He’d started to relax but now he looks nervous again, almost tense.
“If it runs in the family, how come you haven’t joined?” I ask, trying to focus and not think about how hot he’d look in a leather jacket while on a bike.
“Uh… well, they have this rule about gay people not being able to join… and none of them know I’m gay, but… well… yeah.”
He’s gay, fuck, this would be so much easier if he was straight.
“Shit,” I say, “that’s backwards thinking of them, they really have that rule?”
He nods. “That’s why I’m not… you know… out. Well, other than my best friend, and now you I guess. Sorry, probably way too much information the first time you meet me.”
Little does he know that I’m very familiar with needing to hide parts of yourself from those around you.
“Not at all,” I say, “thank you for telling me.”
His face lights up, flashing a brilliant smile. Fuck me, he’s even cuter when he smiles like that.
“I’ll let you get settled in,” he says, holding a book up before lying down on his bed.
Shit. A cute as fuck, gay roommate is really not what I need right now, not when I’m so close to my dream.
As I’m lying in bed later that night, the gentle rhythm of his breathing soothes me, even though I hate not being able to sleep. I should have been out like a light, I’m both mentally and physically exhausted from this weekend, the drills still repeating in my mind, and my body in desperate need of a session with our sports massage therapist, but sleep evades me.
I cannot be attracted to my roommate.
It doesn’t even make sense, usually I need to at least know someone for a while, have a connection before I’m attracted to them. But there’s something about him, and I worry that the more I get to know him the more attracted I’ll get. This is the worst possible timing; newly signed to the Warriors, I need to be able to focus, and the last thing I want is to lose my spot on the team.
I’m going to have to keep my distance, keep him at arm’s length. I’ll be civil, of course, and friendly, I can’t not be, but I’ll focus on training. I’ll spend time at the gym, and I’ve got my classes. I can do this; it’s only twelve weeks; I can do this.
He lets out a soft snore and before I can stop myself I’ve turned my head to look at him. The light from the window is showing his face just enough that I can make out the soft curls in his hair, and his lashes against his cheeks. I can do this… right?
Chapter 3
Donovan
I’vebarelyseenStephenthis week, which probably isn’t a bad thing considering that I can hardly string a sentence together around him. Being attracted to him is the last thing I need. Liking my incredibly hot, straight, jock roommate is not how I want to spend my freedom from Tynerston.
I need to be out there, meeting other gay people, maybe even finding a boyfriend, or I guess, hooking up? Although I’m not sure that’s really me. Beth does it all the time, hooking up with random guys on the weekend who she forgets about immediately after, she loves it, but she always says she doesn’t want a relationship, and I do. I want the dates, the hand holding, the curling up watching movies together, and maybe I can find that here.
It’s the final class of the week, and even though I’ve loved all of them, and I’ve met some great people, I’ve ended up spending most of the lunch breaks on my own, yet to make any real friends. I haven’t even seen Stephen anywhere on campus to have someone to say hello to.
“Hey, Donovan!” I hear a familiar voice behind me and turn to find Kate grinning at me.
“Hey,” I say, smiling back.
“We’re all gonna go to Java & Brew, wanna join?” she asks.
I glance behind her and see a group of people talking, they seem friendly enough, I even recognize a few of them from my classes.
What the hell. “Sure, that would be great.”
“Everyone,” she says, “this is Donovan. Donovan, this is Samantha, Tracy, Martin, Pierce, and Kyle.”
I greet them all as we walk and we’re soon talking about classes we have in common and what the Tynerston campus is like compared to here.
Java & Brew is one of the coffee shops on campus I haven’t tried yet, but it seems cool. The white walls are decorated with some colorful abstract art, and most of the space is filled with tables and chairs, but we have the only sofas which are off to one side.
As I’m gazing around, the signature red of a varsity jacket catches my attention, well, that and the tall man with dark hair who I instantly recognize as Stephen. When he looks up, we lock eyes and I wave, initially he returns it with a smile, but as he looks around me it quickly vanishes, ducking his head and leaving with his drink.
