Streak - 34. Chapter 34

November 16, 2002

Aston, PA

JJ

I like it when people come to watch me skate, or at least I used to. Last night, Stef, Aunt Claire, Dad, and his new boyfriend had come breezing into town. I’d talked to Dad on the phone when they were still in the air, but they’d gotten in so late I was sound asleep and didn’t wake up just to greet them. They didn’t expect me to do that anyway. It would be good to see them, especially Aunt Claire, but it was also a distraction. If the truth were to be known, having just Alex there was better. He didn’t take my focus away from skating, and he didn’t take up more attention than I wanted to give him. “I so don’t want to do this lunch,” I grumbled, even as Alex and I got dressed.

“Go out with them, be nice, and win your competition, and I’ll let you make love to me tonight,” he said, in his sexiest voice. I’d started out being a little reluctant when I’d first fucked him, but now that we’d done it a few times, I was pretty into it. He was acting like it was some great sacrifice on his part, when he loved it as much as I did.

“That’s a very good incentive,” I said, and kissed him. God, his lips were like heaven.

We went downstairs and met everyone, then hopped into a limo for the brief ride to the restaurant. My stomach was so on edge; it probably wasn’t a good idea to eat much, so I ordered something really light. Alex and I sat across from my father and Marc, who were just being fucking idiotic with the way they were so into each other. If I were painfully honest about it, I’d probably admit that I was a little jealous, since they could be together in public, while Alex and I couldn’t. Still, I was convinced that even if we were, we wouldn’t be as gross as they were.

“I think you buying that painting in Boston may end up being one of the best things that ever happened to me,” Dad said to me, even as he gazed at Marc.

“From the pictures, it looks like it works perfectly in that room,” I said, acting as if he were talking about adding a cool piece of art to our collection and decorating the condo, and not about meeting Marc. Alex pinched me under the table to scold me for being a dick, so I smiled to try and make it a joke. They were so into each other, they really didn’t care.

“I’m really excited to see you skate,” Marc said, hitting me with his dynamite smile. He may be disgustingly lovey-dovey with my father, but he was still cute as fuck. I felt myself mellowing toward him.

“I’ll try to make it worth your trip,” I promised. “You really look good in that jacket.” He was a sharp dresser.

“Thanks,” he said, in a very genuine way, making it seem like it was important that I thought he had good taste in clothes. That was actually pretty flattering. “I got this in Australia. Stef and I went up to the City on Thursday and had a blast shopping.”

“You are easy to shop for, because everything looks good on you,” Stef said, then turned to me. “He is much like you in that regard.”

I smiled. “Well, next time we have some free time, the three of us should go spend some money,” I said pleasantly. That would probably be a lot of fun. “Maybe you can join us,” I said to Aunt Claire.

“Yes, because he will need some dreary clothes for business functions,” Stef said, giving her a bad time.

“Unlike some, Marc doesn’t need flashy clothes to make an entrance, or attract attention,” she shot back, raising an eyebrow. Stef gave her a dirty look, while the rest of us laughed.

I was just starting to enjoy Marc when Dad started making googly eyes at him, and grossed me out all over again. I wished Darius were here. He would snap them both into line so fast. He was amazing that way. A couple of caustic comments could usually cure this PDA bullshit. “I need to get to the rink,” I said, even though I probably had another half hour.

“Have the car take you, then send it back for us,” Stef said.

“I’ll go with you,” Alex said. Tiffany grumbled at leaving her food, but it was her own damn fault for eating so slowly. The three of us got into the car for the short drive to the rink.

“Parker’s your biggest threat,” she said, telling me something I already knew.

“I’m ahead of him, so all I have to do is turn in a good performance, and I should win,” I said casually, even though I knew it would take more than that. She gave me an odd look, but I ignored her. I didn’t need to stress about this.

We got to the rink and I watched the other guys skate. Since I was in first place, I went last. I liked that, and not just because it meant I was in first place. I liked it because then I knew exactly how well I had to do, and that usually pushed my performance up a notch. I hated skating and then having to wait for other people to finish to see if I’d actually won.

The Zamboni cleaned the ice before the last four of us went, which was my cue to get myself ready. “You will do an amazing job,” Alex said, then leaned in so only I could hear him. “You already did well this morning, so all you have to do now is win this.” I giggled, and then stopped myself. I was so excited to fuck him; I looked down and saw that I was starting to get an erection. I quickly focused on making it go down, even as I blushed. “Perhaps it is not a good idea if I’m around,” he suggested.

