Page 1 of Lust

1

LUKE

Ihurry downthe field, running toward our team’s goal.

Being a noob who’s only playing a pickup game to get out of my dorm room, I wasn’t expecting any action, but after a quick exchange between two of the guys, the soccer ball rolls straight to me. I know I must step up to the challenge, or my team is gonna give me hell. So I go for it, speeding up, figuring whether or not I can attempt a somewhat respectable pass to my roomie, Alexei. Even if I fuck it up, it will be less humiliating than not trying at all.

Unfortunately, Alexei’s got a decent player from the opposing team covering his ass. Even within this game, I’ve seen enough of his skills to know he’s gonna steal the ball the moment I pass it, so I push on.

In my periphery, I notice Brad Henning coming at me. Another impressive player from what I’ve observed during this game. I’m surprised he doesn’t play for the school team.

I’ve only been here a couple of weeks, so I don’t know too much about the students at St. Lawrence, but I’ve seen Brad around campus. Once I saw him park his motorcycle behind General Classroom, taking off his helmet and running his fingers through his brown hair, almost carelessly, but somehow managing to style it perfectly. He’s friends with Alexei, and apparently some kind of sex god, but at the moment, he’s a pickup-game rival tailing my ass.

Fortunately, nothing’s as incentivizing as being stalked by a six-foot-something guy, so I kick and sprint. Might not knowsoccer, but track was my thing, so I manage to clear him, but before I can appreciate my victory, there’s a tug on my shirt, and I’m jerked back before there’s a shove against my shoulder. It’s a powerful force, the weight of Brad’s body colliding with mine, knocking me aside.

“It’ll be fun,”Alexei said.

“Everyone’s real chill. We’ll have a good time.”

“You’ll meet some new people. Come on. You can’t stay cooped up in here all semester.”

Maybe my roomie was right to push me out of my comfort zone, but when I hit the ground and roll onto my stomach, receiving a face full of dirt, I’m forced to reconsider whether this was such a great idea after all.

As I recover from the tumble, the other team is already racing to the goal with the ball. I spot a few uneasy looks from my teammates. They all know what Brad did, but none of them know what to do about it.

Alexei approaches. He’s barely said, “Hey, you okay, man?” before I’m up on my feet, heading down the field.

After Brad scores, he spins around, raising his hands over his head. His team doesn’t make a big deal about it, the way they did their other goals. Everyone knows it wasn’t a fairly earned point.

As I reach their side of the field, Brad turns back to me. He must know what’s coming after the stunt he pulled, but he cocks a grin. “Oh, Pretty Boy, nice try.”

Pretty boy? The fuck?

His smile expands like he can’t tell I’m fucking fuming.

“What the hell was that?” I shout. His teammates step aside, surely because they know I have every right to pummel his ass.

“Come on. It’s all in good fun.” He winks. “It didn’t kill you.”

“You’d think someone as good at soccer as you would know that was a foul.” By the time I finish saying that, I’m in his face. Like a fucking moron. Not because he doesn’t deserve this,but as I mentioned, he’s a giant, and I’m barely five-ten. If this escalates into a fight, I’ll get my ass handed to me.

But right now, I’m fucking fine with that. I’m not that confrontational, nor violent, but I’ve been in a few fights when I was younger and had to defend myself.

His gaze narrows. “I am good at soccer.”

“Is that why you had to take a cheap shot?”

“Maybe I just enjoyed doing that.”

I’m surprised by how tempted I am to take a swing. Although, I do want to hear what the hell that was all about before he grinds me into the earth.

“Besides,” he adds. “This isn’t an actual game. It’s for a laugh. And I got a good laugh out of that.”

My nostrils flare, but before I can charge, Alexei slips between us. “Hey, hey.” His hand on my chest holds me off as he turns to my new enemy. “He’s right and you know it, Brad. So how about you apologize?”

“Apologize?” Brad’s forehead creases up. “I think Pretty Boy likes it rough.”

He looks me right in the eyes as he says that, still with that smug grin on his conceited face.

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