Wrestling With Desire (18 page)

This is her idea of an apology?
"Of course I still love you...tomorrow night? Yes, definitely. Ok hon, g'night." She snapped her phone shut and shoved it back into her purse.

"Seriously, the boy doesn't know how to accept an apology.

He kept trying to blame himself and wouldn't let me get a word in edgewise."

Derek lifted his head out of his hands. "So, you guys made nice-nice and everything is all better?"

Beck pursed her lips. "Don't get all smart ass on me, Derek Thompson. It's not like you are Mr. Sensible all the time."

"Very true. So, shall I buy us another round?"

Beck nodded. As he passed her chair she grabbed his hand. "Thanks for being there. It's nice to know that I can still count on my favorite best friend."

* * * *

Derek woke up to the sound of his cell phone ringing the next morning. Reaching over to his desk without opening his eyes, he fumbled for his phone, spilling a pile of papers and a book onto the floor in the process. "H'lo". His voice was groggy and thick with sleep.

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"I woke you. Shit." Scott sounded mortified. "Go back to sleep and call me when you get up."

"No, I'm up, I'm up. What's up?" Derek rolled over and leaned on his elbow, rubbing his eyes with his free hand. It was 10:28.

"Nothing, I just wanted to get together with you." Despite the fact that Derek had only been awake for about thirty seconds, he couldn't suppress the smile that spread across his face. Scott had such an innocent way of saying things with sincere honesty that it was impossible not to feel all warm and fuzzy.

Derek stretched while still managing to keep the phone by his ear. "Yeah. What are you in the mood for?"

"I hadn't really thought about it. You have any ideas?"

"Um, yeah. Maybe we could go into Boston and walk around. I have been meaning to go to Best Buy to check out new mixing boards." Remembering his evening with Beck, he thought it might be a good idea to include her in their plans if Scott didn't mind. "Would you mind if we included Beck with us today? She kind of had a rough night last night."

"Really? What happened? Is she ok?"

"Well, it appears that her musical love interest would be more interested in Beck if she was a chick with a dick." Derek heard a smack through the earpiece of his phone. "You there?"

When Scott's voice returned, it was thunderous laughter that came through the line. "Yeah." More laughing. "M'here.

Sorry. I dropped the phone." It took Scott a minute before he could continue speaking as he attempted to catch his breath.

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"You have got to be kidding me. Bryce, the only guy that Beck spends time with nowadays, is gay? That is priceless!"

Derek wasn't sure if he appreciated Scott's lack of concern, but he began to laugh with him anyways.
I guess it is kind of
funny. As long as I never, ever let Beck know I think so, I
should be fine.
"Ok, enough Scott. She was upset. Should I invite her to join us?"

"Yeah, definitely. I love hanging out with Beck."

His irritation was short lived, replaced by affection as Scott so easily and quickly included Beck in their plans. A sudden thought crossed his mind and he became momentarily concerned. "You
will
be nice won't you? I mean, you won't make her feel stupid or bad or anything like that? Sometimes, when the two of you get together you both—."

"Oh, come on. Give me a little more credit than that."

Scott sounded insulted. Derek held his breath waiting for Scott to continue. "I love my balls way too much to piss her off." Derek started breathing again.

"Ok, I'll give her a call and then let you know the plan."

Hanging up, Derek called Beck who was thrilled about the idea of a trip to Boston. They agreed to meet in Harvard Square at noon so they could take the Red Line into the city.

* * * *

The train was packed, so Derek and Beck sat next to each other and Scott stood holding one of the railings above the seats to keep stable. Getting off at Kendall Square and walking to Newbury Street, they window shopped for about an hour stopping at clothes stores for Beck, a sports gear 158

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store for Scott, and a fragrance store that sold reed diffusers and scented soap for Derek. Finally, they made their way to Copley Place Plaza where Derek could check out mixing boards at Best Buy. The mall was packed, but Best Buy was fairly clear of shoppers in the music equipment section. Derek started looking at the various boards while Beck and Scott followed, paying little attention to what Derek was doing.

