Chapter 25AsherTheoAsher #2
“Asher, I don’t want this. Please don’t write to them and say it wasn’t me. Now that it’s out there, I don’t care what people think of me. You are who I care about. I’d be ashamed of myself if I let you face this alone. I wouldn’t deserve the love you give me, so let’s put that idea to rest, okay?”
Asher looked somewhat disappointed, but it quickly morphed into a smile. “You’re such a good person, Theo.”
“You are, too, baby.”
I leaned in and gave him a kiss that soon turned into something more.
The passion consumed us, and, before long, we were stretched out across the sofa, with me pressed on top of him.
I didn’t care if we both had morning breath; I just loved him so damn much.
How had I not seen it before? Why did it take me so long to realize how much I loved him?
He was just so fucking perfect in every way possible.
My hand traveled down and cupped his ass.
His leg wrapped around my back when someone cleared their throat loudly.
Oh right. We’re on the sofa in the living room. Perhaps taking Dad up on his offer for a motel room was necessary.
I lunged back and away from Asher, wiping my mouth as my body landed on the opposite side of the couch. Asher quickly sat up and folded his arms over his chest.
Reggie stood at the doorway of the kitchen with a deadpan stare. “Dudes. Are you fucking for real?”
Asher and I both quietly apologized. Reggie just rolled her eyes and said, “Theo, there’s a phone call for you. It’s Cody.”
“Oh, okay. Can I have my phone?”
Reggie motioned to the kitchen. “He’s on the landline. I turned your phones off after I saw you both had nearly three hundred notifications. It was giving me serious anxiety, so I shut them off.”
I honestly forgot we had a landline. I glanced at Asher, and the two of us rose from the couch and strode into the kitchen. Once there, I saw the red telephone hanging on the wall, the receiver resting on the counter. Jesus, this has to be older than me.
I picked it up and said, “Hello?”
Cody’s voice blared out of the phone. “Theo! Holy shit, man! Are you alright? Is Asher? How are you?”
It was safe to say that Cody knew what had happened. “We’re as good as we can be. You know, being the gay sluts of the NCAA is a heavy cross to bear, but we’re surviving.”
Suddenly, Rafael’s voice cut in. “Well, I for one applaud the act and applaud you for diving headfirst into the best part of the meal. Eating ass is one of my favorite activities, and I’m glad we share that in common.”
There was a part of me that wished I were on my cell so I could put the conversation on speaker for Asher’s sake. He’d get a kick out of it, and we could both use the laugh.
Cody sighed. I didn’t need to see him to know he was pinching the bridge of his nose in response to Rafael. “We have the week off, and we want to take you to my Aunt Sue’s cabin.”
“Yeah, there’s no service up there,” Rafael added, “so, you’ll be free from the lunacy of it all.”
Cody spoke again, “Though neither of you responded when I messaged you both sixty times, so I’m assuming you’ve turned off your phones.”
“Yeah, my sisters commandeered them for our own emotional well-being. Though, apparently, the number of notifications alone was giving my sister, Reggie, an anxiety attack, so I can’t begin to imagine what the actual messages will do to my sanity once I turn that fucker back on.”
I looked over at Asher and asked, “Hey, Cody and Rafael are inviting us to their Aunt’s cabin for a week. Wanna go?”
“Where is it?” Asher asked, then quickly added. “You know what? I don’t care. Yes, I’d love to do that. Let’s get the hell away from all of this for a week, shall we?”
My thoughts exactly. “We’d love to,” I said to Cody and Rafael. “You guys are awesome. Thank you.”
“We’re coming to get you in two hours. I need to fuck Cody first, or I’ll never make it the whole drive upstate.”
“Jesus, you’re an animal!” Cody replied, and Rafael literally growled in response.
Maybe the cabin isn’t such a good idea? “Is this gonna be the whole trip?” I asked them. “Because, if it is…”
“We’ll behave,” Cody assured me. “We’ll see you both in a couple of hours. Bye!”
“Later. Thank you,” I said, and then hung up. The damn thing fell to the floor, and I scrambled to put it back. I don’t even remember how to use this thing ! I turned to Asher, who was very visibly trying not to laugh, and suggested that we start packing.
