Carter
I squint through the light and look over at Nate, still fast asleep, which surprises me since the sun’s smacking him in the face, too.
But then I remember…the eye mask. That damn eye mask he wears every night.
One point for Nate, zero for me. He’s always told me to get one, but I can’t stand the rough fabric on my face.
I like to sleep with my face totally free.
I lean over and kiss him softly on the lips, which startles him awake.
“What was that?” he mumbles, blinking, and then sees me and relaxes. “What time is it? I passed the fuck out.”
“It’s ten. We slept in and it was amazing,” I say.
Nate stretches and groans, “Right? And I didn’t even get up once to pee.”
I nod. “Same!”
He tosses off the covers and stretches his arms above his head, and that’s when I glance down and I see his full morning wood.
“What are you looking at?” he asks.
I smirk, point to the tent in his shorts, and say, “Someone’s a little excited this morning.”
“You’re a pervert,” he replies flatly. “It’s not like that. I have to pee. My body is clearly making sure I don’t piss myself in your bed. Don’t you know science?”
“Sure,” I say, grinning.
He closes his eyes. “I need to think of something gross now so it can soften.”
“Think of your parents,” I suggest. “Or your siblings.”
“You’re disgusting,” he mutters, but then glances down. “Well, look at that, it worked. Soft as fuck now.”
He hops out of bed, fully clothed, and walks to the bathroom.
I follow close behind because I have to pee too.
We both squeeze into the bathroom like it’s normal and pee side by side, trying not to laugh.
When we’re done, we wash up and head back to my room, changing into basketball shorts and old T-shirts.
“You ready for the day?” I ask.
Nate raises an eyebrow. “Are you ready for the day? I’m good. Honestly, I can’t wait to talk to your mom more. She entertains me.”
I roll my eyes. “That makes one of us.”
We head downstairs, and as we walk into the kitchen, my mouth drops. Pancakes. French toast. Scrambled eggs. Sausage. Even a box of Honey Nut Cheerios. It’s a full buffet on the rectangular kitchen table.
Nate looks at me. “How are you not baffled by this amount of food? I feel like I’ve entered breakfast heaven.”
I shrug. “This is normal. Trust me, sometimes there’s more.”
“You’re five people.” He says.
“We’re disgusting.” I sharply reply.
Nate lets out a loud “HA!” just as Debi turns to us and waves. “Oh, boys, you’re finally awake!” She pulls out two seats and hands us plates. “Eat up, before it gets even colder!”
Dustin chimes in from the table, “We’ve been up for two hours, and we finished eating like thirty minutes ago.”
I glare at my family. “Ten is not late. You people are just insane and wake up at the crack of dawn.”
My dad nods solemnly. “Well, I hope you got a good night’s rest. You better kick ass in today’s game. I mean, I hope your stats are amazing, but I also hope you lose. No offense.”
Chase and Dustin both nod in agreement.
Debi, however, waves them off. “You know what? Fuck Boston. I want New York to win.”
Scott turns to her. “Get out.”
She grins. “This is my house. You get out.”
Chase laughs. “Ooh, burn!”
The whole table cracks up. Meanwhile, Nate and I are inhaling food like wild animals, barely listening to the game-day debate. We glance at each other, both chewing, and grin in silent agreement: this food is unreal.
Nate leans over and whispers, “Tell your mom to make more of these pancakes tomorrow so we can bring some home.”
I nod, already ahead of him. “Babe, I got you.” I look at my mom. “Ma, send us home with pancakes tomorrow. Thanks.”
She glances back with a smirk. “If you win tonight.”
Immediately, the whole family starts chanting, “Pressure! Pressure! Pressure!”
I point at each of them, one by one. “You’ll see.”
After breakfast, my mom and brothers start cleaning up, and I nudge Nate. “Hot tub?”
He blinks. “Excuse me?”
“Didn’t tell you I had a hot tub? You didn’t bring a bathing suit, but lucky you, I brought two.”
Nate laughs. “I saw the pool, but not the hot tub!”
“Well, my parents have both. You’re lucky now, because you’re always welcome here, and it’s only a four-hour drive.”
“Yeah,” he says. “Only four hours.”
“So…hot tub?” I whisper.
Before he can answer, Dustin and Chase yell from the other room, where they wandered, “Did you just say hot tub? We’re in!”
Nate laughs, “I’m in too.”
We all change. I give Nate flamingo print swim trunks, which are tight, short, and thigh-revealing.
I’m wearing a similar pair, just covered in pineapples.
I got them from the same company. They hug your legs so tightly and make your leg muscles pop.
