Long Pass Chronicles 01 - Outing the Quarterback (19 page)

Damn, he didn’t want to move. Noah’s sweet smell surrounded him and that beautiful body warmed Will’s side. He’d gladly stay here forever.

Whoa
. The thought startled him. Where was Will Ashford, type-A overachiever?
Huh
. Nowhere. That guy didn’t exist except in his father’s imagination. The real Will liked to sleep in and take life slower. The real Will would be happy painting for hours by the ocean and never looking at a watch. Man, how far from that picture was his life?

Get on with it
. He very slowly slipped away from Noah and slid off the bed to the floor. Noah shifted, turned onto his back, but kept sleeping.
Good
. He worked so hard, he needed to sleep.

Will stood and walked bare-assed—and happy-assed—to the couch. After a brief untangling session, he pulled his phone from his pocket and perched on the edge of the couch.

New text from Jamal. It said
Where are you? Your father called. I told him you here asleep. Hope that right thing 2 do.

What a friend
. Will texted back
Thnx. Just right. At Noahs.

He took a deep breath and dialed his father. Voice mail answered.
There is a God
. “Hi, Dad. Sorry. I stayed at Jamal’s working on new plays, fell asleep, and didn’t get to call. I’ll be at the company later today. See you tonight.”

“Checking in?”

Will looked up at Noah, stretched on the bed with a hand behind his head. The pose ought to be painted. Jeez, what a beauty. “Yeah. I never stay out without letting them know.”

Noah grinned.

“I know. It’s lame, but they still support me.”

The grin turned into a smile.

“Okay, that’s lamer. But just this year, then I’m free.”

Noah flipped on his side. “Really? How do you get free?”

His throat tightened. “Uh, I was hoping to get a scholarship to art school and work part-time to pay my living expenses.”

“A scholarship like the Milton?”

He looked down at his phone. “Yeah. But there are other scholarships.”

“None like the Milton. Full boat, baby.”

He blew out his breath. “Yeah, I know.”

Noah flipped to sitting. Funny, they were both naked but no cock rose. That’s what heavy subjects did. “We’ve made things harder for each other, haven’t we?”

Will’s heart hammered.
Shit
. “Maybe, but
—
” He swallowed hard. “
—
for me it’s worth it.” He didn’t breathe.

“Me too.”

Oh yeah
. Will let the air out. “Want to fuck some more?”

Noah laughed. “I have to get cleaned up. I work at eleven and then have a class tonight I need to study for.”

“I have to show up for my internship and then go to football practice.”

“Sounds divine.”

Will smirked. “Can I take you to breakfast?”

Noah flashed the dimples. “That sounds great since I have one egg in the refrigerator.”

“Hell, that refrigerator’s so small it’ll only hold one egg.” Noah got up and stretched, and suddenly Will’s relaxed cock had better ideas. “Uh, maybe we should shower together to save water?” He grinned.

“Have you seen my shower?”

He shook his head.

“I practically have to leave one leg outside at a time. No way it’ll hold both of us. But I’m definitely up for another nighttime meet-up after my class gets out at ten.”

“Count me in.” What in the hell would he tell his father? Oh well, he had all day to come up with a story.

Noah ran himself through the shower so fast, Will named it the car wash. When Will stepped under the water for his turn, the impossibility of sharing the space drove home. His shoulders literally touched the two walls.

They both dressed and headed for the door. Before opening it, Noah stopped and turned to Will. He touched Will’s cheek. “I don’t want you to think I wouldn’t like to have sex or take a shower with you. I’d love to do everything there is with you. I’ve just trained myself to follow my crazy schedule. Maybe someday we’ll have the time.” He reached up and gently touched Will’s lips with his own.

Wow
. Somehow all the wildness of the previous night’s sex didn’t mean quite as much as that sweet kiss. “Thank you. I’d like to do everything with you too.”

Noah flashed the dimples and opened the door. “Will you feed me huevos rancheros?”

“You bet your beautiful ass.”

Noah waggled his butt as they walked to the car. “How about the Roadrunner?”

“My thought exactly.”

It only took seven minutes to pull into the parking lot of the Mexican place where they’d had lunch the other day. Like before, Will parked in a spot and waved at the valet. As they walked up the steep parking lot, Noah bumped him. “Hey, I think we’ve found ‘our’ restaurant.”

