Chapter 3: Three
"Hey faggot, come to see your little boyfriend?"
I looked up from my phone, subconsciously pulling out my earbud even though I wasn't really listening to anything. I thought wearing earphones was a universal signal for 'don't fucking talk to me or I'll break your face' but I guess some people just couldn't take the hint.
"I'm sorry, was that supposed to be an insult?"
The two jocks stood in front of me sneered as they looked me up and down.
"The insult is having fags like you anywhere in the vicinity of our basketball team."
"Well my bad, I didn't realize there was a time machine nearby since clearly you two live in the fucking Stone Age. Is homophobia still a thing?"
The taller and dumber looking one of them narrowed his eyes at me, stepping forward menacingly.
"Maybe you'll know when I punch your cock-sucking face in."
Oh my God. This is so stupid. There are still people like this?
"Hey, you two. I will not tolerate that kind of behavior on my team. You better apologize, right now, or you're out." The three of us turned our attention to a tall, hunky dude that seemed to just appear out of nowhere on the right. I recognized him as the captain of the basketball team, but I didn't know his name.
"Don't you think you're kind of abusing your power there, cap?" Said stereotypical jock number one with a scowl.
"Actually, you're the ones abusing someone for no good reason."
"I do have a reason, and it's because he's a sick fucking-"
"No reason that concerns you. Apologize, or you're off the team. Both of you."
"That's fine actually, I don't need an apology because I couldn't care enough to be offended," I piped in. He eyed me intensely and I couldn't help but give him an appreciative once over. He wasn't exactly the type I'd usually go for but he was definitely easy on the eyes. Tall, dark and handsome, broad shoulders, big arms and sexy thighs. His eyes were honey-coloured and warm, lips pink and plump, his striking blonde hair pushed back and away from his face. This guy was the literal definition of a hunk.
"Whatever, loser," the guys scoffed and walked away, shaking their heads.
"That's twenty more laps for you two!" Their captain yelled after them, crossing his arms. Did I mention he had amazing arms? Because he had amazing arms.
"I appreciate the assist but I could have handled that myself."
In case you didn't notice, that roughly translates to that was hot as hell and I'll be willing to have your babies if and when you ever decide to play on this side of the court.
He smiled at me softly, all signs of coldness or strictness dissipating from his face. "I had no doubt about that. But they really did get on my nerves. I was serious about not tolerating that kind of behaviour on my team."
"Fair enough."
"Julias, right? You're Toby's friend?"
I blinked. I was surprised he knew me at all. It's a big university, so the fact that he knew my name even though I didn't have much of a social status to speak of nor have we ever actually talked before was either really flattering or really creepy. "Yeah, and you're..."
"Avery."
"Avery. Nice to meet you."
"Likewise," he grinned a little too widely, standing there for a second too long before speaking again. "Anyways, I should... I should probably get back to it."
"Yeah, of course. You go do your captain things."
He went to walk away but hesitated, looking back at me. "I'll see you around, yeah?"
I quirked a brow at him and shrugged. "Sure, I guess."
He grinned again, and by God it was even brighter than the sun right behind him. "Okay. Bye, Julias."
I waved uncaringly as he jogged off, curiously staring at his retreating back...
Okay, I was staring at his butt. It's a good butt.
"You came," Toby jogged over to me, all sweaty in his purple jersey as he finished his laps.
"Couldn't miss the big game," I said with a shrug, "Your teammates are cunts though."
"Most of them, yeah. But I couldn't care less, I'm still the star player."
"18 and 69 over there seemed to think I was over here 'waiting for my little boyfriend'. What's up with that?"
"Uh, I don't know dude. Who cares. Where's Sam?"
"She said she'll be right over. She's getting us some snacks from the cafeteria."
"Tell her to get me a red bull."
"Yeah, way ahead of you man."
"Aww, you're the best," he cooed as he lightly touched my cheek, "I love you in the most non-gay way."
"Don't touch my face, you know I hate that shit," I scowled, swatting his nasty, sweaty hand away.
"Duh, that's why I did it."
"Shitstain."
"Thanks, love. Anyway, take a picture of me real quick. I wanna send it to Tat. My right bicep's been looking tight today."
