Lay Me Down (MxM)

25. Sus bromance aside...

Hi humans!

Life has been pretty crazy for me over here and my health has not been the greatest, but here's this behemoth of a chapter for you all to make up for the delays. I'm still working on the next chapters, and there's just kind of a lot going on in them, so I appreciate your continued patience as I work away late into the night on this book!  I look forward to hearing your thoughts and feelings about this chapter.

  -Quill

Lucas

The sound of chatter and laughter swelled around us, with scattered groups of students hanging out and enjoying the little bit of sun peeking through the clouds. The morning rain had let up some revealing what us Washingtonians would classify as "warm" weather. We took advantage and ate lunch outside, eking out the waning warmth left over from Summer.

I'd dressed for cold, rainy weather, but wore layers, because as usual with our state, the weather had manic plans of its own. Sunny one moment, raining the next; that's just how it was, especially in early September.

"Ladies!" Erin DeWitt bellowed, sauntering over to the table.

Ian and I looked up, both of us having been picking off each other's lunches.

I observed silently as Ian took one last bite off his piece of pizza, then lobbed the crust at our teammate for whatever Ian-specific reason he had.

"Woof. Daddy, where ya been?"

Oh, Ian.

I snickered at his antics and waved since my mouth was full, then dropped my attention to my phone... I was anxious to hear from Jae.

Scrolling through our texts again, I found myself smirking. I'd since changed his name to "Jaelyn" following my conversation with Ian, as I didn't want to chance someone seeing his actual name there if they snuck a peek. I also thought Jae would get a good laugh about his new and upgraded identity.

Tall, dommy-mommy, "Jaelyn" Hoffman.

The sound of the guys chatting sort of faded into the background of my mind as I typed out a message, and I was glad they were occupied with one another for the time being, so long as it kept everyone's attention off me. I was acutely aware I had like two hickeys on my neck that were glaring, but no one had commented on them yet.

Lucas: can we hang out for a while after you get me? im kinda free on the weekends dad lets me fuck off until Monday rolls around again.

I wanted to get to know him badly and was just looking for excuses, well, really any excuse to be around him. I hoped he'd say yes.

"So, Luca, what's this I hear about a new boyfriend?" Erin interrupted my peace loudly.

I could feel my body bristle, but I did my best to front an unbothered smirk, despite all eyes being on me.

"Tch, you mean Ian? Ya'll know we jerk each other when he's hasn't gotten laid; but what else is new?"

Ian jumped in on my charade right on cue; I could always count on him to do weird shit with me.

He bit his lip and whined. "Fuck baby, don't get me started, might nut all over if you keep talkin' like that. Shit."

I stuck my tongue out suggestively and batted my lashes. "Aim here, I'm hungry."

Ian's dark eyes flashed with an emotion I was unfamiliar with, but before I could even wonder at what it was, he just snickered and shoved my face away.

Laughter trickled through the guys, Steven suggesting he join next time and turn it into a circle jerk.

I let out a small sigh of relief, doing my best to act as if this were nothing more than the usual homoerotic banter. My eyes regrettably found Erin's, however, and his sparkled with curiosity.

"I heard it through the grapevine this guy was like, named Jared or something, not Ian. He the one who gave you those hickeys?"

The group chatter quieted, everyone zeroing in on us both with heavy interest. I tried to remind myself that it wasn't the entire team, thank God, but still, Erin, Steven, and Tyler's undivided attention were more than enough to make me want to find a rock to crawl under.

Fuck my life.

The evidence I'd been messing around with someone was blatant, and what was more is having Jae's marks on me got me off... it was like, a sign of ownership almost that I loved. All the same, I wasn't enjoying the attention it was getting me then.

I rubbed my neck, feeling the heat in my face.

"As if I even have the free time to mess around with this so-called 'Jared'. Ian won't get outta my hole long enough for someone else to use it. Dude gapes me a few times a week, and I need time to recover. Like, do you know how much lube we go through?"

Ian threw his arm around me smugly. "I'd let you guys take turns with him, but I dunno, gonna have to say big cocks only—he's a size king. So, I guess that excludes you, Erin. Anyway, I don't think you're kinky enough for him anyway."

Someone shoot me.

Erin frowned and flipped him off. "Fuck you! I'm like, average and you know it!"

Steven chimed in casually. "Yeah, yeah, I gotta agree. It's average!"

A wicked grin spread on Ian's face. "... so, you been staring at his cock a lot lately? Like the looks of it, eh? Sounds like you wanna suck it..."

Silence fell as we all stared at Steven, a smirk now tugging at his previously deadpan expression.

"... well, I see it at practice, ya know. And I might suck it if he buys me dinner first." He purred.

There was a dramatic pause, but the table soon erupted into laughter. Erin shouting something about "you're a true bro".

Instead of joining in, I just shook my head, pulled my hood up, and shoveled more pizza in, hoping they'd get distracted and move on.

I wanted to disappear.

"So... your guys' hella sus bromance aside, could someone explain this fake new boytoy thing or what, cause I have no idea what we're talking about?" Tyler asked shyly, fiddling with his Dr. Pepper cap.

I choked out a laugh and shook my head, but I couldn't spit out a response. Anxiety made me freeze up, but I figured that was better than puking.

"Hey." Ian nudged my shoulder reassuringly, and I clung to his touch like a life preserver, as everyone had begun chattering amongst themselves about it again.

"Bro, how did you not hear that shit?" Erin cackled. "Jordan said somethin' bout catching Luca red-handed flirting with some guy on his phone. Heard it from Rhett who heard it from one of the girls in Song's class! I wanna know if we got a new throat goat on the team, might make some glory holes for pretty ol' Luca if ya know what I mean."

The look on his face was that of pure amusement, he thought this was simply hilarious, but me on the other hand...

Vomit. I was gonna vomit everywhere.

"You're high if you believe a word out of Jordan Wilder, that cunt." Ian cut in with a scoff. "Why do you think that guy dumped her? Anyway, that's like saying you believe In Santa Clause, or like, fuckin' garden gnomes. Besides, that's not even how the whole thing went down anyway, right Lucas?"

He gave me a look as if to say, "now's your chance to explain."

I could feel the vomit at the back of my throat, and I forced it down with a grimace. The thing I loathed to admit was that Jordan was right, I was everything she'd claimed, but I was too chickenshit to own up to it. No, I was sitting there trying to figure out how to weasel my way out of the conversation.

The guys turned to eye me, and Erin smirked. "Oh, yeah? How'd it 'go' then?"

I rubbed the back of my neck and swallowed the anxiety.

"She... wanted me to go to Dominique's party with her, like, you know, the lake. As a date and all. I'm not into her like that anymore so I told her no and she got really pissed. She was also pissed that I wasn't texting her. Started accusing me of all sorts of weird shit and made up the gay thing on the spot to get back at me. That's it really..."

Ian nodded in agreement as I recounted the tale. "Moral of the story is she's a jealous, vindictive bitch. Don't touch that one with a ten-foot pole, gents."