“I can control myself, more or less,” I said. Tiffany looked at me and raised an eyebrow, as if to point out that we were being almost as goofy as Dad and Marc. That pissed me off enough to help me focus.

I watched Parker skate, and he did really well. He was a pretty nice guy. When he came off the ice I smiled at him and told him he did a good job, and he thanked me and wished me luck. That’s more than I usually did for the other skaters. But even though he was a nice guy, I was determined to beat him. I went onto the ice, got into my starting position, and let my mind and body flow into my program. I was so into it, I felt like I was floating. Normally when my quad was coming up, I’d get all apprehensive, but not this time. This time, I knew I would nail it, and I did. When I finally ended my free skate program in the center of the rink, the applause was really loud, louder than I remembered hearing. I smiled, took my bows, and went to the kiss and cry with Tiffany.

I knew I’d won, and the scores, when they came out, just confirmed it. I smiled broadly, a genuine smile, and said all the right things to the press, just as I’d been trained to do by my PR lady. It seemed to take forever to get done, but after that, I had to spend more time with my family and I had to endure another family meal, a dinner this time. It seemed like an eternity before I could escape back to my room with Alex and sink my dick into his sweet ass, but it was worth the wait. Damn.

November 16, 2002

Claremont, OH

Zach

“Nice to meet you, Zach. I’m Colby Jacobs,” the counselor said. I was expecting another relic, some guy who was at least fifty, but this dude was probably in his early thirties, and was actually pretty handsome, not that that mattered.

“Nice to meet you,” I said nervously, then got pissed at myself for being such a pussy.

“I spent the morning with your parents, and now I want to spend some time with you, to find out what your issues with them are,” he said.

“It’s not that hard. I want them to leave me alone,” I said simply.

“Do you really want them to be completely out of your life?”

“Every time they interfere in my life, they fuck it up.”

“How do you think that makes them feel?” he asked. God, I hated this psychobabble shit.

“I don’t know how it makes them feel,” I said. “And right now, I don’t give a shit. I was supposed to be on the field today, playing football. My team is currently surfing on the longest winning streak in history, and I’m one of the best players on the team. When they pulled me this weekend, they could have completely fucked that up, not just for me, but for my teammates.” I wasn’t all that worried about my teammates, but I figured this guy would probably like it if I were.

“They had to know that was a big deal,” he said.

“Then why the fuck did they do it?” I demanded.

“Did you ever do something just to get attention?”

I thought about some of the stupid shit I’d done as a kid. “I guess.”

“When you did that, how did you feel?”

“I don’t remember,” I snapped, getting annoyed with him.

“Frustrated? Neglected? Unimportant?” he asked.

“Maybe,” I said curtly. “Like I said, I don’t remember.”

“Do you think that maybe that’s how they felt?” he asked me. Only this whole conversation was driving me crazy. It was like he had a point to make, but instead, he was beating around the bush.

“I don’t know how the fuck they felt,” I said, “and I really don’t give a shit.”

“Do you really mean that?” he asked. And then it was like something snapped inside me, and all of my built up anger released.

“I really fucking mean that!” I shouted. “My whole life, I’ve played football, because I like it, and because my dad wanted me too. I’m good. I’m really fucking good! I’ve got scholarship offers at the top football colleges in the country, and I’m on a direct path to the NFL, that’s how fucking good I am. But you know what I hear from my father? Do you know?”

“What?” he said, and seemed a little nervous, which actually made me feel good, to think I could knock this dipshit back on his heels a bit.

“After every game, no matter how well I do, he rips me up about bullshit mistakes he thinks I made. Shit, I can call him after a game, where he didn’t even see me play, and he imagines mistakes that I made and bitches about them. And my mother just smiles and tells me to listen to him, like she doesn’t have shit for brains. So you tell me I should give a shit what they think, but if I did, I’d end up thinking I sucked. All they do is tear me down. I don’t need that bullshit. I’d rather just keep them the fuck away from me, because with them around, I’ll never make it to the NFL!”

“You have a lot of anger about this,” he said.

“God damn right I do!” I yelled. “I’m trying to be successful, and I can do it, and really, the only thing that can derail me is them. My father has always done this, always made me feel like shit about things even when I do well. He rides me for no fucking reason at all. He never did that to my brothers. Shit, he played football in high school, and he sucked, so he thinks that makes him an expert on what I’m supposed to do?”

