8. Camden #2
“Everyone gave me a hug, and they said the normal ‘Happy to be here’ and ‘Good luck with training’ and all that. I told ‘em before I left that they weren’t in Texas anymore. People from all over the world were here, and these people were literally the best in whatever sport they’re here for.
Three of my teammates, the best male gymnasts from the United States, were gay and it shouldn’t matter to anyone, including them. ”
“You said all that?!” I pulled him in for another hug. “I’m so proud of you. What’d they say?”
“My daddy was all business, ‘Of course, son,’” he said, imitating his gruffness, “but Beau was weird about it and just nodded. My momma and Mads both gave me another hug.”
“That is great! We should celebrate!”
“Ugh. I’m beat, Cam Cam. Can we just snuggle and watch a movie here?” he asked, kicking off his shoes.
“Of course. I’m kind of already dressed for it,” I replied, happy to stay in my pjs. I smiled at his use of my nickname. He stole it from my mom, and only someone with his level of charm could convince her to let him use it. “You want anything from the fridge? What are we watching?”
“Sure, I’ll take a Gatorade. And I was gonna see what they have on-demand. You mind if I get comfy?”
I closed the fridge, two bottles in my hands. “How comfy?”
“Was gonna copy you. Like the ole days.”
“The old days? You mean like two years ago?”
“Well, yeah,” he answered, pushing his pants off.
“Is that a- Is that a thong?”
“What?” he asked, looking over his shoulder. “It’s my confidence thong. Thought I could use it.” He winked at me and walked over to his dresser, unbuttoning his shirt.
“Well, it’s giving me a lot of confidence,” I teased and plopped myself on the couch. I couldn’t help but sneak glances over at Colton.
“You like what you see, sugar?”
“How could you possibly know I was looking?”
“It’s a great ass. Who wouldn’t look?”
I huffed and grabbed the remote from the table. Truthfully, I was glad he seemed to be cheerful after what happened. I was hoping it wasn’t a facade. Since he was still dressing, it was up to me to make the perfect choice.
A minute later, Colton shut the light in the living room off and practically jumped on the couch next to me.
He was wearing some white cotton boxers and a cropped football jersey that he found on eBay a few months back.
It was a Tampa Bay Thunder jersey. He said it made him feel sexy, like he was on the team.
To be honest, it was his abs that made it sexy.
But it made it clear he was head over heels for Zephyrus.
He spread his lanky frame on his side of the couch and dropped his head in my lap. My hand automatically went to his chest. Early in our friendship, we both discovered we were pretty touch-oriented guys. But even with that one evening of penile exploration, we had kept our touching platonic since.
“What’d you find for us?”
“How about Clue?”
“Haven’t seen it.”
“What?! Oh my god, we’re watching it then. It’s amazing.”
“Okay.” He glanced up at me. “I trust you.”
I was happy to hear his laughter. It was clear he was enjoying the movie. After it ended, we stayed up and kept chatting about random stuff, but eventually the words stopped and my hand just absent-mindedly rubbed his chest. We were in the same position as when we started the movie.
After a few minutes of silence, I realized Colton was asleep.
I tried to wake him, but he was out. I extricated my limbs from under him, went over to his bed to flip his comforter back and only because I was an Olympic gymnast was I able to carry his tall frame to the bed.
He mumbled something about a ‘hero’ and flipped over onto his stomach.
I made sure each of our phones were plugged in and my alarm was set, then I whispered, ‘Good night,’ got into my bed, and shut the light off.
The next morning, Colton and I headed to the dining hall for breakfast. We had the day off since the opening ceremony was tonight and qualifications were tomorrow.
We ended up in the last division, so before we even performed we were going to know the scores we needed to get in order to qualify.
The exact opposite of last time where we went first. We still had to do our best, but it put a little more pressure on us to know the exact numbers.
I’d have to remind Noah not to tell me about the scores.
“So, what time’s your mom flying in?”
I answered, “A little after noon, I think.” She was staying in a hotel close to the village. I tried to convince her to invite her friend Isabel or one of Dad’s siblings, but she said she wanted all of her focus to be on me.
“Nice,” was all Colton said in reply. The spark he had yesterday before his family arrived had disappeared. I didn’t need to ask if it was because of what happened at dinner last night. He seemed to sense the awkward silence. “Thanks for last night.”
“What? My anti-barn mule does it for you?”