Chapter 2
MATTEO
“Nice play,” I tell Alexei, jogging until I come to a halt near him.
Seth heads out of bounds to fetch the ball, which Alexei lost during an impressive moment after he snatched it from me, only losing control when Seth tried to steal.
I don’t typically come to these Thursday pickup games, but earlier today Brad texted to see if I was free since they’d be a person short. I’m not great at soccer by any means, but I didn’t have any plans, and it’s always fun hanging with the crew.
Alexei whirls around, sweat running down his face as he sizes me up, and it’s like he has to snap out of a daze before he can recognize me. “Thanks, man.”
Like when I saw him at the frat party last Friday, he’s got bags under his eyes and is glancing around uneasily.
We’re not friends, more like decent acquaintances, especially since Luke and Brad started seeing each other. He’s usually easygoing, chill. Or was last year. This year, there are moments, but there’s something else there too, and it’s gotten worse recently.
Eh…I’m surely reading too much into it for a guy I don’t know that well.
“Everything cool, man?” I ask.
“Huh? Yeah. Fine.”
“That doesn’t sound sincere.” He looks annoyed that I called him out, so I try to keep the peace. “You have a good time after that party last weekend? Figure you must’ve gotten some action with those tight briefs you were running around in.”
I’m hoping he at least smiles at that. Not sure if it’s a fault or a virtue, but I like cracking jokes to break through tension.
But as Alexei shoots me a glare, I know this was an epic fail.
“No, but I’m guessing Marky Mark did.”
“Of course,” I blurt, then notice he doesn’t look too happy about that. Like he’s even more annoyed than before we started talking, so I guess that was a bust.
I’d say that’s what might be bothering him—not getting enough action—but even for a straight guy, I can tell he’s objectively hot. I doubt he has any issues getting laid.
“Well, didn’t have to make up for that by riding my ass earlier,” I joke.
He smirks. “Just getting into your head enough to get you to slip up. You lost control of the ball, didn’t you?”
There we go! I’ve broken through his defenses. Just a little, but I’ll call it a victory.
“Yeah, well, I guess you’ll see how fair it is when I play that game on your ass.”
“Try me,” he says just as Seth returns with the ball to the boundary line at the edge of the field.
After the throw-in, it doesn’t take Alexei long to take control of the ball, giving me the opportunity to get him back for his mindfuck tactic.
At one point, he sneaks a glance over his shoulder, his lips still twisted upward.
There’s a light in his eyes I sure as hell haven’t seen today, which encourages me along.
“Keep on. I fucking live for this,” he shouts, and I’m shocked he can shout like that because I’m using enough energy just trying to keep up with the guy.
He’s keeping the ball close, so I fake out like I’m gonna go right, then sneak left, nearly nabbing it.
But Alexei’s too quick for me, and he secures the ball once again.
I see a flash of someone else before Alexei comes to an abrupt halt and I go flying into his back.
We topple to the ground together, my face buried against him, my brain recovering from the surprise.
“Fuck,” Alexei groans.
“You okay, man?” My face is surprisingly comfortable against him, and I realize it’s because it’s buried against his ass.
He starts to shift, then says, “I assumed you meant something else when you said you were gonna ride my ass.”
I laugh as I take a moment, admiring his impressive glutes. “You do squats, Alexei?”
I’m tempted to take a quick bite.
Where the fuck did that come from?
I shake it off and push to my knees.
Alexei rolls onto his back as the guys surround us, helping us to our feet.
“You good?” Brad asks Alexei.
“I was so busy trying to avoid Spencer coming up on my left, I missed Luke sneaking up on my right, and then when I tried to change course, this guy threw me off.”
“That was a little much for a friendly pickup game,” Brad tells me, and before I can defend myself, Alexei says, “Trust me, I kinda had that one coming.”
He glances at me, his subtle smile twisting into his dimple.
Now that’s a victory.
Despite the fall, I love knowing I got him out of his head for a minute, from whatever the hell he’s going through.
We play a few more rounds before Brad calls the game. When we gather at the bleachers, Alexei says, “Anyone want to grab some pizza?”
Several of the pickup crew jump at the opportunity, including a few from Alpha Alpha Mu. Their house is in the opposite direction of the pizza place, so like they’ve done a few times when I’ve joined the pickup game, they plan to hit the showers at the dorms so we can head over together after.
When I’m under the showerhead, feeling the hot water against my skin, contrasting sharply with the cold January weather, I roll my head back and sigh. Fuck, that feels good.
But just as soon as I’m ready to relax into my shower, I realize I didn’t grab my loofah from my bag and have to step out and dry off.
As I start to round the corner to the shower lockers, I see Alexei.
My glance goes right to that ass I nearly took a bite out of.
I’ve never noticed what a perky butt he has.
But something other than that bubble butt catches my attention.
He’s got Gage’s duffel out, fishing through it.
My first thought is that Gage asked him to grab something for him, but as he starts to turn, I instinctively step back. He glances over his shoulder, and I duck behind the wall, waiting a moment before leaning over for a quick glance, catching Alexei fishing through cash in Gage’s wallet.
The hell?
Gage still could have asked him to grab something, I tell myself, and if that’s the case, he won’t have an issue with me heading right on in.
