The List - 21. Chapter 21: Lucky

Specimen’s name: Lucky

Height: 5’9’’

Build: 160 (Athletic)

Occupation: Student (Volleyball player)

Age: 22

Dimensions: 7’’ uncut

The greatest thing about hanging with Sebastian was also the worst. He reminded me of what I was if you stripped the desire to suck cock and see other guys naked. He was a bookworm, just like me, only his interests were in math and science instead of history and English.

He was incredibly funny in a dry sort of way. The way he joked about people, often times making fun of them without them even realizing it, always made me smile. He was incredibly easy to get along with, and the more time we spent together, the more I appreciated his friendship.

The turn of the screw, however, was that all of those qualities attracted me to him even more than I should have been. I assumed he could tell I was gay, but he never once mentioned it or made a big deal about it. I wondered if I was only crushing over him because, for the first time in a long time, a guy I wanted didn’t want me back. Was there an element of wanting what I knew I couldn’t have?

“Where are you studying?” he texted me the Wednesday after our bro date. I told him that I was just getting back from volleyball practice and heading to the U for dinner.

From Sebastian: I have a table on the third floor if you want to join.

To Sebastian: I’m bringing my Subway. Want anything?

From Sebastian: Well I’m too hungry for the six inch and not hungry enough for the footlong…

To Sebastian: They still haven’t wised up to the 9-inch.

I could just imagine him smile at our inside joke. It was texts like that that made me wonder if he knew I spoke fag or not.

When I got to the table, I marveled at how much study space one person could take up. Luckily, all I needed was a seat and elbow space as I was just reading the principals of politics that night.

“Could you take up any more room?” I asked, moving some pages around and settling in.

“You get an olive on my paper and I’ll punch you in the throat,” he said with a smile. The smile. We studied pretty silently for an hour with very few interruptions. At one point, my leg did graze his under the table and I moved mine away really quickly. I looked up to see if he’d noticed, and true to form, he hadn’t. He kept right on calculating along.

After a couple hours of reading, I went to the bathroom to drain the main vein. When I returned, Sebastian said that my phone had gone off when I was gone.

“Who was it?” I asked, getting myself situated.

“I didn’t look at your phone,” he responded. “I don’t know what unsavory sorts you have sexting you.”

I looked at my cell phone and saw that I had a missed call from Chase’s number. Sebastian must have seen my face change slightly, because he gave me an inquisitive look and said: “I told you. Unsavory.”

“No, it’s just my friend Chase, and he’s…” I realized that I was grinning. I looked up and Sebastian’s squint had turned into an eye-brow raised smirk.

I hadn’t heard from Chase in almost a week, and I would have been lying to myself to say I wasn’t excited to get his call. I had given him the task of distancing himself from Spencer, not because I planned to pursue him outright, but because I knew that if Spence didn’t like him anymore, I wouldn’t feel so bad hooking up with him. I figured with me playing hard to get, he’d get bored and move on. I figured wrong, I guess.

“You have a thing for this Chase… character?” I could tell he had debated between saying character and saying guy. I guess he knew more than I gave him credit for.

“Yeah, kind of,” I confessed as I typed a text to him. “Listen to this. Hold on a second.”

I finished my text and sent it to Chase.

To Chase: Got your call, but I’m studying. I’ll call you on my way home.

I set my phone down after I sent it and made a quick decision. Sebastian was my new friend, and he’d find out I was leaning closer and closer to gay than ever. I decided to man up and ask for his advice.

“Okay, listen to this. There’s this guy that really likes me. He’s made it perfectly clear. But my roommate really likes him. So it’s complicated. What do I do?”

“You stop hanging out with so many gay guys,” he smiled. I laughed at his joke, but gave him a look indicating I really did want to know what he thought. “Seriously, though. You don’t go there. If your roommate likes him, he’s off limits.”

“What if I told you that he’s already been on limits?”

“I would tell you that you’re a cool dude, Coop, but I’d rather not listen to the details of your limits,” he said. “Not at all.”

“We’ve already hooked up,” I said, surprised at how easy it was to talk to Sebastian about my situation. I don’t know what I expected his reaction to be when he found out, but the fact that he didn’t give a shit was refreshing. “Does that still make him off limits?”

“Wow. I have to say, that’s a tricky one,” he responded. He put his pen and notebook down, crossed his arms and glared at me. “Hypothetically, if I was your roommate, and I found out about this, I’d be beyond upset. I’d stab you in your sleep.”

“I’m too cute to kill.”

Sebastian shrugged. “Seriously though, I’d just cut ties. I’d tell Chase sorry. My roommate liked you first. You’re off-limits. Have a little self-control, Cooper.”

I pursed my lips. I knew he was right about everything, but it wasn’t that simple. I figured that his argument was correct if I had gone after Chase knowing that Spencer liked him. When I first hooked up with Chase and fell for his super hot aquatic body, I had no clue he was the object of my roommate’s affection. That changed things. Instead of arguing the point and coming off like a man stealing asshole, I shrugged and went back to the principles of politics.

An hour and barely any reading later, I decided to pack my things and return to my dorm. As I walked back, I decided to keep my word to Chase and call him back.

