After Practice - 2. After Practice 2

Why is Dallas so....so friendly???

I mean, I know that we're teammates and all, but we've only known each other for a few weeks...and he's just so comfortable to be around. And he's cool being around around all of us, really...even knowing what we know about him. That can't be natural, him just having this outstanding personality and being this comfortable in his own skin when it comes to interacting with people who are basically strangers as far as he's concerned. It baffled me sometimes.

Dallas had this really contagious smile that just seemed to bring out the very best in you at all times, no matter what. And this really cute voice that tickled the eardrums and inspired your spirit. Enthusiasm that made you put in real effort and energy in to your whole life, just to keep up with him...just to make sure that he was having as much fun as you were when you were talking to him. And when his fingers made their routine gesture of gently combing through his hair and pushing those sexy golden locks out of his eyes every few minutes...it always left me breathless. Every time.

Talking to him was so easy that it almost made you afraid of what you might say while your guard was down. An emotional therapy of friendship that soared right through your every defense and spoke right to your soul whether you gave it permission or not. I can't remember ever feeling so vulnerable in front of another super cute boy before...and what's worse...

...I can't remember enjoying it so much.

"I've never played any of the other teams around here before. Are there any other school all-stars that I should keep an eye out for?" He asked me. "My old coach used to keep a few highlight reels of our toughest competition. He used to point out this one guy, Steven Luke, from West Mackey High, all the time. He'd be like, 'Dallas...that's your new nemesis, right there! We're gonna need you to stick to him like glue and keep him from showing off on the field!' I probably learned a lot of my own trick shots from him in the process. Study and practice, you know?"

God DAMN, he's dreamy! And we haven't even made it two blocks away from school yet.

"None that I know of. I'm sure you could run circles around them in a heartbeat, Dallas." I said, my breath short, my face trying its best to suppress a deep blush as I looked down at the sidewalk. "With you on the team...I doubt that winning games is going to be much of a problem." Did that sound complimentary...or flirtatious? I don't know. It could go either way. Then again...maybe I wanted it to.

"I doubt it'll be that easy." He grinned. "Like Coach said...superstars don't win games. 'Teams' win games. You guys seem to have your stuff together. Coach is pretty cool too."

"Yeah...I suppose." I said, feeling my chest tighten up with flattery. And then...the feeling of that lower 'tingle' that warned me of a potential erection, swelling up in my pants as I tried not to catch another glimpse of him pushing his dark blond locks back out of his sexy eyes once again, forced me to calm down.

God...I love it when he does that.

"Besides, I was having major trouble trying to go toe to toe with Steven Luke on the field at my old school. That boy was so CUTE!!! Hehehe, it was driving me crazy the whole time that I was trying to work my way past him!" Dallas said. "He maneuvered his way around me a few times during some of those games, but if I had to be totally honest...?" He leaned over with a smile, "I think that I, subliminally, let him do it to me."

I didn't mean to snicker out loud, but I did. "Hehehe, what?"

"I don't know, dude! Deep down, I wanted him to, like...win. You know? And then maybe take me out for burgers afterward. Hang out for a while."

This time, holding back a blush was simply impossible! I know that Dallas saw it. All I could do was try to play it off and maybe have him think it was something 'else' that had triggered my bashful response. "Hang out for a while, huh?" I said. "And then what?"

Dallas giggled and wriggled his eyebrows at me as I laughed out loud. "And then...whatever. There's not too much that a boy that cute can't ask of me. So, I guess it's more about what's on his mind than what's on mine."

"Hehehe...wow..." I said.

This time, Dallas turned even more red in the face than I was, and even though I was far from being anywhere near offended, he chose to apologize. "My bad, Trey. Too much information, I guess. Hehehe! You know that I was just kidding, right? About...you know...."

"No, you weren't." I chuckled. "You were totally serious."

"Yeah, ok..I was totally serious. But I wasn't going to tell YOU that!" He smirked. "What are you, the fucking sex detective?"

"Do I even need to be to figure out you were willing to throw a championship soccer game in order to bang one of your opposing teammates?" I said. "If I see any cute boys on the other team, I'm scarring their face with a blowtorch ahead of time so we can get ourselves a win."

That caused Dallas to laugh out loud. Even harder than I wouldhave expected. And you know what? It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to know that I could get that surprise reaction from him out of nowhere. "Hey!!!" He said. "That's not true at all!" Then he paused and winked at me, "I was willing to throw a soccer game in order to have one of my opposing teammates bang ME!!! Thank you very much! There's a difference!"

It was a comment that caused me to double over with laughter and fall over on somebody's lawn while Dallas put his hands on his knees and tried his best not to do the same. I felt my eyes welling up with tears as I folded my arms around my stomach and fought for breath.

The harder I laughed...the harder Dallas laughed. And vice versa. It was like we just fed off of each other until we were both sitting side by side on the grass, breathless...our knees drawn up as we took a moment to collect ourselves. This wasn't the first time in the past few weeks that Dallas and I ended up exchanging exhausted looks of post-laughter bliss over something that he or I had just said out loud. Probably wouldn't be the last. It was weird, you know? Such a short time, and we had already stirred up this camaraderie with one another that put us in sync with one another to the point where we just...we 'fit' together. You know? I guess it's hard to explain.

