Chapter 19 #2
Everything was going well. Even the fundraising, although Leslie’s damn celebrity charity calendar had put the football team over cheer.
Joe had one hanging in his bedroom…with Leslie’s picture out even though it was May’s feature.
The jogathon funds were still being co unted, but Joe was going to have to get creative if they were to regain the lead.
He was getting a little tired of Leslie’s comments.
Not true. He loved Leslie’s little victory shuffle dance he’d do as he passed by gloating, something he did with gusto whenever he had the chance.
Which wasn’t often enough.
Leslie hadn’t been kidding when he said he would be slammed during football season.
They hadn’t had time to do more than call each other every night and whisper sweet nothings until they both fell asleep.
It seemed Leslie was feeling great, energized by his new team, and that made Joe happy, and relieved.
But he missed him, and the weekend trip to LA for the show was a week away. He hadn’t made up his mind whether or not he should bring Leslie.
The decision was made for him three days before.
“Joe I really hate to do this,” Leslie said during one of their late-night calls. “I have an emergency this weekend and I can’t go with you to LA.”
“What’s wrong? Everyone okay?”
“Yes, and no. My old coach, Carl Thompson, he’s got cancer and he’s been put on hospice. I really need to go and see him in Atlanta. A couple of my teammates and I are going out—”
“Oh, no. Of course, Leslie. Honestly, it’s probably better. I’m not sure how much time we’d actually get together and my manager wondered if it was a wise move, us springing us on everyone like this.”
Leslie cleared his throat. “Us springing us?”
Joe sighed. “You know, going public. The press? We haven’t talked about any of that. I kept meaning to bring it up, but you know, it’s been a little hectic.”
Now that they were talking about it, Joe was really disappointed.
He wanted to spend the night with Leslie.
He wanted no interruptions. There’d been a couple more kisses over the past few weeks, but they’d been quick and sneaky.
They were never alone. Either students were around, or Leslie’s brothers, and neither Joe nor Leslie had had the energy for drive-by make-out sessions at Leslie’s, which totally sucked. Enough was enough.
Leslie covered up the phone and said something to someone on the other end, groaning when he returned. “Sorry, that was Sandy. The only flight he can get me is a red-eye out Friday night.”
“What about your plane?” Joe asked him, realizing he hadn’t made his travel plans either and he’d told Arthur he’d take care of it. Oops.
“Plane needs maintenance. My pilot said he’ll get it all set up, but he’s dealing with family stuff. I don’t want to put him out.”
“God, Les, you truly are the nicest guy in and out of the NFL.” And Joe meant it.
“Stop it.” Leslie chuckled and then he sighed as if he were settling into bed. “Let’s talk about it then.”
Joe imagined him in that giant king-plus-sized monster in his room, naked, hair messed up…
“Talk about it? Fine. But all I can think about is whether you’re naked in bed right now.”
Leslie’s full-bodied laugh made Joe smile in the darkness of his apartment. He stripped out of his clothes, too tired to shower before bed; besides, he’d already decided tomorrow was laundry day.
“I am nearly naked in bed with an ice pack, so no, not completely naked.”
“Ice pack?”
Leslie growled. “Yeah, I ran with the kids today. I’m fine when I do it on my treadmill, but I hit a damn rock and tweaked my knee. I hate this bullshit.”
“Tell me about it. I gotta try to squeeze in a visit with my chiropractor when I get to LA to see if she can pound this rib back into place before rehearsals for the show. Every time I throw a stunt it’s like it’s stabbing me in the lung.”
“Joe, you need to be careful,” Leslie breathed.
“Says the guy out running with teenagers. How far and how fast, huh?”
“I made just under 5K before I had to tap out,” Leslie rasped. “Did it in about twenty-five minutes. Shameful.”
“That’s so hard on your body. You try swimming?
More effective but with less pain after.
I’ve been thinking of checking around for pools since ours is out of commission.
” The Greenvale pool hadn’t been damaged, but the roof needed to be replaced due to a few leaks found after the tornado.
Nothing major, but it would have to wait for the field and the gym/athletic center.
