Page 10 of Boys Like You

“I hope I can watch you play sometime.” His eyes lock with mine, his face softer than the last time we spoke.

“Yeah,” he says hopefully.

“I don’t know if I liked sports before, but I like the idea of watching what you can do.” I look up at him so he can see I’m sincere. If I’m hanging around for a bit, I want to know everything about them.

“I would like that.” I internally high five myself. These guys have walls and Levi just let me chip away at his slightly.

“Now, who wants to help me out of this bed so I can get dressed? We are breaking free of this place today.” Levi steps forward, holding out a hand; taking it, I pull myself up. His hand swallows mine. “Damn, Levi, how tall are you?”

“Six three,” he says, looking down at me.

“Well damn, now I feel like a midget.”

“You’re cute; pocket-sized.” All the guys laugh except Maximus; he is in his usual position against the wall, earphones in, phone in hand.

I smack his chest. “I’m not that small.”

“Yes, you are,” Rocky adds, coming to stand next to me. Joined by Mercer. “The shortest of us all is Maximus, and even he would be at least a head taller at five ten. So own it, shorty.”

“Fine, I’m short,” I huff, admitting defeat.

Rocky helps me choose an outfit; a pair of black leggings and an off-the-shoulder sky-blue jumper. I walk over to the bathroom with my new outfit and close the door behind myself.

Changing isn’t easy – slipping into loose-fitting flannel pjs is different to pulling on leggings. I cry out in pain when attempting to lift one leg. Rocky flies through the door, ignoring the protests of the others. His blue eyes scan over me slowly from head to toe.

“Shit, girl, I thought you hurt yourself,” he says, holding his heart. Meanwhile, I’m standing in a bra and panties, one foot in my leggings and trying not to laugh.

“Technically, I am hurt; I look like a punching bag.” He doesn’t find me funny. His eyes roam over my body again – not checking me out, but assessing my bruises. His whole demeanor changes. “Are you going to help me get dressed or feel sorry for me all day?” He moves close to me and kneels down. I place my hands on his shoulders and feel them tense when I do. He slowly lifts my foot and helps me get it in the legging; he looks up at me while he slides them up. Someone coughs at the door and I break eye contact and see Levi and Mercer watching. Mercer’s Adam’s apple bobs up and down as he swallows.

“What is this, party of four in the bathroom?” I joke. Both apologise and disappear back out the door. Rocky stands, grabbing the jumper from beside the basin and helping me get it on.

When we exit the bathroom, Mercer looks like he wants to murder Rocky, and Levi just looks me up and down.

“What, all I did was help the girl get dressed, you’re looking at me like I deflowered her in there.” I chuckle at Rocky, and Mercer shoots me a look.

“No one is deflowering anyone,” Mercer seethes through clenched teeth.

“I second that,” Levi snaps.

“Stop, you’ve all seen me naked, seeing me in my underwear isn’t a crime.”

“He shouldn’t have barged in unless you called for him,” Mercer snaps. “We don’t cross boundaries, ever.” He brings his hand down hard on the wheelie table, a loud bang causing me to jump, even alarming Maximus enough to take his headphones off. He looks around the room, his confused eyes wide with alarm. Levi rushes to his side and whispers to him. Maximus nods.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to lose control… I—” Mercer is cut off by Rocky.

“Dude, leave.” When he doesn’t move, Rocky gets annoyed. “Go calm down. We can discuss boundaries later. JD will need some shoes, go find some, size seven I would guess.” Mercer is face to face with Rocky now. He is slightly shorter but his build is muscular whereas Rocky has broad shoulders but a slim waist. The stare down lasts a few minutes, a silent conversation taking place between them.

“Fine. I’ll be back.” Mercer doesn’t look at me; he just storms out of the room. My heart is beating so fast I need a minute to calm down. Levi is still talking with Maximus; he seems as shaken up as I am.

“Hey,” I say to Maximus. They both look up and I glance at Levi, his face hard again. “Can I sit?” Maximus stares at me for a second before holding up one of his ear phones. I take it and attempt to sit – apparently it isn’t so easy. Levi stands and helps me down. I swallow back the sounds that want to escape my lips. Levi moves over to Rocky and they both stand back and watch us, occasionally whispering something to each other. Maximus is listening to music and playing Candy Crush.

“I like this song,” I say when the chorus comes around a second time. I sing some of the lyrics about hoes and popping pills. Maximus exits Candy Crush and opens Spotify. It’s a song called“Rockstar'' by Post Malone.

“Hey, I need to get going, will catch up after,” Levi announces suddenly, giving me a half smile.

“I’ll walk you out, I want to chase up this doctor,” Rocky says, bouncing up and down on his toes, always needing to move.

Maximus doesn’t speak to me; he lets the songs play through. He must like Post Malone. He puts Candy Crush back on and even lets me have a few turns. I suck. He just smiles at me and smashes each level he tries.

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