Streak - Prologue. Prologue

August 7, 2002

Claremont, OH

Zach

“I have to go,” I said to Will, even as he pulled me in for another kiss. I had to go, but I didn’t want to go. I wanted to stay here in the condo with him. Actually, I wanted to go to the airport, get on the plane, and get the fuck out of here, but I couldn’t do that until tomorrow. I usually got what I wanted, but this time it wasn’t happening, and that made this even harder.

“You think you’ll be able to come back later?” he asked hopefully.

“Maybe for a little bit,” I said. “My parents are going to want me home tonight, since it’s my last night here.”

“Makes sense,” he said. He was resigned to the inevitable, and so was I, but neither one of us liked it.

“Someday, I won’t have to put up with their bullshit,” I promised him. “I’m sorry.”

He smiled, and his whole face lit up. That was the deal with Will: he had such vivid facial expressions, but only with people he liked and trusted. I remember when I first met him, I’d see him directing them at other people, and I’d so wanted to be on the receiving end of those looks. But he’d ended up hating me, and then his looks had been cold, at best, or piercing, when he was pissed. I was pretty much immune to people and their bullshit attitudes, but not his. When he was pissed off and gave me that look, it was like he was vaporizing me with his eyes. “I think we’ll always have to put up with bullshit, but you’re worth it. I had fun last night.”

“So did I,” I said, and felt myself blushing. I never thought I’d meet someone like him, who was so open to getting a little freaky. God, he was awesome. I tried to think of something he wouldn’t do in bed, and by the time I got that weird, it was stuff I wouldn’t do anyway. “But now I have to go.” I walked out of the condo before he could stop me, and pulled out my phone even as I walked down the hallway.

“Sup,” Brent said as he answered.

“Dude, can you give me a ride home? I’m at the Mills.”

“Give me ten,” he said.

“Thanks,” I said. “I’ll be in front of the Starbucks.”

“Then you can get me coffee while you’re waiting for me,” he said.

“Fine.” I hung up the phone and went to Starbucks, got Brent coffee, and was standing out front when he drove up. I handed him the coffee, then got in. He was driving his Dodge pickup, the one Gathan had given him, and he was wearing his nasty overalls.

“Thanks” he said.

“Thanks for the ride,” I responded.

“So where were you last night?” he asked.

“I told Mom and Dad I was with Jackie Parvin,” I said.

“Dude’s a douche,” he said. Jackie was probably my best friend in Claremont, which wasn’t saying much, since Brent was right about him.

“Yeah, but it’s better than sitting around at home,” I grumbled. I hated being here. I didn’t have my car, so I had to either walk, or bum rides off my brothers.

“No shit,” Brent said. “What are you doing today?”

“I don’t know,” I said bitterly. “I’ll have to ask what my schedule is.” My parents had pretty much dictated what I did during the day, and most of the evenings while I’d been here.

“You’re almost done,” he said sympathetically. “You want to tell me where you really were last night?”

“Will’s in town,” I said.

“What’s your deal with him?” Brent asked. “You still trying to milk him for cash?”

“No,” I said, the irritation pretty obvious in my voice.

“You gonna tell me what’s going on?”

“I will if you take me out to lunch,” I said, smiling at him.

“Alright. Let me get cleaned up.” We pulled up to the familiar house, and went strolling through the front door.

“Where have you been?” my father asked, as soon as I got into the living room.

“I told you,” I said, stalling.

“You said you were with Jackie, but he called looking for you,” he said. That was a blatant lie. Jackie would never have called my parents’ phone; he’d call my cell phone. This was so typical of the bullshit my father pulled on me.

“Well if he did, he was just screwing with you, because he was with me,” I objected. The fact that he dropped it so quickly told me he was full of shit.

“Trent said you were going out with his church people again today,” he said. I was so done with that, and there was no way I was spending any more time with those idiots. I’d done enough, what I had to, to build some cred as a religious freak.

“Nope,” I said. “Brent and I are doing lunch, and then I don’t know what the plan is.”

“The plan is for you to be home by five o’clock,” he said in his imperious voice. He’d had fun giving me orders while I was home, with making me dance to his tune. It made him feel good, while it just pissed me off. But I could focus on the end result, which is why I was so good at football. I could set my eyes on a goal and put up with all kinds of shit to get there, and my goal was to get the fuck out of here, and to get to a place where I didn’t have to put up with his bullshit.

“I can do that,” I said.

My mother came into the room, and that changed the whole dynamic. My father and I had a pretty shitty relationship, where he liked to assert his authority over me, and the only real feedback I got from him was bitching. My mother was just the opposite. Unless she was in my father’s corner when he was on one of his rants, she was my biggest advocate, or at least she had been. Over the past few years, he’d gotten bitchier with me, and he’d driven a wedge between us. I loved my mother, but she wasn’t the rock for me that she’d once been. “I’m making a roast tonight. Your favorite.”

