27. Camden #2
“What should I do? Walk around naked with a sign that says ‘down to fuck’?” he asked, clearly frustrated.
“Maybe women are harder to bed?” I threw it out there.
“Ain’t that the truth,” he said, taking another bite.
“Try not to try so hard,” Luke added. “It’s not a requirement or something, is it?”
“No, it’s not.”
“Maybe you’re not a casual guy after all? Maybe you need a connection first?”
“I’d definitely like to connect to something, Luke.”
“I’m being serious, Ty. Have you hooked up in the past?”
“Heaps!” Tyler answered, a little too eagerly.
Luke gave him that look, and Tyler broke.
“Ugh...once or twice, okay?”
“And?”
“And what, Luke?”
“How were they?”
“Why am I talking about this?” he asked himself out loud, pulling his hair back and leaning away from the table.
“Because Luke’s trying to help you,” I answered.
“They were terrible.”
“Alright, that’s something. Why were they terrible? Was it a physical issue?”
“No, no, no. Little Ty, I mean, Big Ty is just fine. No problems there.”
“Well?”
“I guess I felt nothing for the girl, and it felt kind of cheap.”
“Not that I would know, but isn’t that, like, the definition of a hook-up?” I asked.
“You’re full of surprises, Ty. I thought you were this big horndog, but you have less experience than me.”
“Yippee skippee.”
“I didn’t mean that in a bad way,” Luke said. “It’s just...unexpected.”
“Well, you two should know. Not a lot of free time when you’re training for this,” he said, gesturing around us.
“True,” Luke said. “Alright, you felt cheap. Were you attracted to the girls?”
“Yeah,” Tyler answered slowly. “I told you downstairs was functioning fine.”
“Hmm…”
“What, Dr. Rivera? Have you figured it out?”
“Well, it’s not really up to me. And labels are labels. Your feelings might be complicated. It’s all a spectrum, anyway.”
“A spectrum?”
“Yeah, there’s the Kinsey scale from one to six, where a one is pretty solid hetero and a six is solid homo. That includes a range of bisexuality. And then you’ve got asexual, demisexual, pansexual…”
“Okay, okay. I get it. What I don’t know could fill a library. So what does that mean for me?”
“I don’t know, Ty. We can’t answer that for you.
You could be mostly heterosexual, and then a few guys do something for you.
That’s pretty much bisexuality, as far as I understand.
You could also need more of a connection with someone before sex is enjoyable.
Honestly, your sexuality might be fluid and change as you get older. ”
“Well, shit!” Tyler pounded the table. “That sounds complicated.”
I had to laugh.
“What are you laughing at, Cam?”
“It sounds amazing, Tyler. There’s a new part of you to explore. That could be a lot of fun.”
“I didn’t think of it like that.”
“Like I said, Ty. I’m not an expert and you could always talk to a psychologist about it, but that’s all I got,” Luke finished.
“I’ll think about it, and yeah, maybe I can talk to Owen. He’s a sex therapist.”
“Jesus, Ty. Yeah. You should do that. Why are you even asking us?” Luke laughed.
“Well, you guys are my friends and you’re here right now. Isn’t that what friends do?”
“Yes, I’m just teasing.”
“So, what does a sex therapist do?” I asked.
“You’re going to talk to Ty’s brother about our sex life?” Luke asked.
I shrugged, “Maybe. I’ve never talked to anyone about-” I stopped, realizing Tyler was there.
“I can give you his number whenever, bro.”
“That was sweet of you to help Tyler,” I changed the subject.
“That’s what best friends do,” Luke replied.
I was thankful Tyler didn’t pry, but I could see his eyes going back and forth between me and Luke.
“For luck,” Luke said, kissing the platypus coin, and held it out to me.
I had my bag ready to go to the arena. It was time for the floor finals.
“Graham and I will be in the stands with your mom and everyone else. I know you’ll do great.”
“Thank you,” I said, taking the coin and zipping it up in my jacket pocket.
He pressed his lips against mine and I savored his scent, a mixture of coconut body wash and his cologne. He had used lip gloss already today, so he tasted like raspberries. I licked my lips. “I hope I can still taste you when I’m on the floor today.”
“You can’t say things like that.”
I asked, “Why not?”
I watched him pull the front of his shorts down and out flopped his semi. “That’s why!” he said.
“Put that away or I’ll definitely be late!”
He listened, and I kissed him again, thanking him for the good luck charm, and headed out.
Grant and Tyler were already in the locker room. Coach, Noah, and Ford were there as well.
“Ready, champ?” Noah asked.
“As I’ll ever be.”
“Your muscles feel okay?”
I nodded.
“Good.”
I changed into my comp suit, pulling track pants over my shorts, and slipped my jacket back on.
My phone and earbuds were in one pocket, and Luke’s coin was in the other.
I smiled nervously at Grant. He was with me on the floor.
Tyler had to wait about an hour. The women had their vault in between the two men’s events today.
Tyler walked up to me, offering a hug. I took it, smiling.
“Thanks, bro, for yesterday. You and Luke were really sweet to talk things out with me.”
“No problem, Tyler.” I stepped back.
“You guys are the best friends a guy could ask for.” I started to get embarrassed, and he sensed it. “You ready for today?”
Thankful for the question, I answered, “I think so. Or, I mean, USA! USA! USA!” in mock bravado.
Tyler laughed. “Yeah, definitely the same for me.”
Holy cow.
It was different stepping into the arena today.
For one, it was packed. It made sense with both men and women performing and it was also a medal event.
The finals of any sports garnered more attention.
This was it. The culmination of years of work.
And second, I was Grant’s teammate, but we were on our own.
This floor exercise was mine. Not my team’s.
I represented my country, but it all came down to doing it for me.
It was definitely more pressure. I felt the coin in my pocket and held on tight.
The floor was first, and things were moving along quickly. Grant and I along with the coaching staff headed to our spot on the sidelines. The order was random, so we were anxiously waiting for the results. You didn’t want to be first, and you didn’t want to be last.
I heard Noah yell, “Yes!” before realizing I was fifth, a favorable spot, and then I frowned when I saw Grant was eighth. He’d have all the pressure on him. He’d know exactly what score he needed and that was never good.