Our eyes met.

We didn't say anything at first...but there was something in our brief eye contact that did all the talking for us. A moment that seemed to last for a lot longer than it probably was.

And as his hair flopped down and I saw him raising his hand to brush it back again, I was forced to look away. He's just...he's too CUTE when he does that! I can't handle it. Not when I'm this close to him.

"Trey...?"

"I've gotta get going." I said, grabbing my backpack, but doing my best to make it look as normal and as casual as I possibly could, trying to escape this situation before I did something really stupid.

"Well...hold on a sec..." Dallas said, rushing to get to his feet as well. I couldn't help but to notice the way his taut little ass cheeks bounced and jiggled as he tried to brush the dirt and grass trimmings off of himself. That, alone, nearly left me breathless. "Ok, I'm ready. Let's go." He said, but I was too lost in his eyes to really hear him enough to lose the captivating swoon that was taking my entire body over at the moment. I can't even describe how stunning he was to me. It almost hurt to look at him...the gravitational pull of his intense beauty drawing me in at every passing second, while I tried to fight it off with all of my might. I just found myself spiraling downward into a level of euphoric confusion that I never wanted to escape from when it came to Dallas. And it would be a manipulative and malicious tactic to use against an unsuspecting boy...if he just...if he didn't understand how unspeakably gorgeous he was.

I think that that was the sexiest part of him. The fact that he was so blissfully unaware of his overwhelming effect on the people around him. It was a delicate beauty. Almost like he tried to keep it a guarded secret, even though everybody could see it clearly for a distance, gasping for breath as they tried to build up the same level of self restraint that I did when it came to staring blindly at him like an infant recognizing 'colors' for the very first time. Dallas enchanted me. And he didn't even know.

Like...he didn't have a clue. How is that humanly possible?

What part of life allows you to look at that face in the mirror every morning and take it for granted? Can he not see it? Does he just ignore it? Because I don't. I can't!

We were walking down the street together, with me catching furtive peeks at him every now and then, hoping he wouldn't see my infatuation with his godlike presence in my life. And I guess it made him a bit self conscious, because, he suddenly asked me, "It doesn't bother you all that much, does it? The gay stuff, I mean. I didn't mean to be...'vulgar' or anything..."

"NO!" I said, a bit more abruptly and loudly that I expected. I think it surprised both of us, to be honest.

"Okaaaayyy...." Dallas said with a grin, giving me a sideways glance. Hehehe, it was cute, but I found myself being really embarrassed for my outburst.

"Sorry." I said.

"S'ok. I'm sure that it takes some getting used to. I'm cool with it." Awww, why can't I just KISS him right now??? This is killing me!

"I didn't mean for that to sound the way it sounded. Honest." I said. "It wasn't vulgar at all. I thought it was kinda cool...knowing that you were totally ok with liking other boys and stuff."

"Hehehe, well, it's not like I have much of a choice." He said. "I'd like to say that I don't want to sleep with every cute boy that I see...but, ummm..." He paused, and giggled, "I really want to sleep with every cute boy that I see!!! Hehehe! I hate to be a part of the stereotype, but you have some really HOT boys that go to this school! It's like...KILLING me to have to sit in class with them sometimes! I'm trying to behave myself though, I promise. It just makes it a little hard to concentrate sometimes, that's all."

I admired him for being able to talk so openly about stuff like this. Maybe even envied him. Lord knows, that I could ever do that.

"Boys like who?" I asked.

"Well...I shouldn't say." He grinned.

"Why not? You built it up so far, and now I don't get any payoff?"

"I don't want them to know!"

"Why not?"

"It would be weird for them..." He said, now beginning to blush.

"I'd think it would be flattering, if anything."

"Unh unh...I can't. I really shouldn't say anything."

"Is it somebody that I know?" I asked.

"Hehehe, what, are we playing twenty questions now? I said no." He told me.

"Give me ONE boy! You don't even have to tell me his last name."

"Why??? Hehehe..."

"Because! I'm curious now!" I grinned.

"You see? This is why I don't talk about this stuff." Dallas said, playfully rolling his eyes. "There are a lot. Let's just leave it at that, k?"

I let him off the hook, saying, "Awwww, you're no fun."

"I'd be a LOT of fun if I could get one of them to call me up. Hehehe!"

That smile. It could easily lift you out of the depths of despair if you ever needed it to. Angelic in its presentation, and occasionally accented by another push back of that dark gold mop on his head, revealing the glorious glimmer of his dark brown eyes. He was art in motion. Poetry in human form. His voice...a lullaby to sing you into a trance of utter infatuation with a single note. Sometimes...his stunning beauty forced you to take notice. It was impossible to ever take him for granted. He just wouldn't let you. My heart never got a break when he was this close to me.

"Hey, Dallas?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you question?"

He giggled, "I'm NOT telling you which boys I think are hot, Trey!"