“I thought you’d never call,” he said in that sexy ‘hella’ filled Californian drawl. “You’ve been keeping a guy mighty blue for quite some time.”

“Now how have I been keeping you blue when I haven’t even seen you?”

“I have a memory, right?” I smiled beside myself and even felt my face flush a little. This guy knew how to get under my skin. “Come over.”

“I can’t.”

“Oh come on,” he said, in a commanding tone. “This is ridiculous. I’ve done everything I can to keep Spencer at bay. He’s not interested in me anymore. In fact, just today, I saw him sketch off after practice with some other guy. He’s over me. Now come get under me.”

He might have been right. Maybe Spencer had moved on and had his eyes set on someone else. Still, I didn’t want to do anything until I was sure. I had a plan.

“Let me call you back,” I said, hanging up on Chase without an answer.

I dialed Spencer’s number and he answered on the third ring.

“Hey, how was your night?” I asked casually.

“Good,” he replied. “Kind of weird, but I’ll tell you about it when you get home. Why are you calling me?”

I suddenly realized I had no idea what to say. I couldn’t tell him I was into Chase over the phone. I couldn’t just drop that ball like that. That ball needed to be dropped when I had enough time for a fight. Plus, did I really need my friend’s permission to see someone? We were all adults here.

“I, umm, don’t think I’m coming home tonight. I just wanted to call so you wouldn’t wait up.”

“Okay, honey, I get the message. Use protection and plenty of lube,” he said.

“Are you going to tell me what weird thing happened?”

“No,” he replied, sounding like something was wrong. “It wasn’t a big deal.”

I said okay, wondering why he’d brought it up in the first place. I got off the phone with Spencer and immediately called Chase right back.

“So… what’s the verdict?”

“The verdict is, I’m coming over,” I said, licking my lips.

“Victory,” he sounded truly stoked.

“But no sex,” I cut him off. I decided that I would give him the test. If he still seemed like a great guy after a night of sleeping together, and actually sleeping, I figured it would be worth taking the risk. Spencer meant too much to me to throw his friendship away for nothing, but there was something about Chase that I had to have, against my better judgment. This was my litmus test and I was almost certain that Chase would fail. If he did, I wouldn’t feel bad breaking his heart once and for all.

A seven dollar cab ride later, I finally made it to Backstroke. I used the back stair entrance that led to a fire escape on the second floor. I checked the hall to make sure it was clear and then dashed to Chase’s room.

When I opened his door, he was sitting Indian style on his bed, listening to Kiss FM on the radio in nothing but Diesel underwear. As much as this was a test for him, it would prove a test of wills for me too. He was far too attractive to keep my hands off, but I resolved that I would do it. I had to do it.

“Hi,” he tilted his head towards me. His curly dirty blonde hair with golden highlights flopped casually to the side. I walked in and took my shirt off. I crawled onto his bed and sat down next to him.

“Hi,” I smiled. He looked at me and I could tell he was into me. He stared with the same deep attraction that I stared at him with. I silently wished that Spencer hadn’t seen him first.

“So are you going to explain this no sex sleepover to me, or are we just going to pillow fight and then call it a night?” he asked. He didn’t sound agitated, which was a good sign.

“This is the deal,” I replied. “Spencer may or may not actually be over you. But if I’m going to risk my friendship with him over something, it’s gonna be better than just sex.”

“That’s ballsy,” he responded.

“Not tonight it isn’t.”

“So you think I have more to offer than just a bed wrestle, huh?”

“Here’s to hoping,” I replied. I really was hoping. I wanted to be right about Chase. My instinct was that he was perfect. But if he turned out to be a sex driven douche bag, I’d have to reconsider. It wasn’t like I wanted to date him, per se. I just wanted to know that I could.

“Well, killer, what do you want to know? Before the pillow fight begins,” he reached over and turned the music down. He stretched out over his bed and put his hands behind his head. A doctor could have run an anatomical study on his perfect physique. I laid down next to him, making sure I didn’t touch him at all. One graze and I’d be powerless.

“Tell me about your childhood,” I said vaguely.

“What about it?”

“For example, I have three siblings, all older. I, um, grew up in the country, about an hour and a half from here. I’ve always wanted to be a lawyer or a writer since as long as I can remember.”

“A writer?” he said, turning to look at me. “You don’t seem like a writer.”

“Why not?”

“I dunno. Lawyer, I can see. Writers are more… introverted.”

“They don’t have to be,” I replied. “I wrote for my high school paper.”

“Dude, everyone wrote for their high school paper,” he said, smiling at me. “And I want to kiss you so bad right now.”

I blinked at him. I thought about letting him get away with one kiss. I shook my head, though. One kiss would lead to two, and who knows how many it would take before I was balls deep inside of him.

“Okay, fine,” he said. “Mr. Writer/lawyer. Let’s see. I grew up in San Francisco. My dad is a big banking guy. My parents got divorced when I was six and my older sister moved to Denver with my mom. I see her like three times a year and it’s always really awful.”

He went on to tell me all about his childhood. Once the corn started popping, it didn’t stop until I really understood what made him tick. He’d started swimming after a car accident in high school left him doing underwater rehab to learn to walk again. A year later, he was the fastest thing to swim indoors along, all of the western seaboard.

