Sweater Weather (BoyxBoy)

Ch 11 [These Hearts Adore]

My stomach had been bothering all day. The gross taste had gone away but I've still been a bit uneasy. I don't know if it's from Carly asking me about my sexuality last night or because the competition. One of the other moms gave me some tums but they didn't help much.

After warm ups and the team walk in Bam told me I wouldn't be on for a while. I put on a pair of sweatpants and sat down with headphones in. I don't like watching other people's routines unless I'm not doing the same apparatus at them. High Bar was first, then P-Bars. I wouldn't be on for thirty to forty-five minutes. Vic was doing all the same events as me, he and his coach always try to get in my head.

I was watching some guy from Iowa do a pretty solid routine on the bar when someone stood in my way. He waved and appeared to be saying something to me.

"What?" I asked taking the headphones out.

"Skylar? Skylar Bauer? Damn, man I haven't seen you in forever."

Should I feel bad that I had no idea who he was? "Um hey?"

"Don't tell me you don't remember me. Last time I saw you, you robbed me of my gold medal, back in.. Toronto? Or was it New Jersey?" I still had no idea who he could possibly be. I studied his features trying to recollect memories. He had ashy blonde hair that was pretty short, just above a buzz cut. He was even tanner than me with a beauty mark on his cheek. He was a handsome dude but I still couldn't remember his face. "Your sister had like the biggest crush on me when we were younger."

Lightbulb. "Duncan?!" I asked.

"Yeah, man." He had a surfer boy voice. "Talk about clueless blonde." He joked. He sat down next to me. "Bro, you look different, I almost didn't recognize you, but I've never met anybody as blonde as you." He shook his hand through my head like Kyle does.

"How've you been?" I asked fixing my hair.

"Good. OKC's been treating me right." he sounded like someone straight out of Venice Beach.

"Where have you been? Why weren't you at Nationals last year, or the year before?"

"Didn't make it."

"Oh, sorry." I said awkwardly.

"Nah, it's cool. I've been trying to get a good college to recruit me, hopefully somewhere back home in Cali." Duncan's been with a host family for the past three or four years. It's a wonder how he kept such heavy tan in Oklahoma.

"Duncan L of North OKC Gymnastics on High Bar." said the competition director.

"That's me." he hopped up. "My coach is probably looking for me, but listen we should hang out. When do you fly out?"

"Tomorrow afternoon."

"What hotel are you in?"

"Seven Lakes."

"Sweet, mine's like five minutes away, there's a coffee shop just down the block from yours, we should meet up later, catch up."

"Alright. That sounds good."

"I'll get your number later." Who I'm guessing is his coach started dragging him off so he could perform. I chuckled and put my headphones back in. I silently went over all my routines as I tried to relax.

Jackson's POV

I've been lounging in my hotel room for hours, boredom was literally killing me. If there was something to do to pass the time I had done it. I reached for my phone on the night stand by the bed. I scoffed at the text Haley had been sending me throughout the night. I punched in a few numbers and held the phone to my ear.