“Thanks Mom,” I said, and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

It was only 11am, so that meant that after lunch; I could go hang out with Will for a couple of hours. That was pretty motivating, so I rushed up the stairs to get ready. This house was small, really small, with three bedrooms upstairs. My parents’ bedroom was in the back of the house on the first floor, in a room they’d added on a long time ago to make room for everyone. Growing up, we’d all had to share a bedroom. Gathan had shared with his sister, Ella, and they’d put a curtain down the middle to divide the space up. I’d shared with my brother, Zeke, until I was six, then I’d swapped out and shared with Brent. Zeke had shared with Brent’s brother, Trent.

Those bedroom assignments pretty much reflected who we were each tightest with. Even though Brent, Trent, Gathan, and Ella were really cousins, they’d always been like brothers and sister, and that’s how we thought of each other. Zeke was my brother, for real, but he and I didn’t really have much in common. He was a total dork, all into engineering. He thought my focus on football made me stupid; I thought his lack of any social skills at all was embarrassing. If he wasn’t such a math freak, he wouldn’t really have anything going for him. Trent was kind of like him. They were both pretty unattractive, and they didn’t have personalities that would offset that.

Gathan and I had really hated each other growing up, because he’d been kind of like my father was now, where he was always trying to prove that he was in charge. He’s a political animal, and smart as fuck, which was how he got into Stanford, but that also meant that he could be pretty manipulative. He and I fought non-stop as kids. It wasn’t until last year that we’d gotten beyond our issues and been cool with each other. Ella was our sister, and she was a bitch. She came off all sweet and shy and innocent, but underneath that, she was a schemer, totally willing to use someone to get what she wanted. I’d known that for a long time, but no one else had believed me until she’d totally shit on Will’s brother, Darius. Of the people in my family, the person I got along with the worst was my father, but the person I liked the least was Ella.

Brent and I had gotten tight even when we were little kids. Our personalities just synced. I was pretty uptight and driven, but I could be really extroverted when I wanted to be. I was also pretty smart, and I was good in school, almost as good as Gathan. Brent was mellow and laid back. Women loved him, because he was the strong silent type. He was a year younger than Gathan, and two years older than me, but even though he’d been two years ahead of me in school, he’d been hopelessly lost with the academic side of things. I’d been a driven athlete, with no real support from my family, except my mother. So by some unspoken agreement, I’d helped Brent get through school, and he’d propped me up by going to my games, and being involved in my football career.

Brent was a handsome guy, and if it weren’t for the fact that he wasn’t very book smart, he’d be a total catch for just about any chick at school. I’d be willing to bet that even Kristen Hendrickson would have picked him over Gathan if he’d been brighter. He was tall, at 6’1”, and had a wider face with squarer features than I had. It made him seem solid and reliable. He was fit, but not in a freakish way like I was, or even Gathan was. He really didn’t need to be. He wasn’t a big fighter like Gathan, and he wasn’t into sports like I was. Brent had played baseball and soccer, but only for fun. Brent’s big passion was for cars. He loved cars, loved working on them, and he was going to a tech school to get his mechanic’s certification.

I’d known I was gay for a long time, but knowing it and admitting it were two different things. I fought it like crazy, and when I focus on something, I usually get it. That was one of the few battles I’d lost. I’d hid it away, and only when the drive was too great, did I decide to experiment with someone, and I’d picked Gathan. I guess I’d thought maybe if we fucked around, we wouldn’t hate each other. Besides, Brent was really the only other option if I wanted to stick with my family, and I wanted to do that, so no one else would know I was gay. Only when we’d fucked, it had been a disaster. He’d ended up damn near raping me, and I’d ended up with my ass ripped open and bleeding. Yet even then, even with all that, it had awakened something in me, a beast, and I’d begun to crave dick.

I’d managed to buy a big dildo without anyone finding out about it, but Brent had busted me one afternoon when I was using it while I jacked off. Rather than giving me shit, he’d taken over and fucked me. It was the only time he’d done that, but it had been really nice. He’d been really gentle, fucking me like I was a chick, which made sense, because he was really really straight. He’d convinced me that I needed someone who was more into it, and who would fuck my brains out.

He’d asked me if I was gay, and I’d told him that I wasn’t, and told him that it felt good to have something shoved up your ass. He hadn’t believed me, but I’d talked him into letting me blow him, and with a little help from my finger, I’d demonstrated that it felt really fucking good. So Brent had taken the whole thing in stride, and had accepted that I wasn’t gay, but I just got off better with having my prostate stimulated.

The only member of my family who knew Will and I were a couple was Gathan. He didn’t know because I trusted him, or because he was the dude I chose to confide in, he knew we were together because he lived in California, and he hung out with Will and his family. He’d gotten all involved in the drama when Will had bought me the Durango. He was smart enough to figure things out. Fortunately, I’d gotten close enough to Gathan to know he wouldn’t out me. But Brent and I were much closer than Gathan and me, and it bothered me that Gathan knew and Brent didn’t. It was time to fix that.

