Long Pass Chronicles 01 - Outing the Quarterback (17 page)

“Yeah.” He gazed at Will. “Where do you want to meet?” Those blue eyes looked like deep water.

“There’s a little park about a half block down. Can you go that far?”

“Sure.” He looked at Ev. “Thanks.”

She smiled. “You’re welcome. Somebody needs to be getting some goodies around here.”

He grinned. “Give me ten minutes.”

Will barely heard it over the thump in his ears. “See you.” Oh crap, he wanted to run to the park.

Noah turned with his tray and walked toward the kitchen. A little sway in his tight butt advertised potential goodies on board.

His father’s voice came from behind him. “My God, this town is full of fags. I don’t know what you see in this place, Will.”

He froze. Yeah, his father was a bigot, but he didn’t usually make straight-up slurs, and especially not to Will’s friends. One easy turn. A couple words out of his mouth and he’d be free of the closet forever. He could hear it in his ears.
I must like it because I’m a fag too, he’d say
.
Say it! Come on, say it.
But there’d be a world of drama and he’d never get to the park and Noah would be waiting and he’d think Will stood him up. A small voice whispered
chicken.

“I assume you’re not talking about any friend of mine?”

The furrow between his father’s brows deepened. “I thought he was just some waiter you met.”

Ev spilled her tea all over her white pants. “Oh no! Oh my gosh, that’s cold.” Perfect timing. She wiped at them like mad with her hand, but the light brown stains showed. “I’m so sorry. That was so stupid.”

Will looked at the tea stains. “Your beautiful pants. What can we do?”

“Where’s the nearest bathroom? Maybe if I use some warm water and soap I can get the stains out.”

Will took her arm. “I’ll show you.” He glanced at his father, who hadn’t stopped frowning. “Excuse us.”

He didn’t wait for a reply. With his hand on Ev’s elbow, he hustled her across the patio, into the dining room, and toward the staircase to the second floor. “Use the upstairs bathroom. It won’t be so popular and you can probably hang out longer. Thanks so much for this, Ev. I’ll buy you new pants.”

“You bet you will.” She grinned. “Good luck.” She started up the stairs, and Will took a quick look around before heading out the front door. He flipped his car key in case somebody was coming up the walk and he needed to look natural. Nobody.
Good
. When he got to the street, he stepped behind a hedge that would block him from view, took a deep breath, and ran.

The little park had been built around some existing eucalyptus trees, and they’d planted enough bushes and flowers to make it appealing, but not so much to make it a druggie hangout.

Will got to the walkway into the park and looked around. Maybe he’d beaten Noah here. Maybe he couldn’t get the time off?

“Will!”

Where did the voice come from? He walked a few steps down the path and saw Noah on the other side of a big crown of thorns bush. Noah gave a little wave, and Will paced slowly to where the guy stood. What did that look mean? What did he want to talk about? “Hi.”

“Hi.” Noah glanced quickly to the left and right, then grabbed Will’s head and brought him down for a hard, hot, and very fast kiss. When he pulled back, Will’s lips practically steamed. Man, and his cock bounced. Noah gazed up through his lashes. “I’m sorry I was such a shit. I almost called you, but I had to think it through.”

Will grabbed Noah back and planted an equally hot kiss right where it belonged. He let his lips linger and swiped Noah’s mouth with his tongue, then plunged it in and out once, twice, to let the man know what he was missing.

“Billy, get back here!” a woman’s voice rang out. Will stepped back, a small football landed at his feet, and a kid about eight years old ran through the bushes. A woman followed, looked at the two of them like they were lying in wait for her cherub, grabbed the boy, and hustled him away.

Will shook his head. How bad was his erection? He glanced down. Presentable. He scooped up the football and walked around the bush. The mom was kneeling beside the boy, a few feet away, scolding him for running off.

“Excuse me, ma’am. You forgot this.” He lobbed the football to the kid in a soft, smooth, arcing pass that landed right in the boy’s hands with practically no effort. She looked startled and the kid beamed.

“Hey, Mom, that’s Will Ashford. Hiya, Will.”

