Hookup List (11 page)

“Congrats for making it onto the ‘Hottie List’,” Liam said.

I laughed. “Yeah, you too,” I said. “I’m not sure what that’s all about but I suppose it can’t be a bad thing.
Argh. Let me take a break.”

Liam helped guide the bench press bar back onto the rack. I sat up and stretched my arms.

“Want to put 10 more pounds on?” Liam said. “I think I can do another set at that weight.”

“Sure,” I said. Liam walked off to get the weights.

It was 6:30 AM and the weight room was deserted. The lifting coach had opened the room at 6:15 AM and then gone off somewhere, probably to sleep. Liam and I were both wearing shorts and weightlifting shirts – the kind with no sleeves and the sides cut out to maximize ventilation and allow a guy to see more of his abs as he worked out. I could see that Liam was pretty fit. He was lean and definitely had a six pack. With his good looks and all-around fitness, I figured girls were probably all over him.

“So who do you think wrote that list? Who is Little Miss Aphrodite?” I asked. I wondered if I knew the chick. I was really hoping that it was Trinity London but that seemed doubtful. She was new to the school and it would have been weird for her to put her own brother on the list.

“No idea,” Liam said. He put the extra weight on and took my spot on the bench. I stood by his head to spot him. “Maybe get a little closer,” Liam said. “This is more than I usually lift and I want you to be right there in case I drop it.”

I was practically on top of him already. If I moved any closer I would almost be straddling his head. Well, we were just two guys, and if it didn’t bother Liam it didn’t bother me. I shuffled closer. The front of my shorts were nearly brushing Liam’s forehead.

“That’s better,” he said. “So tell me again how it went at the Reagans’. How pissed was Mr. Reagan?”

“Pretty pissed,” I said as Liam started to lower the weight. “It was awkward. I mean, the first time I met him was when he came into David’s room and found me puking into a bucket. That’s wasn’t a very good start.”

“You were in... David’s room?” Liam grunted between breaths as he completed his push and lowered the bar again.

“Yeah, he’s a nice guy,” I said.
“Real sensitive type. He was very good with me, knew exactly what to do, made sure I was okay and everything, and even gave me his clothes to wear the next day. I think he really wanted to get me to join his wrestling team. He probably figured it would help me meet some new guys.”

“That’d be cool,” Liam said. He pushed the bar until he could lock his elbows for a rest and then continued back down. “I didn’t realize David and those guys played for our team, though it makes sense given their sport.
Uh... argh. Maybe I should try out for wrestling as well. It never hurts to meet some new guys and get in shape. Plus,” he said with a wink and he completed his lift, “it’d give me plenty of opportunities to pin you.”

“Hah, if you think you could pin me the oxygen must not be getting to your brain. You’re done,” I said. What had he meant by “played for our team?” Did he think David went to a different school? “Anyway, I felt a bit bad imposing on them. I barely know them. David’s sister Faith is a fearless little chick. She seems to want to take care of me.”

“Maybe she has a crush on you,” David said. “The poor girl.”

“Ha, ha,” I said dryly.
“Very funny. But no, I don’t think that’s it. I told her some stuff about my family and I think she feels like that formed some sort of bond between us.” I picked up the bar and began lowering it. It wasn’t as hard for me as it was for Liam because I was a bit more muscular. Still, Liam got so close to me that his crotch was nearly in my face. “Hey dude, get your nuts out of my face,” I said jokingly.

“You know you like it,” Liam said.

“Nope,” I said, laughing. “I’m out of your league. If some guy is going to have his nuts in my face he better be almost as good looking as me.”

“So that’s why you’re going to wrestle with David,” Liam teased. “He’d be the only other one on that
Hottie List. Or maybe Sam Queen would be willing to do it? He plays a straight guy but I don’t know, he seems too pretty to be straight. I’ve always wondered whether he’s gay.”

“Well, if Sam Queen is half as good looking as me, which we both know really isn’t possible, you can arrange to have him come and stuff his junk in my face all you like,” I said. “Until then, if you don’t back up I’m going to drop these weights on your foot.” I went for another rep. “Anyway, I told Faith some stuff about my family and I think she feels like we have this bond now. When she saw me get sick at the party she thought she needed to do something.”

“Now that you’ve dared me to do it I’m totally going to fix you up with Sam and see what happens,” Liam said. Wow, the kid was really persistent about the gay teasing. Usually guys left that kind of joking alone after a couple comments. “Okay, what kind of family stuff did you tell Faith anyway?”

I started another rep and thought about how much I wanted to say. I really didn’t want word of my formerly abusive dad to get out, especially among the guys at Lakeville. That would make things uncomfortable for me and put Aaron in a really awkward position with his friends that still went to school here. Jerry was Aaron’s actual father and regardless of anything else, I didn’t think Aaron would appreciate people looking down on Jerry.

