24. Camden
Camden
“Looking good, Cam.”
“Thanks, Coach.”
“Ugh, you know I hate it when you call me that. Noah is just fine, thank you.”
I took the offered towel and used it to wipe the tiny beads of sweat threatening to roll down my forehead. “Thanks, Noah. Any advice?”
Noah scoffed. “Don’t get drunk tonight and get a good night’s rest.”
“That all?”
“And if you don’t want Woodward mad at you, take care of Ezra, which means-”
“Which means stay in the village tonight.”
“I’d stay in the village until the event finals are over. Ezra’s with you on the vault and Miles on the p-bars.”
“I HAVE TO GO!”
Our conversation came to a halt as Orion’s voice carried across the gym. Woodward was standing beside him, hand on his shoulder, while O shoved everything into a duffel. He must’ve said something else because O erupted again.
“AUSTIN NEEDS ME!”
That was enough to get Noah and I to head over. I noticed Shane put away his phone and was jogging behind us to catch up. Miles and Hudson must’ve left at some point because I couldn’t see them.
“I understand, Orion. I just don’t want you to go off half-cocked and alone.”
“What’s going on?” Noah asked.
O ignored him. “Are you coming with me then?” He turned, bag over his shoulder, to wait for the answer.
“Until we know a little more, I think the safest place for everyone is the village”—O tried to leave, but Woodward continued—“which is why I’m calling Hudson now. He can escort Miles back, same for Noah and Cam. Shane and I will go with you to the hospital.”
“Hospital?”
“What happened?”
Everyone was talking at the same time, until Woodward raised his hands to get everyone’s attention. “Austin’s coach was attacked. He’s hurt badly. It’s not clear but I believe they have the attacker in custody.”
“It’s fucking Dennis Jenkins. It has to be. We covered everyone else. How the fuck could we forget to protect Josh?”
Woodward put his hand on O’s shoulder and he collapsed into Woodward.
I could tell he was crying, so I went over to them and hugged him from behind.
I knew a lot of what he and Austin had been through.
It was in the news every time they went to court.
There was something definitely wrong with the guy.
He couldn’t seem to understand Austin wasn’t interested in him, never had been.
“I’m so sorry, O. You guys did what you could,” I said, trying to reassure him.
“If they have him in custody, it’s over,” Shane said. “He crossed state lines on parole, likely broke the restraining order, and sounds like attempted murder, if not assault. He’s done.”
O moved under my arms, so instinctively I pulled back. He wiped his nose on his jacket and swiped his eyes with both hands. “You’ll really come with me to the hospital?” O asked Woodward.
“Of course.”
“Is Austin already there?” Shane asked.
O nodded. “He and Remy had just left practice. I guess somebody found Josh’s phone and called Austin.”
“Jesus,” slipped through my lips.
“Hey, Hudson. Is Miles with you?” I heard Woodward ask before he stepped away.
“Do you want me to come with you?” I asked O.
“I think what Coach said was smart. Get to the village for now. I’ll text the team with updates. Let Luke know, too, please?”
I said I would, watched Noah and Shane embrace briefly, before he walked out of the gym with O and Woodward.
“I’m gonna text Luke,” I told Noah, pulling out my phone.
Cam: Do not leave the village. I’ll explain when I see you.
“I don’t know how you and Luke have never had any stalkers,” Noah said.
“Jesus, Noah.” I walked over to my bag, so I could gather my stuff.
“Sorry, just thinking out loud.”
“There was that one girl in college. She came to every meet with a sign. I can’t think of her name. Do you remember?”
“Debbie?”
“That’s it. Debbie.” I could picture her now, in the stands. Gymnastics wasn’t a super popular sport for spectators. She was one of the regulars.
“She was harmless.”
“I’m pretty sure she stole my white leotard. I never found it after the meet against Stanford.”
“In any case, she was creepy, but never violent. You showering here or at the dorm?”
“Here, if that’s okay. Ezra and Luke are going to want updates and I doubt I’ll have time to shower once I get back.”
I stripped down in front of Noah and our conversation continued as I made my way into the shower room.
“She might not have been violent, but it was weird thinking someone took my leotard,” I semi-yelled so he could hear me over the water.
“Maybe Luke-?”
“What?”
“Maybe Luke stole it!”
“Good point. I’ve never asked him! Get your ass in here, yelling is annoying!”
Noah complied and took a seat, leaning against the opposite wall. Instead of awkwardly staring at Noah, I focused on wetting every part of my body that really needed soap. Despite my need to take a long relaxing shower, my need to get to Luke was stronger.
“Is it weird that I feel like I should be heading to the hospital with everyone else?”
“You’re a caring person, Cam. It would be weird if you didn’t feel that way. Until we know everything, it’s more important to keep everyone safe.”
“And you and I being alone in a huge gym while one of us is naked is considered safe? No offense, Noah, but you’re not exactly Zeph-sized, if you know what I mean.”
“Under normal circumstances, I’d defend my dick’s honor, but I know that’s not what you mean. Surprisingly. If it makes you feel any better, I have mace on me.”
“Mace? Really?” I scrubbed the body wash in between my legs and up my intergluteal cleft. For whatever reason, that gem from my anatomy textbook came to me.
“Small-town boy in a big city, Cam. Old habits die hard.”
“You ever use it?”
“Nope.”
“Well, let’s hope you don’t have to.”
“Remind me what Debbie looked like again.”
“Shut up, Noah.” He had finally managed a smile out of me and I silently thanked him for making the supervised shower both not awkward and comforting in a way.
