5. Lucas #2
“From what O told me, no. I didn’t. You’re just as much a hardass as you were before.”
“Well, now I have feelings and compassion. Did O not mention that?”
Cassandra’s joke made me smile. Our relationship had come a long way from what it was in London.
So much so that she stayed with us for a few weeks and helped with the cottage.
She even roped her brother into coming down to help us get our pool functional again, which would’ve been a nightmare to figure out on our own.
Living in Florida had its perks. Apparently, degunking an abandoned pool was better than freezing cold weather and snowstorms.
“Keep working on those muscles, Luke. We’ll run through some ring sequences after lunch, okay?”
I nodded.
“I know your body’s not as supple as it used to be.”
I flipped him the finger and rolled my eyes. “Really? Supple?”
Shane shrugged. “I’m just teasing. You’ve still got it.”
I ignored the backhanded compliment and continued rolling.
“How’s your new roommate, O?”
“Oh…” O glanced sideways at Miles and smiled. “He’s alright. I would say I was disappointed, but the bedrooms are separate this time. Austin and I don’t seem to be bothering him too much. I don’t think so, anyway.”
Ezra and I looked across the table at Miles, expectantly, and were met with a blush and a diverted gaze.
“Who’s Austin’s roommate?” I asked, pivoting the attention back to O.
“Uh, another wrestler, big Black guy. Not in the same weight class as Austin.”
“And he’s cool with you two?” Ezra asked.
O nodded. “Yeah, he is. He’s fine with it. Everyone on the wrestling team is.”
The unspoken words seemed to hover over us. That certainly did not describe our team.
“Would he ever have to wrestle Austin?” Miles asked.
O shook his head. “Nope, not in the same weight class.”
“Oh that’s right. You said that. Sorry,” Miles said, a little flustered.
“Plus, Austin’s freestyle. Keion’s Greco-Roman.”
“You act like we know what that means,” Ezra said.
O sighed, then explained. “Just like gymnastics, there are different disciplines of wrestling. We don’t do trampoline or rhythmic. We do artistic. It’s pretty much the same. The biggest difference is Austin can use his legs while wrestling. Keion would get penalized for doing so.”
“It sounds like you’re a wrestling expert, O.”
“You know I am, Luke. After years of watching him compete, I better be. Any more questions?” O asked the group. “Ezra? Ezra!”
“Wh-what? Sorry, I was thinking about Austin’s legs.”
O crinkled up his napkin and threw it across the table.
“I mean, can you blame me? A wrestler and a gymnast.” He paused. “Still, two gymnasts is probably better. Right, Luke?”
I finished my water, then replied, “Not gonna answer that. Maybe you should find out?”
“Yeah, right. With who?” Ezra asked.
“You mean, with whom.”
“Oh, whatever, Miles.”
“What about Jack Davies?” I suggested. “I have zero experience, but apparently, hate sex is hot.”
“Uh, hell no. Is he even gay?”
“So you do care?”
“I do not!”
“As much as I’d love for this to continue, we should think about heading back to the gym.”
I smiled at O’s suggestion. “We’re on for dinner tonight, by the way. Fanboys unite. Zeph will be there.”
“And Cam too?”
“Yes, Ezra.” I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “I’m going to have to find you your own boyfriend, so you can leave mine alone.”
“I’m not holding my breath.”
“Well, this is San Francisco.”
Afternoon training went just as well as the morning, though it was weird with Preston keeping to himself.
We felt more like a team of four, but I was grateful to not have to deal with him.
I hadn’t met many bigots in my life and I certainly had never had one on my team before.
To my knowledge, anyway. I’d like to think it was progress, but maybe it had just been luck.
After over a decade out of the closet as a world-class athlete, it was kind of a shock, but fortunately I had plenty of distractions.
When I wasn’t worried about Cam, I was minding the rest of the guys.
O had some Olympic experience, but even with him on the team, I felt responsible for everybody.
I knew I didn’t have to be their pseudo big brother.
And certainly, no one pressured me into that role.
Well, Coach did insinuate that I was a leader.
But in the end, I didn’t mind. I was a social butterfly anyway, and even though it felt like I hadn’t stopped talking all day, I was used to it. Typical extrovert shit. I was made for it. It was my life now, and I could handle it.
