Five Times Cain Ryan Was in Love and the One Time That Hardened His Heart

one. (troy hooks) '17

Cain tasted nothing but the watermelon flavored Ice Breakers Troy was always eating on his tongue as they kissed. It was a refreshing blast of minty and fruity lighting up every corner of his mouth. Cain was a young, inexperienced ninth grader and 100% in love according to the fluttering in his chest. Troy was everything he wanted in a guy: handsome, goofy, tall, plays 1B on the baseball team. And he was out. None of that down low stuff. They knew each other long enough that Troy'd even met his parents; charmed his mom and joked with his father over promises of going to the batting cages together. 

Troy liked to press him up against lockers, and they would get in trouble for making out, not because of their sexuality--but because they were kids and should not be making out in school. And Cain? Well, he wanted to get pushed up against a locker, he wanted his neck and his collarbone and his lips to smell like minty watermelon too. The baseball player pulled away, leaving a slightly breathless Cain in his wake. "You gonna be at my game tonight?"

Cain grinned up at him, licking his lips. "Of course baby. Somebody has to cheer you on better than those little Polly Pockets out there."

Troy shook his head with a laugh. "What you talkin' about?"

"Them cheerleaders." He flippantly waved his hand. "If I don't know their names then whichever nickname comes to mind is what they get."

Troy bit his lip and then slid his hands under Cain's shirt. "You jealous?"

Cain giggled and pushed Troy away from him, cheeks hot. "Boy, don't piss me off in this hallway."

"You know I love you, right?" Troy rolled back up on him, strong arms boxing him in.

"I love you too." Cain said the words right back before Troy melded their mouths together once more. They both startled as a teacher said 'Hey!', causing them to trip over each other to disappear separate ways amongst the crowd of students, hurriedly running to class. Cain's stomach was still filled with butterflies by the time he got into his seat. He couldn't stop smiling no matter how hard he tried.

—

The breakup wasn't that bad. Or at least that's what Cain told himself.

One day after school Troy got dared to kiss Kayla Smith, so naturally he did. And Cain guessed that he really liked it by the way he groped her curves. Curves that he would never have. Troy pulled away from the kiss, completely unfazed by Cain's wide eyed expression, and in fact, since Troy was bisexual, it's only fair that he had a boyfriend and a girlfriend. Right?

Plus, Troy said he loved him, and Cain wanted to be a ride or die, so he stuck with it. Even after Troy stopped texting him, stopped talking to him between classes, stopped kissing him, and then took Kayla to the Halloween dance even though they had already planned to go as Beyoncé & Jay-Z. He didn't even realize they'd actually ended until his friend Sierra had to spell it out for him.