Page 70 of Off Sides

Nick and I sit at a table in the dining hall with Willis. Everyone is tense with finals next week but spring interterm is coming up and I’m hoping Nick is still planning to stay for it.

“You going home for break, Willis?” Nick asks, shoving a dinner roll in his mouth.

“Nah, I’m staying. You?”

“Same.”

Paul and Brendon sit at our table. Brendon is digging through a grocery bag, shoving snacks into his mouth despite having a tray of food.

“You guys going to be ready for finals?” I ask the group, and everyone groans.

“Shhh, we don’t use those types of words.” Brendon throws a cherry tomato at me.

“What words?” Nick smirks.

“Finals, tests, midterms, lima beans, burpees, Brussels sprouts, surprise anal.” Brendon ticks them off on his fingers.

Paul chokes on his water and ends up having a coughing fit. Nick and Willis laugh while I shake my head at him. Brendon is a strange dude but it’s never boring with him around.

“The fuck, dude? What kind of list is that?” Paul wheezes.

“It’s the naughty word list,” he says, rolling his eyes.

“I swear, your brain is a weird place sometimes.” Paul shakes his head.

I smirk and flick my gaze to Nick who is watching me back. Damn it. My foot starts bouncing. I want to blurt out that Nick and I are a thing or whatever, but I don’t want it to be a big deal. It’s driving me nuts.

“Surprise anal is never a good time,” Nick agrees, shoving a fry in his mouth. “But I like Brussels sprouts and burpees.”

“Excuse me?” Brendon sputters. “You can’t sit with us if you like burpees. I can almost excuse the Brussels sprouts, but not burpees. Get out.” He points away from the table, and Nick laughs but stands up.

No, no, no, don’t leave yet.

“That’s fine, I was done anyway. Gotta go study.” Nick says study but I’m pretty sure he means jack off. I force myself not to watch him leave but his hand appears on my throat and before I can think, his lips are on mine.

Oh fuck.

Well. That was one way to get it over with.

Someone shouts, “I fucking knew it!” and I can feel my face heat, all the way down my neck.

I duck my head for a second, waiting for the ribbing to start, and Nick kisses the top of my head before walking away. Bastard.

“Dude, this team has more than its fair share of queers.” Brendon shoves another bite into his mouth. “We should start a queer league in the off-season.”

“Do you have to be queer to join, or can we just be supportive?” Willis asks.

“I guess that would depend on how many people sign up.” Brendon shrugs.

“If you need players, I’m in,” Jeremy adds as he sits down next to his boyfriend. “And Preston will play too.”

Preston sighs. “Good, you’ll keep in shape during off-season.”

Paul rolls his eyes and sighs.

“Paul, make notes. You’re going to have to organize this.” I point at him. Brendon is a cool dude but he’s got the memory of a sieve.

“I will help if he asks for it, but he can do it himself if he wants to.” Paul is clearly unhappy with me. I really didn’t mean any offense.

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