Tackling the Subject Page 4

  “Oh my God. You fell for him. You hate jocks—any jocks. After all the drunken tirades you’ve made me listen to about how worthless jocks are to the planet, you’ve fallen for one.”

  “What? No! I haven’t fallen for a damn jock. Good grief, Rachel. Where did you get that idea? He’s just a waste of good DNA.”

  His best friend leaned over and playfully wiped the corners of his mouth. “You seem to be drooling over the hot muscle-guy.”

  Sam gave her a scornful glare, even as he tried to ignore the knot in his stomach every time he replayed the scene of Gordy drying himself. When he recalled Gordy’s reaction to Sam coming out to him, the attraction evaporated.

  The excitement drained from his system and he rolled to his side. “It doesn’t matter what feelings I have. He’s not into the whole gay-friend thing, much less anything more. You should have seen his face.”

  They sat together commiserating in mutual silence for several minutes before Sam decided they’d wasted enough time being maudlin. “So, speaking of people who think jocks are hot. How was the women’s rugby game?”

  Rachel fanned herself. “Oh good lord. Those were hot girls. I’d let a couple of them toss me around the bed.”

  Sam laughed and listened to his friend recount the blow by blow of the game from the perspective of someone who didn’t understand how to play it. It helped distract him from the lump sitting in his stomach. But then, he wouldn’t put it past Rachel to make up parts of the story to help distract him.

  Chapter Five

  Sam stared at his quiz in shock. Dark red ink decorated the corner of the paper with a B. I made a B. On a biology quiz. Holy shit…

  The guy next to Sam leaned over and checked out his score. “Hey, congrats, man. That’s better than I did. I’m failing. How’d you get a better score?”

  Sam sat absorbing the information for a moment before he realized someone was talking with him. “Sorry. What’d you say?”

  “This class is kicking my ass. How’d you do so much better?”

  Sam nodded, trying to find his voice. “I got a tutor.”

  “Damn, maybe I should get one. They sure helped your grades.”

  Sam shrugged. “Yeah, I guess so.”

  “Yup, I’ll have to check into that.”

  Sam realized a little later that the students for the next class were filing into the surrounding seats. He slipped everything into his backpack and made his way out of the room. He headed to his normal lunchtime haunt, and the growl from his stomach reinforced that it was ready to be filled.

  A few minutes later he stood in the middle of the food court at the Student Union, trying to decide what he wanted. Unable to find something new that sounded appetizing, he went for his usual—salad by the ounce. He paid for his meal and searched for a place to sit.

  He scanned the area and froze. Gordy. He wanted to scream and run away so he didn’t need to listen to weak excuses about Gordy’s response. He spun and made his way toward an exit.

  “Sam. Hey, Sam!”

  He slowed to a stop before turning to see what Gordy wanted.

  “Hey, Gordy. How are things?”

  Gordy scanned the area as if to verify no one could overhear their conversation. He turned to Sam. “Hey, I wanted to talk to you. I called a couple of times but you never called me back.”

  “Yeah, it’s been crazy. Sorry.”

  “I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. I was honored you shared that you were gay with me.”

  Great. Gordy’s researched how to be a good ally. “Don’t sweat it. I’m out to everyone, so it’s not like it’s a big deal.”

  Gordy refused to meet Sam’s gaze. “Yeah, it’s complicated…”

  “Whatever, Gordy. I understand you have to protect your rep as the perfect student and homophobic jock.”

  Gordy reached out, almost touching Sam’s shoulder. “Hey, no. It isn’t like that.”

  As Sam considered what Gordy had just said, a group of students dressed head to toe in athletic gear walked past. “Hey, Gordy. You ready to go, man? We have to hit the weight room.”

  Gordy looked distressed as he glanced between the two of them. He thought Gordy might say something, but he dropped his shoulders and left with the group.

  Sam couldn’t imagine anywhere he wanted to be less.