“I want to try out for the Olympics,” he said. “Like really, really try out. I made it to the finals at the Junior National Tournament, got a silver medal, but who knows what will happen at next year’s trials.”

It was crazy how nonchalantly he threw that out there. I asked if he’d ever met Michael Phelps and he laughed at me.

“Actually yes,” he said. “After juniors two years ago, I toured their gym, met the coaches and everything. It was cool. He was just doing laps back and forth like a madman.”

“Is he as hot in real life?”

“You have a super sexy free sprinter an inch away from you and you’re asking about another man?” he joked. “Get out of my house.”

I laughed. Getting to know Chase was a huge mistake. Seeing past the chiseled veneer only made me want him more.

“Look,” I started to say.

“Listen, Coop,” he interrupted. “I think it’s great that you care so much about your friend. I really do. I just wanna let you know that I won’t try anything else until you’re ready.”

As if he couldn’t get any sweeter. I decided to throw him a bone. A small one, but a bone nonetheless. I leaned over and gave him a kiss, fighting ever single urge to jump on top of him and begin grinding. After the ultra sexy peck, I leaned back, put my hands back behind my head and continued getting to know him.

“Okay,” I said, breathing out to release my own sexual tension. “Let’s talk favorites, here.”

He smiled at me and started with his favorite movie: Pulp Fiction.

The next morning, after staying up until four a.m. arguing whether or not Arrested Development was better than Seinfeld, I got Chase to drop me off in the alley behind the freshman dorms. I decided to tell Spencer what had happened and see where the chips fell. I would tell him that I met Chase, didn’t know it was his Chase, got to know him and was completely smitten. He would be pissed, I knew that for a fact. He might even be unforgivably betrayed, but part of me gave him more credit than that. I would offer him the call: if he wanted me to end things, I would. It was up to him.

I didn’t get the chance that day. When I got home from my last class, I checked my email and saw one from Coach Tye.

To Cooper: Lucas twisted his ankle this morning. You up for riding along to the UT tournament with us? Give me your professor’s names for your classes tomorrow and I’ll get them excused. We’re leaving from the rec center at seven and you can ride with me.

I read the email a dozen times. I knew the team had a tournament that weekend, but I hadn’t planned on going, let alone playing. The team ran a 6-2 formation, meaning they needed two setters on the court at all times. Tye could have made adjustments, but none radical enough to keep me off the court.

I emailed him back with my professor’s names, telling him that I was excited to go. I packed a duffle bag and was going to head to the U for a quick dinner and to see Sebastian before I went over to the Student Rec Center.

As I was gearing up to leave, Spencer waltzed in looking dejected and wet.

“Hey bud,” he said, flopping on his bed, getting the must of chlorine sweat all over it.

“Hey,” I replied. “You look beat.”

“I am,” he said. “I had the worst practice today and I think if it happens again, the coach is going to sideline me.”

“What’s going on?” I asked, looking at my watch and realizing I didn’t have time to listen. “Is it about the whole thing with Chase?”

“No. What? No. It’s nothing,” he said quickly. “It’s… I gotta talk to you about something. Where are you going?”

I looked down at the duffle bag I was holding. “Oh, yeah. I have a volleyball tournament in Austin. Evidently I am needed.”

“Oh yeah? You gonna get to play?” he asked.

“Maybe, I don’t know. But one of the seniors got hurt, so maybe. Two weeks in and I’m playing in a tournament.”

“That’s my boy,” Spencer said, rousing up just enough enthusiasm to cheer me on.

“Anyway, I gotta run, but what did you want to talk about?”

“No, it can wait. Go. Have fun. Be good, kick some ass. Get some, if you can.”

“Thanks,” I replied, jetting out of the room. I was five minutes behind schedule, so I hightailed downstairs and across to University Place. As I jogged, I wondered why Spencer was acting so weird. Something had to be up and I was curious what it was.

I got to the U, bought myself a protein infused milk shake from Jamba Juice and peeked into the student store to say hi to Sebastian.

“Why do you have an overnight bag?”

“I’m heading to Austin right now,” I replied. He cocked his eyes at me. “Volleyball.”

“Oh, look at you, big time jock,” he joked. “Where are the rest of the meat heads?”

“Funny, funny, jealous boy. I’m going to a volleyball tournament,” I said. “Which means pretty girls, wearing spandex and sports bras. Bouncing up and down. You’re missing out.”

“Where was this, you say?” he asked with a smile. “Listen. Valentine’s Day next week. Kappa is throwing another formal. You should come. I told Britney to find you a date.”

“I don’t know if that’s the best idea.”

“I know, I know. The whole dudes thing. But listen, I can’t do another formal by myself. All the girls are crazy and their boyfriends are even worse.” It was another one of the statements that made me wonder why he was dating a sorostitute to begin with. “You have to come. Open bar and an 80’s cover band.”

“I’ll think about it,” I responded. I told him I had to jet. We rescheduled our weekend hangout plans and I hightailed it for the Rec Center.

“There he is!” Tye yelled as I jogged down to his steel blue Prius. “The saving grace of our team.”

