Chapter 18
Adonis
The New Year meant new work to do. His final semester of college classes started. He took the LSAT on a busy Saturday, driving to a Boston testing center after telling his mother he was taking the day off from practicing to hang out with friends.
She tried to protest, but he said he needed a break.
“Adonis, you’re going to the Olympics,” she practically screeched when he told her. “There are no breaks!”
Her tirade couldn’t dull his pride or his determination.
Pride because she was right. He’d made Team USA.
They found out the first week of January, and he was still riding that high.
Maybe the Olympics weren’t necessarily his dream, but he still loved figure skating, and even if he didn’t win a single medal in the Olympics, he would always be able to say that he was an Olympian. And that meant something to him.
And determination, because he was now sure that he didn’t want to continue his skating career after college. The Olympics, he decided, would be a great way for him to end his career as a figure skater. It was time for the next chapter to begin.
It scared him, a bit, to think about all he had to do if he wanted to make Law School happen, but he’d never been one to back down from a challenge, and he wasn’t going to back down from this one.
The Olympics weren’t his only upcoming competition.
There were still regional, challenger, and collegiate competitions, and those still mattered.
Anamária and Damien (who, despite Adonis’s hints to his mother that he didn’t like working with Damien, was still coaching him) encouraged him to think of these competitions as dry runs for the Olympics.
“It’s a chance for you to practice for the Olympics in a competitive setting,” Anamária said.
“Though, of course, the competition at the Olympics will be much higher,” Damien said.
With everything on, Adonis didn’t have the time he wanted to see Bash.
They were both very busy either studying, practicing, or competing.
When they could, they went to see each other’s games, and when they weren’t practicing or training, they tried to sync up their study times.
More than once, Adonis had wanted to skip an LSAT study session so that they could hook up instead, but Bash proved to be a draconian tutor.
He made it his duty to quiz Adonis on his LSAT flashcards, going through them again and again. When Adonis grew tired, Bash would translate the terms and definitions into Dutch and read them in a deep, silly voice, until Adonis was giggling and ready to study again.
When he finally took the LSAT (and felt very confident on it), he heard Bash’s voice in his head, reading to him in Dutch.
The sex had become less pre-planned. Several times now, they would do their homework at one of their apartments, and once Bash was sure they had both done enough, the homework would devolve into hooking up.
By now, they knew their way around each other’s bodies and desires.
Adonis knew just how to make Bash ache with desire for him, and Bash knew just how to fuck Adonis so that he’d be gripping the pillows and screaming for more.
Adonis had always known he liked it rough, but “rough” meant something different with Bash.
He could be rough, dominant, even aggressive, but he was always tender.
He constantly checked in with Adonis. If there was something new he wanted to try, he always got Adonis’s explicit consent first. So far, nothing they’d tried had been too much for Adonis.
He loved trying new things and loved pleasing Bash.
He loved—
There were certain things he wasn’t ready to think about or talk about. Things had changed with him and Bash. He knew it, and he was pretty sure Bash knew it, too.
They’d started hanging out with Robbie and Clarisse, who were officially (and adorably) a couple.
None of them mentioned the oddity of their “double dates” (which none of them referred to as double dates), especially considering that Adonis and Bash had never even whispered the word “dating” to each other.
“Do you want to?” Clarisse asked as they rode the team’s bus from Bellford to MIT for the Northeast Intercollegiate Competition.
“Want to what?” Adonis asked, taking his earbuds out and turning away from the window to look at her.
“Date Bash,” she said, as if the question was obvious.
“Oh. Um. I don’t know.”
“I don’t buy it.”
“Doesn’t sound very ‘supportive best friend’ of you.”
Clarisse wagged a finger. “That’s where you’re wrong. It’s actually very supportive best friend of me.”
“How’s that?”
“Do you like him?”
“I…”
She leaned closer, her dark eyes intense. “Adonis. It’s a simple question. Do you like him?”
“Yes,” Adonis said, because sometimes it’s easier just to say the truth. “I think I do.”
“See, that wasn’t too hard, was it?”
“I guess not.”
“And he obviously likes you, so—”
Adonis held up a hand. “Hang on. Obviously?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, obviously. Next question.”
“Why is it obvious?”
