Page 51 of Cross the Line

Something dark passes over Alec’s face and Theo wants to get that light back. He had to go and make it weird because he’s awkward and stupid and unsure how to navigate this. He knows Alec is over him. He didn’t need to go insulting him.

“Alec, I?—”

“Less talking, more walking,” Alec interrupts, clearly intending to pretend whatever just transpired never actually happened.

With a bitten-off sigh, Theo follows. Maybe one day he can figure out how to stop accidentally hurting Alec’s feelings. Or maybe this is exactly why he’s better off not having feelings of his own. His attempts to hide his own crush had made him say the wrong thing entirely and there’s really no way to fix it without admitting what he actually meant.

Apparently Theo will choose letting Alec have hurt feelings over the alternative, which makes him feel like an asshole. He sighs again, scrubbing a hand over his face. He doesn’t just feel like an asshole, he is one. Maybe if he’s lucky Alec won’t take it too personally.

The first ten minutes or so in the car are awkward, or Theo is, opening and shutting his mouth so much he might as well be a fish. Alec either doesn’t notice or is polite enough not to call him on his impression of a Moray eel. Instead, Alec chatters away to Rio about where they’re going, acting as if she’ll be able to get a kitten combo meal.

Sonic is located closer to the shore, along with a string of other fast food restaurants meant to entice the summer travelers who can’t afford to eat on the pier or broke college students. This time of the year there’s just enough students moving back to town combined with the end of season tourists to make it completely packed, and Theo has to circle the parking lot half a dozen times before a slot opens up for them to pull in.

“I haven’t been here in forever,” Theo says, glad to have something else to focus on. The menu is massive, the blinking screen advertising current specials and making his dinner seem like it was days ago and not hours. “I kinda want fries.”

“Fair warning, if you get fries, I’m stealing some.”

“Pretty sure I can buy you your own fries, Alec.”

“I can’t have my own,” Alec says, the lines of his face flat. “Not with the Coke, too, and I need that carbonation STAT or I might die.”

“You can’t have fries?” Theo frowns, thinking about the detailed nutrition plan and training schedule that had been taped up on the King’s fridge. He hadn’t realized it was that strict.

“Not on the meal plan,” Alec answers, leaning his seat all the way down to give Rio free rein to crawl across his belly. She swats at his fingers, the tension on Alec’s face fading as he focuses on her. “I’ll be too sluggish to run in the morning if I eat that. That’s what the coach says. Between you and me, I can run nine miles in my sleep, but it’s not worth the risk with the season kicking off this weekend.”

“You have a game this weekend?”

“Yeah,” Alec confirms. “Classes start back up Friday and we’ve got our first game against Cal Poly. It’s just an exhibition game, but there’s really no ‘just’ at a D1 school. Every game matters. There’s no room to have an off minute or an off game. One of those and you’ve fucked your entire season.”

“I’m sure one game isn’t that important.”

The look Alec gives him makes it clear he’s wrong. “At this level there is no room for error. Sure, the team as a whole can recover from a loss, but an individual player? You could lose your starting spot, fuck over your chance to play in a club tournament in front of scouts, you could jeopardize your scholarship. Every second of every game you have to be perfect.”

On some level Theo knew the intensity, but his own experience with sports was so different, plus he’d turned down his own chance at collegiate sports so he’d never had to worry about logistics. The idea that Alec lives under that level of constraint sounds exhausting.

“That sounds like a lot of pressure.”

“I guess,” Alec shrugs, right hand tapping on the door rapid-fire. “Can you get me a large Coke but with extra ice?”

“Sure,” Theo says, rolling his window down to push the order button. It takes a few seconds before a voice crackles through the speakers. Once he’s ordered Alec’s Coke, a large fry, and a milkshake for himself he sits back, trying and failing not to stare at Alec.

“I’m sure your parents are excited for the game.”

“They’re not coming.”

“They’re not coming?” Theo echoes, utterly surprised. As a teenager, some of his strongest memories had been hanging out with Jason during one of Alec’s games. Jason’s parents always gave them cash to use at the snack bar so they’d load up their pockets on Red Vines and gum and bags of chips, walking around like they owned the place. Hell, most of the time they didn’t even watch Alec play, too busy with their own teenage bullshit. What he does remember clearly is that one of Alec’s parents was always there, no matter what. He’d never imagined they would stop going.

“Nah, I mean, this is my fourth year playing. They’ve been to a lot of games. The novelty wears off after a while and they’ve been pretty busy.”

“What about your brothers?”

Alec shakes his head. “They all have adult lives. I mean, they came to a lot of games my freshman year, but you know, it gets boring after that, I’m sure.”

“I find it hard to believe anyone could be bored watching you.”

“I am fun to watch.” Alec grins. It’s honestly staggering for Theo to realize how much he likes being the one who made him smile like that. “Not that you’d know. You’ve never been to one of my games.”

“I’ve been to lots of your games.”

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