3. Mateo
CHAPTER 3
MATEO
The first month at the new house flew by. We accepted twelve new brothers into Kappa Omega Kappa, and it was now official – we were the jock house. It should’ve been obvious from the start since Liam, our president, was the quarterback of the back-to-back champion Rams, and the twins, Aiden and Jayden, the treasurer and secretary, both played rugby for the school. Half of the soccer team were also my brothers, including my team husband, Evan.
The soccer season started off better than my teammates and I could’ve imagined. After two games, we were undefeated, which didn’t sound like much until you considered the first game was against our biggest rival, Elmhurst, and a few hours ago, we beat the champions from last year. I had a goal in each, but I scored the game winner today. Evan, of course, had the assist. It’s like we shared a brain on the field. That’s partially why we joked we were husbands.
And since the football team also won their first game of the season this afternoon, it was time for the house’s first kegger.
Normally, I wouldn’t be an active participant – I preferred to nurse a drink and chat with Zach at most parties – but I was the VP now. It was almost mandatory to double fist the whole night.
It shouldn't have been surprising that I quickly became inebriated. I was never one to accurately judge the state of my mental acuity, my mental focus? Whatever. I got drunk quick.
The thumpa-thumpa of the music was all I could hear as the room swam. I saw guys I recognized, and Jesus Christ, how did Liam get this many people here? Oh yeah, football. Somehow I found an empty spot on the couch. I let my head fall against the back and relaxed for a minute.
“ Zach and Malik have been hanging out. That’s not good for you.”
Wh-what?
I opened my eyes, but there wasn’t anyone around. I was about to drift off again, when I heard the voice again.
“ Zach’s cute. Go dance with him. ”
I looked around; no one was paying me any attention. I’d have to compliment Liam on his alcohol choices. I’d never hallucinated before.
“ Get up! Go now! ”
I felt compelled to get up, so I did. I needed to find Zach. I thought dancing with him sounded fun. Coincidentally, Zach was already dancing with Malik, but that didn’t bother me.
“May I cut in?” I chuckled, as I leaned against Zach and grabbed his waist to steady myself.
“How much have you had?” I could almost hear the scolding I was about to get.
“Malik, go get me a bottle of water, please. That better?” I asked, turning to see Malik following orders.
“You didn’t have to get rid of him,” Zach said.
“ Pull him closer. ”
I fingered his waistband and pulled him closer to me. “I did if I wanted you alone. You’re my best friend. ”
“You could just piss all over me. It would mark your territory better.”
“Would you like that?” I could tell that it took him by surprise, so I gave him my easy smile. “You’re cute, you know that?” I dragged a finger across his cheek.
“You’re wasted, you know that?”
I nodded. “But I don’t want to get pukey drunk again, we should go.”
“What about your water?”
“I have water in our room. Come on.” I grabbed his hand and pulled. He didn’t resist. Zach was a good friend and I was lucky to have him.
I was able to make it to the third floor by leaning on him heavily. I may have accidentally pulled his pants down once. I had no idea he wore jockstraps…he didn’t even play sports.
“Here we are,” Zach said, holding the door open for me. “And here’s your water.” He handed me a bottle from the fridge. “All good?”
“You can’t leave me!”
“I can’t?”
“No! What if I choke on my own vomit?”
“Well, then I guess you will have learned your lesson.”
I stood there, staring. Was he fucking with me? “Just for that, you’re gonna help me in the shower. It’ll make me feel better.”
Zach sighed, grabbed a bottle for himself and followed me into the bathroom. “I’ll make sure you don’t drown, but I’m not scrubbing your back.”
After I got his clothes wet and despite his protests, I was able to get his clothes off and drag him into the shower with me.
After much cutesy begging, Zach agreed to scrub my back, and when he was done, I turned him around and washed his too.
“ That’s a nice ass. ”
There was that weird voice again. But it was right.
It was a very nice ass.
Waking up, I could see the clock said eleven, but it was Sunday and I had no plans today other than maybe running and a few assignments.
Hold up. There was an arm wrapped around me. Fuck, I never brought girls to my room.
Wait . It was a hairy arm and there was definitely something hard poking my ass.
