6. Camden
Camden
“Hey, Luke! Over here!"
I had been keeping an eye on the door since Colton, Zeph and I arrived at the restaurant early.
Luke smiled as he made eye contact with me and I watched him lead the guys to our table near the back.
"Hey, handsome. Miss me?" Luke leaned down for a kiss, which I returned.
"Of course."
"Well, you guys know O and Austin, and you probably know of but may not have met Ezra and Miles. The goofy one's Ezra, the quiet one's Miles."
"I am not goofy. I am a delight!"
I watched as Ezra made a move for the seat next to me. Luke grabbed the chair from him and pushed him to the side.
"Oh also, Ezra has a crush on you, Cam."
What?
"I do not!" he yelped, taking the seat on the other side of Luke with a pout.
"Naw, he's too busy lusting after his mortal enemy."
I had been away from the team for too long. "Do I wanna know?" I asked.
Austin answered, "Ezra's been trading jabs back and forth on Twitter with Jack Davies. It's true love, for sure."
"Does everyone know?!"
"Everyone does now, cowboy," Colton, to my left, added with a wink.
"You might want to follow through on that, Ezra. Hate sex can be great," Zeph added.
"That's what I said."
"Excuse me, Luke. How would you know?" I asked.
"I meant...that, uh...I had heard...from…"
"Uh-huh. I'm teasing anyway. I'm sure you meant to be helpful."
"When did you have hate sex that was great?" Ezra asked Zeph.
"Would you gentlemen like anything to drink?”
"Oh, sweet Jesus." Ezra buried his head in his arms on the table.
"Don't worry, hon. I've heard a lot worse in my time."
After we ordered, Zeph went on to explain.
"Well, as most of you know, there was a time where Colton and I weren't together. I was struggling to come out of the closet. There were rumors about me and other players as well. Shit talking with this one guy on another team turned into a private bet about who would get fucked by the winner. Needless to say”—Zeph stretched his huge arms behind him and rested them on the back of his head—“I won. "
I had heard the story before, in more detail, but watching Miles and Ezra soak it up was hysterical. Miles' mouth hung open and Ezra looked like he was in heat. Like that gif of James McAvoy fanning himself.
"I think you broke Ezra," Austin teased.
"I think he would break me if the rumors are true," I heard Ezra mumble under his breath, though it was likely everyone had heard. He wasn’t very quiet.
I felt Luke's hand run down my thigh to find my knee. I pulled my hand from off the table to meet his and intertwined our fingers.
"I love you," he whispered.
"I love you more," I replied.
"Oh jeez, rub it in my face, why don't ya?"
"I'm sure you'd like that, Ezra!" Austin kept at it.
"Can't I say anything without it becoming a dick joke?"
"Y’all have met, right?" Colton asked. "It's always been about dicks with this group, buddy boy."
"Welcome to the club," Orion added, raising his glass, which led to an impromptu toast to, apparently, our discussing dicks club.
"If you wouldn't mind…"
I turned to look at Miles. It was the first time he had spoken that night.
Easily the smallest on the team, Miles had short dark brown hair, shaved on the sides.
He had a great smile on the rare occasions he showed it.
I heard he was gay from Luke, but he was more reserved than the rest of us and I wasn’t confident that would change over time like it had with Orion.
Miles pulled off his hoodie, but in doing so, it pulled up the shirt he had on underneath to reveal his bare stomach and... nipple rings.
"Shit, I didn't know you had piercings," Ezra said.
"Oh, uh, they're usually barbells. He- I changed them today."
"They're hot," Zeph added.
Miles' face turned red immediately, and he glanced down at his hands. His fingers were fumbling with the ends of the hoodie’s drawstrings. That's when I noticed his shirt wasn’t a t-shirt. It was a Dallas Stallions jersey.
“It's probably inappropriate or something, but I figured you're with one of my teammates, so if you wouldn't mind-” Miles said, digging in his pocket and holding out a Sharpie to Zeph, “-signing my jersey."
I saw Zeph's eyes go wide for a second as the recognition dawned on him. Sitting next to Miles, he didn't have the view of the shirt I did.
"Of course! Where do you want me to sign?"
"Here, please." Miles pointed to his chest, over his heart.
The joyful expression on Miles' face was enough to make me smile. Zeph didn't need to but since he was a shameless flirt, he braced his left hand on Miles' pec as he signed, no doubt trying to get a feel of one of the rings.
Miles didn't seem to notice or care. "I've been a fan ever since you came out. It really, uh… helped me with my own stuff."
"I'm glad to hear it." Zeph handed back the Sharpie and his hand migrated up to Miles' shoulder.
"Down, boy," Colton warned. "You know the rules. No teammates."
Miles didn't seem to hear Colton. He was too enamored with the autograph.
"Can I get a photo with you, too?" Miles looked back to Zeph.
"Sure thing, chicken wing."
