ColeMy brow furrows in surprise at the tone Ash is taking. I've known him for years, so I know exactly when he's pulling my strings and when he's being serious. Despite the playful look in his eyes, I can tell something is terribly wrong. "Wha—what? He's the one who kept on calling me a slur? Talking about how he's going to—what are you even saying?"I suddenly feel extremely uncomfortable here. No matter what Christian has said, I never outrightly told him that I am gay, even though I have a feeling he's pretty much made his own assumptions. Which is another reason I can't stand the guy. How can he be so stereotypical about it? Just because I'm not buffed up and tall, he completely assumes I like men. I do, but it's the principle of the thing. Ash folds his hands over his chest. "He's just a little prickly. I'm sure Christian doesn't mean any harm." Again with this. Even the way he looks at the guy—all soft and doe-eyed. Wait. He doesn't actually? Does he? No, that can'
Christian.I shuffle uncomfortably on my feet and shoot a scornful glare at the man in front of me. "I've told you. I'm not a faggot. Stop shoving this nonsense on me." My words don't even sound like they're coming from me. Or maybe because I'm so hard, I fear my dick might split in sheer two. And it's not even my fault. Because why the hell is the man fucking pouting with his hands folded over his chest. He's not even a twink, and he acts like he was born to like only men. Cole scoffs and gives Ashford a disgusted look. "Can you freaking stop with the slurs? You're so infuriating." I watch as he clenches his fist so hard, I wonder if he won't bruise himself if he doesn't keep that up. To my surprise, Ashford bursts into wild unrestrained laughter, before closing more of the distance between us. Before I can stop him, he places his hand on my shoulder in a somewhat affectionate manner and I freeze. "Ignore him Cole, he's a bigoted asshole, but he's hot, isn't he?" My body
Ashford My eyes dart between the two men who are back to glaring at each other, and in that one moment, I can't stop thinking about how different they both are from each other. Christian is more brash, and rigid, with a personality that probably borders on being a grump. Then there's Cole. He's kind and understanding, and probably one of the sweetest guys you'll ever meet. Someday someone is going to be very happy as his forever, but sadly that person isn't me. Looking at the two of them, I can't help but feel a little twinge in my heart. Shit, maybe Christian is right. I should think more with my head than I do with my dick. That much I'm aware of. I know that I've made terrible mistakes when it comes to both of them, and there's a very high probability that I've made a shit show of the entire situation. If I had just stopped sticking my dick into my best friend, we won't have gotten this far into a mess. Then if I can just look at Christian's ridiculously dark but broody
AshfordMy eyes blink in rapid motion as I take in the slightly massive frame of the person walking out of the toilet stall right this instant. Cole is still standing in front of me, and I think he's saying something, but I can't really hear him, or process what the hell he's saying either. The only thing I can think about is the man walking forward with his head bowed and a certain tightness to his features too. Just like Cole's. That pulls me out of the spell, and I look back to my friend who still looks slightly pissed, but a bit less annoyed than when I'd bumped into him. "Hey? Earth to Ash?" His small voice says, and my eyes move back to Christian against my will. I moist my lips just at the exact moment that his eyes lift to meet mine, and my eyes follow the movement of his jaw. The way he swallows before really taking in the scene in front of him. Cole and I, who still stand with his back to Christian, but I can see something like recognition flare in his eyes. This is
Ashford The walk back to the field is more or less shameful, and I'm not even sure I want to play in the second half anymore. So imagine my surprise when on my way to the toilet stall, I bump into Cole, matching angrily out of it. The cold look in his eyes makes me bristle immediately, but when he realizes that I'm the one in front of him, his eyes soften. My brows raise up more or less in surprise, because I've never seen Cole look as pissed as he looks now. Cole Brackman isn't an easy man to get on the wrong side off. Normally, he's one of the most easy going people I've ever met. Always ready to listen, and understand everyone, and it helps that he's relatively shy too. I've never seen someone get as red as my best buddy, Cole does when he's uncomfortable about something or feels nervous about a particular situation. When
Christian My stance remained rigid, and it takes everything I have in me not to punch this guy in the face. And it's not because he's spoken out of turn, or he's said the wrong thing to me, or even because he's told a lie. No. Absolutely not. It infuriates me more than anything because I know how true his words are. This is what I am. This random stranger from nowhere who I've never met before has a better grasp on what my reality is than I am. And I've been living the life for thirty three fucking tears. Over three decades spent living as a homophobic bully, while fighting against the one thing I am. Cole folds his hand over his chest, before he pins me with a dry look that betrays the anger shimmering in his eyes. "You know what? I don't even know why I'm so surprised by this. After everything