"So," Beck said, "I assume Derek has told you about last night's fiasco."

Scott flushed and turned to Derek, not knowing how to respond. Derek looked up, feeling heat rush to his cheeks.

Glancing at Scott he shrugged, unsure of what Scott should say or do.

"Oh, relax. Both of you. I'm not stupid." She turned so that she was facing Scott. "I know that whatever I tell Derek and whatever Derek tells me, you will know about it. Just so long as we keep things between the three of us, I have no problem with it. Agreed?" Scott and Derek dutifully nodded their heads in assent. Derek was pretty sure he saw Scott's hands begin to move protectively towards his crotch. "Good, so after Derek dropped me off from Starbucks, Bryce called me and we had this long talk..."

Derek tuned out their conversation and began looking at the mixing boards in earnest. He wasn't sure exactly what he was looking for, but he knew that his current mixing board, with eight tracks, was becoming too limited for him. He wanted something with more memory, more tracks, and a dual stereo system so he could blend one song into another without having to stop the music. It would take more upfront 159

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time to mix songs before parties, but the result would be awesome.

He checked out several models and finally decided that the TASCAM M-164FX 16 Channel Mixing Board with Digital Effects came closest to what he was looking for. It was reasonably priced at $350 before taxes and warrantee, but more than he was willing to spend at the moment. He'd have to think it through before buying it.

It caught him off guard when Scott leaned against him, wrapping his arms around Derek's waist and resting his chin on Derek's shoulder. "Find something you like?"

"I think so. This model here would give me the capability I want and I could still use all of the equipment I already have.

I would probably have to talk to the owner of the record store where I buy my sound albums to see if he knows the model and could give me some pointers on how to use it. It's a lot more sophisticated than what I use right now. But the songs I could mix would be amazing."

Scott gave Derek a quick peck on the cheek and pressed his crotch against Derek's ass. "I get so hot when you talk all technical and shit."

Derek felt Scott's hardness against him, but what excited him more than the evidence of Scott's arousal, was the feeling of being held by him in public. It hadn't even occurred to him to worry about it as he snuggled back into Scott's embrace. Somehow, it just felt right and he didn't care if anyone was watching.

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"Ah-hem. Should I leave you two alone?" Beck tickled Derek's side, causing him to squirm. The movement caused his ass to rub against Scott's crotch.

"Mmm..." Scott moaned into his ear. He gave Derek a quick peck on the cheek, took a nip at his earlobe, evoking a high-pitched squeal from him, then released him and stepped back.

Beck, who had been observing, turned to look at Scott with affection. "I know I should be jealous of you two, but you have got to be the sweetest, cutest couple Brampton has ever seen." Swooping between Scott and Derek, she hooked both of their arms and started leading them towards the door.

Scott stopped them. "You guys mind if we hang out here for a bit longer?"

Beck looked at Scott with a puzzled look in her eyes.

"Why?"

Scott sidled up to the shelving unit so that it was blocking him from the waist down, then reached into the front of his pants.

Beck's mouth opened in horror. "What the fuck are you doing?"

Scott's face flushed, but Derek came to his rescue before he had to respond. "Remember how I explained about how guys sometimes have to adjust themselves?"

Beck's expression shifted from thoughtful, to understanding, to shock. "You mean—."

Derek smiled. "Yup."

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Beck turned to Scott. "You little horn-dog." She walked over to him and swatted him on the nose playfully. "Bad, Scott. Bad!"

Scott started panting and chased Beck up and down the aisle as if she were a bone. Every few seconds he would bark like a dog.

As the two of them tussled with each other, laughing, Derek turned back to the mixing board he had been looking at. He snatched a spec sheet for it and tucked it into his coat pocket.

After a few more minutes of tickling and grabbing, Beck released Scott. "You boys need to take me to lunch now. Let's see. I think I'm feeling like Legal Seafood."