“Do you think we’ll win the gold this year?”
“You’re not supposed to talk about it, Ezra!”
I was brought back to the moment. Showering with the team.
Apparently, I had matured. I wasn’t focused on their bodies as much as I had in Olympics past. I mean, we’re all elite gymnasts.
It’s no surprise we look like fitness cover models.
But I had a sneaking suspicion it was more likely because I was completely in love and attached at the hip to one of my very own.
“Well, this is my first Olympics! I didn’t realize there were rules.”
Unlike the partitioned showers of the past, we were together in an elongated room with shower heads along three of the walls.
Ezra and Orion were next to each other, I stood across from them, and Miles was keeping to himself a little farther down, though it didn’t seem like he had a reason to be shy.
“I’m only semi-teasing.”
“That’s not the only semi, I see.” Ezra motioned to Orion’s prick.
Silly Ezra, O’s dick is flaccid. It’s just that big.
“You sure you want to check out my junk? If I tell Austin, I’m not sure you’ll be competing later.”
That seemed to shut Ezra up, though I knew O’s threat was a joke.
“Jeez, Luke. Were we this into scoping out dicks when we were young?”
“First of all, ouch. I am still young. Second, yes, we were that into dicks when we were as immature and horny as poor Ezra over there.”
That earned a grin from Miles. It appeared that ganging up on Ezra was becoming an important team-bonding ritual.
“I am not horny!”
“I don’t know. Your dick says otherwise.”
“Miles!” Ezra cried in mock-outrage, though he cupped his dick with his hand and turned away from us.
“See, Luke. I told you it was a youth thing. Now, Miles is dick-watching too.”
I laughed and faced the stream to finish rinsing the soap off. “You guys are going to have to behave at dinner.”
At least everyone will be clothed.
The five of us - me, O, Austin, Ezra, and Miles - were waiting for our UberX outside of the village.
We were likely to be recognized, but to mitigate that, we were all dressed in street clothes.
Austin and O were holding hands and whispering.
Miles had his hands in his pockets - he kept pulling one out to glance at his phone - and Ezra was like a puppy, excited to be going out.
It could also be that he was meeting Cam or Zeph. It was hard to tell.
Cam and Colton had picked out an Italian bistro close to downtown. Before we left, I made sure they had phoned ahead, since there were eight of us. Just as our ride was pulling up, my phone rang. It was Ty. I answered as I settled into the third seat, next to Ezra.
“Hey there, I was meaning to call you. How’s everything going with the wedding?”
“I should be asking you. You’re the best man.”
“Hey, I’m in charge of the rings, not the wedding.”
“Is that Coach Ty?!” O yelled, turning his head towards me.
“Cock rings?” Ezra asked.
“Are you with all the guys?” I heard Ty ask, as I blocked my other ear with my finger.
“Yeah, we’re in a car on our way to dinner. Meeting Cam, Colton and Zeph.”
“Who’s there with you?”
“O, Austin, Ezra and Miles.”
“How’s Miles doing?”
“Good, but hard to tell. He’s a little quiet.
Speaking of…” I turned away from everyone and lowered my voice.
“We’ve had some issues with Preston. He’s pretty much been banned from working with the team.
To put it nicely, he’s a homophobe. I know you worked with him and Miles. Was he like that then?”
“Ah, fuck. Yeah. He was a handful. He never seemed completely comfortable with me and Declan, but he wasn’t an ass about it.
Honestly, I thought he was in the closet and possibly jealous.
Then he got his new coach and it was over.
He stopped working with me after that. Sorry, I should’ve warned you. ”
“That’s alright. You have enough on your plate.”
“Tell me about it, bro. I didn’t think a wedding in California would be so much planning. We might as well have gone to Hawaii.”
“Planning it during the Olympics so a lot of your friends could go was nice of you though.”
“It’ll be a miracle if everything goes well.”
“When will you get here?”
“In a few days, bro. I’ll be there to watch you guys compete, for sure.”
“Sweet. We’ll see you then. We’re pulling up to the restaurant.”
“See you soon. Miss ya!”
“Me too. It’ll be good to see you.”