Page 51 of Bend Him, Break Him

Things had been good with his mom, with the rest of the season, with his credits. Hell, with Isaac ready to advocate—well, threaten—on his behalf at the disciplinary panel, Colton believed he might very well end his academic probation once the school year concluded.

With finals mostly finished and classes wrapping up their last few sessions, Colton could finally breathe easily and relax.

At least until he had to start up the summer sessions.

He sighed at that, still perplexed how his mother and Isaac teamed up against him during lunch and bullied him into signing up for both sessions so he could catch up on his missing credits.

Whatever. He put that out of his head, dwelling less on the fact his boyfriend and mother ganged up on him and more on the fact his mother not only acknowledged Colton had a boyfriend, but she liked him.

Isaac. The least likable person, by choice, in the whole world.

Well, Colton’s world, at the very least.

“Are you finished getting ready?” Isaac poked his head into the room, scowl at the ready. “It’s the easiest costume to slip on.”

“It’s the skimpiest costume to slip on.” Colton scoffed as he slipped out of his boxers and into the tightest, tiniest, glitteriest gold short shorts in the world.

That wasn’t an exaggeration. His balls were practically hanging out, and there was absolutely no way to downplay his bulge.

“Why can’t I have a more discreet costume like you? ”

Isaac had put some temporary black dye in his hair and wore a black trench coat that went down to his ankles, hiding him entirely. Not much of a costume. He’d finally gotten the sling removed, but his bulky cast caused the sleeve of his coat to bunch up.

“You’re the only one who can rock the Rocky look.”

“I don’t remember Rocky ever wearing this in the ring.”

“Ew, not the boxing movie.”

“Movies,” Colton corrected, adding them to a mental list of flicks he’d make Isaac watch, especially since Isaac was dragging him to go watch The Rocky Horror Picture Show . “I just don’t see why we all have to dress up.”

“Because it’s blasphemy to attend undressed,” Isaac retorted. “Just be glad we’re not going to a live show. They devour virgins.”

“Welp, I’m safe.”

“Not that kind of virgin.”

Colton quirked a brow, perplexed but imagining he’d spend most of the night confused. Mina had been the one to suggest the movie night and poorly attempted to give Colton a synopsis of the story, which didn’t make any sense.

“Why are we watching this movie?”

“Because it’s iconic, and we’ve been talking about it all year.”

“I thought go-go shorts might be on the GSA’s agenda for me,” Colton said, playfully popping his hip and strutting a bit. “But I was picturing more Pride parades than weirdo movies.”

“How dare you.” Isaac tsked. “You will eat those words before the night is over.”

“I’m gonna eat something before the night is over.” Colton shoulder-bumped Isaac, lightly nudging him and giving quite the suggestive stare.

Isaac chuckled. It was so freeing to see the layers of anger wash away the more they spent time together. Little by little, Isaac transformed before Colton, and the new layers were even more appealing than the person he carried himself as most of the time.

With that, they left Colton’s empty apartment and set off for the party.

Tim had already left for the night, and Devon moved out after news of Leon’s behavior had exploded across campus.

Colton wasn’t sure if he went virtual for the remainder of the year, if he took the semester off, or if he simply dropped out.

Honestly, Colton didn’t care. He was just grateful not to have a reminder of Leon in his apartment or on the baseball team.

Most of the players—even the ones who’d buddied up to Leon—disavowed him, pretending he never existed.

“Why couldn’t we have just gotten ready over here?” Colton asked with a shiver. Despite the summer heat kicking in during May, the nights still held a strong chill which hit Colton exceptionally hard in his skimpy gold shorts.

“Saving you all the annoying pregame antics,” Isaac said, leading the way to Mina’s apartment—his temporary housing until he signed the lease for his own place in June.

“Saving yourself more like it,” Colton replied with chattering teeth and folded arms.

Before Isaac could slip his key into the lock, Mina answered the door, wearing the most bizarre bright pink dress. It wasn’t like Mina didn’t wear frilly things or pinks, but this had a stuffy, tame kind of look that didn’t fit Mina’s vibe.

Colton smiled, taking in the look, while she fanned her face and placed a hand on her forehead to dramatically pass out. There was a lot of trust in Mina’s fall, which Colton liked and feared in equal measure. He scrambled to catch her, and the pair giggled.

“Oh, Janet, you damn dirty slut.” Isaac bit the air. “You best keep your eyes—and everything else—off my man.”

Colton almost made a comment, something quippy about Isaac’s jealousy, but Mina stood upright and put on some prissy girly voice.

“Oh, Doctor, he’s gonna be all over me before the night is over.” Mina pursed her lips teasingly, and Colton concluded they were bantering as their characters.

“Well, then I guess I’m just gonna have to take your man for a ride.” Isaac snatched Jazz by the sleeve, nearly knocking her over as he jerked her into a playful squeeze.

Jazz wore the nerdiest oversized glasses with a brown coat and high waisted slacks.

“Now, now, now,” Jazz said with an exaggerated mannish voice and a phony nervous stammer. “There will be none of that, you hear.”

Jazz broke free from Isaac and eyed him from head to toe.

