Page 73 of The Jock
“I want more,” Wes mumbled. “I want to be with you. Really with you. Out and in the open. I want the world to know I love you.” He turned into Justin’s handhold and kissed his palm. “It kills me that I can’t right now. I wish I could have told the guys about you. Or told that reporter that I was seeing my boyfriend tonight.”
“I know.” He stroked Wes’s cheek. Ran his fingertips over Wes’s stubble. “You give so much to your team. I know it hurts now. I feel it, too. But I tell myself, what’s two years when we have forever together?”
Finally, Wes smiled, so big and wide Justin felt Wes’s dimples form beneath his palm. “Yeah. Forever sounds pretty good.”
They drove home holding hands, Wes with his head tipped sideways on Justin’s shoulder. He was quiet, more so than usual, and Justin rubbed his thumb over the back of Wes’s hand as he took the long route back to campus.
“What are you doing for Thanksgiving?” Wes asked when they hit the outskirts of the city. “Are you going back to Dallas?”
“I hadn’t decided yet. What are you doing? You have a game on Friday.”
“The biggest game of the season. Two undefeated teams going head to head. Betting is already off the chain in Vegas. It’s a home game, so it’s going to be insane. People are coming back to campus early. Alumni and major donors are flying in.”
Justin squeezed his hand. “Does the team go home that week? Or do you stay and practice?”
“We stay and practice. We have a team Thanksgiving on Thursday. I liked it in the past.”
“In the past?”
“I’d rather be with you this year.”
“If I stay in town, I can pick up some extra clinical rotations over the holiday. That would advance my placement, and I could have an easier schedule later on. More free time to spend with you.”
“Do you want to stay, though? Working over break sounds like no fun.”
“I’d rather be here with you, working, than up in Dallas without you, moping around.”
Wes was quiet. “Will your parents be okay with you not going home?”
“I’m a big boy. They know I make my own decisions. We had that argument when I was eighteen.” He sighed. “They’ll miss me. And I’ve gotten closer with my dad these past few months. I want to see him. But when I do, I want to have you with me.”
The rest of the drive was silent apart from the hum of the tires on the road and the click of the turn signal. When Justin pulled into Wes’s usual parking spot and killed the engine, Wes lifted his head from Justin’s shoulder. “I don’t want to leave,” he said. His voice was almost fragile. “I don’t want to let you go.”
“Come spend the night with me again?”
Wes turned his big eyes to Justin’s. “I shouldn’t. We shouldn’t.”
“You’re right. We shouldn’t.” Justin shook his head. “I’m sorry—”
Wes kissed him, slowly, like they weren’t parked around the corner from the jock house, like there weren’t still parties going in the houses around them. Like they couldn’t be seen at any moment, spotted by a fan or one of Wes’s teammates or even one of Justin’s housemates. Justin finally pulled back, and he stopped Wes from chasing him for another kiss. “Not here. Jesus, we’re trying to be less risky. Come with me, even if it’s just for a little bit. You can climb out the fire escape if you need to.”
Wes followed him into his house, tiptoeing up the stairs and past the rooms where parties were raging. Across the street, Wes’s home was lit up like a parade float.
Justin led Wes to his bed, stripping him as he went. He pushed Wes to the mattress and straddled him. “Let me take care of you, cowboy.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Campus wasa ghost town Thanksgiving week.
The dorms were closed, and the university kicked nearly all of the students out. Only the ones on West Campus, or students who lived in their own apartments, were allowed to stay. At least until the weekend, when everyone was told to come right back and cheer on Wes Van de Hoek and the rest of the team in their biggest game of the season.
Justin checked the line in Vegas. The odds were ten to one for Texas. Everyone believed Wes would smoke Mississippi, never mind that they were also undefeated.Van de Hoek mania, some sports writers called the bets.But is it mania when Wes Van de Hoek is the greatest player of his generation?
Wes Van de Hoek mania, and not a single person on the planet, other than Justin, knew who the man really was.
I think about quitting. I just want to be with you.
I feel like I’m being torn apart.