“When he played football in high school, how do you think his father treated him?”

I shrugged. “I have no idea.”

“I think we need to ask him that,” he said. “A lot of times, fathers model their behavior after what their own father did. Maybe he thinks that’s what you’re supposed to do.”

“Alright, let’s say that’s the case,” I said. “I’m betting that if that happened, he felt like shit about it. So why the fuck is he doing the same thing to me?”

“Maybe he doesn’t remember how he felt,” he said.

“Look, this is all fine and wonderful. If you want to help him dig into his past, and fight his demons, that’s just fucking terrific. That’s just wonderful. But in the meantime, I want him and his fucked up psyche as far away from me as possible.”

“Do you really want him out of your life?” he asked, like that was a no brainer ‘no’ answer.

“Yes,” I said. “Why the fuck do you think I left this town?”

“I don’t know,” he said.

“I left to get away from him and his bitching and his criticism and the way he tries to control everything about my career. I went to New Jersey, and that wasn’t far enough, so now I’m in California, and they manage to fuck things up for me there. I left town to get away from them, because I knew that to be successful, I’d have to get them out of my life. But they won’t go away. They won’t leave me alone. It’s like they’re determined to make things harder. And if that’s their game, I don’t want them around.”

“Would you like something to drink?” he asked, as he stood up. I just blinked at him. It was like he didn’t hear a word I said. He seemed to get that. “I heard what you said, but I want to grab a pop and think about it.”

“Why don’t you just tell me you want to take a break until I calm down,” I said acidly.

He smiled. “Very perceptive. What do you want to drink?”

“I’ll take a Coke,” I said, and got a little less bitchy. He walked over to a small fridge, took out a Coke for me, and a Diet Coke for himself.

“I have to watch my waistline,” he said. I shrugged. I wasn’t going to fuck him, so why the fuck should I care what he ate, or what he looked like? “I want to talk about a different topic.”

“Go on,” I said cautiously.

“Your parents are concerned about your friendship with a young man, I believe his name is Will,” he said.

“What are they worried about?” I asked. I knew, I just didn’t know if I was going to tell this guy the whole deal with us.

“They tell me he’s gay,” he said.

“Did you want me to try to set you up with him?” I asked innocently.

“No,” he said, a little flustered, which made me smile. “They’re worried that he’ll turn you gay.”

“Do you think he could turn me gay?” I asked, wondering if he was one of those douchebags who thought being gay was a choice.

“I don’t think you can be turned gay, I think you either find other men attractive or you don’t,” he said. “I tried to educate your parents about that.”

“Did they understand?”

“They seemed to get that it’s not something you can catch, like a disease,” he said with a small grin.

“Then why are they worried about me hanging around with Will?”

“Because they see that you guys are very close.”

“So I can’t have a close friend, who’s gay?” I asked him.

“You can,” he said. “Look Zach, let me get to the bottom line. I think that they’re nervous not because they think Will is going to turn you gay, I think they’re nervous because they think you are gay.”

“I am,” I said, and then totally freaked out, at least inside. I hadn’t meant to tell this dude that I was gay, but when he was so blunt, instead of playing his bullshit games where he beat around the bush, I guess it just sort of came out.

“Are you and Will together?”

“I love him,” I said honestly. “He is the most important person in my life.”

“Have you told anyone about this, that you two are together?”

I nodded. “Two of my brothers know, and Will’s family knows.”

“Are you planning to tell your parents?”

“Why would I do that?” I demanded. “They’d just make it even harder for us to be together. Besides, it’s not like I can be out anyway. As long as I play football, I’m stuck in the closet.”

“That’s a tough life to live,” he said.

“I know that,” I told him. “So I have to deal with that, on top of all their other bullshit.”

“Maybe they’d understand, and be supportive,” he said.

“That’s a bunch of crap,” I snapped. “How can you sit here and say that, when I just told you what an asshole my father is. Shit, he doesn’t support me now; much less if he found out I was gay.”

“Maybe they sense you’re not being completely honest with them,” he said. “If you pulled them into your life, and told them about it, maybe that would change things.”

I looked at him dubiously. “I don’t see how that can happen, and I don’t know if I trust them enough to let them see that much of me.”

“I think it can happen, but I understand why you wouldn’t trust them,” he said.

“Alright, we’ve been talking about all this shit, and you’re trying to make me feel like I have to fix my relationship with them, which in my mind is fucked up beyond repair. What do you want me to do?” I demanded.

