Chapter 20
Colton
brEAKING NEWS: Colton Merrick and fiancé split.
NFL running back Colton Merrick and supermodel Sophie Carroll announced today they are ending their three-month engagement.
The pair announced the split was amicable, citing their busy careers as the reason for the split.
The pair had been dating for two years prior to their engagement.
They both claim to remain very good friends.
Colton finished his bicep curls, re-racked the dumbbells, and looked around. With practice over for the day, the weight room was pretty much cleared out. Bryce was across the aisle on the hack squat, and one defensive lineman sat at the far end of the weight room, swiping through his phone.
He needed to talk to someone about what was going on in his head, and more and more, in his pants.
Dean’s pretty face and perfect body filled his thoughts constantly.
Colton was openly flirting with him at the golf simulator, and clearly Dean had enjoyed it.
The man had a hard-on that had been pretty difficult to miss and it was all because of Colton. And Colton liked it.
The fact that he'd triggered that type of response in Dean had his own cock stretching his pants to the limit.
As soon as he'd gotten home from the simulator, he dropped his pants, leaned against his front door, and jacked his cock until he shot across the room. Dean had him feeling like a horny teenager again, but what the hell did any of it mean? Was he gay? Bisexual? Had he always been? Why was he only feeling these things now and for Dean, specifically? When he looked around at other guys, those feelings didn’t surface.
Only Dean stirred his cock and increased his pulse.
Colton and Bryce were close, and they'd had some deep conversations in their time as teammates, but could Colton talk to Bryce about this? Could he explain what he was feeling without alienating a teammate?
Colton took a deep breath. No time like the present, he thought, and walked over to Bryce.
“Bro, can I talk to you for a sec?”
Bryce finished his set, locked out the machine, and leaned forward, “Sure, man. That was my last set, so I got nothin’ but time.” He stood and grabbed his water bottle. “What’s up?”
Colton nervously rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, you know I just broke things off with Sophie…”
“Dude, she wasn’t right for you.” Bryce huffed. “I know she’s hot as fuck, but you hate shopping and clubbing. That would have been a miserable marriage.”
“Thanks, Bryce.” Colton cracked a half smile.
“That’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about.
” He shifted his stance. “I mean, with Chrissy…
how did you know she was 'the one'?” Colton made air quotes.
“Did you have trouble breathing, or did your stomach go all flippy? Did you feel things in your body that told you she was the one for you?”
Bryce studied Colton for a moment with a look of curiosity, then his eyes widened. “Bro! Did you meet another girl?”
Colton snapped his eyes to Bryce in surprise. Although he said girl, Bryce was close to the mark on what was happening.
Could he tell him? He didn’t even know what the fuck he was feeling. But maybe he could be honest about what was going on and see what happened.
Colton took a deep breath before he spoke, but chickened out at the last minute. “No. I just never felt any of those things with Sophie and I was curious to know how you knew Chrissy was your perfect match.”
Bryce seemed to buy that response and tilted his head side to side. “I mean, it was all those things you said. The first time I saw Chrissy, my stomach flipped like I’d eaten a bad burrito.”
Colton chuckled at that. He knew that feeling, all too well.
“When we’re not together, I miss her and count the minutes until we’re together again,” Bryce continued with a fond, faraway look in his eyes. “Her laugh, her smile, her eyes, her smell. All those things fill my soul and make every day worth living. She makes me a better person.”
Colton smiled, listening to Bryce’s fondness for his fiancée. He was immediately jarred with the memory of the song he heard at the club with Sophie and her awful friends, the words that embedded themselves deep in Colton’s mind…’I like me better when I’m with you’.
Colton’s mind swirled.
Everything Bryce just described was everything Colton had been feeling for Dean. But it couldn’t be what he thought. Bryce had described his love for Chrissy, but his depiction was spot on to how Colton felt around Dean. Was Colton developing feelings for Dean?
It wasn’t love, or even very strong affection. Was it? It couldn’t be.
No. Dean was a guy. A great guy, but still a guy. Colton admired Dean, he was a cherished friend, and he loved him as a person, but that was it. There was no way that Colton had feelings for another guy.
He’d never, ever, had any feelings for a man before. But there was something about Dean that kept drawing him in, like a moth to a flame.