I went downstairs and headed outside to Brent’s pickup, hanging out to wait for him there. He’d find me, and if I stayed inside, I may end up having to have another conversation with my father. My patience with him was pretty limited, so I knew that it was a good idea for me to avoid him as much as possible. Brent came ambling out of the house, with his happy-go-lucky walk. “You ready?”

“Ready,” I said, and hopped in. We argued about restaurants, but ended up choosing this Mexican place that Brent liked. It was tough to appreciate the Mexican food in Claremont after living in California for six months, but it was OK. We scored a good table, kind of off to ourselves, so that made it even better.

“Jessie said she had fun with you the other night,” he said. Jessie was the girl I’d fucked around with. I cringed at the memory, the memory of how I’d lost my erection when I’d tried to fuck her.

“I’m not into her,” I said, “but thanks for trying.”

“Why not?” he asked.

I braced myself. “Because I’m into Will.”

He nodded. “You guys a couple?”

“We are,” I said, smiling.

“I guess I’m not surprised you’re with him, but I’m kind of surprised that you’re so into him,” he said. “You gay?”

I nodded. He didn’t say anything; he just took a drink of his Coke. “You OK with that?”

He gave me a look that said I was an idiot. “I don’t give a shit who you fuck.”

“I didn’t think you would,” I said.

“How long have you two been together?”

“We hooked up for the first time after Robbie’s memorial,” I said.

“That was a tough time,” he said, as if that explained it. “How come you didn’t tell me until now?”

I shrugged. “I guess I was fighting it, fighting who I was.” I paused, and realized that I should have trusted him. “I’m sorry.”

“Nah, it’s all good,” he said. “I kind of figured you were fucking him, but I figured you were doing it because he’s rich.”

“I’m not Ella,” I said, annoyed. “Besides, what am I going to get from him? Shit, he already bought me an SUV.”

“He takes you to Hawaii, and Europe,” Brent said. I guess those were pretty big perks.

“I love him,” I said. He really raised his eyebrow at that.

“That’s a pretty big deal.”

“It is,” I agreed.

“You gonna tell Mom and Dad?”

“No,” I said. “Not unless I have to.”

“Probably a good idea. They don’t like Will.”

“I know that,” I said. “They don’t like me when I’m around Will.”

“They think he’s a cocky little shit, and he don’t listen to anyone, especially not his father. They think that’s why you don’t listen to Dad anymore.”

“I don’t listen to Dad anymore because he’s full of shit,” I said, with a little too much venom. “All he does is criticize me. Shit, if I listened to him, I wouldn’t be able to make a single touchdown the entire season.”

“He’s hard on you,” Brent acknowledged. “But he loves you.”

“I know,” I said, even though I wondered about that. “But I’m here, doing my thing to be a good son, and then I’m going out to Cali and I’m going to kick ass.”

He smiled. “Your school is good.”

“De La Salle? Good? Shit, we’re the bomb. We’re probably going to be rated the top team in the US. We’ve got one hell of a winning streak going. We’ve won 125 games in a row.”

“Damn,” he said. “I should come out and see you play.”

“The game you should come to is on September 21^st,” I said. “It’s in Honolulu.”

“Don’t think I can afford that,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m gonna finish up tech school this spring, then I’m going to open a garage.”

“Maybe I’ll ask my boyfriend to buy you a ticket,” I joked.

“I don’t want to take their money,” he said.

“Dude, did you see that Stef ranked 25^th on the Forbes 400 list. That means he’s worth over seven billion dollars.”

“Fuck,” Brent said, his eyes bulging.

“And Brad is like 230^th, which means he’s almost as rich as Oprah,” I said.

“I don’t want that kind of money. I just want enough to open my garage, and have a good life,” he said.

We finished up our lunch, and got ready to leave. “What’s your plan for today?”

“Why?” he asked me, wondering what I’d be bugging him about.

“I’m wondering if you could drop me off at the Mills, and then pick me up about 4:30,” I said.

“You’re going to see Will?” I nodded. “He coming over for dinner?”

“I’m thinking I’ll spare him that,” I said. “The last time he came over, it wasn’t much fun.”

“I’ll pick you up in front of the Starbucks at 4:30,” he said. We walked out to the truck, and hopped in. “I’m glad you told me.”

“I’m glad I told you too,” I said, shooting my smile at him.

“I’ll stop trying to fix you up with chicks.”

“Thanks,” I said, chuckling.

“For what it’s worth, I like Will.”

“Actually, that’s worth a lot,” I said. He dropped me off at the condo, and I walked down the hall to Will’s unit, knocked and entered. I wandered around and finally found him lying in bed, sound asleep.

I smiled and stripped off my clothes, then began teasing him, keeping him asleep as long as I could, but when I started sucking his dick that definitely woke him up. “Hey!” he said, and sat up to give me a nice kiss. “What an awesome surprise!”

“Had lunch with Brent and he dropped me off. I’ve got until 4:30 to satisfy your desires,” I said, using my sexy voice.

“Dude, only you know how to truly to do that,” he said. And so I did.