“My dad is not my actual dad,” I said finally as I finished my reps and put the bar back on the rack.”Maybe that sounded weird. I mean that my mom’s husband – Aaron’s dad – is not my real father. I told Faith that and I think it made her feel like we had a bond.” There. I had given Liam an idea of what I was talking about without actually saying that Jerry had hit me.

“Seriously?”
Liam asked in surprise. “So who’s your real dad?”

I shrugged. “No idea,” I said. “My mom never told me and I didn’t bother to ask.”

“That’s crazy,” Liam said. “You don’t want to know? What if it’s someone in the area? Maybe he even has kids at this school. What if you hook up with someone who’s your half sibling?”

I had never thought about that possibility. It instantly made me feel uneasy. “That’s disgusting,” I said.

“Yeah man,” Liam said. “You should really find out who you biological father is, if for no other reason than to avoid that. Can you check your birth certificate?”

“No, it says Jerry,” I said. “My mom and
him were back together by the time I was born.”

“Then just ask your mom,” he said.

“No way,” I said. “I don’t want to bring up something like that now.”

“This is a tough one then. Okay, so have any of the dads made an effort to talk to you recently? You’d think that your real dad might be at least a little curious about you. Maybe he’d try to strike up a conversation or something now that you’re going to Lakeville.”

“Not really,” I said. The only dad I had spoken to recently was Mr. Reagan and that was only because I puked in his basement. Wait, no, that wasn’t true. I had spoken to one other dad recently. “Well, one guy approached me, but that was just because I was doing him a favor.”

“Who?”
Liam asked.

I hesitated to even mention his name. “Mr. Anderson, Sadie’s dad,” I said.

Liam burst out in laughter.

“Hey, shut up, I know he’s not my real dad,” I said.

“I’m sorry, that would just be too perfect,” Liam said. “Can you imagine? Being related to Sadie? Your brother’s girlfriend? That would be so awkward.”

Insanely awkward.
I had made out with Sadie. “Yeah, it’s definitely not true,” I said. “Well, I mean, I guess he and my mother dated for a while, but that was back in high school.”

Liam instantly stopped laughing. “What?” he said incredulously. “Your mom dated Sadie’s dad?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” I said. “That was a long time ago, though.”

“Dude, are you kidding me?” Liam said. “You can’t just dismiss something like that. If your mom had a brief separation from her husband, it makes total sense that she would have hooked up with an old boyfriend. Oh
my gosh, Sadie’s dad totally looks like you too.”

“Shut up, no he doesn’t,” I said. And yet I thought back to his picture in the yearbook. He was a tall and had blond hair and blue eyes just like me.

“You need to find out,” Liam said. “Do some more researching on Sadie’s dad. I’ll help you. What’s his name anyway?”

“Gus Anderson,” I said, remembering the business card he had handed me. Then I froze. A chill went down my spine. The card hadn’t said “Gus Anderson.” It had said “Gus N. Anderson.” What did the “N” stand for? Nathan?

“What is it?” Liam asked, looking closely at my face.

“It’s nothing,” I said quickly. It was probably nothing.
Probably. Except, what if... what if my mom had given me my real father’s middle name? Maybe she didn’t want to give me his first name to signal to Jerry who he was. Or maybe I was named after Gus’s grandfather, whose first name could have been Nathan. The questions swirled in my mind. Was it a coincidence that Gus had dated my mom, looked like me, and had a middle initial that was the same letter as the one my name started with? Had he come out to talk to me because curiosity had gotten the best of him? Or did he not even know that I was his son?

I shook my head. I was NOT his son.
Most likely not, anyway. I just needed to go someplace and think. “Hey man, I’m not feeling well,” I lied to Liam. “The last few reps must have really taken it out of me. I think I’m done for the morning.”

“No problem,” Liam said. “Hey, I know we were joking, but did you mean it when you said I wasn’t good looking enough for you?”

“Ha! Totally,” I said with a laugh. I started walking out of the weight room. “You’re nowhere near pretty enough for me.”

“Fair enough,” Liam said. “And please tell me if this is out of line, but I was just wondering… have you ever had sex before? I was just wondering if maybe you were shy…”

That really made me laugh. “Shy? Hell no, the exact opposite, you could say. I had a three-some just yesterday. It was amazing,” I bragged. Those girls had been incredible. I felt a tinge of discomfort over Noah but I would find some way to make it up to him. Shagging his girlfriend was just far too pleasurable to stop now. Gah – I shook my head. Always thinking about sex. I had bigger things to worry about right now. Gus N. Anderson. I was almost out of the weight room. If I changed quickly I could get to a computer and search his name to see what I could find.  