Bryce snapped him out of his thoughts with a slap on the shoulder. “Dude! You’re making me get all sappy like some lovesick punk! What the fuck!”
Colton laughed. “Sorry. I guess I needed confirmation that I made the right decision with Sophie.”
Bryce chuckled. “Um, yeah you did! You dodged a bullet, dude. Now go find someone who fits you better.”
Colton smiled timidly. Before he could stop himself, he thought he’d already found that person…his best friend, Dean. Colton shook the thought away.
Bryce smiled and squeezed his shoulder. “We’d better get out to the rec area. Greg is waiting for us.”
“Oh, and I invited Dean to come too.” Colton matched his stride as they left the weight room.
“Cool. I really like Dean.”
Colton watched Dean lock his car and waved as he walked toward them.
Colton had invited Dean to join them for an afternoon of fun and blowing off steam after practice.
On one side of the practice facility was an outdoor recreation area, with grills, picnic tables, grassy fields, a Bocci Ball and cornhole area, and two sand volleyball courts.
Colton couldn’t stop smiling and did his best to keep his breathing in check as Dean stood next to him. He needed to get his damn feelings under control. He knew how to do this. He employed his game day tactics —sharp focus and emotions on lockdown.
He took a deep, steadying breath. He had this.
After their greetings and small talk, they debated what to do first.
”You ever played volleyball, Dean?” Colton asked.
“Yeah, I’ve played before.”
“Great!” Colton clapped his hands. “Beach volleyball it is. Me and Dean versus Bryce and Greg.”
“Bring it, bitches!” Greg taunted, tearing off his shirt and tossing it off to the side of the court.
“We’re gonna wipe the floor with you two,” Bryce teased.
Dean tightened the drawstring on the front of his board shorts. “Don’t wanna give everyone a show when I dive,” he joked as he walked over to one of the benches on the side of the court and removed his shirt.
“Holy baby hulkling…Dean!” Greg shouted.
“What?” Dean turned quickly, startled.
Greg took both his shoulders, squared Dean in front of him, and looked him up and down. “You’re a fucking god!” He turned to Colton. “Look at these muscles.”
“I know.” Colton chuckled. “Impressive, huh?” He laughed it off, but he felt a slight burning in his jaw. Yes, he had admired Dean’s fantastic body on more than one occasion, but with Greg so closely inspecting his body, Colton was feeling a little territorial. Only he could ogle Dean’s body!
Bryce had now joined Greg in assessing the muscles on Dean’s body. “You’re more jacked than half the guys on the team!”
“That’s what I said!” Colton stepped beside them, smiling.
Dean put his hands on his hips. “Okay, are we gonna play volleyball? Or did you want to stare at my body all afternoon?”
Colton smiled. He probably could stare at Dean’s body all afternoon. Those perfectly symmetrical muscles rolling and rippling across his entire body? It was the kind of body just begging to be touched, to be admired, to be absolutely fucking worshipped from head to toe.
Greg laughed. “Sorry dude! But you’re an impressive sight. Keep it up!”
Dean chuckled. “Thanks. It took a lot of work to get here. Let’s warm up.”
The four circled up, warming up with light bumps and hits from person to person. Then, they split into their teams…Greg and Bryce on one side, Colton and Dean on the other. After a few practice serves, they were ready for the game.
Greg served the ball over the net to Dean.
Dean received the ball, bumping it into the air toward Colton, who then bumped the ball high into the air near the net, setting it for Dean.
Dean jogged a couple of steps forward, swinging his arms and jumping into the air, preparing to make contact with the ball.
He arched his back, swung his arm backward, and in one quick snapping motion, his spine rounded forward, his hand smacked the ball, perfectly spiking it into the sand between Greg and Bryce with lightning speed.
Greg, Bryce, and Colton stood dumbfounded, silent and still, eyes wide, mouths hanging open, staring at Dean.
“Okay…I might have played on a volleyball team when I was younger.” Dean smirked with a little shrug.
“Hell yeah!” Colton whooped, ran over, and jumped on Dean’s back piggy-back style. He pointed across the net at Bryce and Greg. “We’re gonna kick your asses!”
“Shit! We’re fucked,” Bryce muttered to Greg.