Call It What You Want To

Chapter 12: Kyler

I read the text back probably five times, unable to believe what was on my phone.

T: Hey, I was wondering if you'd wanna come to my powerlifting meet next Saturday? My family's coming, and I was wondering if you'd wanna come watch? It could be great vlog content LOL

Weeks had passed since Taya and I's movie "date", and we had gotten to the point where I was at her house to hang out every couple of days. I even hung out with her and Dylynn last weekend for a 1989 (Taylor's Version) listening party, and the three of us took Mila, Milana, and Declan out trick-or-treating a few days ago. We were able to all get away from our parents for a little bit, look like super great older siblings, and we got to reap the benefits of also getting candy.

We were having the time of our lives together. Some days or nights we'd climb out Taya's window and ease our way on to the roof just to talk and check out the constellations. We'd talk about what happened at school that day, read ridiculous horoscope predictions, or fantasize about what our freshman year of college would be like. The college talks were always the ones that we'd talk about a little quieter, almost as if we couldn't believe that it was actually that close to happening. I didn't wanna think about it too much, because the idea of having to become my own person sounded amazing and terrifying all at the same time. Being away from my family sounded like the ultimate fantasy, and I could become whoever I envisioned myself to be, but I didn't even know who I wanted to be. For now though, I had Taya, and all I wanted was to be with her.

Things were going really well between me and Taya. A couple days a week we'd take turns driving each other to and from school, and one day it had lined up that I was driving Taya home on a day that she had powerlifting after school. It worked out because I took the time to work on an essay that I took on from the girl's basketball team captain, but I called it quits a little before Taya's lift ended. I was able to peek my head into the weight room to see what her "thing" was all about, and ho-ly shit.

Normally, I only see Taya in her school clothes or in athleisure when we're hanging out, but that particular afternoon, she had gone with a pair of shorty-shorts and an oversized shirt that had been transformed into a cut-off. The whole outfit showed off the muscle definition that I had never seen before. Even when Taya wore that little outfit to the movies, nothing could compare to seeing Taya with, what she called, "a gym pump". Her muscles were absolutely insane, and I had to do my damndest to not stare every time her tanned legs or arms flexed.

There was something so unbelievably hot about the way that she slammed the barbell on the ground and then flicked her lifting belt open, whipping her head over her shoulder afterwards. Watching Taya pose in the mirror, all her veins and muscles, essentially, in sweaty high definition...I couldn't believe how sexy it was.

All this combined made me all the more excited to get this text. I wasn't just going over to Taya's house anymore, she was inviting me into her world. We'd been pushing the boundaries a little more each week of friends versus more-than-friends, but we still hadn't addressed anything in relation to an actual relationship. In my head, I knew that it would be almost impossible to date Taya because we'd have to stay a secret. Probably plenty of people around school had the inkling that I was gay, but I never publicly said anything because of my family and our internet status.

I wanted to ask Taya to be my girlfriend so badly. There had been multiple times over the last few weeks where our hands would find each other's while we were sitting on the floor of her bedroom. My personal favorite was when Taya and I were watching a movie on her couch while we were babysitting Mila. My hand had snaked its way over to her lower thigh under the blanket we were sharing, and Taya's head had leaned over onto my shoulder. There was a layer of Nike sweatpants to cover all skin to skin contact, but it didn't make it any less amazing as I was able to trace the outline of her quads.