Chapter 23
“ ?A HUEVO! ” I YELL, falling on my mattress and punching the air. “ Finally. ”
I feel Vale sitting down next to me, his fingers lightly scratching my thigh.
I hold my right hand up and still so he can take my phone and see the good news: we finally got our Philosophy midterms back and listed at the very top of all the assignments so far, that go from hate it here and it’s obvious to trying my best , is my very first A.
To I’m actually getting the hang of this .
In the comments, Professor Coolidge even added a “Nice job.” Hell yeah, it was a nice job. A great job, even.
“Proud of you,” Vale hums. I hold myself up on my elbows, looking from his hand massaging muscle and fingertips threatening to go inside my shorts to his smile that’s just for me. He leans down, giving me a kiss, smiling into my lips. “Getting all smart and shit.”
“Yeah I am.” I get selfish, going for more kisses, wishing that his hand would go up just a little more. “And I think we have a little time to celebrate before I’ve got to be at the Athletics Center for my interview.”
“Smart and a celebrity.”
“You want to wait here for me? And then we can go to my parents’ together?”
On top of the A, I left last night’s away game having broken the record for longest shutout in the Border Conference’s history and with my name in the NCAA’s top fifteen, every game getting me closer to hitting the top ten.
I FaceTimed my parents afterward, like I usually do after away matches, and their first words (when they finally stopped screaming) were “We’re celebrating tomorrow.
Carne asada. Bring your team. Bring your friends. ”
Whether I call one of them my boyfriend when we’re in private is really just a technicality.
But first, a couple guys who host my favorite football podcast (even though they call it soccer) are headed this way in the next half hour to talk to me about it.
Trevor and Rashid, of Goals and Glory, two guys I’ve seen on YouTube and listened to on runs and watched interviewing professional players in thirty-second clips on TikTok, here for me .
“Is it cool if I stay here?”
“Yeah, make yourself comfortable. But, before that, going back to the whole having some time to celebrate …”
The rest of the house is gone; they’re at one of Kat’s games that Vale and I would be at too, if I didn’t have to go talk about myself soon.
But, with this in-between time, all I can think is how fast can I get Vale’s clothes off.
Between the regular season’s end right around the corner and our virtually guaranteed spot in the NCAA Division I tournament, even more practices and trainings, classes piling on all the things we have to get through before finals in December, and Vale putting in some hours at High Tide, we haven’t gotten a lot of time together.
And even when we do, it’s with a full house.
Trying to be quiet while Ahmed is right across the hall or the two of us hanging out with my boys, leaving me unable to touch Vale at all and getting sympathetic looks from Kat and P é rez.
But most nights are FaceTiming until we’re falling asleep and during the day it’s small touches during Philosophy and walking him, now, all the way to his next class.
However, when we do get some time, and we find ourselves all alone (or desperate enough to try to be quieter than Ahmed’s music or TV), nothing beats kissing him, holding his hand, wrapping my arms around him, talking about our day.
And how often Vale’s head ends up in my lap.
Literally, my boyfriend is a blowjob fiend.
Finish studying early? Head’s in my lap.
Needing a study break? Head’s in my lap.
After my game? Head’s in my lap. Surprising him right as he’s closing up High Tide for the night, thinking he might want to go to Whataburger?
Pulling me into a fitting room and, oop , head’s in my lap.
Vale looks at my phone one more time before pressing it to my chest. “I don’t want to end up being the reason you’re late to your interview.”
“So is that a no?”
He bites his lip, his eyes going from my eyes to my dick, already halfway ready to go, wanting out of my shorts and in between those lips. And then he lets out a soft, breathy laugh as he kisses me one more time before scooting down, pulling my shorts and underwear with him.
A fiend. His mouth, his hands. My hand in his hair.
I never get tired of calling him “Baby” and “Coraz ó n,” and maybe especially when he’s got my eyes rolling back and toes curling and brain going haywire with oxytocin and dopamine watching him not let a drop go to waste.
But especially especially afterward, when he kisses up my body and lies on my chest or sits on my lap and I get to cuddle him for a couple minutes.
“Hey,” I start, a thought I’ve been holding on to basically since the night of the ABC party on my lips.
I focus on my hand rubbing up and down his back, trying not to think about whether he can feel my heartbeat going wild.