I heard someone audibly choke a laugh, and I turned to see Penrod stuffing a bag of balls into the back of the car. He looked at me with a less than enthusiastic glare. Apparently, he wasn’t a fan of freshman inching their way to the first team so quickly. I helped him load the car silently, and once Penny, Tye and a smaller girl from the women’s team were ready to go, I moved to hop in.

“Hey, Penny, let Cooper sit in the front, will you? I want to go over some plays with him on the drive,” Tye said. I started to protest, but Penny was already moving to the backseat.

“Cop the attitude, please,” Tye added. “You’re just gonna fall asleep anyway.”

Penny wasn’t hiding his disdain for me one bit. A freshman didn’t belong on the team. I didn’t deserve to be his replacement before he was gone. But I was a damn good setter, after just a few short weeks, and I wasn’t going to apologize for that.

The trip to UT in Austin went by surprisingly smooth. Instead of dwelling on how hot Tye looked next to me, I focused on what he was saying. He had oodles of advice for me, saying that we’d run a 5-1 and I would sub in for Penny if he got tired. If that didn’t work after the first match, he’d call a 4-2 and we’d both be on the court. I listened to all of the set options for a 4-2, making a mental note of who to set and when.

“Don’t sweat it,” Tye said at some point between Waco and Austin. Penny and Janet were fast asleep in the back. “Just avoid being predictable. And if a hitter gets blocked, don’t hesitate to set him up again right after. Those are the two most common rookie mistakes. I’m not worried about you doing anything else.”

I took those words to heart, and relaxed a little until we neared campus.

The school sponsored a few Best Western hotel suites for the players. Those were my tuition dollars at work. I didn’t want to feel like a snob—especially since I hadn’t paid dues for that particular tournament—but I felt like they could have at least scrounged up the money for a hotel that didn’t open from the outside. I was paired with Penny and Lucky, who, although he couldn’t play, didn’t mind an excused extension on his Relative Theory of Matter paper.

Friday morning, we all gathered at the UT Sports Complex for the first day of the tournament. It was a double elimination bracket, but our team was favored to at least make it to the semi-finals, if not take the whole thing. We were matched up with UT San Antonio to start the day, and my nerves were kicking into overdrive.

“Okay, guys, this is the deal,” Tye said, gathering the ten players together. “Penny, you’ll set the first full rotation. They’re expecting the same thing out of us that they got last year, a 4-2, so let’s capitalize on them trying to recover when they realize Lucas isn’t out there.” I turned my head and saw Lucky sitting pathetically on a bench to the side, his leg up and Gatorade bottles flanking him on all sides. “I’ll keep Cooper on stand bye in case we need to switch out.”

“We won’t,” Penny said confidently. The guy was an ass, who viewed me as a parasite on his little precious team. Part of me hoped he choked so that I could show him up. The other part of me didn’t want in the game at all.

My wish to see Penrod choke and to avoid embarrassing myself on the court collapsed an hour and a half later. Tye patted me on the butt and gave me that unmistakable ‘go get ‘em, Tiger’ look. We were ahead in the third set 20-4, already up 2-0. We only needed five points to win the game. I stared at him like the deer in headlights I felt like, and he just cocked his head towards the court.

I ran to the line and put my hand up like you were supposed to, indicating that we had a sub. Penny saw me standing there and gave me the dirtiest look I’d ever received from a human being. He shifted his gaze to Tye, mouthed “What the fuck?” and then came over and crossed the line without tapping me out.

I ran into the game, forgetting for a second where Penny had been during that last rotation. Mike, one of the tallest guys I’d ever seen and our amazing left hitter pointed to zone five and I ran there.

I thought I was going to pee my pants when the first serve went up, heading straight for me. Instead of receiving it like was my intuition, I stepped forward towards the net and let the libero run for it. I had second contact, no matter what.

The pass came perfectly towards me; all I had to do was tap it upwards and one of the hitters would get it. Instead of connecting properly, the ball kind of collapsed in my hands and fell onto my face. I turned bright red and almost ran off the court. One of the guys from the other team actually laughed out loud.

“Dude, we’re still kicking your ass,” Mike responded, approaching the net. He put out his hand towards me for a high-five. “It happens to everyone. Loosen up.”

I took a breath and tried to relax. The next pass came straight to me again, and I sent it upwards to the left. Mike made a perfect connection and sent the ball careening straight to the floor. The guy who had laughed at me before looked like a baby sheep, served by my assist.

We finished the game much stronger than my first play, ending it in 6 more plays. Luckily, I didn’t embarrass myself again.

When the match ended, I joined the team on the sideline and was met by another death glare by Penny. The other players seemed generally excited by how well I had done, after the first play of course, but for some reason, Penny was still not impressed.

We broke for several hours until our next match, against the UT second team. It was another bird match, according to Tye, and we were definitely expected to fly right through it.

After our lunchtime break, we ran another train on our next opponent. I got to play the last five points of all three sets. I spent the rest of the match standing on the sideline with the other subs.

“He’s a frosh, Tye,” I heard Penny mumble as we all got our bags and headed back to the hotel until the evening matches. “He doesn’t belong on the court; he’s a baby.”