That’s a dick.
Slowly, I turned to see familiar auburn curls and really long eyelashes. I’d never noticed them before. Of course it was Zach and not some clingy KΩK groupie, thankfully, but what was he doing in my bed?
“Morning!” I said with too much volume for his proximity.
“Morning,” he replied with a smile.
“Did you lose your way last night, horndog?”
Zach sat bolt upright. “Excuse me?”
Shit. It seemed that was the wrong thing to say.
“ You were wasted. You pulled me up to our room, made me shower with you, and then you wanted to snuggle. When I tried to leave, you pulled me back down and told me to stay, so don’t act like I crept into your bed in the middle of the night.”
Zach threw back the covers and went over to his closet, pulling off his sleep shorts with his back to me, and got dressed before I could figure out what to say. The door closed and I was alone.
I didn’t remember all that, but I did remember someone telling Zach he had a nice ass. I saw it again just now, and I had to agree. Did that mean something?
“ Yes. ”
Ugh. Clearly I was still hungover and feeling the after-effects of whatever swill Liam had obtained last night, and clearly, I needed to find Zach and apologize.
I grabbed my phone.
Teo: Where’d you go?
Teo: Zach and cheese, don’t ignore me.
Zach: In the kitchen.
Great.
I got up and…I was naked. Jesus, I must’ve been really drunk.
No wonder Zach is pissed.
“I’m sorry, Zach. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad this morning. I just didn’t remember what happened.”
“We’re friends, Teo. I just didn’t think you’d be so homophobic.” He was in the middle of making a smoothie.
Is that what he thinks?
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. I was just surprised, like an out of body experience. It’s not because you’re a guy. If anything, I’m glad you were there for me. It’s just not what I expected to wake up to.”
Even though my brain apparently decided now was a good time to recall the feel of his erection against my ass, I could tell he was processing.
“I am sorry.” I repeated.
“That I wasn’t some big-breasted chick.”
“No! I’m sorry I treated you like you shouldn’t have been there, especially after I asked you to stay. And I promise not to get that drunk again.”
“Bullshit . ”
“I swear! Definitely to the first part, for sure.” I could tell he was thinking about it. I gave him my best puppy-dog eyes .
He shook his head and rolled his eyes, but said, “I believe you. Apology accepted.”
Whew.
“Jesus Christ!”
I watched as the blender half-exploded, coming to life without Zach hitting a button, and the entire contents of it blasted all over his face, torso and half the kitchen. After the strawberry-banana mixture settled everywhere I couldn’t help but laugh, and Zach soon joined me.
“What the fuck did you do?” I asked.
“I didn’t touch anything!”
“Well, the kitchen says otherwise. First years! Get in here and start cleaning this up!”
The guys that had been playing video games sauntered in and grumbled about the mess, but slowly started to get to work.
“Thank you, gentlemen. I’ll be sure to tell Liam how responsive you were. I’m gonna take care of this mess,” I said, pulling Zach with me back to our room.
“Into the shower!” I commanded.
Zach kicked off his sandals, which were miraculously clean, but his shirt and shorts were covered.
“Take off your clothes!”
“I can do this myself.”
“You helped me last night. It’s the least I can do,” I replied, tugging his shirt off.
“You took all my clothes off in the shower last night too, Teo.”
“Oh.” I guess I didn't remember that part. “Holy shit, when did you get abs?”
I flinched when he backslapped me, but seriously-
“I’ve had them for a while, thanks for noticing?”
“ That’s a hot body. ”
“Yeah, it kind of is.”
“It kind of is what?” Zach asked before turning the water on.
Wait, what?
“Nevermind.” I watched as he unbuttoned his shorts and slid them off. “A jockstrap?”
“Yeah, can you quit it? You’re making me super self-conscious. I’m not some little boy anymore, I have hairy pits and my balls have dropped. Since when is my body fascinating to you?”
He had me there. “I’ll throw these in the hamper for you,” I said, taking his clothes with me. Afterwards, I sat on the bed and contemplated what he said.
Was I fascinated with his body? I had been noticing different things lately.
Maybe it was because we’re roommates now?