“Didn’t wanna ruin the surprise,” Isaac said like he could read her mind. Though, Colton wasn’t sure what the question was.

Jazz squinted. “You wore boots, though.”

“I’ve got his shoes , hun.” Mina nodded, gesturing for Isaac to head to her room.

“Is there more to your costume than I realized?” Colton asked.

“Just you wait,” Isaac replied. “The antici…pation is worth it.”

With that, Isaac wandered off, a definite swagger in his hips as he strutted away.

“Whatever.” Colton sighed. “Got any beers?”

Mina gasped. “Rocky, you’re not twenty-one. Dammit. But who am I to judge? Fridge.”

Much to his surprise, he spotted Tim in the kitchen, already standing alongside Carlos and having a laugh.

It wasn’t so much that Tim had shown up.

He was there when Mina pitched the idea and sort of invited himself, and Colton liked the idea of his roommate befriending his GSA crew. Sort of merging the two worlds.

No, what left Colton stunned was the costume Tim had gone with. He wore a maid’s uniform with a big sloppy red wig while Carlos dressed in a butler’s getup and a creepy bald cap with straggly long blond hair.

“Quite the outfit.”

“I haven’t worn this baby since pledge week.” Tim beamed. “Figured why not get my money’s worth and show off these killer legs.”

“Spoilers,” Carlos said, reminding Tim that Colton didn’t know the movie.

Not that Colton made much sense of the spoiler, but suspected the maid was a murderer. Probably. Or a murder victim. Or just trashy. Maybe that was Tim’s messy makeup job.

Colton sipped his beer, keeping an extra close eye on the rim of the bottle, and sort of wandered the apartment before the film started. Mina pounced playfully beside him, a wide smile filling her face.

“You okay, hun?”

“Yeah, I’m good.”

“You sure?”

Colton nodded, then took a big swig of his beer.

“We let it lie, what happened, and wanted to give you the space to process or ignore or handle that night.” Mina’s demeanor shifted entirely, serene and compassionate. “But if you’re ever not good, not fine, and want to talk—just know you have a whole crew of friends.”

“Thank you.” Colton grinned. “I really am good.”

“I know, I know. You’ve got the world’s most aggressive attack dog.” She waved a hand. “But if you ever want to talk to someone other than Isaac, we’re here for you, sweetie.”

“Here and queer.” Colton chuckled, raising his beer to toast.

“Is there any other way?” Mina cackled as she shuffled away to rejoin the growing party.

After a dozen or so other people arrived, along with one other Rocky, they started the film up, and Colton did his best to pay attention.

He’d never really cared for musicals, so the giant lips singing a story didn’t really catch his attention.

But the sly smile on Isaac’s face as he sang along, mouthing the entire script scene for scene, did, in fact, captivate Colton.

He’d never seen such a joyful glint in Isaac’s eyes, the pure awe of all his walls falling away as he just giggled and had fun.

Colton made a mental note to find more things like this horrible movie to make Isaac smile.

He wanted more carefree nights like this, he wanted more nonsense events with his friends, more of Isaac’s happiness.

While Colton didn’t know what the future held in store for them as a couple, he looked forward to exploring the many facets. After everything the semester threw at them, Colton trusted Isaac implicitly.

Partway through the film, Isaac slipped away. When he returned, his character was making his entrance, stepping off an elevator and through a crowd. Isaac walked with the same flair, his face covered in white makeup and his heels clicking on the floor.

Heels? Colton’s eyes went wide.

In a flash, Isaac ripped off his trench coat, revealing a lacy black corset, matching panties, and stockings to cover his legs.

He sang to the song, much like everyone else at the party, a kick in his step and a need to steal a sip from everyone’s drink as he used their glasses as makeshift microphones while belting the strangest lyrics in the world.

Strangest so far. Colton was in for a long night with this film and the audience participation of far too many people crammed in Mina’s living room. Still, he found himself entranced by Isaac’s flair, his strut, his sexy outfit.

When the song ended, Isaac collapsed onto the couch. His legs kicked high, tantalizing Colton with a million thoughts, and he was grateful Isaac lay across his waist because Colton’s boner would’ve been quite impossible to hide in the tiny gold shorts he wore.

“I love…” Colton bit his bottom lip. “I love this look.”

Isaac responded by maintaining eye contact while he subtly grinded against Colton. When Mina made a comment, Isaac hissed, and she returned to the movie while Isaac finally settled on Colton’s lap.

With all the attention back on the movie, Colton wrapped his arms around Isaac’s waist and held him in a tight cuddling hug that Isaac sank into with a small smile.

It was the perfect night, and Colton hoped for more just as chaotically entertaining as this one.

He hoped they could reach love. Real love.

He felt it. He wasn’t sure how Isaac felt.

Sure, he made a point of expressing that wasn’t the type of relationship they had, but things had grown and changed and evolved in ways neither of them expected since they first started this relationship.

Hell, it wasn’t even a relationship when they began. Tuning out the music of the movie, Colton wondered where their relationship would lead next, and he hoped for the best. He hoped for more days spent with Isaac.