“They’re so sweet,” Asher mused as we walked up the stairs. “It’s kind of nice having another same sex couple in our lives, right?”
It really was, actually. Hearing Cody and Rafael on the phone gave me the boost I needed. It would be fun to get away for a minute. What was even better was that we could be honest around them. We wouldn’t need to tiptoe around or sneak kisses in the darkness of night.
“It is nice. They’re great guys,” I agreed. “And I’m lucky to have you.”
Asher stopped me in the hall and said, “Theo…” His voice cracked as he looked into my eyes. He cleared his throat and said, “I love you so much it makes my chest hurt.”
A warm, tingly feeling traveled throughout my body. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach, and my heart rate accelerated. “Asher, you’re so beautiful, you know that. In every way possible.”
He closed the distance between us and gave me a sweet kiss before adding, “You’ve been so wonderful—so calm and reassuring. I’m sorry if I haven’t matched that. I promise I will moving forward.”
“Baby, you have nothing to apologize for.”
Asher put his finger to my lips and said, “You’re being really strong for both of us, but this is a lot.
It’s too much for anyone. I want you to know that you can lean on me, and I won’t fall.
I want you to feel as safe with me as I feel with you, and that requires knowing that I will be strong when shit hits the fan. ”
I honestly thought Asher was being really strong.
Let’s be honest, the whole ordeal would have sent some people into a nervous breakdown.
He was handling himself incredibly well from my standpoint.
“I think you’re underestimating your strength, babe.
Strength comes in many forms. Just because I’m stoic doesn’t mean I’m stronger than you.
It takes a lot of courage and strength to be in touch with one’s emotions. Believe me, you’re strong.”
Asher smiled, then added, “Just know that you’re allowed to be mad around me.
It’s okay to feel things. If you need to let it out, you don’t have to go into the bathroom and do it alone.
I can be there with you. Being angry is normal.
I’m angry. I’m a lot of things right now, and you’ve been wonderful throughout my emotional rollercoaster. You’re allowed to do that too, okay?”
His arms wrapped around my shoulder, and mine wrapped around his waist. “Thank you, baby.”
“I love you, Big Boy.”
I wanted to kiss him. No, I wanted to toss him onto the bed and rip his clothes off with my teeth, then make sweet love to him.
Cody and Rafael couldn’t come soon enough.
Asher
As I walked down the stairs with my duffel, Reggie was waiting for me at the foot of the steps.
“Okay, so, you should not look at your phone at all , but I did want to mention that there was a Quincy who texted you almost as much as Cody. From what I could tell, he’s really worried about you.”
Quincy. I wanted to reach out, but I couldn’t think of a way without looking at my phone. I thought for a minute, trying to figure out if there was a way I could contact him without—
“The roster!”
Reggie cocked her head to the side in a questioning manner. “Huh?”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to blurt that out. Thanks for telling me, Reggie.”
I ran back upstairs to grab the Warriors’ contact sheet from the pile of papers I’d received after the first practice. Grabbing a pen from Theo’s desk, I jotted down Quincy’s number on a piece of paper and placed it in the side pocket of my duffel.
Cody and Rafael would be at the house any minute, so I didn’t have time to call Quincy. My hope was that I could call him on a payphone. Theo mentioned that there’d be no service up there, but maybe I could go to a little store and use a landline or something.
The fact that Quincy was worried meant a lot to me. I also imagined he was having a challenging time with all of this, too. If people were commenting hateful things on all of the posts about us, then Quincy was seeing it. That was a lot to handle for anyone who might be gay in NCAA hockey.
Hopefully, he was okay, but I would make a point of figuring out a way to call him while on the trip. A car horn caught my attention, and I looked out the front door window to see Cody and Rafael parked out front.
“Theo! They’re here.”
Theo ran down the stairs with his bag. “Thank God.” Then he leaned close and whispered, “I don’t care if we have to do it in the damn woods again, I need to fuck you the minute we get there.”
Woof. That boy was reading my mind. Throughout it all, in the back of my mind, tucked away behind the dread and tension, was the memory of how good it felt having Theo’s tongue in my ass.
“That is at the top of the agenda,” I whispered back.
“Mmm, fuck Asher. I can’t wait.”
I couldn’t wait either, and I practically sprinted to the car so we could hit the road as soon as possible.