Chapter 2
Donovan
It was unexpected having my first night in the new dorm alone, but it was also kind of nice to be able to settle in and get used to the space without needing to make small talk with another person.
I’d spent some of Saturday afternoon exploring the campus, locating where all my classes are and finding some coffee shops and the dining hall.
Tynerston is a modern campus whereas Winbrook is very ‘old money’, all stone and statues everywhere, with immaculately kept grounds.
It’s not my type of place, but I can see myself being happy here for the next few months.
The campus was busier than I expected, thinking not many people would stick around for the summer semester, but Winbrook was full of students looking to get extra credit, all to help with their job applications further down the line.
This is where you come if you want to be a doctor or a lawyer, their science and academic programs are strong, as well as their athletics program, which is why it’s so popular with student athletes.
Tynerston is more of a humanities and arts focused campus; full of people who dream of being writers and artists.
After a good night’s sleep, and visiting a nearby cafe for brunch, I spent my Sunday unpacking and settling in as best I could, before chilling with some reading.
I’m so lost in my book that I jump when there’s a knock at the door.
Immediately I worry it’s Kate, wanting to invite me somewhere, or flirt some more, but not wanting to be rude, I make my way over and open it.
Holy shit.
My mouth drops open as I stare at the man standing before me. I say man, he’s obviously a student here as he’s wearing a Winbrook U varsity jacket over a white T-shirt and jeans, but he’s tall, and broad, and the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen.
“Hey,” he says.
His smile, and those cheekbones… fuck me. I continue to stare at him, not able to form words.
“I’m your roommate,” he says, holding out his hand, “Stephen Choi.”
“Oh… yeah… um… hey,” I say, reaching for his hand; it’s warm and strong, but also soft.
He watches me until I notice movement behind him, it’s an older couple who I’m assuming are his parents.
“Sorry, I’m completely blocking the doorway,” I say, stepping to the side. “Um… I’m Donovan… Donavan Gálvez.”
He chuckles as he walks in, the older couple following. “It’s no worries, I didn’t want to just barge in on you!”
“Yeah,” I say, “I knocked yesterday when I arrived and waited, until someone told me you were away at training.”
“Oh right,” he says, “I’ll be away every other weekend. I’ve been drafted to play for the Warriors and started training with them yesterday.”
“You play hockey?” I ask, surprised after seeing the football stuff on his walls.
“No, I play football… the Tynerston Warriors?”
“Oh…” I say, “hockey is the Tigers?”
“Yeah,” he chuckles.
“It should be the other way around.”
“What?”
“Well, what do tigers have to do with hockey? They don’t even live on the ice, so why would you name a hockey team after them?”
Shit. I’m rambling, and about the most ridiculous thing, why am I even talking about this? I must sound so stupid…
Stephen laughs, his face lighting up, looking so incredibly beautiful. “True, I never thought about it like that.”
We make eye contact for a moment, his eyes so dark they’re nearly black, but they’re also full of warmth… and his lips… holy shit…
“Oh, these are my parents,” he says, gesturing to the couple, “Vanessa and Nathan.”
I look at his parents who are smiling at me, and I shake both their hands.
His mom reminds me of my mom a bit, she’s tiny but has a very warm, larger-than-life presence.
His dad on the other hand looks pretty scary, mainly because he’s tall, taller than Stephen, and built, reminding me of some of the motorcycle club members back home.
He shakes my hand though and grins, “Welcome to Winbrook!”
“Thank you, Sir,” I say.
“Where do you usually study?” Vanessa asks.
“Tynerston, Ma’am, I live there actually.”
“Wonderful,” Vanessa says, “if you ever want to visit for the weekend you can come in the car with us when we take Stephen.”
Wow, they’ve just met me and they’re already offering to drive me all the way to Tynerston, their son could hate me, I could be anyone, it’s so trusting and generous of them, I’m surprised.
“Thank you, Ma’am, that’s kind,” I say, “but I’m using this as a chance to be independent for a bit, rather than going home too often.”
I’m so grateful to Beth for giving me that excuse to use when people ask why I don’t visit home.
“Sounds like a good plan,” Nathan says. “So, what are you studying while you’re here? And please, there’s no need for the Sir and Ma’am, Vanessa and Nathan is just fine.”
I glance over at Stephen who’s watching me, not seeming to mind that his parents are asking me these questions and taking an interest in me.
“Journalism,” I say, before needing to clear my throat. Why am I so nervous? “There’s a new lecturer here, and my teacher back at TU thought I’d learn a lot from him.”
“Fascinating,” Nathan says, “is that the line of work you want to go into?”
“Yes, I think so, I find it interesting. What about you?” I ask Stephen.
He gestures to the sports stuff around the room and chuckles.
“Well, majoring in Exercise Physiology…” I want to kick myself, of course he’s majoring in something sports related, why did I even ask?
“…but I’m minoring in Business Management, you know, it’s a good idea to have a fallback plan when going pro is never guaranteed. ”
“Smart,” I say, which is the opposite to how I’m probably coming across right now, I definitely don’t sound smart.
“Right,” Vanessa says, “we’d best get going and let you get settled so you can rest after training.”
“Okay, Mom,” Stephen says, pulling her into a hug. “Thanks for taking me and dropping me off.”