By the time I do, he’s already shut the locker, closed the combination lock, and is making his way over to his locker.
He looks over his shoulder again, and fuck, the guilt is written all over his expression.
I can’t help wondering if he’s watched Gage at his locker before and that’s how he knew the combination.
My heart sinks, my gut knotting up. Is this what Alexei’s been so stressed about? Is he having financial trouble? But, dude, this isn’t the way to go about dealing with your problems.
When I reach my locker, I try to think how to play this. Meanwhile, Alexei doesn’t say anything, only breezes past me and heads for the showers.
After we finish up, we all head down the street to the pizzeria.
Normally, hanging out for pizza with the pickup crew would be fun and easygoing, but I’m having a hard time enjoying myself with what’s weighing on me.
A part of me feels like I need to tell Gage, but I don’t want to fuck over Alexei, especially if he’s having problems right now.
There must be a better way to handle this.
Despite the progress I made in easing him up during the game, I can tell he’s back to being stressed, surely because he knows what he just did to Gage is wrong. And Gage is laughing with his buddies, making jokes, roasting each other, not a clue what his supposed friend has done behind his back.
It’s wrong. Alexei knows it too.
Maybe I’m a fool, but I just don’t feel like this is who Alexei is. I want to believe this was a lapse in judgment, a mistake, but maybe he’s not the chill, nice guy I thought he was.
Only one way to find out.
When we finish at the pizza joint, the crew splits up, some of us heading back to the dorms, and the Alpha Alpha Mu crew to the frat.
I tell Luke and Brad that I’ll be at the library for a few hours if they want to enjoy our room for a bit, and they eagerly accept the invitation, which works out well for what I have to do.
As everyone starts heading off into their rooms, I walk alongside Alexei.
He turns to me, his expression twisted up. “Aren’t you going to the library?”
I drape my arm around his shoulders. “Yeah, yeah, man. I am. I just wanted to talk to you in private.”
“Uh…sure.” He stares straight ahead.
It’s an awkward-as-fuck walk back to his and Luke’s dorm room, and he guides me inside. As the door closes behind me, he turns around, creases between his brows. He runs his hand through his lengthy dark locks before scratching the back of his head. He doesn’t make eye contact.
I fear how he’s gonna react to my accusation, not just because this might go south real fast, but because how he responds will tell me the kind of guy he is—a decent guy who can cop to what he’s done, or a shit who’s gonna try to weasel his way out of any accountability.
God, please don’t be a shit.
“What’s up?” he asks.
“I saw you rummaging through Gage’s duffel in the locker room.” I wait for him to refute it, but he bites his bottom lip. “I’ll take that as an admission, then.” As he tucks his head toward his chest, I say, “I don’t know what’s going on in your life, but you don’t want to go down that path.”
His expression twists up, like he’s surprised by what I’m saying. “What path?”
“Stealing from friends. If you need money, there are other ways to get—”
His jaw drops, and he glares at me. Now I’m totally thrown. When I accused him of going through Gage’s bag, he seemed to know exactly what I was referring to.
“Why do people keep thinking I need money?” he asks, stepping toward me.
“Because I’m just some poor kid to you?” He comes at me quickly, and though he’s a few inches shorter than me, between the athleticism I’ve seen on the field and the intensity he’s approaching me with, I imagine he’d put up a decent fight.
“What?” I ask as he gets in my face.
“You rich kids think that’s what’s on everyone else’s minds.
The rest of us are so fucking desperate, we’ll do anything to get a piece of what you’ve got.
For your fucking information, I happen to have some money my uncle left me after he passed.
And I also run deliveries, as you know, so I don’t have to steal money from anyone. Understood?”
Not even a little. But given his expression, I must be totally wrong about what I saw earlier.
“I didn’t mean to suggest that, Alexei. You’ve just been acting off—”
“Off? You don’t even know me.”
“I didn’t put that right. You’ve seemed high-strung lately. And you were spacing out at the game today. And then I see you with Gage’s wallet. What am I supposed to think?”
His gaze wavers, and the tension in his expression eases up. He closes his eyes and takes a breath. “I thought I might have gotten away with it. Fuck.” He steps back, and I realize how tense I am as my body relaxes, my fists unclenching.
He turns away, starting toward his desk.
He’s quiet when he reaches it, then spins back toward me, sticking his thumb between his teeth.
We stand there in uncomfortable silence, but I don’t push again.
Figure he’ll talk when he’s ready, and after what feels like five minutes but is maybe thirty seconds, he blurts, “I didn’t take money from Gage. ”
“What did you take, then?”
He reaches into his back pocket and displays a key card with the Alpha Alpha Mu logo. Now I understand why he jumped down my throat when I accused him of taking cash, but at the same time, I’m that much more confused—why would he steal that key card?
“I’m lost.”
“I can imagine, and I don’t know how the fuck to explain it.”
“How about the truth?”
“The truth? You want the truth?” He sounds like he’s about to lay it on me, but then he presses his lips together. He searches around the room. “Trust me, you don’t want the truth. If I could go back, I’m not sure I’d want it either.”
What the hell is he on about?
“Alexei, why are you being so cryptic?”
His gaze meets mine again, his tongue pushing against the inside of his mouth.
What the fuck are you not telling me, Alexei?