After I turned the water off, he stood up to hand me a towel. I walked out of the shower, towel draped down my front as I dried off my hair. I glanced over my shoulder at him. “You gonna watch me get dressed?”
“Only if you do a little dance, you know, tease me a little.”
I scoffed, then joined the game. “As long as I can call you ‘Daddy’.”
“Yup. Nope. I’m good,” he said, changing direction and walking away from me. “And I’m only five years older than you!”
Luke wanted to rush out of the village and go to O as soon as we told him what happened, but luckily Noah was there to help me hold him back, giving us the time to reason with him. Until we heard from Shane, we needed to stay put.
“I’ve already texted him, Luke. He’ll let me know everything when he can,” Noah explained.
“I’m sure they’re only letting so many people in anyway.”
“Do you think that means that guy’s been, like, watching us hang out?” Ezra asked.
I looked over to the chair he was curled up in, legs drawn up to his chest. He still looked pale, but said he was feeling better.
“No use thinking about that now,” Noah said, moving over to sit on the arm of Ezra’s chair. We were in our dorm’s lounge, a big comfy space with couches, TVs, and a pool table. “He’s in custody and you’re safe now.”
Ezra shivered.
“Let’s go up to our room. You can lie down,” I suggested. “Noah, can you and Luke get some snacks and drinks and bring them back with you?”
Luke kissed me goodbye, and once they had left, I helped Ezra to his feet. “You okay?”
“Was it a homophobic attack? Is Austin’s coach gay?”
I shook my head. “It wasn’t anything like that. The guy had a thing for Austin, and couldn’t take the hint that he wasn’t interested. Became more and more obsessed over time, let his anger consume him and took it to very inappropriate and illegal levels.”
The elevator dinged and before we could step off, Ezra grabbed my hand and asked, “Can we snuggle on the couch again?”
“Of course. You gonna get your hood?”
Ezra shook his head as I held the door open for him.
“Imma change into jammies though.”
He disappeared into his room. I knew he wanted his hood - I could tell he was reverting - but with Luke and Noah coming up, he wouldn’t wear it.
I made myself comfortable on the couch and turned on Cartoon Network, hoping for something innocuous.
Thankfully, Teen Titans Go! was on and I knew all of us, maybe with the exception of Noah, could be entertained with Robin’s bubble butt and Beast Boy’s snark.
Wordlessly, Ezra came from the hall and climbed over my lap only to turn around with the grace of a cat and lay his head half against the side of my stomach, half on my quad. It didn’t seem comfortable.
“You comfortable?”
Ezra sat up and shook his head. “Let me know if you don’t like this.”
I didn’t think he was about to pull my dick out, but I wasn’t sure what he meant until he half crawled into my lap.
“That’s fine, Ezra.”
I got lost in the show and must’ve fallen asleep because the brush of lips against mine woke me up to the sight of Luke’s eyes inches from mine.
“Looks comfy. Can I join?”
I smiled. “Of course.”
Luke climbed over and wedged himself behind Ezra, making him the big spoon, with his head on my shoulder. He didn’t seem to know what to do with his left arm, so I told him to drape it over Ezra.
“He’s worried about the Austin thing.”
“No need to explain, Cam. I understand the benefits of snuggling,” Luke said.
“Do you guys need me to leave?” Noah asked.
Luke and I both flipped him off.
“How are you in the village anyway? I thought it was for athletes only,” I asked.
“After the fire in London, Woodward got all of us exemptions, just in case.”
“Hmm.”
I’m not sure how many episodes we watched like that.
It was a marathon and the jokes kept coming.
At times, I fell asleep, and when I was awake, my attention would switch from the show to my phone and back.
Later, my mom texted and called - it was a big enough story that she had heard - but I told her we hadn’t heard anything and only knew what was in the news.
“Cam.”
I felt a nudge on my shoulder.
“Cam!”
Someone grabbed my nose. I opened my eyes to see Noah reaching over me to wake Luke, so I quickly reached up to soft-punch his stomach.
“Fuck! When did you finally wake up, you little fucker?”
“Just now, when you grabbed my nose.”
“What is it?” Luke asked quietly. Ezra was still asleep on my lap.
“Austin’s coach, Josh, is doing well. He was never unconscious, but witnesses think he may have hit his head on the pavement.
He fought back and two other people nearby helped stop the attack, and it sounds like the bystanders held the guy until the police got there.
Other than some bruises and a broken arm, Josh is okay. ”
“Did he have a gun or a knife?” Luke asked.
Noah shook his head. “Baseball bat. I guess someone saw it about to happen and screamed. Josh ducked the first blow just in time, then reacted to the second by blocking it with his arm.”
“Hence the broken arm,” I suggested.
“Likely,” Noah agreed. “You guys grabbing some dinner here? I’m probably gonna go meet up with Shane if that’s cool.”
“Yeah,” I answered, “we’ll be fine.”
“Say hi for me,” Luke said.
“See you tomorrow, Noah.”
“So…elephant in the room,” Cam said, glancing at Ezra who was on the phone and walking back and forth in front of us. “If I’m here with Ezra, and Colton and Zeph and back in Texas, and Declan and Ty are at their hotel, then-”
“I’m all alone with a bunch of porn stars?”
“Well, shit, to be honest, I forgot about the porn stars and was more worried about you being alone.”
“I’ll be fine. Noah said the guy’s in custody, so that threat’s over, even though I don’t think the rest of us were in any real danger. I can Uber back to the hotel. They'll drop me off right out front. It'll be fine.”
Cam: Are you back yet?
Luke: I told you I’d text you when I got back.
Cam: So…you’re back or not?
Luke: Not.