Wrestling With Love (8 page)

Scott stared at Derek whose face had turned beet red. Without diverting his eyes, he responded to Steve. “You don’t need to convince me. I already know I’m the luckiest guy around.” He walked over to Derek and slid one arm around his waist, resting it on his ass, and with the other hand he cupped Derek’s neck and pulled him into a deep kiss. As Derek melted into his embrace, he was momentarily distracted by how possessive he felt, as if he were staking his claim amidst a pack of wolves. When he broke out of the kiss, he turned to face Steve, feeling a bit like he was sending the unspoken message, He’s mine. Keep away.

Steve didn’t seem to notice, standing with his hands clutched over his heart and a dreamy expression on his face. “So adorable.” He shook his head, then turned and headed back to the door where a line had begun to form.

38

D.H. Starr

Wrestling With Love

When he turned back to Derek, his boyfriend wore a surprised face with a slightly ajar mouth. “What was that all about? Not that I’m complaining, but to kiss me like that in a crowded place like this…”

Scott shrugged. “I don’t know. I was watching the two of you talking and saw how Steve was looking at you and I guess I got…” The words were on the tip of his tongue, but somehow he wasn’t able to get them out. Staring at his feet, Scott wondered why he was having difficulty expressing himself. Derek was usually the one who bottled up his feelings, but to Scott, admitting he felt jealousy seemed somehow to admit weakness. He was the strong one, the one Derek leaned on. To feel insecure placed him on uncomfortable ground.

He raised his eyes to face Derek and was once again surprised by the expression that greeted him. All of his features were relaxed, content, and his warm amber eyes held Scott’s like a magnet. “You were jealous.” He closed the distance between them and hugged him, squeezing tightly and leaning his head against the rounded shoulder muscle. “You don’t need to be. I was bragging about you the whole way to the table.”

“I know. It’s silly. Forget it.” It was just like Derek to say or do the exact right thing to bring levity to a serious moment. Wrapping his arms around Derek, he ran his hands up and down his back. “Hey.”

Derek lifted his head from Scott’s shoulder and looked up at him. “What?”

”I’m having a great time. This was a terrific graduation present. Thank you.”

“In case you hadn’t figured it out yet, I like doing things that make you happy. You’re welcome.”

Scott leaned in, brushing his lips against Derek’s. Warmth covered his mouth as their lips parted and Derek’s tongue gently tumbled with his own. After a moment, Scott pulled back, a taste of ginger ale in his mouth. He inhaled deeply, a hint of Derek’s musky scent filling his nose. It reminded him of wrestling season and practicing with him after the team had left the room. Normally, work-out smells were unpleasant, but Derek’s scent aroused him. In a hushed whisper, but in a voice filled with urgency, he leaned close. “I love you.”

Lifting up onto his toes, Derek gently brushed his lips against Scott’s, kissing him once more, then whispered his response. “I love you too.”

It was while they were staring at each other, lost in their private world, that the bar boy stopped by. “Excuse me, guys. Can I get you something to drink? Guys?” The both of them turned toward the voice that was speaking.

Scott raised two fingers. “Yeah, could we have two ginger ales?”

”Sure thing.” The bar boy’s gaze lingered on Scott, roaming up and down his body, before he winked and headed back to bar.

Scott turned to face Derek. “Now, where were w—“He cocked his head to the side, surprised by Derek’s narrowed eyes, following the retreating bar boy. “Problems?”

39

D.H. Starr

Wrestling With Love

“Nothing much, except that slut was stripping you with his eyes.” Derek placed his hands on his hips and glared at the back of the waiter’s head.

“Look at me.” Derek dragged his eyes away from the bar boy and faced him. He placed a finger under Derek’s chin, lifting it so he was looking directly into his eyes.

“You’re jealous? You don’t need to be. I would have complimented you the whole time if he gave me a chance to talk.”

“Shut up.” Derek laughed. “Throwing my own words back in my face. Just for that I’m gonna kick your ass in pool.”

“Right. Like that time you kicked my ass last year when we played air hockey at Dave and Busters?” Scott grabbed the triangle and began setting up the balls.

