Page 60 of You, Again
I spent the next fifteen minutes making up nicknames for knuckleheads before Nolan and I split them into smaller groups and got to work.
Two and a half hours later,Nolan pulled his truck behind my Jeep and met me on the doorstep. We wordlessly trudged upstairs, undressed, and hopped in the shower. Afterward, we sat on the deck and ate hoagies we’d picked up in town. We didn’t say much at first. Sandwiches were good, beers were cold, the sun was shining. And across the town, a dozen or so teenagers decided they wanted to be champions. For the Smokey Bear association, but still…life was good.
Nolan tilted his chin toward the sky. “You created a monster tonight, you know. I think they really want to win.”
“Everyone wants to win. The problem is that we want it to come easy. It never does.”
“Not even for you?” he teased.
I drained my beer bottle, shaking my head slowly. “Definitely not. I worked hard from the start. I was too afraid of being sent home as Elmwood’s biggest bust—and for other reasons we’ve already talked about. Long hours, sore muscles, body covered with ice packs every night, no social life outside of my team. It was tough. I didn’t make millions right away, ESPN didn’t want to interview me, kids weren’t saving up for my jersey. I couldn’t have been more average if I tried. Don’t get me wrong, I was good enough to be in the NH fuckin’ L, but I wanted to be more than ‘good enough.’ I wanted to be great.”
“You were. How’d you do it?”
“I drove myself to the brink of exhaustion every day at practice and home workouts. And I played harder on the ice than I thought I could. I created this good-natured asshole persona on the ice, and the fans ate it up. Suddenly, ESPN noticed,Sports Illustratednoticed, and…women noticed,” I added with a frown. “I fed off that energy and soaked up the limelight like oxygen…like I needed that praise to fucking breathe. To be honest, it wasn’t easy to adjust to being just plain ol’ me when I was alone. I got lost a few times along the way. And now…I’m home again.”
“Anticlimactic, eh?”
“No, it’s been good. I still don’t know what comes next, but I had more fun this afternoon coaching those terrible teenage menace hockey players than I should admit.”
Nolan barked a laugh. “You were amazing.”
“Nah, but it felt like we got through to them today, and I can’t help but think it must be cool to string a few days like that together. To light a fire under someone and make them believe they could be anything they want to be.”
He slipped his hand in mine and squeezed. “Did my dad do that for you?”
“Yeah, definitely. But…so did you.”
“Me?” He pulled back, cocking his head curiously. “How so?”
“Ah, Nol. I can’t explain. It’s just…who you are. You quietly take care of everyone around you. No fuss. You check in with your friends and your mom, you babysit your niece, you take over your dad’s business, you help your brother coach.…You give and you give, and all the while you’re cheering everyone on. The night before I left for college, you hugged me, wished me luck, and you said, ‘Go be a superstar.’”
“You remember that?”
“I remember everything about you,” I replied, staring out at the horizon where the setting sun painted streaks of pink and purple across the blue sky. “You didn’t ask when I’d be home or what would happen to us. Next thing I knew, a year or two had gone by and I figured we both moved on and that was…okay. You know, your dad called to congratulate me when I got drafted?”
“No.”
“He said you were away at school and told me to call you. I chickened out.” I pursed my lips and sighed. “I regret that. I’m haunted by the things I’ve lost when I thought I’d won.”
“No regrets, Vin. We’re here now.”
“I know.” I brought our joined hands to my lips and kissed his knuckles. “I know. And it’s better than I ever thought it could be.”
I held his hand tightly, listening to the gentle lap of water below us, and warblers and crickets somewhere in the distance.
As twilight descended, we went upstairs, undressed in the moonlight, and came together with soft kisses and featherlight caresses. I slowed the pace, pulling away when he clung to me like a koala. It would have been too easy to take and plunder, but I didn’t want this to be about me…my pleasure, my discovery, my needs. I wanted to worship him the way Nolan deserved to be.
I licked him from the column of his throat to his nipples, the dips in his rib cage, his belly button to his V-line. I pressed kisses along the inside of his thigh, his calf, and the arch of his foot. I bit his big toe and he laughed, pulling me on top of him. I changed tactics and manhandled him onto his stomach, urging him to his knees.
“What are you—oh, fuck.”
I pulled his cheeks apart and feasted on his ass as if I couldn’t get enough. I slipped my hand between his knees and stroked his cock while I laved his entrance, loving his deep hum of approval.
“Feel good?”
“Yes, fuck…yes,” Nolan groaned, wriggling under me. “But I want…”
“What do you want, baby? Tell me. I’ll give you anything.”