I massage my temples, my head spinning. He’s tripping hard. I need to figure out what to do with him, because his parents and mine will both flip if they see him like this. There’s no way to sneak him onto campus to any of the players’ dorms. My only other option is one I’m not too keen on, but I don’t have a choice.
For the remainder of the drive back to Beckford, I humour Theo’s pondering, speaking to him in a calm voice so he doesn’t freak out and have a bad trip. I’ve seen the aftereffects of that and wouldn’t wish it upon my worst enemy. One poor guy ran through a glass sliding door and ended up on a twenty-four-hour medical hold.
When I pull up in front of Noah’s house and cut the engine, Theo hides his face behind his hands. “Don’t letthem get me, Zac,” he whispers, peering through his fingers. “Don’t let them take me away on their unicorns.”
“I won’t let them get you,” I assure him, biting down on my bottom lip. This isn’t funny.
“That’s how they drag you in, with their magical creatures and sinful bodies.”
“You’re okay, buddy. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“They tricked me with a ghostie.”
I blink at him. “What the fuck’s a ghostie?”
“She made me think I was going to fuck her. I was all gloved up ready to go. Then the next thing I know, I blink, and I’m buried deep inside him, and she’s pushing into me with a fucking strap-on.”
Holy fucking shit.
He grips my shirt and pulls me towards him, fear in his eyes. “I liked it, Zac. I really fucking liked it. The way she filled me as he squeezed around my dick. I liked it.”
I shove him away and squeeze my eyes shut. I don’t want to visualise his sexcapades. “What do you want me to say, Theo? You liked being pegged. So what?”
“What if I want to do it again? What if next time I want it to be a real dick and not a fake one?”
Ignoring him, I climb out of the car and round the bonnet to open the door for him.
He stares up at the house with trepidation.
“They took me on their flying carpet back to their labyrinth,” he babbles, leaning on me as I lead him to the front door. “They changed me, man. They changed me.”
I didn’t call ahead, hoping Noah, Jasper, and Dane don’t turn us away. Theo needs a place to sleep it off, and they’re my only teammates with a place off campus. He doesn’t need people talking about him more than they already do.
When he finally comes down, I’ll talk to him about what’s going on. His destructive behaviour’s getting worse.
Taking a deep breath, I knock.
It’s almost midnight, and we’ve all got classes tomorrow. Dane sleeps like the dead, probably unable to hear over his snoring, but when I knock again, Jasper opens the door, his eyes widening when he sees us.
“The fuck?” He moves out of the way for us to enter.
“He’s on a trip,” I explain, unable to stop my eyes from darting to the stairs, hoping to spot my captain. “Can we crash here? I can’t take him home like this.”
Theo lurches out of my grasp, cupping Jasper’s head in his palms and turning his head left and right as he examines it. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” he murmurs, tracing his thumbs down either side of Jasper’s nose. “It’s like a Picasso.”
Jasper snorts a laugh as he shoves Theo away from him. “The dude’s fucked.”
I nod, watching him wander into the living room to stand transfixed in front of the fishtank.
“Sorry to just rock up here unannounced, but his parents will flip if they see him all fucked up, and our parents are friends.”
Jasper waves his hand. “No biggie. The couch in the games room pulls out into a bed. You can crash in there.” He smirks, nodding at our ex-teammate. “If you can get him in there, that is.”
Theo has both palms up on the fish tank now, his face squished against the glass. “It’s amazing how fish breathe. I wonder if I cut slits in my neck, could I breathe underwater too?”
“Looks like we better lock up the knives,” Jasper says with a laugh.
I roll my eyes. “Help me?”
