A fiend.His mouth, his hands. My hand in his hair. I never get tired of calling him “Baby” and “Corazón,” and maybe especially when he’s got my eyes rolling back and toes curling and brain going haywire with oxytocin and dopamine watching him not let a drop go to waste. Butespeciallyespecially afterward, when he kisses up my body and lies on my chest or sits on my lap and I get to cuddle him for a couple minutes.
“Hey,” I start, a thought I’ve been holding on to basically since the night of the ABC party on my lips. I focus on myhand rubbing up and down his back, trying not to think about whether he can feel my heartbeat going wild. “I just wanted to put it out there that, like, I wouldn’t be opposed to more. Like, more than this. To, you know, going all the way. Butt sex. As much as I am obsessed with how talented your mouth is, and as much as I like doing mouth stuff to you too.”
Vale tries to hide his laughter, his face tucked into my neck, doing a bad job at it even as I tell him, “I’m being vulnerable here.”
He sits up, straddling my stomach, and, yeah, I wouldn’t be opposed to getting started on what more looks likeright now.
“You can just call it sex,” Vale says with a smirk, his hand patting my chest. “One. And two, I wouldn’t be opposed to that either.”
“Cool.”
“And, just so it’s out in the open, I get tested regularly. But, besides what we’ve been doing, I haven’t hooked up with anyone since I was still with my ex back, like, what, more than half a year ago now.”
“I was going to get tested too,” I tell him. “Kat mentioned it and they and Pérez said they’d go with me if it’d make me less nervous. But, also besides what we’ve been doing, the only person I’ve hooked up with lately and, like, within the last few months was Leana, but you probably could’ve guessed that. And we used condoms the few times it got that far.”
“Same.”
“Cool,” I say again through a breath, shaking out the current nerves about one more thing on my mind. “Also, I actually have a question. Kind of. Or, more like something I probably should say before we end up there.”
“You can tell me anything.”
“What if I … what if I don’t want to be the bottom?”
Vale perks his head up, his lips sucked in like he’s trying to hold in laughter again. “Like, ever?”
“I mean, maybe. I don’t know. It’s not something …ugh.” A hand comes up to my face, covering my eyes, trying to hide the way I feel slightly unconfident here. “This feels weird, talking about it.”
“It’s not, I promise.” His hand pulls mine away, keeping me looking at him. “And it’s fine. Whoever it’s with, however it’s done, you should enjoy it, yeah? Promise, I won’t top-shame you. Although you do have a very nice futbolista butt. And I also promise that, if I have to take that role with you, I have absolutely zero problems with that. I’d even prefer it, if we’re both being honest here.”
“Okay,” I say through a sigh. “Cool. I am good for anything else, though. Just to put that out there.” I massage his thighs, watching my fingers going into the legs of his shorts. “And I want to make sure that you feel good. Like, that you’re enjoying this as much as I am.”
“You make me feel really good,” Vale tells me, leaning down for a kiss. “I promise.”
“Good. Also, have youseenyour ass? Talking about very nice. A ten out of ten.”
And it’s right when my fingers start getting under the fabric of Vale’s briefs for that ten out of ten ass, that my alarm starts going off,GOALS AND GLORYon my phone screen.
“Later,” Vale promises, his voice soft. “Promise. You need to get going soon.”
I rush to get dressed, putting on an old Islander kit that Coach found in a supply closet which fits me like a glove, the first pair of shorts I can reach for, and Crocs that go with the light blue of the jersey.
“I’ll see you when I get back,” I tell Vale, leaning down to kiss him as he sits on my mattress. A part of me wishes I could bring him along. Look at him when I start getting nervous. Catch him smiling at me. “Shouldn’t be too long.”
“Have fun,” he says back, patting my chest. “They’re going to love you. And, just so you know, that blowjob earlier was for the A on your midterm. Get back here with enough time before we’ve got to be at your parents’, and we can celebrate your first podcast interview.”
“Ching—I’m going to be hard the entire time now because of you.”
“Good.” He’s got a teasing smile as he pecks my cheek. “Now go. Don’t keep them waiting.”
“Man, that was great,” Rashid tells me as he pulls me in for a hug. “You’ve got a really phenomenal story, Gabi.”
“Thanks, I—I thought I might’ve sounded nervous the whole time.” My hand swipes over my head, feeling more assured of myself when my palm doesn’t get covered in sweat. I’m trying to remember anything I said in the last ninety minutes. If my answers to his questions were at all intelligent-sounding. As casual as it was, and as great as they were at keeping the conversation going, sometimes I felt like I was on the verge of rambling, and other times it seemed like my answers were too short, their eyes asking me if there’s anything else I’d like to add.
“Nah, incredible stuff,” Trevor adds while helping their tech guy put away their mics and equipment. “We had a fun time talking with you. Going to try to have this episode out within the next few weeks, I think, right, Rash?”
“Oh yeah, within the next month, for sure.”
“Yeah, so when that happens, we’ll make sure to tag all the socials you gave us and email the links to you and your coach here.”