“And yet you’re the one acting like one,” Tye responded. They were whispering to each other, bickering in a way that transcended the player/coach relationship. “We’ll talk about this later.”

I dreaded hanging out at the Best Western with Penny in my room, wondering just what verbal abuse he would dish out. Luckily, when we got back, he went straight to Tye’s room and I was left with Lucky and Mike, shooting the shit in ours.

“Any clue why Penny hates me?” I asked while we all lounged around. Lucky sipped a Mike’s Hard Lemonade, which was technically against policy, but he wasn’t playing, so it didn’t matter.

“He thinks you’re gonna be coach’s butt buddy,” Mike joked. Lucky just shrugged.

“He’s graduating,” I defended my new position on the team. “And I wouldn’t even be down here if this one didn’t get hurt.”

“Unlucky!” Mike chanted in a low voice. It was apparently an inside thing they did whenever Lucky messed up.

“He generally doesn’t like freshman,” Lucky defended his friend.

“I think he’s harboring a special kind of disdain for me,” I countered. Oh well, I thought. There was nothing I could do about it.

The entire feud came to a head later that night. We were playing the Baylor squad, one of the best in the entire tournament. The winner had a pretty easy road to the championship the next day. The loser would meet up with a team we’d already beaten in the consolation bracket. Tye had already made it perfectly clear that if we didn’t play in the championship, we’d be driving home the next day. If we did, win or lose, we’d stay in Austin an extra night and celebrate.

When the game started, we barely edged out the first set 25-21. I didn’t get to play at all that game. The Bears came back in the next set, roaring to an 8-0 lead. Tye called a time out, took plenty of time to chew Penny out for not reading the block correctly.

The game resumed, and within one play, Penny set one ball to Jim right into the block.

“Come the fuck on,” Penny yelled at Jim. The ref pulled a yellow card for language and Penny turned bright red. The next play, Penny went up for a set and grazed the net. When the ref called the point for the Bears, Penny flipped his shit.

“What the fuck?” he yelled at the line ref. Tye hung his head, hoping the whole thing would end without too much embarrassment.

“Pen,” Mike said, grabbing his shirt and pulling him back. The damage was done. The ref pulled a red card, and Penrod was ejected.

Without skipping a beat, Tye turned to me.

“This is why we dragged you along, Coop,” he said, visibly nervous about having to rely on me. I went in for Penny, presumably to finish the game.

I noticed that Penny didn’t even stick around for the rest of the match. Instead, he took his bag, and disappeared to another part of the gym. I forced myself to focus on the task at hand.

There was no way we were coming back from that deficit, and we lost the second set an embarrassing 25-14.

“You’re looking good out there,” Tye said in the huddle before the third. “Just remember to switch it up every once in a while. You’re setting left pretty much exclusively and the defense can read that. Toss a pipe or a hut in there. You got this!” He hit me on the butt, and I ran out.

The match started slow, us going down to a four point deficit. Then with a big block by Jim in the middle, we started to rally. I set a pipe to the opposite hitter and they smashed it past the block. The next play saw Jim and me go up for a double block that embarrassed the daylights out of their front row. 23 points later, I won my first set as a volleyball starter.

From there on out, it was smooth sailing. Because I still didn’t know what I was doing, it was impossible for the defense to predict my calls. It meant our hitters had to be more alert, but it also meant we could sneak past the block almost every time. We sailed through to the second day of match play with a 3-1 set victory.

Ignoring all of Penny’s stares, I went straight to the shower after a quick dinner and drive back to the Best Western. I was spent and ready to hit the hay.

When I got out of the shower, Lucky was flipping through channels and lying on the bed.

“Where’s Penny?” I asked, toweling off.

“He decided to stay over at a friend’s he has here in Austin,” Lucky replied without looking at me. I nodded, slipped some pants on and joined him on the bed.

“I guess I don’t have to sleep on the floor again, then, do I?”

“You’re still a frosh,” he said snarkily. “I’m kidding. Yeah, we can share.”

I stayed up with Lucky for a while as he sipped more wine coolers and watched a House rerun.

“Seriously though,” I decided to ask after much back and forth. “Why is Penny the only one that has such a huge problem with me? The rest of ya’ll have been super nice.”

Lucky sighed. He swiveled around so that we were both pillow side. “Put yourself in his shoes, buddy,” Lucky yawned. “You’re a shiny new toy that Tye is obsessed over. He talks about you non stop, spends more time with you in practice, and his star setter is feeling neglected.”

“He coaches me more because I need it more.”

“Penny doesn’t see it that way. The rest of us do. It’s about the team.”

“So you see it that way?” I said, more flirtatiously than I’d intended. Flirtatious was my natural go-to demeanor, it seemed. Not that I wouldn’t flirt with Lucky. He was very good looking. He had dark red hair, which I wasn’t normally attracted to, but on his complexion, it seemed to work. Plus, he had green eyes to boot. His face was clear of all the freckles that normally plague red heads. All in all, he was pretty cute.

“I think you did really well tonight,” he said. He stretched big and yawned.

“Well, thank you, Lucky,” I said with every intention of going to sleep.

