat, toss in contacts, a stylish haircut, a bottle of Proactive and a good orthodontist and Ethan was suddenly the hottest guy in school. All the girls at school were suddenly interested in him, but he only wanted Amanda Grady. She was the love of his life and now he couldn’t believe that his best friend was trying to steal his girlfriend.

“So that’s it?” He growled, “Just like that? We’re over?” Ethan fought the tears that rimmed his eyes. There was no way he was going to cry in front of her.

“I don’t want us to break up, Ethan, but you’re going to have to stop Tanner from telling.” Amanda manipulated Ethan. She knew how to use his own insecurities to get him to do exactly what she wanted.

Ethan glanced over his shoulder. If Tanner just left, then they would be able to quickly catch up with him on his bike.

“Get in the car,” Ethan commanded, stalking toward the driver’s side of his car. Hiding her evil smile, Amanda followed him and jumped into the passenger seat.

Tires spun gravel across the parking lot as the black Camaro sped into the night.

“I think it’s time that someone taught Tanner Mitchell a lesson.” Ethan smirked.

Amanda knew that if she pushed him far enough, Ethan would do anything to keep from losing her. Racing along the same path Tanner would have ridden moments before, she decided to go all in. “Tanner kissed me last night. He stopped by my house unexpected…and he kissed me.”

That was Ethan’s breaking point. He stomped on the gas, causing his car to fishtail in the road. “That son of a bitch!”

Reaching into her backpack, Amanda’s fingers skimmed the cold hard metal of her father’s gun when Ethan reached behind her and grabbed a baseball bat from behind her seat. He handed it to her then pointed out the windshield.

“There he is.”

Gripping the smooth wood between her fingers, she smiled, “Even better.”

The deserted road was wide. Tanner hugged the edge of the road as headlights approached behind him. There was plenty of room for the car to easily go around him. He kept a steady pace as he headed home.

Amanda rolled down her window before shifting in her seat to hold the bat out the car window. The evil grin that curled around her face was terrifying.

“I want you to scare the fuck out of that little shit,” He yelled at Amanda to swing the bat at Tanner’s back tire. “It’s about time someone knocked the crap out of that asshole, bring him down a notch or two.”

The move was swift. Amanda’s swing connected with her target, sending Tanner sprawling to the cold hard ground.