  * * * *

  Sam answered questions about the group’s activities at their latest Gay-Straight Alliance meeting. As president of the group, he got the majority of the questions, but that was okay with him. He put on his best face and listened to each one carefully. Some people here weren’t out. Others were out only to a few people. Not everyone was as fortunate as Sam. Tonight’s program had been on safer sex, so there were more questions than usual. Because of the topic, they’d also had several new people attend. The one talking to Sam now was particularly nervous.

  “Yeah, so tonight was cool. It’s always good to be careful. Right?”

  Sam nodded in agreement. “It is. Glad you enjoyed the meeting.”

  The guy looked nervous and glanced around. “You don’t, like, take people’s names or anything.”

  “Well, we keep track of who comes, but we never ask questions about anyone’s private life.”

  “Oh. Yeah. I mean it’s all cool. I…”

  Sam gave him the most supportive smile he was able to conjure. “I understand. You’ll find nothing but support here.”

  “Sorry. I’m being all weird. But I’m on the baseball team and I can’t give them any reason to pull my scholarship.”

  Sam shook his head. “No, they absolutely can’t do that. University policy won’t let them discriminate based on sexual orientation.”

  The guy shook his head, dismissing Sam’s statement. “Sports are the last of the good old boys’ clubs. They couldn’t do it in the open, but they’d say I wasn’t playing well and the other players would screw me over.”

  Rachel appeared at his side. “Hey, Sam. Do we have any more of the safer sex kits with condoms and lube?”

  “No, the ones we brought are all gone. The LGBT Office has more. They can stop by and pick up whatever they need.” She nodded and moved back to the student she’d been talking with. When he turned back, the kid he’d been visiting with had disappeared. He searched for him, but the room was almost empty. Sam felt like he’d failed the guy.

  “Looks like everyone’s gone. Nothing like explaining safer sex to have people fornicating like bunnies.”

  Sam chuckled at Rachel. “Fornicating like bunnies? There’s an interesting image.”

  “Just because some of us are monks doesn’t mean everyone is.”

  Sam frowned and gave Rachel a scathing glance.

  “Okay, sorry. Shouldn’t have gone there.”

  “No, you shouldn’t.” He glanced around the room. “Looks like it’s over. You okay to get home?”

  “Yeah, I have a study group upstairs in a few minutes. I’ll grab a coffee and head up,” Rachel said.

  “Hey, who left this?” Sam picked up a rainbow flag about the size of his hand.

  “I have no idea. I guess we should keep track of it.” She plucked it from his hand and used the safety pins already on each corner to attach it to Sam’s backpack. “There you go. You’re the rainbow.”

  Sam checked the room and waved her ahead of him as he pulled the door shut behind them. They parted with a hug and Sam left the Student Union and headed toward his dorm. He’d been walking a few minutes when he realized how deserted campus was. The rows of lights seemed dimmer than usual. He rarely felt uncomfortable being on campus at night, but tonight was becoming an exception. His spidey sense was off the scale for creepy when he heard footsteps behind him.

  * * * *

  Gordy was leaving the Student Union when he noticed a familiar form in front of him. He’d been trying to talk with Sam after the disaster of a conversation at the Student Union. His friends’d had the worst possible timing, but Sam was also being difficult. Not that Gordy blamed
him. If he’d shared something like that, he would have expected a little more support, too.

  He rushed to catch up with Sam, hoping to find him with no one around so they could talk. But as he got closer, a handful of figures appeared around Sam. Gordy slowed as he noticed Sam tense. While he couldn’t hear what was being said, Sam was getting louder. Gordy’s concern grew, and he broke into a run as two of the people lunged toward Sam.

  “Grab him!” he heard.

  Fury flashed through Gordy as he covered the last few yards and slammed into one of the guys holding Sam, knocking him to the ground. Gordy jumped to his feet and ran at the other one while yelling at the top of his voice. “Call the cops! Someone call the cops!”

  Just before they collided, Sam moved, stepped closer and the other guy dropped to his knees. Gordy changed his target and ran at the apparent leader. The guy sprinted away, but Gordy had run down far too many quarterbacks for that to work. Once he was within striking distance, he leaped at the man, grabbed him around the knees and bounced him against the hard ground.