Just when I was a minute away from R.E.M., the banging started. At first it was light, more like a scratching noise. After a second, it revved up into full fledged headboard fucking.

“Holy shit,” I said.

“Looks like Meli and Randy are enjoying themselves again,” Lucky smiled.

“Randy? Libero Randy?” Randy was the smallest guy on the team. He had a dark caramel complexion, and by far the best muscle definition I had ever seen in my entire life. No wonder he could bag a hottie like the girl’s coach.

“I’m not gonna be able to sleep through this,” I commented, as her moans became louder. It sounded like he was drilling her something awesome, and my dick naturally responded to the sound.

“Yeah, dude,” Lucky replied. “They do it every tournament, so I get used to it. For some reason, Penny and I always end up rooming next to people having sex.”

I chuckled. I looked to the side at Lucky, who was lying face up, and realized that there was the smallest tent coming from his section of the bed. I knew it was probably a long shot, but I decided to go for it anyway.

“It’s actually pretty hot to listen to, I think,” I said innocently. I turned to glare at Lucky as he kept his face peeled to the ceiling.

“Yeah sort of,” he replied. Ever so quickly, he adjusted the bulge under his sheet. I smiled.

“Have you, uh, have you ever jacked off to the sound of someone else doing it?” I asked quietly. For some reason, I didn’t think Lucky would find my question creepy. He was already horny, so talking sex wasn’t a big deal. Plus, I was using my sexiest voice. Sexy isn’t creepy.

“Why? Do you want to?” he asked me. He turned his head, about two inches away, and looked more excited in that second than I’d seen him all tournament.

“Kinda,” I replied casually. “I just know I won’t get any sleep unless I take care of this.”

Lucky swallowed heavily and lowered the blanket, past his well defined midsection, and down to his crotch. The first thing I noticed from my casual glance was that he was completely smooth. He didn’t have a single hair anywhere on his body. It made his otherwise average sized dick appear huge in the semi-dark glow of our hotel.

I followed suit, kicking my side of the covers down passed my knees and smiling at Lucky. At first, he started stroking slow, keeping his eyes shut tightly and facing forward. I stole a few glances, impressed by how long his cock looked on that blank canvas.

After a few minutes, I noticed Lucky steal a couple glances my way. He would arch his back, turn my way, and smile at me for a second, tongue out.

“I haven’t done anything like this since the junior high,” he said. I assumed he was referring to the jack off with another guy. I nodded, kept pumping, and listening to how hot the two in the other room were.

“Yeah,” I said. “Me and my buddies used to circle jerk all the time.” I decided it was now or never. “Sometimes we’d help each other out.”

Lucky’s head shot at me. He gave me an inquisitive look, like he was asking what I meant. Instead of answering, I just took my hand, which was already covered in a layer of sticky pre-cum, and slid it onto his impossibly hard pecker. He moaned as soon as I made contact.

“Like this,” I said, looking him right in the eye and pumping his baseline firmly. I knew instantly that he wasn’t going to object. Instead, he let me inch closer and really get a handle on his cock.

After a few minutes of giving him a seventh grade hand job, I slid my body sideways, perpendicular to him, and without warning, slipped my lips around his dick. His back arched in appreciation and a second later, his hand was on my head, guiding me down.

“Shit,” he said. “I had no idea you did that. Fucking shit,” he mused enthusiastically. “That’s fucking fantastic.”

What was funny was that Lucky didn’t strike me as gay one bit. Rather, he seemed like a guy who was enjoying a great blow job. And I tried my best to make it the best he’d ever had.

Just when he thought I had taken his seven inch long horn all the way down my throat would allow, I would open up wider and slip in just a little more.

“Goddamn, dude,” he reacted enthusiastically. He sat up and pushed my face even further, until I had him swallowed to the hilt. Writhing all over the place, I knew I was about to get this guy off. A minute and a gallon of precum later, he made the telltale warning signs.

“Oh god, oh god,” he whimpered. His body went numb. He collapsed back onto the bed, and without hesitation, I sucked in just a little bit harder, swiping my tongue around the base of his head. “I’m gonna cum!”

His warning came exactly one second before he shot a rope of cum down my throat. The second rope hit my tongue, and I was able to taste the mild saltiness of Lucky’s seed. I lapped it up, trying not to make a big show of being into cum. I was just a friend helping another friend out. He didn’t need to know how dick craved I was.

I swallowed every ounce that he had inside of him. A minute later, I lied back and came profusely on my own torso.

“Dude, that was fucking fantastic,” he said when we settled in again. The banging next door had stopped, so we were in the clear.

“Yeah, dude,” I said, mimicking his voice. “Fucking fantastic.”

“Let’s keep this whole thing between us, right?”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

The next morning, bright and early, it was full throttle. Energized by my midnight snack the night before, I came to the tournament, guns blazing. Lucky was in a noticeably good mood as well, and I couldn’t help but take credit for that. Luckily, things didn’t seem awkward between us the next day.

What did seem awkward was Penny. He showed up late and hungover for the first match we had at 10. Having none of his bullshit now that he had an alternative setter, Tye started me on a 5-1 rotation against Rice’s second team. We were poised to sweep Rice, defeat the LSU team, and then meet up with UT in the finals. If Penny had been playing, it would have been clean victories all around.