Derek loved seafood, but couldn't resist the opportunity to use his favorite line. "Beck, how many times have I told you?

If I wanted to eat fish, I'd be straight."

Scott choked and started coughing. Beck punched Derek's arm as hard as she could. Derek had to admit that it actually hurt. "You are the crudest, most disgusting person I have ever met...It's one of the reasons I
adore
you!" With that, they headed for the restaurant.

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Chapter 10

Over the next couple of weeks Derek and Scott became more and more focused on wrestling. Practices had been going smoothly, and the team was able to recover from Josh's warm-up routines much faster, which left them more time and energy to spend on learning new moves and scrimmaging. Their first meet was scheduled for the following Tuesday against Allistaire High in Lexington. Allistaire was one of the two schools they were worried about as serious contenders for the division.

Coach gathered the team in a semi-circle on the mat.

"Today, we are going to learn a new move. It's a tough one and takes a lot of guts. Sean said he learned it this summer and thought it might give us an edge against Lexington next week. Let me start by saying that I do
not
want anyone using this move unless they feel extremely comfortable with it. It's called a suplex and you could end up sprawled on your back with your opponent on top of you if you don't execute it correctly. Sean, would you like to come and show the move?"

Sean got up and walked to the center of the mat. "Ok, while you will be doing this move with someone your own weight, I think it would be best if I taught it using someone from a lower weight class so we can focus on the mechanics of the move. It's harder to execute if you have to worry about hauling weight as well as maneuvering your body correctly.

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backwards and we'll both be in the air for a moment, just as a forewarning. Would anyone like to volunteer to assist me?"

Derek jumped up. "Definitely. I mean if you injure me I'll...uh...probably not be able to do much about it. But learning it firsthand will help me to get the mechanics of the move down."

"All right." Sean moved to the center of the mat, motioning for Derek to join him. He spoke to the group while positioning Derek for the demonstration. "This is a move that happens from the standing position. You won't be able to do it unless you toggle for just the right arm position, so it's not something that you can do right off the whistle. What you want to do is to get outside arm control on both of your opponents arms. They won't be expecting it since most moves are executed from inside arm position. However, you need to be careful, because taking the outside arm position leaves you vulnerable until you make your move."

Sean started circling with Derek and tussled for arm position. "The best thing to do is to focus on one arm, and only grab your opponent's other arm when you're ready.

Keeping your second arm free will allow you to fend off any offensive moves from your opponent and will keep them thinking that you are preparing to execute something more standard. Derek, just wrestle like you normally would, but don't go for the takedown." Derek complied and continued circling with Sean, allowing him to maintain outside arm control of his right arm. Suddenly, faster than Derek could register, Sean shot his free arm around the outside of Derek's left arm and squeezed, clamping both of Derek's arms in a 164

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tight grip. He then bent his knees, shoved his hips forward and up, arching backwards.

He could feel his body being lifted off the mat as Sean continued arching backwards. Then Sean twisted his body to the side, pulling roughly on Derek's arm for leverage. The motion caused Derek to glide through the air so that his back was facing the mat, while Sean used his body weight and motion so that he would land on top of him, chest to chest, on the mat. Once they landed, Sean hooked both of Derek's legs with his own, tightened his grip on Derek's arms, and arched his back. Derek was unable to move and his shoulders were pinned securely to the mat.

Sean let Derek up and was rewarded with a round of applause and murmurs of approval. "Remember, you could end up landing flat on your ass...er, I mean butt...sorry Coach...if you don't do this right. If you don't get your opponent completely off the ground and if you don't rotate your body mid-air, you will end up on your back with your opponent on top of you."

Sean showed the mechanics of the move a few more times, stopping frequently to explain each hold and giving particular attention to the moment when he used Derek's body weight mid-air to begin the turn so that they would both land properly. When the team began attempting the move, most of the guys, including Derek, ended up on their backs each time they tried to throw their partner. A few guys successfully executed it towards the end of practice. As the team headed to the locker room, Sean received numerous claps on the back.