“Hiya.” Had to smile. He loved kids.

“I got a marker, don’t I, Mom? Would you sign my football?”

The woman searched her bottomless purse and came out with a black marker. Will knelt down. “So your name’s Billy, right?”

The boy nodded enthusiastically.

He signed
To Billy. You’ve got great wide receiver hands. Good luck. Will Ashford
.

“Wow, wow, wow! Thank you, Will. I’d ask for another pass but I’m not gonna use this football anymore.”

“Enjoy. Come see the games.”

The kid glanced at his mom. “Hear that? We gotta go to the games.”

Will gave her a nod and walked back around the bush. Noah was sitting on the grass. He sat beside him.

Noah glanced up. “Close one. Might have scarred the kid for life.” His grin looked sardonic.

Will stared at the grass. “I’m sorry I’m such a pussy.”

“You know, I kind of get it better.”

He looked up into those blue eyes. “What do you mean?”

“Seeing you here, all the people who idolize you and want shit from you. I could hear people talking about you as I walked around serving stuff. They think you’re all that, man. And your mother. She’s cray, but your father’s scarier. Jesus. I wouldn’t wish that on anybody. This is one helluva trap. I’m glad I got to see it.”

“Thanks. But I still need to change.”

“Yeah. You do. Lying takes too much energy.”

Will dropped his head between his knees. “Man, do I know that. I’m always trying to remember what I told who. Shit, it’s exhausting.” He ripped some grass and tossed it to the side. “So, you seemed kind of glad to see me.”

Noah leaned back on straight arms. “Yeah. Craving on you is way inconvenient, but I can’t seem to stop.” He flashed a smile.

“I’m glad. What does that mean, exactly?” He grinned back.

Noah sat up. “It means I have to get back and finish my gig, go to the restaurant and work until eleven, but if you happened to be waiting outside my door when I got home, your chances of getting ass-fucked are 100 percent.”

“Oh crap.” Will grabbed his cock through his pants and squeezed. Cum all over the khakis would be more noticeable than Ev’s tea stains. “Jesus, warn a guy when you’re gonna say shit like that.”

“So you like that idea?”

“Oh man, yeah.” He squeezed harder.

Noah gazed at him for a second, then leaned forward and grabbed the button on his waistband and opened it.
What the
—
?
Will looked around. Nobody watching. He couldn’t breathe.

Staring into Will’s eyes, Noah slipped his hand down the front of the khakis, maneuvered under the elastic of Will’s boxer briefs, and grabbed himself a handful of cock.

Will gasped. “Holy crap!” Noah started to stroke him. Oh God, yeah. It felt so good but—“Somebody could come.”

Noah smiled tightly. “That’s not my problem, jockoid. I don’t care who knows I’m gay and, shy of going to jail and missing my shift at work, I’m not opposed to some PDA.” He pumped harder. “Feel good?”

“Hell, yeah.” Will let his head fall back and closed his eyes. Flames ripped up his cock and heated his balls with every pump. Wanted to come so bad. Dreaming of Noah all the time.

A woman’s voice drifted over the bushes. “You can spread the cloth out over there, girls, or you can use the table a little farther on.”

Will opened his eyes. A picnic table stood about twenty feet from where he and Noah sat on the grass. Yeah, sat while administering a hand job. Shit, somebody’s daughters were about to get an advanced education.

Noah’s fist action didn’t stop. If anything, it got faster and harder. Will looked at him and he was grinning. This was a game of chicken, Noah was Colonel Sanders, and Will was about to get fried.
Oh God, just a little more. A little more
.

“I see the table, Mom. Let’s use that.”

Shit!
Will jumped back, ripped Noah’s hand off his cock, and settled cross-legged as two young girls came around the bush, one of them carrying a plastic tablecloth.

He was going to die of a heart attack. His pulse throbbed in his throat, and he pressed both hands into his lap to cover the massive boner.

Noah slowly drew his hand across his face, sniffing his fingers. He made a soft mmmm sound. With a grin, he got up and brushed off the seat of his pants. His own erection distorted the front of his black jeans. “To be continued, jockoid.” He winked, turned, and sauntered around the bush toward the park entrance and out of Will’s sight.