“Oh man, okay, I’m going to fix you up with Sam them,” Liam called after me. “It won’t be easy, he pretends to be straight, but I’ll figure something out. If you don’t want me to
do it just say the word NO.”

“Shut up, dude,” I said. Wow, the guy really was relentless. Was he secretly gay or something? Nah, I would have picked up on that. He would have tried to make out with me before now. I was too good looking for him not to have made a move. “Hey, let’s lift again soon, this was good,” I said. Then I was out the doors. My mind was already wrestling with how to find out if Gus was my real father.

I had often thought about who my biological father was. I supposed that was only natural. I had even thought about the possibility that I had other half siblings. The idea that I could be related to Sadie, however, was just too weird. She was my brother’s girlfriend and I had made out with her...ugh. It was going to drive me crazy. I needed to find out if Gus was really my father. Until then, I wanted to avoid Sadie as much as possible. I was never very good at keeping secrets, I always just blurted out whatever I was thinking. Yes, I couldn’t be around Sadie right now. I would have to be extra careful to make sure she did not see me in the hall...

“Nathan Calvin Caldwell!” an angry-sounding female voice screeched.

I shuddered. All three names – that was never good. I turned around slowly. Sadie was standing directly behind me with her hands planted firmly on her hips. An angry look played across her face. Aaron had told her my middle name? My brother needed a good beating. Was there anything he hadn’t told her about me?

"Sadie," I said as cheerfully as I could manage. "What's up?"

"Don't what's up me," Sadie seethed. "I've heard all sorts of stories about what you’ve been up to. I heard about the party and I've been hearing some very disturbing things about the girls on my soccer team. We talked about this and I warned you what would happen if you didn't behave yourself."

"Behave myself?" I said. "Why? What are you gonna do if I don't? Are you going to have your friends duct tape me to a pole again?"

"I just might," Sadie said. "Don't tempt me. Your brother asked me again to look out for you when I saw him this weekend and I promised him that I would make sure you stayed out of trouble. I will go to any lengths necessary make sure that you do. Don't test me, boy."

Sadie shook her finger at me for emphasis and then turned on her heel and stormed away. I watched her go, glad to escape with only a brief scolding. Did she know about Darcy and Morgan? I didn't think so. If she had I might not be alive right now. It seemed like all she had at this point were rumors. I had to make sure it stayed that way. If Noah found out… well, it wouldn't be good.

That’s when I noticed that Sadie had left another person behind in her rage wake. The girl was staring after her in amazement as if rooted to the spot. There was something familiar about her. And then it occurred to me; she was Sadie's friend Alyssa. What was she thinking? It certainly didn't seem like she agreed with Sadie. Was she perhaps taken aback by how militant her friend had been?

I decided to take a chance. "Your friend is, uh, very forceful," I said. "Is she always like that?"

Alyssa looked up as if startled. "What? Oh, no,” she said. "Sadie is just really fond of your brother. I think she will go to any length to make him happy. Sometimes that makes her do funny things."

"Like threatening to tape someone to a pole?" I suggested. Then I waved the notion off dismissively. "Ha, I'm used to it from her. My brother is the same way. With the two them together I’m almost in constant fear."

Alyssa giggled. "I doubt that, Nate," she said. "You don't seem like the type to get scared easily."

I smiled. The fact that Alyssa had any idea what type person I was suggested that I caught her attention before. That was good. "Hey, your name is Alyssa, isn’t it?" I asked. I wracked my brain to try to think of what Aaron had told me about Sadie’s best friend. "You single-handedly won state for the girls’ soccer team last year, didn’t you?" I said.

Alyssa blushed. "No, hardly," she said. "I was just called in at the last minute and made a lucky play. Sadie is really the person responsible for our win."

"You're just being modest, I'm sure," I said. I tried to think about what Sadie had told me about Alyssa. Supposedly, Alyssa was too nice for me, at least according to Sadie. Well, I could be nice too. Out of the corner of my eye I saw one of the freshmen on my JV soccer team walking by. "Hey John, awesome job at practice yesterday!” I exclaimed. “You were incredible. Way to go, bud!"

The guy I was yelling at looked startled, probably because his name was almost certainly not John. In truth, I had no idea what his name was, but all those kids worshiped me. John was good enough for him. He gave me a shy smile, mumbled "Thanks," and hurried on.

"I can tell he really looks up to you," Alyssa said with a surprised smile on her face. "The look on his face was so cute. That was really nice of you.”

I shrugged it as if it were nothing. "That's just how I am,” I said. "I'm older than these kids and I've had a bit more experience with soccer, that's all. Guys like my brother gave me great encouragement when I was a freshman. I just want to pay the favor forward."