“Anything for you,” she says.
“See ya, Dad.” Stephen turns to Nathan who pulls him into a big hug.
“See you in a couple of weeks,” he says.
“It was lovely to meet you, Donovan,” Vanessa says with a smile.
“You too… uh… Vanessa,” I say, nervous about calling her by her first name.
“Yes, hopefully we’ll see you in a couple of weeks too,” Nathan says, shaking my hand again.
“Hopefully,” I say, before they both make their way out of the door, leaving me alone with Stephen.
He takes off his varsity jacket, leaving him in the white T-shirt, his tan skin looking incredible next to it.
His arms are muscled, and I find myself staring at his biceps…
oh no… this is not good… those giant rainbow floodgates I joked with Beth about have opened.
I cannot be this attracted to my roommate, the straight football jock…
Stephen
When he opened the door, I knew I was done for, he’s so fucking cute.
He’s shorter than me, probably about five foot seven, or eight, and he’s smaller too, his T-shirt and jeans showing off his slim build.
His dark hair has a curl to it that frames his face, and he has gorgeous deep brown eyes and light brown skin.
I’d assumed that at least one of his parents must be Hispanic and his last name confirmed that.
It took everything in me to keep my cool, especially when he just stared at me for what seemed like forever, and his nerves, fuck, his nerves made him even cuter.
When he was talking about how tigers have nothing to do with hockey, I wanted to pull him into a hug and tell him everything would be okay.
No, this is dangerous. I can’t think like this, I cannot go there with my roommate, I can’t go there at all… even if he is staring at me like I’m some kind of model while I’m taking off my jacket.
“Your parents seem nice,” he says.
“Yeah, they’re great.”
“I can’t believe your mom offered to drive me back to Tynerston, she doesn’t even know me.”
He chuckles nervously, his hands fidgeting.
Fuck, it’s wrong how much I’m enjoying that I make him this nervous.
I can only imagine how he’d react if I really turned on the charm.
I never usually flirt with people, but I make a show of moving my gear from the floor to my bed, letting my biceps flex a little more than I need to.
He practically chokes before turning around to mess with the pile of books on his bed.
Okay, that was mean, I shouldn’t have done that. I should be trying to put him at ease.
“So, tell me about yourself, Donovan Gálvez. Like your name, interesting combination.”
“Oh, yeah,” he chuckles, “my mom is Mexican and it’s her family name, I took it after they got divorced, but my dad chose my first name, and he’s Irish American so… My mom named my older brother, ángel, although he goes by Diablo. What about you? I’m assuming you’ve got your mom’s last name too?”
“Yeah, I guess that’s obvious considering my dad’s white. When they got married, she kept her last name and then gave it to me. They both wanted me to be proud of my Korean heritage.”
“That’s really cool,” he says, “my father’s an asshole, he’d have never done something like that. The closest he got to embracing my mom’s heritage was forming a biker club and agreeing to it having a Spanish name.”
“A biker father, really?” I ask, surprised for sure, considering how soft spoken and shy he seems. “I bet that comes with some stories!”
“Yeah, my brother’s a member too; I spend a lot of time with the club back home.”
He’d started to relax but now he looks nervous again, almost tense.
“If it runs in the family, how come you haven’t joined?” I ask, trying to focus and not think about how hot he’d look in a leather jacket while on a bike.
“Uh… well, they have this rule about gay people not being able to join… and none of them know I’m gay, but… well… yeah.”
He’s gay, fuck, this would be so much easier if he was straight.
“Shit,” I say, “that’s backwards thinking of them, they really have that rule?”
He nods. “That’s why I’m not… you know… out. Well, other than my best friend, and now you I guess. Sorry, probably way too much information the first time you meet me.”
Little does he know that I’m very familiar with needing to hide parts of yourself from those around you.
“Not at all,” I say, “thank you for telling me.”
His face lights up, flashing a brilliant smile. Fuck me, he’s even cuter when he smiles like that.
“I’ll let you get settled in,” he says, holding a book up before lying down on his bed.
Shit. A cute as fuck, gay roommate is really not what I need right now, not when I’m so close to my dream.
As I’m lying in bed later that night, the gentle rhythm of his breathing soothes me, even though I hate not being able to sleep.
I should have been out like a light, I’m both mentally and physically exhausted from this weekend, the drills still repeating in my mind, and my body in desperate need of a session with our sports massage therapist, but sleep evades me.
I cannot be attracted to my roommate.
It doesn’t even make sense, usually I need to at least know someone for a while, have a connection before I’m attracted to them.
But there’s something about him, and I worry that the more I get to know him the more attracted I’ll get.
This is the worst possible timing; newly signed to the Warriors, I need to be able to focus, and the last thing I want is to lose my spot on the team.
I’m going to have to keep my distance, keep him at arm’s length. I’ll be civil, of course, and friendly, I can’t not be, but I’ll focus on training. I’ll spend time at the gym, and I’ve got my classes. I can do this; it’s only twelve weeks; I can do this.
He lets out a soft snore and before I can stop myself I’ve turned my head to look at him. The light from the window is showing his face just enough that I can make out the soft curls in his hair, and his lashes against his cheeks. I can do this… right?