From My Love to My Life (MXM) (sequel to From My Enemy to My Love)

Chapter 13

Chet Watakeekul

"Remember," Coach Juarez called out to everyone as training ended, "barbeque at my place Sunday. Everyone is invited."

My teammates and I trailed off the field. I hadn't spoken with Alvarez in several weeks with the exception of the few times we were near each other on the field while in the middle of a game and then we were all shouting out where the ball was, the plays, etc. It was all business. I had no intention to hold a casual conversation with him anymore. I had kept a discreet eye on him and hadn't noticed him doing anything inappropriate to anyone else, but I didn't trust him.

I spent too much time talking to my other teammates instead of getting dressed and ready to leave so it was no surprise that I was one of the last ones there. What did surprise me was that Rusnak was still near his locker. It looked like he was ready to go home and he wasn't speaking to anyone, but he hadn't left yet.

When I realized that Alvarez and I were basically the only ones left, I understood why Rusnak was still there. He was looking after me without making it look like he was looking after me.

"You going to the party Sunday?" Alvarez asked me.

I glared at him before I closed my locker. I turned towards the door without saying anything to him. Rusnak noticed this and quickly moved to go with me.

"We can have casual conversations without you overreacting, you know," Alvarez said.

Rusnak glared at him. I sighed and turned to face Alvarez. "I have no desire to speak with you," I said. "There is no chance for us to be friends after what happened. I'll keep it professional on the field, but there is no obligation for me to interact with you other than that and I have no desire to."

I walked out the door with Rusnak by my side. We had almost made it to the parking lot before I said, "It was nice of you to stay, but I can take care of myself."

"I know," Rusnak said. "And normally I would be one of the first to leave. Something just felt off today and for my own peace of mind, I had to stay."

"Thank you," I said. "I admit, I do feel better knowing someone is looking out for me."

"There are lots of us looking out for you, for each other," Rusnak said. "I know you've been watching Alvarez to make sure he doesn't do something to someone else. I have too, to be honest. I wish I had been paying more attention to him before."

"Maybe it was a one time incident and it will never happen again," I said, but the look he gave me told me he was as skeptical as I was. "You'll be at the barbeque Sunday right?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said. "My family is looking forward to it."

We reached the parking lot and started to walk to our cars. "What are your plans now?" he asked. "Are you going straight home?"

"No," I said. "I'm going to go buy a ring for Vincent."

He stopped by his car and looked at me. I stopped even though my car was on the next aisle. I wanted to keep the conversation going.

"Like just a ring?" he asked, "or a ring?" he pointed to the gold wedding band on his own finger. I tapped my own finger where a wedding ring would go. Currently I wore one of the silicone rings that Vincent had given me.

Rusnak smiled wide. His smile faded a little as his eyes darted back to the building. I followed his gaze to see Alvarez walking out.

"I'll let you get to it then," he said to me.