In truth, although my brother and his friends had been good to me, they had also pummeled me at every opportunity possible. I was their younger brother or surrogate younger brother and, therefore, a punching bag. Alyssa didn’t need to know that, however.

"You know, you seem like a really nice guy," Alyssa said.

"You sound surprised," I replied. "I guess Sadie has been telling you bad stuff about me."

Alyssa nodded. "I always feel like you have to give everyone a chance, though,” she said. "Sadie is a fantastic friend and an amazing person but that doesn't always mean she's right about people."

I smiled. "Well thank you for giving me a chance," I said. "You seem like a really nice person too. Hey, I think we should all get together hang out sometime, ya know? You could get to know me better. I don't have a lot of friends here." That was good, get her to feel sympathetic. "Maybe Sadie and Aaron and you and your boyfriend and me can all hang out sometime when Aaron comes home."

"Oh, well, my boyfriend was actually an exchange student last year and he's back in Venezuela now," Alyssa said. "But yeah, I'd love to hang out with you guys sometime. I always feel like the third wheel when I'm around Aaron and Sadie by myself. That’d be fun."

This couldn't have gone any better. I smiled at her again and said goodbye before going to my next class. So Sadie didn't think I could be nice enough to land a girl like Alyssa? Ha. How little she knew me. I had planted the seed and would be hooking up with Alyssa before the month was out.

I had something else to look forward to as well. The first JV soccer game of the season was that evening. As the end of the day neared I could hardly wait. It finally was my time to shine.

When I got to the field after school I could tell that my teammates were nervous. Each the normally ultra-relaxed Coach Dayton seemed a bit on edge. They need not have worried. I got a hold of the ball within a minute of the start of the game and then it was all over. I scored a hat trick in the first half and then followed up with an assist and another goal in the second half. We won easily. The parents in the stands were going berserk and by the time the game was over my teammates were lining up to give me high fives and fawning over me like I was some sort of hero. Well, not to brag or anything, but in a way I was.

Of course, every good hero deserves a girl. Morgan walked up to me as I was picking up my duffel bag on the sidelines. I had taken off my shirt and slung it over my shoulder. As she approached, I smiled. I could tell that she was mesmerized by my abs; she was coming in like a moth to a bright light. I flexed and tightened my abs a little bit to put on a show for her while I enjoyed the look of her tanned, sexy legs in her outstandingly short soccer shorts.

“Good game,” Morgan said when she reached me. “I caught the end of it after my practice finished. You were very dominant out there on the field. I like that.” She reached out and pressed her index finger on my chest. Then she let it trail down my chest until it reached my lower abs.

“I take it you’re horny,” I said with a smile.

“Always,” Morgan said. Her smile was evil.

I looked around to see if anyone else was watching us. “I, uh, don’t suppose you want to go somewhere a little more private?” I asked.

Morgan slipped her hand between my legs and gave me a little squeeze. “Does that answer your question?” she asked seductively.

Oh yes. “Give me 20 minutes and then meet me by the west entrance,” I said.

Morgan gave me another squeeze. “Make it 15 and let’s meet in the boy’s locker room,” she said evilly. “I’ve always wondered what it looks like and you’re all smelly. You need a shower and I wouldn’t mind joining you.”

Oh hell yes. “Done,” I said.

I had more than a little swagger in my step as I walked up to the school. Then Liam suddenly appeared at my side. “Hey, great game, Nate,” he said.

“Thanks man,” I replied. “You watched? I appreciate it.”

“No worries,” he said. “Hey, listen. I saw you with Morgan just now. I’m sure she’s got some plans for you but don’t sweat it, I’ve got someone else lined up for you.”

That piqued my interest.
“Oh yeah?” I said. “Who?”

Liam grinned. “That’s a secret, but trust me, you’ll like it,” he said. “I promise.”

Hmmm… that sounded promising. Liam was a senior and a lacrosse star; he probably knew all the best-looking chicks at this school on a very intimate level. If he was saying he had someone great lined up, maybe that was worth a shot. I always liked nice surprises. “Well Morgan needs tending to. You know how it is, man. Maybe I can get to your little surprise afterwards?”

Liam shook his head. “No way,” he said, “it’s now or never and I’m not letting you back out of this to impress some girl. My surprise is already waiting for you down in the locker room. Just follow me and do whatever I tell you, okay? You’ll be very, very glad you did.”

How could I pass that up? Hell, Morgan had shown that she was up for a little three-way action. If this worked out, we could all have the most adventurous shower of our lives. “Okay, lead the way, my friend,” I said.
My friend
. It felt good to finally have one of those at this school. “I’ll owe you one.”

“Excellent!” Liam exclaimed. “And yes, you definitely will. This is going to be epic.”