“That was different. I was letting you win because your dad was being a prick.”

“Right. You let me win. I forgot.” Scott shook his head and continued racking up the balls. As he did, the bar boy returned with their drinks. He didn’t even glance at Derek as he placed the glasses on the side table next to them. Staring at Scott’s pecs which were pushing at the fabric of his shirt, he took a step closer to him. “Will you be getting anything to eat?”

Scott glanced at Derek and smiled. Walking over to him, he draped his arms over Derek’s shoulders in a loose hug, staring into his eyes. Without looking away, he responded. “Yeah. We’re starved. Bring us a plate of chicken fingers and some minicheeseburgers with caramelized onions.” He then leaned in and sealed his lips to Derek’s. The playfulness, the back and forth of claiming one another in the face of various good looking young men who were clearly interested in one or the other of them, was intoxicating.

“Um, okay. I’ll place your order.” His voice didn’t seem quite as eager to please when he spoke. “Your food should be up in about ten minutes. Name’s Freddie if you need anything else.”

Derek broke out of the kiss and stared over Scott’s shoulder. “Thanks Fred. We’ll let you know if we need anything.”

“It’s Fr—” he closed his mouth, turned on his heels, and walked off. Derek returned to the kiss he had broken then pulled back when he couldn’t contain his laughter. “I don’t think Freddie likes me very much.”

“C’mon. Let’s play some pool.” Scott grabbed his soda and took a few gulps, then selected a pool stick and began to chalk the end. “Didn’t you say you were going to kick my ass or something?”

“Something like that, yeah.”

They played a few rounds and were fairly evenly matched. Each time it was Derek’s turn, Scott stood back and admired his body as he leaned over and aimed. The black shirt Pierre had given him rode up his torso, revealing his taut abdominal muscles. The contrast between his narrow waist which rounded out into his bubble butt was accentuated by the hint of skin revealed at the base of his spine. It took all of his 40

D.H. Starr

Wrestling With Love

self-control to keep himself from walking behind Derek to get a better look at his best physical feature, but there was no amount of will-power in the world that could draw his eyes away from that perfectly rounded ass.

It was only when Derek called his name that he managed to snap back to the room.

“Hey, the food’s here.”

Scott looked to his side and saw Freddie had delivered the food. Undoubtedly he had tried to capture Scott’s attention, but with Derek nearby, even if he had stood directly next to him waving glow sticks, Scott wouldn’t have noticed. Grabbing a chicken tender, he dipped it in the honey mustard and bit off a huge bite. The combination of hot oil, crunchy bread crumbs, and tangy-sweet sauce filled his mouth. It wasn’t until he started eating that he realized how hungry he had been. The two of them took a break from playing and stood in silence, stuffing their mouths. Five minutes later, the food was gone. “Damn, I was hungry. I could eat another round of those burgers. They were slammin’.”

Derek picked up the pool stick and walked back to the table, preparing to continue where he had left off. Within seconds, Scott was lost once again in the magnetic draw of a perfectly rounded butt. It wasn’t until he reached for his drink that he realized a man was standing by their table, watching Derek as well. An immediate sense of protectiveness surged through him as he stared at the man who was gaping at Derek’s ass.

Walking over so that he completely blocked the man’s view, he leveled him with a steady gaze. “Do you need something, mister?”

The man snapped his attention to Scott and closed his mouth. “Huh. No, sorry. I was just watching the two of you and wondered if you wanted a third. I’m here alone and you two look like you’re having a good time.”

The man was probably in his late twenties. He still had youthful good looks with cropped brown hair, and an athletic build. He had brown, brooding eyes, but there was a slight hint of crow’s feet at the corner and his hairline seemed to be receding slightly. Not much, but enough to show he had some additional years on him. He was about to tell the guy to fuck off when Derek walked up. “Hey, what’s going on? It’s your turn.”

The man returned his attention to Derek, his tongue snaking out of his mouth to wet his lips. Once again, a surge of protectiveness filled Scott and he stepped a bit closer to Derek.