Will smiled. Ridiculous how happy that idea made him.

The bar wasn’t too busy this early and the hostess took them to a table in a corner. They ordered the huevos for both of them, then settled back with coffee.

Noah sipped. “How’s life in football world?”

“Okay. We have a preseason game tomorrow for charity. Season opener is this weekend.”

“Preseason? Is that like practice?”

“Kind of, but against another team that wants to win. It’s a regular game, it just doesn’t count. I wish you could come.” He smiled.

Noah shrugged. “I don’t know anything about football, but I’d come to see you in tight pants. Of course, I have to work.”

“I figured.” The waiter brought their food and they fell on it. Will laughed between bites. “Man, I’m starved.”

“Sex will do that to you.”

He laughed. “Especially if you have sex instead of eating.” He took another bite, chewed, and swallowed. “I’m supposed to keep my weight up, but it’s hard. I’m not naturally bulky. Miss one meal and I lose a couple pounds.”

“Are you going to make Masterson’s classes this week?”

“Yeah. I kill myself to get there. He wasn’t happy when I had to leave early the other day.”

“Neither was I. I’d geared up for this big apology and you left before I could deliver.”

Will downed the last bite of egg, beans, and sauce. “What were you going to apologize for? Being too cute for me to resist?” He grinned.

He got the hoped-for smile back. “No. I’d never apologize for that. I just figured I acted kind of cool and uncaring when you left my place the other night.” He looked down at his almost empty plate. “I do that sometimes. Pretend I’m all that when it’s not how I feel. Self-protection, I guess.”

Warmth filled Will’s chest. “Thank you for telling me. I thought you didn’t care and never wanted to see me again. I figured you thought I was too much trouble.”

“Well, you are that, but who could resist your ass?”

Will reached over and smacked Noah’s shoulder. Noah grabbed his wound like he was terminal, cried “ow, ow, ow” as he laughed, and smacked Will’s shoulder back. Will grabbed Noah’s hands and wrestled them together in a wristlock. “Okay, now I’ve got you where I want you.”

The flash lit up the room. What the hell? Will looked up, still holding Noah’s wrists, then dropped them like they were on fire.

Hascomb. How the hell did he get here?

For one second their eyes locked. Will started to smile like they were old friends and Hascomb would never do anything to hurt Will, but Dennis’s expression sent ice down his back. Oh yeah, the guy grinned, but Will sure as fuck knew a victory smile when he saw one. Then he turned and walked quickly out of the restaurant.

Shit
. Will scooted out of his chair, ran to the front, and out the door. Hascomb must have moved fast because he was closing his car door a half block away. “Dennis! Wait.”

The guy had to have heard, but the door slammed and the Toyota sedan pulled away from the curb and into the southbound PCH traffic.

How could this have happened? Okay, so the Roadrunner was popular and Dennis said he hung out in Laguna, but at 10:00 a.m. on a Thursday?
Shit!
What had he seen? No matter how he sorted it, the answer was too fucking much.

He walked back into the restaurant and to the table in the corner. Noah sat there frowning with his arms crossed over his chest. “What just happened?”

Will collapsed in the chair, saw the check on the table, reached for his credit card in his pocket, and slapped it on the bill. He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “That guy with the camera goes to SCU. He has this really popular YouTube show that’s all gossip and shit. My ex-girlfriend’s been hanging out with him. Every time I see him, I see her giving him an earful.”

“And now he’s got pictures of you and me together.”

“Yeah.”

Noah waved a hand. “Hell, you have lots of guy friends, I’ll bet. I’m just one more.”

Will looked up from his perusal of the hairs on his arm. “Ya think?”

“No.”

“Me either.”

“Can’t you sue him for invasion of privacy or some shit?”

“Probably not. I’m considered a public person.”

“Whoa. So what does this mean?”

“I sure as fuck wish I knew.”

H
OT
. W
ILL
blew air on his passing hand to dry it. They’d run the weak-side lead three times, and his running back had missed the pass one out of the three times. Not acceptable. One more time.

Coach yelled across the field, “Switch to Albertson.”

Will nodded. He ran the play again, this time passing to the wide receiver. Dead on.

