#Rev (GearShark #2)(44)

Coach asked me once what happened to me. I gave him the same exact story I told the frat. I knew he smelled my bullshit, but he didn’t call me on it.

Once word got around I was training in the gym, some of the other players came around, and we’d all work out together. So in a way, getting jumped was a blessing.

A f*cked-up blessing, but one all the same.

I missed my football brothers. Sure, I saw them on campus and they came to the frat parties, but I missed the comradery of the team. The sounds and echoes of the locker room.

I had that back now. I had them rallying around me because someone beat my ass. I even got several of them involved in the charity football game we were putting together.

It was going to be sweet. Romeo, Braeden, and the boys all back on the field together again for one last time.

Hells yeah.

But, yeah. I often wondered if the Wolves would still come if they knew I was gay. I wished I didn’t have that doubt whispering in the back of my head. I knew someday I wouldn’t.

Someday soon, like very soon, I would know the answer.

It would be a defining time in my life. In Drew’s life. We would find out who our true friends were.

We checked into the same hotel we stayed at when Drew met with Ron Gamble the first time. We didn’t even bother driving up to the valet; there was no point. Drew would never let anyone drive his car (besides me of course), and I didn’t need dropped off at the door.

Once the Mustang was parked in a relatively safe spot, we grabbed our bags and walked to the entrance. I recognized the valet right away; it was the same one from before. I didn’t expect him to remember us, but he did.

“The Fastback right?” he asked, looking at me, not Drew.

I grinned. “Hey, man. How ya doing?”

“Another day, another dollar,” he quipped.

Drew looked between us, confused.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out some cash. “You remember the deal from last time?” I asked, holding up the green.

The valet inclined his dark head. “Of course. Your car will be safe.”

“Thanks, man.” I slapped the cash into his hand and pointed to the spot where it was parked. He nodded and pocketed the money.

When we were out of earshot, Drew looked at me. “What the hell was that?”

“Insurance. Making sure the car doesn’t get jacked while we’re here.”

“You paid the valet to watch my car last time we were here?”

“Yeah.” I shrugged and pulled open the door leading into the muted gold tones of the hotel lobby.

“Always looking out, aren’t you?” he asked, warmth lighting his eyes.

“Always.” I agreed.

His fist appeared between us, so I bumped it out.

After we checked in, on the way past the large fountain with the couple beneath the umbrella, Drew’s phone went off.

He ignored it.

In the elevator, I gestured to his pocket. “You gonna check that?”

“Nope.”

My phone went off. I pulled up the text message. It was from Joey.

You in town? Why isn’t Drew answering his phone?

@Hotel now, I texted back. He’s checking in.

Yep. I lied. My loyalty would always be with Drew. I had a good idea why he was ignoring his phone, even though the only thing he was actually doing was making the fixation on the f*cking thing worse.

Telling Joey what was going on inside my person’s head was not on my to-do list. If he wasn’t ready to talk about it, then he wasn’t ready.

We have dinner plans. I’m coming to pick you up.

Wait. What? First I’d heard of this. “We have dinner tonight with Joey?” I asked as the elevator slid to a stop.

Drew gave me a WTF look.

What dinner plans? I texted. At the same time, I said, “Maybe if you picked up your phone one of the hundred times it’s gone off, we might know what the hell’s going on.”

I’ll be there in twenty. Send me your room number.

I shot off a quick reply with our room number as we walked down the empty, swanky hall and stopped in front of our pristine white door.

The puzzling fact we had some surprise dinner plans fell off my map for a moment. Instead, as I watched Drew unlock the door, a giddy kind of feeling washed over me. I was nervous. A whole night alone in a hotel room with him.

No worrying about anyone on the other side of the walls. No frat brothers to sneak past, no family members to wake. Showering together and leaving the bathroom door open.

The same bed.

Him beside me.

Breakfast in our boxers.

Little things that were the big things. Moments I’d been waiting for.

The last time we were in this hotel, I’d been wound so tight I’d barely slept. Knowing he was so close, knowing I couldn’t touch him how I wanted. It wasn’t like that anymore. Our relationship grew into something I honestly only thought I would imagine and never get to live.

This time, when I sank into the cloudlike king-size bed, he would, too.

I felt like I did the morning of my first college football game. Scared and excited at the same time. I felt like a kid on at date at the movies, thinking of a sly way to pull off the “movie move.”

So many firsts. So many feelings and experiences that were new. With Drew, it was sort of like I was learning to live all over again, so even the simplest of things felt firsthand.