“I want you to think about what we talked about today, and I want you to decide whether you can be honest with your parents about who you are,” he said candidly.

“What if I can’t?”

“Then I think you’ll get your wish, and you won’t end up with much of a relationship with them,” he said. It hadn’t really bothered me, the thought of them just walking out of my life, until he said that, and then it did. I decided to think about that later.

“So what happens tomorrow?”

“The four of us will meet, and try to talk through some of these things.”

“Wouldn’t it have been easier, and faster, for us to just do that today?” I didn’t know why this had to drag out.

“You were just a little pissed off when we started talking about this,” he said with a smile.

“Just a little,” I said, smiling back. “You’re telling me you did this so I could vent, and then be calmer tomorrow.”

“I don’t think that’s what I told you, but that’s what I was thinking,” he said.

“I don’t know if I want to meet with them alone,” I told him. He looked a little offended, since he’d be there, but that was too damn bad.

“Who do you want to bring with you?”

“I don’t know yet,” I said. I could bring Frank along, since he was really involved and he’d been fighting for me. He was the logical candidate. Or I could bring Will along, which would probably inflame them, but he was the most important to me. I could even ask JP to come along, because he was powerful enough to make my parents behave themselves.

“I think you should bring whomever you want, with two provisions,” he said.

“Go on.”

“First, I think that you should only bring one person with you. You don’t want to intimidate your parents, and overpower them.”

“Isn’t that what they’re doing to me, if I come alone?” I asked.

“Zach, you’re a lot more confident and self-assured than they are, at least when you’re here. This is foreign turf to them.” I could see that. Seeing a shrink must have totally freaked my parents out.

“What’s the other thing?”

“I don’t think you should bring Will unless,” he said, to stop me from interrupting him, “you’re going to be honest with them about your sexuality, and your relationship.”

“That makes sense,” I agreed. Unless they knew how important Will was to me, him being here would just piss them off.

“Are you comfortable working with me?” he asked.

“On an ongoing basis?” I figured this would be a one-time deal.

“This isn’t all going to unravel in one day,” he said. “Be realistic. There are a lot of issues here.”

“I guess there are,” I said. “I can probably stand to work with you,” I said, but gave him my best smile to show I was teasing him.

“Good.”

“You’re a hell of a lot better than the last dude we talked to,” I said.

He rolled his eyes. “I heard about that. It’s always dangerous when people try to do a job they’re not qualified for. And you may not know this, but your parents were pretty upset about the way he treated you.”

“They were?” I asked. That stunned me. I thought they’d fed Peebles all this bullshit, and he’d gone off and said what they wanted him to say.

“Their objective is to get to a good place with you, to have a good relationship with you. They see how that didn’t work, and how damaging that was to this whole effort. It says a lot that, even after that, you were willing to spend the weekend meeting with me.”

“I didn’t know that,” I admitted. “Since they faxed the school that note after I hung up on Peebles, I figured that’s why, because I didn’t listen to his bullshit.”

“They were upset because you promised you’d get counseling with them, and then, as far as they knew, you refused to talk to Peebles. They didn’t know the details of your conversation with him. I think your Uncle Frank cleared that up for you,” he said.

“Frank’s been awesome,” I said, for some reason. “He tells me when I do well, and props me up when I don’t. He won’t put up with bullshit, but I know that he, and his fiancée, will be there for me.”

“Have you been honest with Frank about your sexuality, and about your relationship with Will?”

“Yeah,” I said, but it sounded more like ‘duh’. He looked at me, and he was going to tell me that maybe that’s why Frank was in my corner and my parents weren’t, but he didn’t. I didn’t know if it was because he wasn’t sure if that was true, or because I got his point.

“I’ll see you tomorrow morning at 10,” he said.

I nodded, and then felt kind of bad for being a dick. “I’m sorry if I was kind of obnoxious. I appreciate what you’re trying to do.”

“You have nothing to apologize for. A lot of people come in here, and they won’t open up and tell me what they’re thinking. That makes progress almost impossible. I really appreciate your honesty and your candor. It can’t be easy to trust someone you just met with something as important as you shared.”

I nodded, shook his hand, and left, feeling pretty fucked up, and slightly happy.

