I Don't Mind

Chapter 19

Adrian's POV

Today's our fifth game of the season, and I'm ready for sure. Again, practice has been completely smooth sailing for the entire roster, and me and Derek are getting along better than we have ever really gotten along. I'm so happy about that, because he's such a fun person to hang out with. 

His personality has changed a lot since last year, he's more serious now, but he still has elements of being a goofball sometimes. When we're watching TV, he'll talk out loud about random shit happening on the TV, and make fun of the characters. I sometimes tell him to stop talking, but I really don't care. I like hearing his voice, because for some reason his voice makes me feel safer. Derek makes me feel safer. 

I think the fact that he talks to me openly about how he's gay is also a good sign. He's comfortable enough around me to be open. He's also a great listener. I'll be yapping about anything, and he'll be nodding, giving me advice, all of that shit. He also talks to me about his problems too, I feel like we're basically each other's sounding boards now and I'm totally happy about that. 

I might be a little delusional (actually, I definitely am) but Derek said we should start working out together, and I said yes immediately. Maybe suspiciously fast, but he didn't say anything. If he hasn't already figured out that I have unbelievably strong feelings for him, he might be blind. 

I don't care though, if he doesn't know I have feelings for him, we can continue what is currently one of the greatest friendships I've ever had with someone. If he figures out that I have a huge crush on him, he might get weird and things might get awkward. I don't want that. 

Derek is still the most beautiful person on the planet in my eyes, and that is not going to just randomly change. Add the fact that he's treating me better than anyone that isn't my mom or my dad, and this whole situation is pretty much impossible to get out of. Even if he wasn't as attractive as he is, I would still probably have feelings for him because of how nice he is to me. 

Right now, I'm just chilling in me and Devin's dorm room with Devin, but not Derek. I don't know if Derek has woken up yet, it's still pretty early. Me and Devin have the same internal clock, so we're up by 7 AM and already watching TV. 

"Do you have Hulu?" I ask. 

"I could get it soon, I'm gonna be in some ads soon for Gatorade, so I'll be making bank." 

"Damn, really? I should maybe be more open about being gay, maybe a company wants a gay spokesperson in their ads." 

"Yeah, definitely. You could easily make more money than me in NIL too, that's the thing. You're an amazing football player as well, so that will also help you get deals. I think Cam and Aaron are getting deals, their deals are worth tens of thousands of dollars, it's kind of crazy. You could be making that kind of money too, just be more vocal I guess," Devin suggests. 

"Yeah. That could work. I see Cameron and Aaron all over social media, and, to be honest, I don't really want to be posting things on social media, but if that brings me more attention from big companies, that would be great." 

"Yeah. I know you might get hate comments, and I'm 100% sure that Cam and Aaron get hate comments, but please, just block it out. Ignore them, block them, do whatever you need to just not have to deal with those people." 

"Yeah. I do need some money, my family is going to Hawaii for Christmas because of their 20th anniversary, and my grandparents paid for the hotel, all the things we can do while I'm there, but I need to pay for my plane ticket. And that is going to be super fucking expensive. So yeah, I do need to get some NIL deals, that's for sure," I state.