The first game I started, I did pretty well. I connected with my hitters on both sides six times out of 10, which according to Tye was impressive. Still, I wanted to do better, and so I focused on the second set. We immediately went up 10-2, mostly because Jim and I were blocking well at the net. Instead of getting comfortable, I decided to push myself a little further. I called a slide for Jim at the net, set him and watched him drill the special right into a corner pocket.

Our guys were jazzed, and my confidence was boosted. We killed Rice in three sets.

After lunch, we came back, and coached tried Penny and I both on the court in a 6-2. With Penny setting half the rotation, I was able to focus on defense for a lot of the game. It was weird playing back row, but I kind of liked it. I was naturally athletic and quick, so it was easy for me to send passes right to Penny.

His attitude towards me began to soften slightly as we cruised to a 3-1 set victory against LSU. We were headed to the championship match that night.

After lunch, everyone disappeared to the hotel for some much needed R&R. Our game wasn’t until eight that night, giving us a couple of hours to burn.

“Wanna go chill out?” Lucky asked as he crutched up the stairs to the room. I smiled at him.

“Maybe. If Penny doesn’t decide to reclaim his spot on the bed,” I replied. Truth be told, I was only interested in taking a nap, so I was relieved when Penny was in the room. Instead of being outright rude to me, he was just quiet. No ‘good game’, but I decided it was better than another frosh comment.

As I tried to doze, I got a text from Chase which elicited a smile.

From Chase: I um, don’t know how to say this without handing over my ballsack, but I missed you last night.

To Chase: You mean you missed me yapping all night?

From Chase: No, I just realized that I mis-listed my favorite movies of all time. GF 1, Titanic, GF2 and then Pulp Fiction and not Inglorious Bastards. IB should be sixth, at best.

I chuckled out loud at that text. We’d had a twenty minute discussion on how Pulp Fiction was Tarantino’s best movie and that The Godfather was multiple times better than The Godfather Two.

“Stop sexting, frosh. You’re making Lucky jealous,” Penny snarled somewhat playfully. I wondered if he was just joking or if Lucky had told him something.

“Shut it, kid.”

I heard a pillow hit skin.

From Chase: I wanna cuddle tonight.

He was so cute, totally embracing this celibacy thing. I, on the other hand, didn’t think I could handle a cuddle night.

To Chase: I’m in Austin.

We texted a little more back and forth, but I realized he was cutting into my much needed nap time.

Four hours later, I started in my first championship game against UT’s first team. Adrenaline mixed with my nerves. Pumped and ready, I joined the other five hitters on the court. I wondered why coach was putting just me in to set, but I didn’t question it. No doubt, Penny would be annoyed.

Focused and energized, I set three perfect sets in a row to get us to an early and easy start. When we were up 5-2, Tye took me out and put Penny in. He set us to a 10-5 lead, and then it was my turn. On the third rotation, I realized Tye was switching us out to confuse the UT defense. They were used to Penny and Lucky’s antics, they’d seen them for three years. They weren’t used to my erratic sets or Penny working solo, giving us a surprise advantage.

After the first set, winning decisively, I ran to the cooler next to Lucky and spotted a familiar face in the stands.

“Good game,” Chase said from the second row, sitting there like it wasn’t a big deal that he had come down to watch me work. I smiled wide.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

“You said you were playing tonight. I came to see you play.”

“You’re ridiculous,” I blushed, realizing that Lucky was probably drawing conclusions.

“I’ll talk to you after the match. You’d better win, killer,” he smiled. It was the cutest gesture I’d ever seen. As much as I was resisting him, Chase, and his perfect physique, was clawing his way into my good graces. Guys don’t drive three hours to watch a stupid volleyball game for someone they just want to pork.

I went back to the match and, reinvigorated, helped the team upset UT and win the next two sets. I wasn’t terribly instrumental in the win, but the fear of embarrassing myself in front of Chase helped me place my sets properly and generally do a good job.

“Good game, Carpenter,” Tye said after the match. “It looks like we don’t have much to worry about next year.”

I smiled, thanked him, and practically ran to meet Chase.

“Seriously, though. What the fuck are you doing here?” I asked as he walked me out to his car.

“Do you want me to leave?”

“No,” I said quickly. “You don’t need to leave. It’s just surprising that you would come in the first place.”

“Do you think it’s weird? You think I’m creepy, don’t you?”

“No,” I replied. “It’s not weird at all. It’s just… surprising.” I smiled.

“I had nothing to do tonight. I’m technically supposed to be dry for the rest of the season. Why not make a road trip and see the sexiest guy I know whack balls around?” he pinched my midsection and I squealed like a little girl.

“So what’s the plan tonight?” he asked when we were in his car, headed north towards the hotel.

“I know the upperclassmen are going downtown,” I said. “We can do that. Or stay in. Whichever.”

I was not so subtly hinting that I would rather stay in and bone than do the famed 6th Street.

“Do we still have stuff to talk about after the other night?”

“I think we can stop talking for a while,” I replied. He turned and smiled at me.