"I don't get paid enough for this. Oh wait, I don't get paid at all," I rolled my eyes but took his phone anyway. He posed with his basketball, leaning to the right with his arms over his hips, not-so-subtly flexing his arm. Still made for a great picture especially with the sun and the thin sheen of sweat covering his tan skin. Not that I found sweat attractive.
He changed up his pose and once I was about to take the picture, there was a sudden sharp wind and a distinctly flat ass covering the screen.
"Photobomb!"
"Seriously, Sam? Get your ironing-board looking ass out of my shot." Toby scowled at her as she grinned cheekily.
"What, scared Thotiana's gonna get jealous and not bust it down for you later tonight?"
"My girlfriend actually trusts me thank you very much."
"Aww, what's with the blue face?" She cackled loudly to herself, "Get it, you know, cuz Thotiana? That Blueface song?"
"You were just waiting to make that joke today weren't you?" I suggested but it was more like a statement.
"Of course I was, how did I never think of that before? It just like... Fucking came to me last night. Like an epiphany."
"Clearly because no man will ever come for you," Toby clapped back.
"Do you want to die?"
"No, not at all. Just get out of my shot. Thanks."
She rolled her eyes and took a seat next to me as I clicked a few more pictures for Toby before tossing his phone back to him.
He whistled as he scrolled through them. "Oh man, she is gonna love these. Thanks Jules, you're the best!" He blew me a loud kiss before stalking off to the court to join his team.
Alright, pause game. My best friend was a fairly attractive guy. So you might be wondering, why wasn't I into him? Well, reason number one is that, believe it or not, not all gays drool after any piece of man meat they see. Sometimes we have types and standards. I know. Crazy, right? Reason number two is we were literally brought up together, since day one. He was there when I took my first shit, he was there when I graduated kindergarten, he was there when I got circumcized, and he was there through all the awkward teen years, the sexuality crisis, the painful coming out and everything in between. He was this constant presence in my life that I would almost call a brother if he wasn't more like a looming shadow consistently haunting every waking moment of my life.
"Dude, I'm telling you, the economics prof totally wants to fuck me. He drew a smiley face next to the A+ on my quiz. Semicolon, bracket and everything. Like, who still does that?"
I side-eyed Sam as she sighed dreamily.
"Isn't he like, forty?"
She gasped, offended. "Thirty-seven, excuse you. And that's the best part! An older, well put together man who has a career and knows what he wants!"
"Isn't that what you said about your football coach?"
"Yeah but he's married. As much as I like the idea of being a mistress, I also like having my head attached to my body. I mean have you seen his wife? She literally looks like Bigfoot."
Oh, I forgot to mention. This is Sam, aka Song Shin. She's Chinese, she's smart and likes to read. She's a slut, but she's also my friend, so I support her.
Yeah, that's pretty much it. Moving on.
"What's the whole charm about older men anyway?" I asked thoughtfully.
"Maybe it has something to do with the fact that men age much slower than women. So if you think about it, mentally we'd be on the same level. That and older men are almost always better in bed."
"Of course," I rolled my eyes. She smirked a little, tucking her straight brown hair behind her ear.
"Well, there's actually one more reason. Older guys usually don't play around. They're more serious with their relationships, so unless they actually want something real, chances are they'll dump you. And I like that kind of straightforwardness. I don't want some arrogant jock who's just gonna play around and use me to get what he wants and then move on to the next side-bitch."
"But it's okay if you're the one doing the playing?" I quirked a brow.
She grinned, "Definitely. You guys have fucked girls over for centuries. We have every right to return the favour."
"Hey, leave me out of it. I'm gay."
"I was speaking in general. Honey, you know I would have already sat on your face if you were straight." She winked and I scrunched my face up in disgust.
"Glad I'm not."
As she laughed and went back to watching the game, I couldn't help but go over what she said in my head as I absently stared out at the basketball court. That was when I caught a smoldering gaze on the side of my face, distinctly bright blue eyes shining under the sunlight. I instantly recognised him, Avery, but as soon as I caught his eye he was quick to look away with... A blush? Nah, maybe it's just the sun.
Well, it made me smile anyway.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone