Page 49 of Hush

And, he had to text Kris, tell him Tom was coming tonight. And beg him to behave.

Kris, of course, didn’t behave. And neither did anyone else.

Tom showed up right before the sets began, dressed casually in shorts and a t-shirt. He and Kris were playing second out of the night, facing off with their co-team against two other teams from the league.

Of course, it was a gay men’s league, and Mike hadn’t thought about that when he said it was cool for Tom to come by. The first teams up to play wereButt SetsversusSliding Deep. The ref, a gay cop who could ham it up to the ever-loving stars, made a show out of calling the team names, side-eyeing Tom, hanging out with Mike on the sideline, with a smirk.

Tom flushed and coughed into his shoulder. Kris, stretching, grinned wolfishly.

“I… forgot to mention that it would be kinda crude.” Mike cringed. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Tom laughed. “When do you guys play?”

Mike explained the game setup and the rotations, and then stretched while Kris chatted with Tom. Kris wore his team tank top with pride, the rainbow letters boldly screaming their team name,Multiple Scoregasms,across his flat chest. He had on neon yellow short shorts and a sweat band. His hair, of course, was artfully coiffed skyward.

Mike kept his hoodie zipped around Tom. His shorts were a bit longer than Kris’s, but he was showing a lot of leg. He kept bouncing, jiggling, trying to bleed off his nervous energy before the match began.

Their team partners,Butt Sets, won, and then they were up. Kris leaned in close as they hit the sand. “Gonna be able to perform with your man watching?”

“Shut the hell up.”

He ditched his hoodie at the last moment, tossing it back toward the bench. He missed, and it fell on the grass.

“Aww, Tom is picking up your hoodie.”

“Shut up, Kris!”

“You’re so obvious. So, so obvious, Romeo.”

He tried to breathe before he served, tried to clear his mind. His first serve went too far, though, and then they were on defense.

The game went fast after that, and he was sweating in no time. Kris and he moved in sync, long used to each other on the court. They kept up with their opponents, and then moved ahead.

At a break in the game, Mike ripped off his tank top and tossed it aside, not thinking. He downed half a bottle of water and poured the rest over his face, and then froze when he saw Tom walking over.

“You guys look great.”

“I always look great.” Kris winked at Tom. The bastard was hardly sweating, even though they were working their asses off out there. Mike was drenched, in sweat and half his water bottle.

Tom smiled at Mike, like they were sharing a private joke, and took his empty water bottle when the ref blew the whistle and called for the end of the time-out.

The whistles and catcalls started then. Everybody had seen that, had seen Tom and him on the sideline. Mike had played with most of these guys for over two years, and they knew him pretty well. They’d seen him after Don and before Silvio, and knew his ways.

Him showing up with an older man, for any reason, had never, ever happened.

“Someone found a sugar daddy!”

“Showing off for daddy, hmm?”

“Be a good boy for your daddy!”

“Bend over and hit the spread, your daddy’s watching!”

He flushed, burning alive. Where was quicksand when he needed it? If he could dig his way out of the court, disappear and reemerge in China, he wouldn’t be far enough. He couldn’t look at Tom, Jesus. He could barely set up for the serve.

“Here daddy, daddy, daddy…”

He pounded the ball just to shut them all up, and he, naturally, missed.