Chapter 28
Ash
Thayer was so good-looking–he wasn’t pretty, like he’d call me, but wow…
He was hot.
All tall, tan, muscled, and gorgeous–even in his coach get-up and having not shaved his face this morning. I liked it when he had a little bit of stubble, liked that–it tickled my neck and made me feel all gooey inside.
It sucked hearing that the last time I was getting off for a few weeks was before my game, but at the same time, that was also pretty hot, so I’d live.
It also meant that when I was finally cleared, I was climbing Thayer and that big, muscular body like a tree.
Reed didn’t stay for long, or maybe he did–time passed pretty weird right now. I just knew he was gone for a little while, and Thayer massaged my leg for me a little bit.
Until I was getting too loud, and he didn’t want a nurse coming to check on me.
Now I was just hard and itching to go home–I didn't like hospitals.
They smelled too clean, and there were too many weird sounds.
I wanted to go home, and I kept telling Thayer that, so when the nurse told him I could finally go, so long as he signed me out as his responsibility, oh, he was on that.
“Ready?” Thayer asked, kissing my knee as he finished tying my shoe for me, helping me off the bed.
“Ready to be home four hours ago,” I mumbled, most of the drugs having started to wear off enough that I could feel some of the pain in my head again.
Noises had to go back down.
“I know,” he hummed, kissing my cheek and draping my arm around his neck to act as support. “We’ll get home, get showered, and I’ll make something to eat that’s not radioactive.”
Hospital food, man…the nurse thought I was just throwing up from the concussion still.
Just as Thayer went to open the door, it opened for him.
And my stomach dropped.
Now would be a good time to mention that I was a Michigan native. I grew up just outside of Ann Arbor, and though I had many colleges offer me scholarships, I picked UMichigan because I grew up a UM fan.
And my parents still lived in that little town, barely an hour away.
“Ashy?” my mom asked, taking hold of my face suddenly.
My dad was still in the doorway, introducing himself to Thayer…because he recognized him.
As my coach.
This was going to go awesome…
In the last six months, I spoke to my mom frequently. I was something of a momma boy in the way that I texted her at least once a day and called her once a week–many of those calls taking place in Thayer’s bed or hot tub with him right next to me.
Not once in the last six months did I even mention that I was seeing anyone. I didn’t even tell her I broke up with Callie– just steered the conversation away from it altogether.
I’d also only ever talked about girls my whole life.
“Well, thank you for watching over him, Mr.Thayer, but we’ve got him,” my mom sighed, moving to my arm to coax me off of Thayer, but no way.
I loved my mom, but no way.
I folded in towards Thayer, groaning out a No as he rubbed my back. I just wanted to go home, and he knew that–that was all I wanted.
But I wanted our home.
I wanted our bed and our shower–God, not my childhood room. I didn’t want a cold, twin-sized bed that didn’t even fit me when I still lived there–I wanted my naked boyfriend babying me while I whined about my head!
“I…must be missing something here,” I heard my mom ask, taking a step back from us to my dad’s side. “I thought you were one of Ashy’s coaches.”
“I am,” Thayer said awkwardly, kissing the side of my head to make me stop groaning. “I’m also Ash’s boyfriend–I was just taking him home, actually. I assume he’s upset right now because he just wants to go home and not have this conversation right now–”
“Ash is… straight,” my dad said carefully. “I mean–well, he’s only dated women. Didn’t he have a girlfriend, Marie? Katie or something?”
“Callie,” my mom said slowly, correcting him. “I uh…I have more issues than his sexuality–he's not going home with you.”
“Please don’t do this right now,” I grumbled loudly into Thayer’s neck. “My head really hurts, and I want to go home.”
“And we’ll take you home–”
“No, I want to go home!” I said, firmer, sharper. “My home. Not your house or my dorm–I just want to go home.”
Why was this so complicated?
I got that it was all very shocking, of course, but come on? I was almost twenty-two years old.
I wasn’t a baby.
Contrary to how I acted around Thayer sometimes.
“Okay, why don’t we all go home, and Ash can lie down somewhere that doesn’t smell like alcohol?” Thayer offered a warm, firm hand, rubbing my back and releasing tension throughout my body at once. “We can talk, but he just wants to go home.”
In twenty-two years on this earth, I'd never seen my parents bend to someone when it came to me. I watched them fight tooth and nail to make sure I got the best of what the world had to offer, never accepting anything less.
But I watched them bend to Thayer.
Maybe he was magic or something.
◆◆◆
Explaining the concept of their previously straight son now being in a problematic and non-conventional gay relationship with his coach was not on my to-do list today, but there I was.
My parents actually grasped the concept of me being gay pretty easily–they always thought I was a little too adventurous a person to ever be solidly one way or the other. I was the kid who got other kids in trouble because I had a bright idea, so my being bisexual–that wasn’t their holdup.
They were pissed about the coach thing.
I mean, threatening to call the dean and Reed–pfft–and whoever else until this was done, but I made them stop. This had nothing to do with Thayer being my coach–I fell in love with him because he cared about me.
Thayer saw a difficult person, and instead of deciding that was too much to deal with, he peeled back layers. He found common ground–he cared enough to make sure I had someone who was on my side and there to help me.
How was I supposed to not fall in love with that?
I slept for a while when we got home, after Thayer argued with my parents for ten minutes about who was going to help me shower. The answer was Thayer–my parents hadn’t seen me naked in years, and I was not letting the first time be with a massive hickey on my ass.
We had enough problems.
When I woke up, the earth had shifted or something.
Thayer and my parents were in the kitchen, talking casually while he made something to eat. It was still a little tense, and no one spoke too directly about Thayer and me, but some kind of understanding was reached.
Or I time-warped to a new dimension while I slept.
“Ashy,” my mom said softly, pulling me aside while I was hugging them goodbye in the hall.
Thayer had just gone inside and was giving me a minute to say goodbye to them.
“I’m trying to wrap my head around this, and I will, but…you’re happy with this?”
“Very,” I chuckled softly, staying quiet to not bother my head. “Whatever the step above happy is, I’m there… He’s so great, Mom. I mean–I’m happy, and I feel good, and…I just haven’t been excited about anything other than hockey in so long, but I am now.”
She let out a slow breath, offering me a smile and a kiss on the side of my head.
I used to find comfort in her kisses when I was a kid, but now?
It was nothing compared to when Thayer did it.
Thayer solved just about every problem I had with a smile on his face.
“I love you, Ashy,” my mom sighed, hugging me one more time before leaving.
It felt…good.
I had been worried about what life outside of our bubble looked like. I wasn’t sure we worked under a microscope like this, but the longer I was in this with Thayer, the more I needed it. I needed this to work in the real world because the idea of not having him now…
I couldn't stomach that.
It was unhealthy, but my god, I loved him.
And I wasn’t letting it go.
When I walked back into our apartment, Thayer had a smirk on his face. “So,” he started, chuckling to himself a little bit. “Ashy?”
“Don’t start.”