Coach nodded. “Grab some water.”

Will trotted to the bench, sat, poured some water on his hand, then drank. He stared back at the bleachers. No Hascomb. He was usually here. Tiffany led her cheerleaders through their paces and seemed to be ignoring him.

Jamal trotted up. “Good play.”

“Thanks.” He passed a water bottle to the big guy. “Hey, you heard any weird rumors or anything?”

“No, should I have?”

He puffed his cheeks. “I hope not.” Coach called them back to the field. “I’ll tell you later. No worries.” Shit, he wished that was the truth.

They practiced another two hours. Jamal had to run some plays with the linebackers and said he had a ride, so Will took off for home. How the hell was he going to explain being gone all night tonight? The night before his first game?

He pulled out of the parking lot and maneuvered his way to the freeway. Another parking lot.
Damn
. He better go home after Noah’s tonight. If he wasn’t at home in the morning for breakfast, he’d have a hell of a lot more explaining to do than he felt up for.

He hammered his hand on the steering wheel. Maybe Hascomb wouldn’t do anything with those pictures. All they showed was Will messing around with another guy like friends do. Dennis couldn’t prove otherwise. Right? No worry.

He flipped on some music and tried really hard to listen to it as he crawled along the six lanes of traffic. Even with the nagging concern about that asshole Hascomb, his cock still happy danced over thoughts of seeing Noah after work. Man, if he’d known what it was like to be Noah’s bottom, he would have come out at twelve. He chuckled.

Finally the crush lightened, and he made some time on the last few miles to Newport Beach and home. He pulled up in front of the mansion, left the car in the drive, and let himself in. He glanced around at the grand entry with its sweeping staircase and formal portraits. What would it be like to live in a tiny shack like Noah? Hell, if he lived in that shack
with
Noah, it might be fucking great.

He started up the stairs.

“William. Come into my study, please.”

Shit
. He turned and walked back downstairs. His father was rounding the corner into his study by the time Will hit the hall.
This should be ugly
.

He entered the room and sat in the guest chair in front of his dad’s desk. “Yes, sir.”

“How was practice?”

“Good. I think we’re ready for tomorrow.”

His father frowned. “I want you to get to bed early. I’m worried that you’re not getting enough rest. That’s why when I called Jamal’s last night and he told me you were sleeping, I said not to wake you. I don’t think you’re putting on enough weight. You need to take care of yourself if you’re going to shine this season.”

“I’m taking care of myself, sir. I even went out for a big breakfast before practice.”

“Good. Glad to hear it. I may be a little late to the game tomorrow, but I’ll be there.” He smiled.

“Thank you.” Damn, the world was closing in.

“I wouldn’t miss your debut as starting quarterback, even if it is only a demonstration game.”

Will got up. “Thank you again.”

“Are you going out this evening?”

“Yes. Later.”

“Just don’t be too late.”

What was he? Five? “I’ll get plenty of rest. We don’t have practice in the morning, so I can sleep in.”

He must have frowned because his dad said, “I don’t mean to interfere, but I want you to succeed.”

Will nodded and walked out of the room and down the hall. His father wanted Will to succeed at the things he valued. Maybe it was better than not caring at all.

Up in his room, he tossed his phone and keys on the nightstand, undressed, threw on his sweats, and lay on the bed. He had a couple of hours before he met Noah. God, he couldn’t wait. He smiled and turned on his side. His ass hurt just thinking of it. Hurt good. He closed his eyes for a little Noah dream.

The bong of his phone signaling a text woke him. Maybe he was tired after all. Too much sex.
Ha
. No such thing. He grabbed the phone. Jamal. The text said,
Is this what you meant? Holy shit
. There was a link.

His hands started to shake before he even clicked on it.
Bad feeling
.

Dennis’s Den appeared on the YouTube video.
Very bad feeling
.

His boyish, avid face filled the screen. “Hey, SCU-ers. Welcome to a special edition of Dennis’s Den. Your very own investigative reporter has been doing some digging into the whys of a certain well-known campus breakup. After all, what guy in his right wet dreams is going to pass on the charms of the hottest cheerleader on any campus? Unless, of course, the guy in question maybe plays for a team other than the Lions, if you get my drift.”