The man stepped forward as well and extended his hand toward Derek, ignoring Scott altogether. My name is Charlie. I was asking your friend here if you’d mind if I joined the two of you.

Derek cocked his head. “How can three people play pool together?”

Charlie’s smile widened. “Oh, there are all sorts of versions of pool. Let me teach you how to play cut-throat.”

Derek laughed nervously. “Uh, that’s okay. Scott and I are fine playing just the two of us.”

41

D.H. Starr

Wrestling With Love

Charlie lifted his Budweiser to his lips and took a long slug, then returned his attention to Derek. “Aw, c’mon. It’s fun. And then I can show you some other fun things that can be done with three people.”

Derek backed up a step, butting into the table. Charlie took another step forward, closing the distance between them. Before he knew what he was doing, Scott stepped forward and grabbed Charlie by the arm. “Listen buddy, I think you need to fuck off.”

Charlie shook Scott’s hand off his arm and took another step towards Derek so that there were barely a few inches separating them. He reached out and placed his hand on Derek’s arm. Scott could see Derek’s eyes widen as his fingers gripped the side of the pool table tightly. “You have one hot ass. I could make you feel real ni—”

On a surge of hot adrenaline, Scott grabbed Charlie’s arm and yanked hard, forcing Charlie back a few feet. Moving himself so that he stood as a physical barrier between the two of them, Scott released Charlie and shoved. “Listen shit head. I don’t know who the fuck you think you are, but if you don’t back the fuck away from my boyfriend, I’m gonna fucking kill you.” He took one more step forward and squared off his shoulders to that he was standing face to face with the man.

Putting up his hands in defensive surrender, Charlie backed away. “Hey. No offense, man. I just thought you guys were hot and might like to play. I guess I was wrong.”

Without moving, Scott, continued staring at him, rage boiling inside. Charlie glanced at Derek once again, then turned and walked away. Blood pounded inside Scott’s head, each beat thrumming behind his ears. His fists were clenched and he ground his teeth as he watched Charlie retreat. It wasn’t until he felt a soft, warm touch on his shoulder that he began to calm down. “It’s okay.”

Scott turned around and pulled Derek into a hug, squeezing him tightly. “Are you okay?” He felt Derek’s arms wrap around him, grounding him. “You want to get outta here?”

“Is it because of that guy?” Derek’s voice was strong and sure. “Don’t let him ruin the evening for us. You were so awesome. I’ve never been so turned on as when you stepped between us and stood up for me like that.”

Scott smiled and leaned in, his breath carrying the scent of the chicken fingers and burgers, the flavorful scents making Derek hungry once again. Leaning forward, he kissed Derek with a tenderness that caused his surroundings to blur and vanish, his world centering on Derek’s lips and tongue. It was a kiss of both possession and love and it sent fire through him and straight to his cock. When he pulled out of the kiss, he stared into Derek’s and saw the same fire burning inside him as well. “I want to…I’m thinking about…”

Derek put down the pool stick and walked over to Scott. “What’s wrong?”

“No. Nothing’s wrong. It’s just,” Scott scratched a spot on the back of his neck. He wasn’t itchy, but the action seemed to sooth the tension building up inside him. “I’m feeling really close to you tonight and with all the energy racing through my system 42

D.H. Starr

Wrestling With Love

right now and how protective I’m feeling, I was hoping you might want to head back to Josh’s place.”

“You want to go to Josh’s place. What for? The only thing there is the bedroo…”

Derek’s voice trailed off and he stared at Scott, his eyes expressing a combination of surprise and questioning. “Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?”

It amazed him how shy and demure he was being, but for some reason, being around so many other men who were all openly gay, was lowering his inhibitions. He was pretty sure he wouldn’t feel like this once they returned home, but here and now, it felt right. Although they had set a rule of waiting until they went to college before having sex, Scott didn’t want to wait. He wanted to continue exploring these new experiences, including intimacy that he had only allowed himself to fantasize about. Hooking his finger into one of the belt loops on Derek’s jeans, he pulled him closer.