November 17, 2002

Aston, PA

Brad

It was early, long before we had to wake up, but my body clock was off from all this traveling. I was lying in bed on my side, facing Marc, who was lying on his stomach. The morning sun came through the drapes, not enough to be blinding or obnoxious, but enough to cast a shadowy light over his body. I gently pulled the sheet and blanket down so I could see more of him. If I had to design the perfect male specimen, I’d probably come up with him. I gently ran my fingers down his back, savoring how smooth his skin was. I let my hand go lower, to his gorgeous ass that looked so little now, with him sprawled out naked on the bed. I gently repositioned myself so I was sitting up, and let my fingers caress his soft cheeks, letting them flit up and down his crack.

He was still asleep, but he moaned, and spread his legs wider apart. I moved again, gently, so I didn’t wake him up, and moved my face so it was next to his ass. I moved down, gently blowing on his hole, then his taint, until I got to his balls. I inhaled his smell, his musk that was so sweet and tangy, so erotic. I let my nose brush against his balls, then moved it back up, letting it touch his taint, but barely, even as I moved higher, up to his hole. I used the tip of my nose to rim him, which almost made me giggle. He really liked that, if his moans were any indication. I replaced my nose with the tip of my tongue; working his hole gently, so gently that it wouldn’t wake him up, then moved it down the length of his crack to his balls, and then back up again. I did that again and again, only with each pass, I’d increase the pressure.

“That’s so fucking good,” I heard him moan; my cue to dive in even deeper now that he’d woken up. I worked him open, first with my tongue, then with my fingers, until I had him all but begging me to fuck him. I slid the condom on and then gently pushed into him. He’d been so tight before, but we’d fucked so many times now, he was used to me. It only took a few seconds after I entered him before I could really let loose, and start fucking him.

“Feels so good,” I cooed into his ear. I sprawled across him, letting my body pin his down, even as I drove into him over and over again. Only that didn’t stop him from getting into it. He rocked his hips back into me just as enthusiastically, begging me to keep going, a request I gladly obliged.

“Ah, ah!” I heard him whimpering, which meant I was getting him close. I wrapped my arms around him and rolled over onto my back, keeping us linked; keeping my dick lodged in his ass, so now he was sprawled across me. I slowed my thrusts, going fast enough to keep him on edge; even as I let my hands explore his body. I touched everything from the cute little tufts of hair under his arms, to the smooth skin on his abdomen, until I’d finally kept him waiting long enough. I grabbed his dick and started stroking, closing my eyes as I did, merging my mind and my body with his so I could feel how close he was. Slowly I built up our orgasms, regulating the timing with the speed of my thrusts and the stroke of my hand, until we hit the point of no return. “Fuck!” he screamed, probably loud enough that they heard us in the hall, and then let out a roar as he blasted his load all over his chest and abdomen.

I was right there with him, and surrendered to my carnal desires, to my orgasm. I bit down on his neck as I came, not enough to break the skin, but enough to leave a mark, and that seemed to just make him even more unhinged. And so we writhed together on the bed, draining ourselves until I was more satisfied than I remembered being.

“That was wonderful,” he said breathlessly. “I mean, that was just fucking incredible.”

“It was for me too,” I said, and gave him a gentle kiss. I pushed him off of me, but not in a rough way, and onto the bed, then I licked his cum off his body, making him giggle as I did. He tasted so good; his cum was like nectar.

He’d figured me out pretty fast, and got that right after sex was when I was the most vulnerable. He pulled me down on top of him, and then pulled the covers up so we didn’t get cold, and wrapped his arms and legs around me, making me feel so safe, and so loved. I was in heaven.

“That’s why I date older guys,” he joked. “A young guy would have blown twenty seconds after we started fucking.”

“I don’t know,” I said. “You’re young, and you have all the right moves.”

He kissed my forehead. “Do you think JJ likes me?”

I smiled. “I think that as much as JJ can like someone, he likes you,” I joked. He gave me a pouty look. “I asked you to build a relationship with my sons; I told you how important that was.”

“And I’ve been trying to do that,” he said, getting all defensive.

“Yes, you have. You have done more than I could have dreamed, and you’ve made me really happy. Will thinks you’re terrific, and JJ likes that you dress well. And Matt likes you too.”

“It’s a shame he and Wade couldn’t come down this weekend,” he said.

“So you’ll see them at Thanksgiving,” I told him.

“I usually spend Thanksgiving with my parents,” he said.

“You can do that if you want to, but if you want to come with me, I’d love to spend the holiday with you,” I told him honestly.

“That means I have to stay with you for a while longer,” he said, smiling at me.

“Good.”