He starts to shift, then says, “I assumed you meant something else when you said you were gonna ride my ass.”
I laugh as I take a moment, admiring his impressive glutes. “You do squats, Alexei?”
I’m tempted to take a quick bite.
Where the fuck did that come from?
I shake it off and push to my knees.
Alexei rolls onto his back as the guys surround us, helpingus to our feet.
“You good?” Brad asks Alexei.
“I was so busy trying to avoid Spencer coming up on my left, I missed Luke sneaking up on my right, and then when I tried to change course, this guy threw me off.”
“That was a little much for a friendly pickup game,” Brad tells me, and before I can defend myself, Alexei says, “Trust me, I kinda had that one coming.”
He glances at me, his subtle smile twisting into his dimple.
Now that’s a victory.
Despite the fall, I love knowing I got him out of his head for a minute, from whatever the hell he’s going through.
We play a few more rounds before Brad calls the game. When we gather at the bleachers, Alexei says, “Anyone want to grab some pizza?”
Several of the pickup crew jump at the opportunity, including a few from Alpha Alpha Mu. Their house is in the opposite direction of the pizza place, so like they’ve done a few times when I’ve joined the pickup game, they plan to hit the showers at the dorms so we can head over together after.
When I’m under the showerhead, feeling the hot water against my skin, contrasting sharply with the cold January weather, I roll my head back and sigh.Fuck, that feels good.
But just as soon as I’m ready to relax into my shower, I realize I didn’t grab my loofah from my bag and have to step out and dry off. As I start to round the corner to the shower lockers, I see Alexei. My glance goes right to that ass I nearly took a bite out of. I’ve never noticed what a perky butt hehas. But something other than that bubble butt catches my attention. He’s got Gage’s duffel out, fishing through it.
My first thought is that Gage asked him to grab something for him, but as he starts to turn, I instinctively step back. He glances over his shoulder, and I duck behind the wall, waiting a moment before leaning over for a quick glance, catching Alexei fishing through cash in Gage’s wallet.
The hell?
Gage still could have asked him to grab something, I tell myself, and if that’s the case, he won’t have an issue with me heading right on in.
By the time I do, he’s already shut the locker, closed the combination lock, and is making his way over to his locker. He looks over his shoulder again, and fuck, the guilt is written all over his expression. I can’t help wondering if he’s watched Gage at his locker before and that’s how he knew the combination.
My heart sinks, my gut knotting up. Is this what Alexei’s been so stressed about? Is he having financial trouble? But, dude, this isn’t the way to go about dealing with your problems.
When I reach my locker, I try to think how to play this. Meanwhile, Alexei doesn’t say anything, only breezes past me and heads for the showers.
After we finish up, we all head down the street to the pizzeria. Normally, hanging out for pizza with the pickup crew would be fun and easygoing, but I’m having a hard time enjoying myself with what’s weighing on me. A part of me feels like I need to tell Gage, but I don’t want to fuck overAlexei, especially if he’s having problems right now. There must be a better way to handle this.
Despite the progress I made in easing him up during the game, I can tell he’s back to being stressed, surely because he knows what he just did to Gage is wrong. And Gage is laughing with his buddies, making jokes, roasting each other, not a clue what his supposed friend has done behind his back.
It’s wrong. Alexei knows it too.
Maybe I’m a fool, but I just don’t feel like this is who Alexei is. I want to believe this was a lapse in judgment, a mistake, but maybe he’s not the chill, nice guy I thought he was.
Only one way to find out.
When we finish at the pizza joint, the crew splits up, some of us heading back to the dorms, and the Alpha Alpha Mu crew to the frat. I tell Luke and Brad that I’ll be at the library for a few hours if they want to enjoy our room for a bit, and they eagerly accept the invitation, which works out well for what I have to do.
As everyone starts heading off into their rooms, I walk alongside Alexei.
He turns to me, his expression twisted up. “Aren’t you going to the library?”