  Gordy lifted himself off his catch and saw Sam had the other guy in a hold. A moment later red and blue lights and screaming sirens filled the area. It wasn’t much afterward before the police interviewed him and Sam.

  It surprised Gordy to find out the police had been searching for the attackers. They’d robbed a few other students on campus, too. Campus police apparently had a campaign to warn students about being alone after dark. Gordy was pleased with himself until he saw Sam stomping toward him.

  “What the hell were you doing? I didn’t need to be rescued!”

  Gordy dropped his jaw as any reply left his head. He stared in disbelief. He was even more shocked when Sam stepped closer and thumped his finger in the middle of Gordy’s chest. “I’ll let you know if I need your help. Otherwise, assume I’m good. You got it?”

  Gordy was so shocked he didn’t feel much of anything. He nodded and took a step back. “Sorry, Sam. I switched into ‘help my friend’ mode. I never was trying to overstep your boundaries.”

  Sam hesitated for a minute and seemed to have lost some of his bluster. “Yeah, okay. I didn’t need help, just for the record.”

  Sam spun and disappeared into the nearest building, leaving Gordy with a swirl of emotions ranging from anger to guilt.

  I can’t figure out what he wants.

  Chapter Six

  Sam sat in his car, looking at the dusting of snow that had softened the early winter landscape, if only for a short time. Light shone through the windows in Gordy’s little trailer. It had a charming quality Sam might not have noticed another time. The gray of dusk hid the less appealing details of the surroundings.

  He had no need to draw this out further. He hadn’t tried to call or email, needing to apologize face-to-face. Sam also hated to admit it, but Gordy identifying him as a friend had more of an impact than he’d thought it would. It shocked him that the straight jock would consider him a friend at all. He had so few. Gordy had come to his aid, and Sam chewed him out about it. Now he’d see if diplomatic skills could save him. The other thing was that Sam still needed Gordy as a tutor. He’d taken a practice exam… He needed help. Sam hoped to repair his friendship and save his grade.

  He opened the car door and stepped out. As he approached the tiny home, he smiled at the scene through the window. Gordy was whistling as he did dishes. Sam waited for a minute before knocking, not wanting to ruin such a peaceful scene. But he braced himself and rapped on the door.

  The whistling stopped and Gordy froze. Sam waited a moment then knocked again. Gordy grabbed the dishtowel from his shoulder and dried his hands as he moved to the door. It popped open, and Sam stood speechless as his heart hammered in his chest and his mouth went dry. Gordy’s expression soured.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I owe you an apology for the other day. I was really crappy.”

  Gordy stood staring, not threatening, but not welcoming. The silence became tense and Gordy shuffled his boots as they stood appraising each other. Then Gordy shook his head and said, “You seem good at putting your foot in your mouth, like up to your thigh.”

  Sam bit back his first response, which would have been a poor choice. Instead he decided a small dose of honesty would be appropriate. “I have a few issues. Jocks are one of them. Defending myself is another. Neither of them is your fault. Sorry you seem to keep catching the brunt of my hang-ups.”

  Gordy relaxed, and stepped away from the doorway. “Come in. It’s warmer inside.”

  Sam hesitated, but he needed to be certain. “You sure you want to be alone with a gay guy? You didn’t seem to thrilled when I told you I was gay.”

  Gordy tightened his lips. “Like you said, everybody has issues. Let’s just say I have no problem with you being gay and leave it at that. Okay?”

  Sam studied him for a minute before nodding. “Okay. I think that’s only fair. I’ll try to keep everything in check.” He hesitated for a moment.

  “What? There’s more?” Gordy asked.

  Sam made vague motions toward his car. “I have my books…”

  Gordy chuckled. “Get your stuff. I was cleaning up from dinner, but if you’re hungry…” He looked at Sam.

  “No. I’m good. I’ll grab my backpack.” He trotted to his car and returned in a few minutes to spread his material over the table. Gordy was busy putting away the final few things in the kitchen and Sam couldn’t help but remember the strip show Gordy had given him the last time he’d been there. Sam realized his fantasizing had left him with a hard cock that could serve as a tent pole. He swallowed hard and refocused on his classwork. Nothing could kill his erection faster than biology.