“I just wanted to put it out there that, like, I wouldn’t be opposed to more.
Like, more than this. To, you know, going all the way.
Butt sex. As much as I am obsessed with how talented your mouth is, and as much as I like doing mouth stuff to you too. ”
Vale tries to hide his laughter, his face tucked into my neck, doing a bad job at it even as I tell him, “ I’m being vulnerable here. ”
He sits up, straddling my stomach, and, yeah, I wouldn’t be opposed to getting started on what more looks like right now .
“You can just call it sex,” Vale says with a smirk, his hand patting my chest. “One. And two, I wouldn’t be opposed to that either.”
“Cool.”
“And, just so it’s out in the open, I get tested regularly. But, besides what we’ve been doing, I haven’t hooked up with anyone since I was still with my ex back, like, what, more than half a year ago now.”
“I was going to get tested too,” I tell him.
“Kat mentioned it and they and P é rez said they’d go with me if it’d make me less nervous.
But, also besides what we’ve been doing, the only person I’ve hooked up with lately and, like, within the last few months was Leana, but you probably could’ve guessed that.
And we used condoms the few times it got that far. ”
“Same.”
“Cool,” I say again through a breath, shaking out the current nerves about one more thing on my mind. “Also, I actually have a question. Kind of. Or, more like something I probably should say before we end up there.”
“You can tell me anything.”
“What if I … what if I don’t want to be the bottom?”
Vale perks his head up, his lips sucked in like he’s trying to hold in laughter again. “Like, ever?”
“I mean, maybe. I don’t know. It’s not something … ugh .” A hand comes up to my face, covering my eyes, trying to hide the way I feel slightly unconfident here. “This feels weird, talking about it.”
“It’s not, I promise.” His hand pulls mine away, keeping me looking at him.
“And it’s fine. Whoever it’s with, however it’s done, you should enjoy it, yeah?
Promise, I won’t top-shame you. Although you do have a very nice futbolista butt.
And I also promise that, if I have to take that role with you, I have absolutely zero problems with that.
I’d even prefer it, if we’re both being honest here. ”
“Okay,” I say through a sigh. “Cool. I am good for anything else, though. Just to put that out there.” I massage his thighs, watching my fingers going into the legs of his shorts. “And I want to make sure that you feel good. Like, that you’re enjoying this as much as I am.”
“You make me feel really good,” Vale tells me, leaning down for a kiss. “I promise.”
“Good. Also, have you seen your ass? Talking about very nice. A ten out of ten.”
And it’s right when my fingers start getting under the fabric of Vale’s briefs for that ten out of ten ass, that my alarm starts going off, GOALS AND GLORY on my phone screen.
“Later,” Vale promises, his voice soft. “Promise. You need to get going soon.”
I rush to get dressed, putting on an old Islander kit that Coach found in a supply closet which fits me like a glove, the first pair of shorts I can reach for, and Crocs that go with the light blue of the jersey.
“I’ll see you when I get back,” I tell Vale, leaning down to kiss him as he sits on my mattress. A part of me wishes I could bring him along. Look at him when I start getting nervous. Catch him smiling at me. “Shouldn’t be too long.”
“Have fun,” he says back, patting my chest. “They’re going to love you. And, just so you know, that blowjob earlier was for the A on your midterm. Get back here with enough time before we’ve got to be at your parents’, and we can celebrate your first podcast interview.”
“ Ching— I’m going to be hard the entire time now because of you.”
“Good.” He’s got a teasing smile as he pecks my cheek. “Now go. Don’t keep them waiting.”
“Man, that was great,” Rashid tells me as he pulls me in for a hug. “You’ve got a really phenomenal story, Gabi.”
“Thanks, I—I thought I might’ve sounded nervous the whole time.
” My hand swipes over my head, feeling more assured of myself when my palm doesn’t get covered in sweat.
I’m trying to remember anything I said in the last ninety minutes.
If my answers to his questions were at all intelligent-sounding.
As casual as it was, and as great as they were at keeping the conversation going, sometimes I felt like I was on the verge of rambling, and other times it seemed like my answers were too short, their eyes asking me if there’s anything else I’d like to add.
“Nah, incredible stuff,” Trevor adds while helping their tech guy put away their mics and equipment. “We had a fun time talking with you. Going to try to have this episode out within the next few weeks, I think, right, Rash?”