“Have you seen the way he looks at you, babe? It’s obvious.”
“Maybe to you, but not to me.”
“Maybe you’re not seeing it because you don’t want to see it,” Clarisse countered. “You like him, and he likes you.”
“Again, we disagree on that.”
“We disagree because you’re wrong,” Clarisse said, clearly confident in her own assessment.
“Whenever we’re with him, either the four of us with Robbie, or in a bigger group, he always looks at you first when there’s a joke.
Like he wants to see if you’re laughing.
In fact, he always looks at you first. No matter what we’re talking about. You’re the only one he sees.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“No, it’s not. And you don’t notice because you’re too busy looking only at him.”
“Fine.”
“You just said you like him, don’t deny it now.”
“Fine.”
“Are you mad?”
“No.”
“Sure,” Clarisse said. “If you like him, Adonis, why don’t you say something to him? Have you said something to him? Did he reject you?”
“No, I haven’t, and no, he didn’t.”
“So, why don’t you?”
How could he explain all the reasons that had seemed so important a few months ago but felt less important each day, now? “We’re going to graduate soon,” he offered. “And then he’s joining the NHL, and I’m doing—whatever I’m going to do.”
“What are you going to do?” For best friends, Adonis and Clarisse avoided talking about the future. Mostly that was Adonis’s fault. He didn’t like talking about his changing plans.
He mumbled something about law school, which got Clarisse’s attention. “That’s new,” she said.
“It is.”
“You’ll be a great lawyer. What type of law? I can picture you shouting in a courtroom.”
“Not that kind of lawyer. I’m thinking maybe something in sports law.”
“Not as glamorous, but I can see it.”
He smiled, the first time he’d smiled when talking about his future with someone who wasn’t Bash. “Thank you.”
“There are law schools in Seattle,” Clarisse pointed out. “You could always pick one of those.”
“I’d have to get in first.”
“Have you taken the LSAT?”
“Yes.”
“And how did you do?”
“I don’t know yet. Well, I hope. I studied whenever I wasn’t practicing or doing other homework.”
“I wondered why you’d suddenly seemed to be such a diligent student.”
“I’ve always been a diligent student.”
“Don’t lie, Adonis. It’s not attractive.”
“Fine,” he said, and then he smiled, and she smiled, too, and he spent the rest of the bus ride with his head on her shoulder, letting himself dream about what it could look like if he moved to Seattle after graduation, and he and Bash became an actual couple.
——
The Northeast Regional competition involved all the usual skates, and Adonis did an excellent job in his.
When it came time to announce him, the announcers lingered on the fact that he would be representing their country in the Olympics.
They should all be cheering for him seemed to be their message.
He had transcended being a student at Bellford. Now he was an American.
Adonis had never been one for overt displays of patriotism, but like many people, he made an exception for the Olympics and was proud of the chance to represent his country.
The other skaters didn’t seem to think of it the same way, and he was the recipient of more than a few dirty looks from his fellow competitors. He didn’t blame them. Some of the guys had been up against him for spots on Team USA.
He wondered how close any of them had gotten to the Olympics. Had he taken a spot from one of them?
He tried not to think about that. He had to focus on doing his best in the competition.
And he did.
When it came time for the results, he expected to get first. He’d scored well overall, especially in his short program, though he’d lost a few points again in his free skate. As with most previous competitions, the feedback had been about his control (too controlled, not free enough).
He placed second and took his place on the podium with a small amount of surprise, though he was still proud of himself.
Second, however, was not good enough for Anamária and Damien, especially Damien.
He found Adonis after the podium. He was red-faced and looked like he could spit. “Second place?” he cried. “What the fuck is that?”
Adonis took an involuntary step back, surprised by the sudden aggression. “I did well,” he said in his defense. “I was barely in second. Except for a few points in my free program, I would be in first.”
They were outside the locker rooms, with other skaters and their coaches nearby.
Damien didn’t seem concerned about raising any eyebrows.
“You should’ve gotten first,” he continued.
“We’ve been over your free program again and again.
What aren’t you getting?” He leaned closer.
“I’ve done all of this work to get you ready for the Olympics, and you can’t get first in a regional college conference?
” He shook his head. “You have to do better, Adonis.”