  There was a bang as the cabinet closed, and Gordy sat opposite him. A minute later, textbooks and notes covered the entire surface and both of them focused on their studies.

  After a little while, Sam noticed Gordy was becoming frustrated with his computer. When his finger on the Enter key sounded more like a hammer against an anvil, Sam stopped his reading and grinned at Gordy.

  “Do you want me to take a look at it before you stick your finger through the keyboard?”

  Gordy hesitated for a second but handed the computer over to Sam. “It keeps locking up. If I lose the paper I’m working on, I’m going to be so pissed.”

  Without another word, Sam turned the computer and started speed typing. In a few seconds, he had the console screen open and was rapid-firing commands on Gordy’s computer. He had a suspicion what was happening, and his first test scripts confirmed his suspicions. A few more bursts of commands and he turned the machine back to Gordy.

  “Give it a try. I think it’s fixed now.”

  Gordy made a few hesitant keystrokes then shot Sam a triumphant look. “It’s working! That’s amazing. I’ve spent hours on the phone with tech support and they hadn’t been able to fix it.”

  Sam gave Gordy a wink. “I told you I was good.”

  Gordy shook his head then focused on his work.

  They’d been studying for quite some time when Gordy leaned back and stretched. As his shirt slid upward, Sam couldn’t help but see the fan of dark hair across his slightly rounded stomach. He detected a hint of the smell that set him off when they first met, but now it didn’t bother him. In fact, he found it appealing.

  Sam scolded himself. He didn’t intend to offend his very straight, very large tutor. The stretch went on and Sam allowed himself a few more glimpses of Gordy’s massive body. With a groan, Gordy dropped his arms and sighed.

  “I’m ready for a break. I need to check on the animals, anyway,” Gordy said.

  Sam grinned at the memories. After last time, he’d discovered he liked the animals. Well, he liked the goats. The others he wasn’t as sure about. But one thing he was certain of, helping with the animals would score him points with Gordy. “Hey, that sounds like a great idea. I can take care of the goats again if that would help.” It seemed to Sam as if he were picki
ng what was easy. “Or whatever. But a break sounds good.” He shot Gordy his best smile.

  “If you’d take care of those four-legged eating machines, that’d be a big help. I’ll feed and water everything else.”

  Sam relaxed and let his happiness show through his carefully constructed expression. “That’s cool. I like the little floppy-eared characters.”

  Gordy handed him two bottles from the fridge before pulling on his boots. Sam glanced over to Gordy while he warmed the bottles and licked his lips as Gordy’s muscular butt flexed. Gordy stood first on one leg then on the other. His butt cheeks bulged and stretched his jeans to their limits. When Gordy shot him a smile, Sam returned it without comment.

  Gordy said, “If you get done first, I’ll be in the barn. One horse has a limp, and it takes more time to check on her.”

  Sam nodded and followed him out the door. Gordy headed to the red barn at the center of all the pens while Sam trotted to the smaller building that served as the stable and held his favorite goats.

  The kids were dancing around his feet by the time he stepped into the stall. He grinned at the aggressive little creatures as they suckled the bottles with a vengeance. Soon there was no more milk, and the gluttons were begging for more.

  “Oh hush. You drained those bottles like little pigs. You have plenty to eat around here.” Sam gave the pair fresh water and another piece of hay. He closed and latched the stall door and made his way to the barn. He stood just inside the door, letting his eyes adjust to the dim light.

  “Hey, Sam. I’m over here checking Molly’s hoof,” Gordy said.

  Sam followed the voice to find Gordy standing beside a huge horse with its foot on his thigh. He dug at the hoof for several minutes, studying it at intervals until he was satisfied. He glanced toward Sam.

  “Would you grab a piece of alfalfa and put it in her feeder?”

  “Sure.” Sam pulled out more hay and stuffed it into the net across one corner. He was dusting off the bits of grass as Gordy came out of the stall. He got a mischievous expression and dropped a handful of hay bits over Sam’s spiked hair.