Back at the hotel, the pressure to go out was on. Everyone, including Lucky, was suiting up. Apparently it was tournament tradition for the team to get wasted downtown. The sophomores and juniors who hadn’t turned 21 and didn’t have fakes were pregaming heavily. There were a couple of clubs that would let them in, but they wouldn’t be able to dance.

I made sure it was okay if Chase tagged along, and an hour and four shots later, we were cabbing it to Austin’s party district.

Instead of getting hammered like everyone around me, I stayed relatively sober that night. I had every intention of hooking up with Chase again, and I didn’t want to be a belligerent mess. At about 1 a.m., when everyone was enjoying the see-through dance floor at Club Malia, I pulled Chase aside and asked if he was ready to go.

With no hesitation, we hitched a cab and rode back to the hotel.

“I want to take advantage of us having the room alone,” I whispered as we walked up the stairs, barely able to keep our hands off each other. The threshold had been crossed, and as soon as we were inside, there was no turning back.

I had never seen someone strip so quickly than when Chase took off all of his clothes and jumped onto the bed. He had a childish grin on his face as I sashayed towards him. He immediately wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in for a kiss.

There was something different about his kiss that night. It wasn’t a one-night stand kiss. It wasn’t one of those kisses that you do to make the other person horny. It was a kiss that tells someone you really like them. It was like he was trying that night, and it felt good.

It didn’t take either of us more than a minute to get rock hard and start rubbing our dicks together. He liked to grab both of our cocks in his hand at the same time, look down, and watch the skin move back and forth between us. It felt good.

Before long, we were making out horizontally and dry humping. I was opposed to having full on anal sex in the hotel for the sheer reason that I didn’t want it to smell like sex when Lucky and Penny got back. It wasn’t like there was any question why Chase and I had snuck back early, but I still felt awkward about it.

That decision didn’t stop me from swallowing the entirety of Chase’s boner and sucking him in deeply. It was kind of my ‘thank you’ for coming. Not one to be outdone, Chase quickly moved around so that he was under me, my hard cock pointing down and into his mouth. The second I felt him take me in his mouth, I lost it and sucked on him even harder.

The resulting tongue of war was sheer bliss. For the next ten minutes, the two of us tried to out do each other, using every trick in our arsenal to bring the other off first. I lost the battle. While twirling my tongue around the base of Chase’s dick, he slurped up my precum and I lost it. A second later, I came all over his face.

My cum on him spurred him to loose his wad, and in a move that actually stung the side of my face, Chase spewed a huge load onto me. Some of it dribbled back down to his torso and I licked it up like a hungry kid and a bowl of ice cream.

“That was fucking incredible,” he said with a smile . I couldn’t take him seriously with my seed on his face. We washed up, got dressed and passed out on the floor next to the bed before the other guys even got back.

The next morning, I made arrangements to ride back with Chase. Every part of my inner being wanted to ask the question that had gotten me kicked in the nutsack twice before, but for some reason, with Chase, it didn’t feel necessary.

I wasn’t plagued with ‘where is this going?’ like I had been with Kyle. I could tell he wasn’t plagued by it either. He was just having fun. And that fun was hot as hell.

“Was it worth it?” I asked him as we hit the open road.

“What?” he snapped back to the present, making me wonder what he’d been thinking about.

“The trip down to Austin. Did you achieve all of your goals and more?”

“All of my goals…” he pondered. “Well, I honestly thought you’d make us sleep an elbows length from each other again.”

I smiled at him.

“I find you irresistible, Cooper. And I’ve never found a guy irresistible.” It was the sweetest thing someone had ever said to me.

I realized on that ride home that I wanted to see what was there with Chase. Not in the same ‘first love’ way I had with Kyle. I was wiser and older now, and I thought I had a healthier grasp on what made a relationship work. I made a decision to tell Spencer, ask for his blessing and see just where the chips fell. Chase seemed worth it.

He dropped me off at my dorm and I walked upstairs cautiously, not looking forward to what I had to do. Still, I figured that Spence would want me to be happy. Once I explained that I had middling feelings for Chase that were surfacing past the physical, he’d understand. As much as I thought it, I barely believed it.

“Hey, hey,” he said, excited to see me when I walked into to our dorm room. He was sitting at his desk, studying with Norah Jones playing in the background.

“Norah Jones,” I said, putting my stuff down. “Really? Are you trying to fall asleep?”

“Sometimes a guy just needs to mellow out,” he replied. He indeed sounded pretty mellow. “Coop, there’s something I have to tell you.”

I interrupted him. I wanted to get mine out first. Selfishly, I thought Spencer had some great news or something, and I wanted to curb it with my utter betrayal.

“Wait, I have to say something too.”

“Wanna go at the same time?” he asked me with big eyes. I smiled.

“How about I just go first?” he didn’t respond, so I took a deep breath and geared up for him to hate me forever. “I slept with Chase. And I really like him, and I’m sorry, because I know that you liked him first. It just happened, and at the time I didn’t know it was him, and now…”

He wasn’t responding, which seemed weird to me. Spencer always had something to say.

“Are you going to respond to what I said? I hooked up with Chase. Pallendrino. Your Chase.”

“I heard you,” he said finally. His face looked stark and white. “I had sex with Kyle.”