"It's not about that. Hehehe, realx!" I said. Then, with a bit of hesitation, I asked him, "Why do you always dress and shower away from the rest of the team in the locker room?"

"Well, mostly, it's because my sausage is so big that I didn't want to make the rest of you 'peewees' feel inadequate in my presence." He snickered, hoping to maybe deflect the question altogether.

"I'm calling bullshit." I grinned. "Seriously though...we wouldn't give you a hard time or anything. I mean, you know that, right?"

Dallas kind of gave me a comforting look, and he didn't say anything at first, but then told me, "I dunno...it's just not worth the hassle, I guess."

"Hassle? What hassle?" I said. "You're a part of the team, just like everybody else."

"Yeah, except that I'm not like everybody else. And you know what I'm talking about." He said, his smile dimming a bit as he lowered his bright gaze from my eyes to the ground. "Look...at my last school, I joined the soccer team...and some of the parents had a problem with me changing with other boys, ok? I mean, they got together with the school's PTA or whatever and kind of made a mess of things. And I still got to play, but only because the school wasn't allowed to discriminate against me. But it's not like it hurt any less, you know? I'm just a kid trying to have friends and play some ball. It's not like I was trying to manipulate the others into having an all boy orgy after school."

He seemed a bit disturbed by it all, and I softly told him, "I'm sorry. Parents suck sometimes."

"Yeah. They do." He said. "The funny thing is, the parents that made the most noise? Their kids were fucking ugly as HELL!!!"

"HAHAHAHA!!!" He totally caught me off guard with that comment, and I nearly fell over laughing again! "What the fuck, dude??? Hahaha!"

"It's TRUE! I look at their fucking butt ugly sons and I'm like, 'Are you serious?' You give that kid too much credit, lady. Nobody's watching him undress. He's nauseating enough when he's fully clothed." He said, now laughing at me for laughing at him so hard. "Hehehe, I PAID for my school lunch, bitch! I don't want to waste it by spilling it all over the locker room floor!"

"Hahaha, wait...wait...dude, STOP!!!" I said, trying to catch my breath.

"Oh me! Oh my! I can't stop laughing!" He said, mocking me. "Like I want to look at her stupid son's bare ass and little micro dick all day...psh..."

"No really! Stop! Hahaha!"

"Ugly, fucking...biohazard ass bitch! What kind of wild animal do you even have to bang to produce such an unlovable creature? Fuck you! Hehehe!"

I doubled over and fell to the ground, wiping tears of laughter from my eyes, and Dallas was merciful enough to let me ride out my giggly tantrum without making it even worse. It took a few minutes for me to get the image of it all out of my head, but once I was able to catch my breath, I looked up and saw Dallas offering me his hand to help me up. "You are too much, you know that?" I said.

"I'm glad you think so." He smiled. And as he pulled me up to my feet we looked at one another, eye to eye. I mean...maybe I imagined it or something, but it felt like...his expression changed all of a sudden. It was quick, and it was subtle...but I could feel it. This delicate tension between us that wasn't really there just a few seconds ago. I mean, yeah...I always stare at him like some sort of love struck idiot and have been dreaming about kissing him and holding him in my arms every single night since he joined the team...but it's always been a 'one way' sort of thing, you know? It's like...it was understood that this is the way it was supposed to be. I drool over his bare soccer legs in those sensually fitting shiny shorts of his, take a few peeks at his sweet round ass when I'm certain that nobody else is looking...and then I go home and I jerk all of my frustration into one of my socks from my dirty clothes hamper. That was all I ever got from Dallas, and it was...honestly...all I ever expected from him.

It seemed almost blasphemous and greedy for me to ask for anything more.

But...for that one moment...when our eyes connected...I actually 'felt' Dallas looking back at me. There was, like...this reflection of what I was feeling in him, and that feeling didn't feel so lonely anymore. Does that make sense? I don't know. The moment was over so quickly that I didn't really have much of a chance to process what was going on there.

When it comes to someone as pretty as Dallas is...it can be hard to distinguish between a truthful analysis of the situation...an just plain wishful thinking.

"You ok? Hehehe, feeling better now?" He asked me.

"My stomach hurts, but...yeah." I smiled. I felt myself blushing, my cheeks getting hot as they turned bright red. But I looked down at my feet to, hopefully, hide some of my bashful anxiety from him. "Seriously, though...that's messed up, what they did to you. Or, you know...how they made you feel." I said. "You're not going to have to worry about that here. Promise."

Dallas smiled. "I'm actually starting to believe you. Haven't had much of a problem yet." Then he brought his hands up, fingers crossed. I don't know why that looked so cute to me, but I found myself wishing I had a picture of it to keep close to me when I went to bed at night. Heh...

"Ok. Cool." I said.

"Let's get going. I've got a ton of homework tonight." He said, and combed his fingers through his hair again, causing me to sigh.

"K..." I replied. And we started walking again.

Is my heart supposed to be beating this hard? God, I hope Dallas can't hear that...

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY SHACK FANS!!! IT'S BEEN QUITE A RIDE, HASN'T IT?