SPASE

SPASE: CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Tyrell grabs the knob to the shower, shutting the water all the way off. There is still fog in the air from all of the hot water he used for showering in the locker room. He wraps the towel around his waist and walks to his locker with his muscular body still dripping wet.

"Hey, big guy. Nice job at practice today."

Tyrell hears the metal clanging of a locker closing to the left and realizes that it is Lance, a fellow player on the football team: the quarterback. Lance, freshly showered, is still in his towel. He gives Ty a wink and takes off his towel. Water droplets continue to fall over his collar bone and down his chest and stomach from his wet, shoulder-length hair. He gives a smile and begins to dress, first putting on his shorts, roll-stick deodorant, and a blue hoodie.

"Yeah, you too," Tyrell says in return, trying not to appear like he's checking him out. "Do you think I could talk to you for a sec?"

Lance continues to tie his shoes and answers, "Sure, what's up?" with a smile.

Still standing in his towel, Tyrell hesitantly walks a few steps closer to Lance. In his head, he keeps reminding himself that he had heard throughout the school that Lance was bisexual. Lance throws winks and smiles at him constantly, but Ty is hesitant to think that he is anything special. Tyrell tries to rationalize what he is about to do: express his feelings for the first time... ever.

"I know that you know about me," Ty says.

Lance hesitates and looks around to make sure that no one else is in the locker room.

"Maybe," he responses with a smirk and crosses his arms, and fixes his eyes to the ground.

"And people talk, you know, about your preferences," Ty responds, stuttering his words in the process. He finds himself to be more nervous than he originally thought. He has no way to go about saying this without just blurting it out.

Lance looks up and meets Tyrell's gaze and shrugs his shoulders. "We've been friends a long time. Played football with each other since we were, like, six. You should know everything there is to know about me," Lance walks closer to Tyrell.

"Look, I like you. I---"

Lance puts a finger to Tyrell's lips, cutting him off. Lance grabs both sides of Ty's face, presses his body up against his, and kisses him hard. All tension is released from Tyrell's body. The passion burns, which doesn't seem to stop until their lips part.

Lance pushes Tyrell up against the locker, kissing him harder. Lance's hands move from Tyrell's face to right above Tyrell's towel. Tyrell's mind melts. He goes along with it like a puppy following his master. They both forget where they are. Lost, Tyrell becomes naked and Lance's lips suddenly no longer meet Tyrell's, but somewhere only Ty has dreamt of.

The clang of a locker interrupts their play. Tyrell is quick to cover up with his towel that was on the floor nearby. Lance jumps up from his knees. Neither of them sees the person who could essentially rob them of who they are. It is no secret that Tyrell is gay, but Lance; an individual that girls find dreamy and gay boys only dream about, is questionable because his sexuality is up in the air for the school. What happens when they find out that their star quarterback and their second string running back is "messing around?"

Blackmail...