Page 28 of The Jock
“Well, he’s not the one driving the ship, is he? He can disagree all he wants. If you want to be platonic friends who happen to be attracted to each other, who happened to kiss once, it’s fine. Our dicks can deal with it.”
Milo’s pants got noticeably tighter and he started his car to give him something else to focus on. “Have you ever been with a guy?”
“Nope. According to Nash, I’ve had raging crushes before, and he’s probably right. I’ve just never wanted anyone bad enough to make myself ask those questions.”
From the corner of his eye, Milo saw Colby looking at him.
“Until now.”
“Until now. So I’m not some experiment to see if you’re not straight?” Milo’s grip on the steering wheel tightened and he swore under his breath. “That came out wrong.”
“It’s fine. But you’re not. I…” Colby took a deep breath and Milo waited for him to get his thoughts together. “I understand that it might look that way, but I genuinely like you. Besides, what kind of person would I be, with two gay brothers, if I panicked over a little same-sex attraction?”
“A human one? You’re allowed to have your own feelings about your own orientation and that doesn’t make you a bad person, or a bad brother.” Milo’s heart softened in a dangerous way whenever he thought about how much Colby took his family into consideration.
Milo pulled up to the street and stopped. “Where do you live?”
“Take a left and hit Fourth. Take that to Spruce.” Colby ran a hand through his hair, then leaned forward and pressed the button to turn the stereo on. Cyndi Lauper, belting out her rendition of “At Last,” flooded the speakers.
“If you don’t like it, you can change it.”
“I’ve heard ten seconds, Milo. Calm down. Besides, it’s nice. Who’s the singer?”
“Cyndi Lauper.”
“Who?”
Milo smiled. “She’s a singer from the eighties. She was like this punk hybrid who was super popular with the teenagers.”
“Do you listen to a lot of eighties music?”
“I listen to everything. What about you?”
“I have a couple playlists that I’m faithful to. Most of them are for workouts, so they’re typically faster-paced stuff. But if I’m around the fire with the guitar, Dad plays a lot of Creedence.”
“Yeah, I imagine it would be difficult to do CrossFit while listening to something like this.”
“It’s nice, though. She’s got a good set of pipes.”
“Do you sing? You said your dad plays the guitar.”
“We all do, but not well. We’re not going to be the next big thing. You’ll have to come around one night when and you can see for yourself.”
Milo didn’t know what to do with the offer, but he tucked it away like a secret treasure so he could drag it out later and admire it, and maybe dream a little.
They were at Colby’s building too soon and Milo eased into one of the visitor spaces.
Colby unbuckled his seatbelt and shifted to face Milo. He turned the music down. “Do you want to come up? I don’t mind that you’re probably not looking for it to go anywhere. I don’t know what I want either. Except that I liked kissing you. I could stand more of that.”
Milo turned the engine off and the music stopped, plunging them into silence. What did he want? He wanted Colby. He wanted more of those fiery kisses they’d shared on the dance floor. He wanted to forget everything he knew and didn’t know for a few hours and let go.
His seatbelt clicked as he undid it and the smile Colby shot him was bright enough to light up all the dark corners of Milo’s heart. Colby was so easy to be around, Milo thought as he got outof the car and followed Colby up to the door. Colby used his fob to let them in the set of security door, opening it for Milo, then being sure to pull the door closed after him. It was nice that he took having a secured building seriously.
Colby lived on the third floor and, much to Milo’s eternal gratitude, they took the elevator. He was glad it wasn’t one of those horrible ones with the mirrors everywhere. Milo had an irrational and intense dislike for those.
Colby and Milo were silent as they crept through the hallways. It wasn’t super late, but late enough that they were both mindful of making too much noise. Colby stopped and unlocked his door then ushered Milo inside. He toed out of his shoes and flicked on a light.
“Do you want something to drink? I have beer, water, coffee, or protein shakes.”