“Damn.” He glanced up, but the young girls were busy setting their table. He looked at his watch. He’d better go rescue Ev. He had six hours til heaven.

N
OAH
HUMMED
as he gathered the plates for his corner table. Hummed! Him. Man, he wanted to be ashamed and pissed at himself for being such a jerk to the jockoid, but he just couldn’t do it. Will Ashford, boy quarterback and closet homo, did it for him. Weirdly, Will seemed to like him too. Plus Will liked to bottom, and having that big, strong man begging under him had to be the sexiest thing he’d ever known. Yeah, and he better stop thinking about it or his apron would look like it was tent camping. Still, he’d gladly rush the hours until quitting.

He loaded his plates and hefted the big tray. Will pushed weights in some fancy jockoid gym to get his upper body strength. Noah lifted plates. That about summed it up.

The maître d’ stuck his head around the corner. “New party on sixteen, Noah, when you get that delivered.”

“Thanks.” Good. Tonight would haul in a boatload of tips. The joint was jumping.

He hurried over to the big corner table and served salmon all around. The restaurant did good salmon. Sometimes he got to have it for dinner. He loved that. He smiled. “Just let me know if you need anything.”

The older guy who seemed to be the head of the family at the table nodded. “Thanks. This looks great.”

Okay. Table sixteen. He turned and threaded through the tables toward the four-top that had a nice view and a little bit of privacy thanks to a wing wall. He walked around the corner and stopped. Dwight sat there with some good-looking guy who appeared to be a few years older than Noah but still way young. Total perversity. Noah’s stomach tightened with jealousy. That qualified as sick. What? He didn’t want Dwight but he didn’t want anyone else to have him? Still, Dwight knew where Noah worked, so this was no accident. Big statement time.

He plastered on a smile and walked to the table. “Good evening, gentlemen. Can I get you something to drink while you look at the menu?” Might as well pretend he was sparing Dwight embarrassment by not saying he knew him.

Dwight smiled, but it was snaky. “Yes. I’d like a gin martini. How about you, Roy?”

Roy, a slim redhead wearing eyeliner and a touch of lip gloss, smiled and looked Noah up and down. “Yes, darling, I’d like a Dubonnet on the rocks with a twist. Can you do that for me?”

Dwight put a hand on the man’s arm. “Roy, this is Noah, who you’ve heard me talk about.”

The eyelashes fluttered. “He is a pretty one if you don’t count that awful scar, poor baby.”

Noah’s whole body stiffened with nausea. “I’ll get your drinks.” He turned sharply and headed for the bar. “Hey, Penny, can I have a gin martini and a Dubonnet with a twist on the rocks?”

“Sure, baby. Hey, are you okay? You’re white as a sheet.”

“Oh yeah. I’m fine.” Damn, that wasn’t true. Most people pretended not to see his scar, and he dissed them for it. A few, like Will and Dwight, kind of accepted it as part of his weirdness. But having somebody talk about it and feel sorry for him straight-out? He wasn’t prepared.
Deep breath. Another
. Clyde, the surfer waiter, ambled by. Noah reached out a hand. “Hey, Clyde, want another table?”

“Sure, man. I’d be stoked. But why you givin’ away tips?”

“It’s somebody I know and I don’t really want to see him.”

“Oh, got it, dude. I’m glad to get him off your ass.”

Noah loaded the tray and held it out to Clyde. “It’s table sixteen. They haven’t ordered food yet. Thanks again.”

“No worries.” He took the tray and pointed his easy-moving train toward table sixteen.

Noah leaned against the bar. Penny wiped a glass on her side. “That didn’t sound good. Anything I can do, sweetie?”

“Thanks. No. Just awkward.”

“Why don’t you take a potty break and wash off the awkwardness?”

“Good idea.” He pushed away and hurried back to the men’s room. It was a single-holer, so for a few blissful seconds he had peace and quiet. He peed, washed his hands, and stared in the mirror.
Ugly sucker
. A sharp knock sounded on the door.
Okay. Get back to work
.