“ Ooo , swimming. You want to come swimming? I have a pool, but Sandy fired the last pool service company. I’ll have him get someone else out here and we can go when you get back from LA.”
“That sounds awesome,” Joe murmured. “I’d love to swim with you. But I can’t afford tan lines. Are suits optional?”
“Not for you,” Leslie growled. “It’s indoor, though. And if you aren’t wearing a suit, I’ll drown. I couldn’t handle it.”
Joe grinned. “You’re too good to my ego. But Leslie, what about the whole us springing us thing? We need to talk about it before we take any more chances of being seen together, clothed or not.”
“Personally, you know, I don’t care about the press, but this is bigger than us.
If the media comes sniffing around for any other reason than us raising funds for Greenvale right now, it’ll be yet another distraction for the kids.
Man, I can’t believe I’m saying this because I know I’ve been the one pushing things, but maybe we should wait until football season is over, at the very least? ”
Joe pouted and kicked at the clothes he’d left on the floor, nearly stubbing his toe on a chair.
If Joe didn’t know Leslie, didn’t trust in him to be true to his word, he might take this as a rejection.
But he knew how important the football team’s success was to him.
It was one of the things he admired about Leslie, how dedicated he was.
Joe was tired of waiting for that dedication to be directed toward him.
“I know you’re right, but this really sucks.”
“It does suck. Joe, I want you.”
“God, I want you, too.”
“This is worse than before,” Leslie said, his voice cracking. “Before you came here, it was always ‘what if,’ then ‘why not,’ and now it’s ‘be patient’ and dammit, I’m tired of not being with you.”
“Just hearing you say that makes me feel better. But, Leslie? You better be ready, because when I finally get you alone, I’m going to use your body in all the ways I’ve dreamed of over the years.”
Several loud cracks came through the phone followed by Leslie’s swearing.
“Hello?”
“Yeah, babe, I’m here. What happened?”
“God, Joe, you’ve got me a mess over here. I dropped the phone. You can’t say things like that—”
“Oh, I’m going to say those things, and so many more things until I get to put my hands on you.”
Leslie panted on the other end and Joe felt a thrill. If this was all they had right now, he was going to see how far Leslie would go with him.
“How about we try a little of that guided imagery? See if we can’t work some of that tension out over the phone.”
Leslie groaned. “Please, Joe. Wait, hang on. Let me lock the door before I have unwanted visitors.” He was gone mere seconds. “Okay, baby. Tell me where to put my hands.”
“You’re such a quick study.”
Joe whispered his not-quite-sweet somethings in Leslie’s ear for the next hour, bringing him to the edge and then coaxing him to pull back, over and over.
Leslie begged for more, loved every move Joe choreographed from his bed several miles away, and the two of them dragged out their orgasms until they were both covered with sweat, legs shaking, out-of-breath sated.
“We’re pretty good at that,” Joe said, moaning softly. His skin was sensitive all over, his muscles loose and relaxed. “I’m going to sleep like a baby.”
“Joe? Is it weird that I’m glad we did that over the phone?”
“Not at all,” Joe said, taking a sip of water. “If it’s all we have, it’s what we’ll do, right?”
“No, but I mean…I don’t want it to be over so quick next time we’re together, you know? I want to make it good for you.”
“Babe, you need to stop worrying about that. I love that you’re so open with me. Your honesty is so hot, you’ve got me in a pool of happy over here. I could spend hours, days, telling you all the things I want us to do together.”
“Good, because I want to hear them all over the next damn month and a half we gotta wait.”
Joe laughed at Leslie’s impatience. “Glad you’re feeling like me. ”
“Oh, more, Joe. Seriously, how many more nights?”
Joe opened the calendar on his phone. “Last game is November thirteenth. That’s like thirty-something nights.”
“Mmmm, well, we’re just going to have to continue being creative.” Leslie chuckled.
“Guess so. For now, get some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Joe really didn’t want to disconnect but it was after midnight and they both needed their rest.
“Yes, you will. And thanks, Joe.”
“For what?”