I’m obsessed with the way Nate looks in them, especially his ass.
We walk past the decently sized saltwater pool and head straight for the hot tub. It’s steaming, with the jets already on. The four of us each take a corner, lean back, and sigh in unison.
I glance at Nate. “How good are these jets?”
Before he can answer, my brothers both say, “Dude, I know!”
Nate shoots them a look and says playfully, “Bros. He was talking to me.”
They grin and give him a high five for the sass.
After what feels like an hour in the hot tub, we all glance at our completely wrinkled fingers. No one says it, but we all know: we’ve been in way too long. One by one, we climb out, toweling off and shaking the water from our bodies.
Nate looks over at me and says, “Shit. The barbecue starts in an hour. We should probably shower and get ready. How do the showers work here?”
I grin at him, like he's adorably helpless. “My brothers share their own bathroom. I’m the oldest, so I’ve got my own. Aren’t I special?”
Then I add, “Wanna shower together?”
Nate raises an eyebrow. “Your whole family’s home.”
I shrug. “They don’t have to know. It’s not like we’re gonna fuck in the shower.”
Nate smirks, shaking his head. “Fine. But nothing sexual, just to speed things up.”
As we head upstairs, I notice the house has quieted down, with each family member in their own room getting dressed. I grab clean clothes for both of us and dart into my bathroom, pulling Nate along. I turn on the water, warm but not scalding, and strip off my bathing suit.
I glance down and realize that I’m hard. I know nothing’s going to happen, but I can’t help the way my brain works. Nate catches me looking, walks over, kisses the tip of my penis, then stares at it like it’s a person and says, “Sorry, buddy. Not now.”
I pout, but I get it.
Nate undresses, and I can’t help noticing he’s also half hard, but we’ve made the unspoken agreement that this is just a shower.
We jump in and keep it quick. I wash his back, and he washes mine; we alternate under the water to rinse the soap and shampoo off. It’s efficient and intimate, but not sexual. Still, it’s kind of nice, just being naked and close like this without needing to do more.
After barely three minutes, we hop out, dripping water everywhere. Nate eyes the puddle forming beneath my feet.
“I swear,” he says, “every time you get out of the shower, you take all the water with you.”
I glance down. “You’re right. I can’t help that I get bored drying off.”
He shakes his head and keeps towel-drying while I sloppily pat myself down.
We both get dressed, both wearing matching white khaki pants unintentionally. I throw on a tan striped tee, while Nate goes for one of his usual solid blue shirts. Sky blue this time.
I eye him. “Do you just rotate the same four T-shirts in public?”
He grins. “You got a problem with that?”
“Not at all. Just stating a fact.” I say.
“Thanks for the daily fact,” he says with a little chuckle.
We finish getting ready and maintain our hair.
Nate actually does something with his hair today, making it less chaotic and more stylish.
I want to make sure I look good when Roman and Spencer are here.
They’re not just old teammates, they’re the last people I really care about who don’t know I’m gay. And now they’re about to meet Nate.
We head downstairs into the living room and immediately find my whole family already seated, just waiting. Nate looks at me and says under his breath, “We are literally the slowest people in your family.”
Dustin glances up from his phone. “That’s typical for Carter. He’s slow at everything, even football.”
My mom cuts in, “Dustin, have you seen his stats?”
Nate jumps in, too. “Right, Dustin. Let’s see you sprint for over 100 yards and score three touchdowns in a game.”
I grin, look over, and kiss Nate on the cheek. Dustin just shrugs and goes back to his phone.
And that’s when it hits me, how easy that moment was. A kiss on the cheek. No weird stares. No awkward tension, and no one making it a thing.
That’s what I want in life. Not to make announcements or statements or turn my love into a spectacle. I just want to be able to live. To touch, love, and kiss Nate whenever I want, without needing permission or explanation. And in this house, I feel like I can.
Fifteen minutes before 1 p.m., both Spencer and Roman stroll through my front door like they own the place.
They’ve been huge parts of my life for the past three years, and they’ve been to my house more times than I can count; for dinner, lunch, brunch.
Honestly, my entire family has gotten drunk with these two and spent nights talking about absolutely nothing.
So yeah, they feel totally comfortable walking right in.
They come in together, clearly still close, and make their way to the living room where we’re all hanging out. My mom jumps up, grinning. “Boys! You’re here. It’s been months, I’m so excited! How’s everything?”
They start to answer her, but then my dad cuts in with just as much excitement. He brings them both in for a hug. My brothers follow with their own handshakes-turned-bro-hugs.