"Ch-chicken wing?"
"Ignore him," Colton snarled.
I took Miles' phone from his hand and I lined up the shot. "Say cheese!"
Zeph's huge arm made it all the way around Miles and then some. Sitting down, one couldn’t see the exact height difference, but it was noticeable. After all, Zeph was over a foot taller than Miles. For the photo, Miles fit snugly into Zeph's armpit.
"You gotta boyfriend?" Colton asked.
I handed Miles his phone back.
Miles hesitated. "No."
"Shame," Zeph replied. "Ouch!"
I knew Colton had kicked him under the table.
"Okay, okay. I'm done." Zeph held his hands up in surrender. "I'm only human."
"So, you guys are open?" Miles asked. He seemed to realize what he said, because he stumblingly added, "I-I'm n-not interested. I was just making conversation." He ran his fingers through his hair and scratched his neck.
Our food came, but I ended up eating left-handed so Luke and I could hold hands a little longer. Not that we stayed that way the entire dinner - sometimes it was easier to use a napkin with both hands - but our fingers always found each other again.
“Yeah, we’re open,” Colton answered.
“But we have rules,” Zeph added.
“What kind of rules?” Ezra asked, between bites.
“The big one is that we play together,” Colton said. “That’s the only one that really matters. Well, that, and we play safe. Most of the time.”
“Cool.”
Miles echoed Ezra’s appreciation. “Thanks for being so open about it. I don’t have much experience, so I was curious.”
“No problem.” Zeph rifled his hand through Miles’ hair and I had to pat Colton’s leg to calm him down. I had a feeling Colton was going to give it to Zeph later. It wouldn’t be hate sex, but angry sex was probably close enough.
“Well, this was fun, guys. We should do it more often,” Orion said to the group as we filed outside.
His unfortunate choice of words did not go unnoticed by the less mature of us in the crowd. It drew a few snickers.
Colton picked up the joke. “We do it often enough. I don’t know about you and Austin.”
“Not what he meant, asshat,” Austin practically growled. “We do it plenty. Thank you!”
“I meant the dinner, of course. It’s nice to have a big group of friends. And besides Zeph, we’re all Olympians.”
“Hey, I don’t need to be an Olympian, I’m a Super Bowl MVP.” Zeph waved his ring in the air.
“I can’t believe you wear that out. Isn’t it worth like fifty grand?” I asked.
“How else can I show it off if I don’t wear it?”
“The motto of his life,” Colton added.
“Thanks for the autograph. It was nice to meet you,” Miles held out his hand to Zeph. Zeph grabbed it and pulled him in for a hug, then grabbed Colton too, and they surrounded him. Miles was sandwiched in the middle and I could barely see him. He looked like he was in shock afterwards, but happy.
Ezra came out of nowhere to give me a hug. “Good to see you again.” I didn’t remember meeting him before, but I just smiled and said, “Likewise.”
“Hands off my boyfriend, please,” Luke said, pulling Ezra’s hands off my back.
“Jeez, everyone’s so possessive all of a sudden. I thought flirting was what you guys were about?”
“Dicks first, remember? First rule of the discussin’ dicks club. Flirtin’s second,” Colton quipped.
“Find yourself a boyfriend and then watch your behavior change when everyone flirts with him,” Orion replied. “Trust me, it’s different.”
“Need a boyfriend for that. Am I right, Miles?”
“Oh-uh…yeah. Wait, Ezra, you’re not asking me out, are you?”
“Why? You wanna date me?”
“No-no… no. Just confused.”
“Well, ouch.”
“I mean, you’re great. Don’t get me wrong. Tonight’s been… a lot. I’m, uh, definitely feeling overstimulated.”
I did not imagine it. Zeph’s chest was actually puffed out.
A few minutes later, everyone else had said their goodbyes.
The guys were waiting for Luke by their Uber.
Colton and Zeph were waiting for me. It was close enough to walk back.
Whether it was luck or on purpose, no one had mentioned the porn actors at dinner.
Otherwise, I had a feeling we’d be having a pool party at the hotel.
It was always a possibility after their events were over.
Ezra and Miles probably wouldn’t find a boyfriend, but maybe they could have some fun?
“I’ll see you tomorrow?” I asked Luke.
“Yup, I can swing by the hotel again. If you want?”
“Sounds good.” I leaned in, grabbing his hands and resting my forehead against his. “Miss you already.”
“Oh, so we’re that kind of couple, are we?”
“Of course, schmoopie.”
“I think I like tiger better.”
“Whatever you say…tiger.”
His lips pressed against mine again. I closed my eyes and enjoyed his enthusiasm. It was only another two weeks until we’d be asleep in the same bed again every night. I could handle it.
“Love you.”
“Love you more. Text me when you get back.”
“Likewise, handsome.” Luke turned, jogged to the Uber, and he was gone.
I walked over to Colton and Zeph. “Well, that was fun!”