Leslie was quiet for a minute. “For being you, for being here…for being patient with an old man.”
Joe snorted. “You’re mine, old man , so no need to thank me.”
Leslie moaned softly. “Say that again. Call me yours.”
Joe ran a hand over his torso and sighed. “You’re mine, Leslie Payton. Now go to sleep so it’ll be closer to the night I can finally claim you in every way.”
“God, that sounds incredible. Okay, I’m hanging up, but Joe?”
“Yes, babe?”
“That means you’re mine, too. And I’ve been holding back, trying not to put too much pressure on you. That’s not going to last when you put your hands on me. I’m going to be using words and making pledges and shit…you might want to start preparing yourself.”
Joe laughed. “Bring it, Coach. I’m looking forward to it. Maybe you should do some extra stretches. Wouldn’t want you to pull a hamstring.”
“You’d take care of me if I did.”
The amount of trust and love behind Leslie’s words floored Joe. There was that vulnerability. And he was right. Joe would take care of him.
“You know it. Good night, Leslie.”
“Good night, Twinkle Toes.”
Joe rolled over and plugged in his phone, his heart thudding hard in his chest.
His emotions were all over the place. He wanted Leslie, and not just for sex.
He still wasn’t sure how he felt about staying in Ayre Valley permanently, but man, he wanted a life, and he felt like he was this close to having one.
Moving and setting up the program and the classes, all that, had been overwhelming, but there was a light at the end of the tunnel.
And it had been fun! Way more fun than he’d thought.
And there was so much more to do, more he was looking forward to.
But thoughts of all he needed to take care of to be ready for the weekend, including booking his flight, packing, going over the routines he needed to perform for the weekend, yanked him out of bed and it wasn’t until two hours later that he actually grabbed a measly three hours of sleep.
The rest of the week flew by. Cheer practices surpassed his hopes, the kids giving him their all every night. On Friday night, the kids were extra chatty and Joe was too distracted to really get on them.
“Coach? Can I ask you a question?”
Terrell sat near the front of the pile of kids hydrating and doing cool-down stretches.
“Sure. Hit me.”
Terrell looked around at the kids as if his question was an uncomfortable one. “What’s it like, dancing on tour? Do you get to meet cool people?”
Once he spoke, the rest of the kids went for it.
“How do you go from place to place? On a bus?”
“I bet the after-parties are wild!”
“Where’s the coolest place you’ve been?”
The questions and comments flew fast and furious.
“So that’s a lot to address, um,” he said and the kids all laughed.
“It’s been an adventure, to say the least. It’s exhausting and exhilarating at the same time.
You want it to stop and you never want it to end.
Its surreal dancing for tens of thousands of people three or four nights a week but all you hear is the singer’s voice in your head, or the stage manager.
You experience pain like you’ve never felt before, and yet you can’t wait to do it again.
You see the world but also a lot of hotels and venue bathrooms. You look your best, you’re in your best shape ever, and you’ve never been more of a mess in your life.
” He looked to Marti and she shrugged with a sad smile.
“Would you do it again? Like are you doing anymore shows or are you staying here?”
Joe’s mouth went so dry his throat cracked like a drained riverbed when he tried to speak.
“I’ve signed a contract for this year at Greenvale, but I will do some traveling because of commitments I had before I took the job.
” And now I’ve made a really big commitment!
Had he been hasty the night before? He couldn’t help it.
He was all-in with Leslie whenever they were together.
It was only when he was away from his sun’s gravitational pull that he started to doubt.
“But you’ll be back next year, right?” Terrell frowned a bit with his question.
“That’s the plan,” Joe said. “But that’s a long way off. For now, we need to get busy with our next fundraising project.”
“I can’t believe football went to the Kansas City game and worked in concessions. That made them a ton of money. How are we ever going to catch up?”
“They’re going to win because there are so many of them.”
Joe looked around at these kids who were willing to follow him to the ends of the earth and he wanted to do right by them.
“We can catch them, but it may mean stepping out of your comfort zone.”
They all leaned in, and that was exactly what he’d been hoping for.