“It’s okay, Charlie… you were both just kids. Your father is a terrible man. You can’t blame yourself for what happened to Drew.”
“I know. I’m just tired of being a bloody coward,” he sniffles, shame drowning his tone.
“I don’t think you are a coward, Charlie.” I say with my chest, meaning every word.
“Really?” he mumbles.
“If you were a coward you would have called it quits, but you kept going, kept trucking along, even when I’m sure you felt like throwing in the towel. Especially after you found out what happened between me and Drew. That takes resilience to keep going.”
“I guess… but I should’ve—” he stutters.
“You couldn’t be a child and a savior, Charlie. None of this sits on your shoulders. You aren’t meant to atone for a grown man’s sins. You made it out of there and now you are flourishing. That’s not cowardice. That’s someone who’s walked through hell and come back in one piece.”
“What do I do now…” he asks, inhaling a heavy breath.
I let a smile crack on my face. “Well, are you going to come out of that stall? Or are you going to mope for the second half? We’ve got a game to win.”
I hear his feet shuffle on the floor. He cracks open the stall door, wiping away his tears. “Yeah we do.”
“Let’s join the team; I think halftime is nearly over,” I say, giving him a pat on the shoulder. The touch of my hand on his back sends a jolt of shudders through me. A warm tingly sensation.
Fuck. What kind of mess did I get myself into with these brothers?
One brother was cast in the dark, while the other was allowed to glimmer under the lights, and I’m stuck in the gravity of both. Being ripped apart by two planets orbiting different suns.
I’d be lying if I said all my feelings have dissolved for Charlie. From that touch on his pads I wanted him to turn around kiss me madly. Give me his cheeky smile without the malice hidden behind it. Part of me aches to return to his side. For his gentleness. For the boring man that he is, to satisfy me with his dullness.
But I love Drew, and after finding out what happened to him as a kid. The horror that he lived through, I might as well slit his throat if I were to leave him. It would be absolute betrayal. I won’t be that kind of guy. I can’t be that guy, the one that walks out at the worst possible moment and never glances back. Fully aware of the consequences of their actions. It might make me worse than his father.
What a vicious bind…
How long can I live, suspended between their gravities? How long before I stop being a moon and split in half—a satellite cracked into two? Charlie promises me comfort while Drew offers dangers. Both tugging me at my margins.
Just like the hems of my jersey, fraying from too many jerks. Every tug loosens another stitch until they rip apart. How long before the seams give out, and there’s nothing left to hand out. No more glue keeping these brothers from devouring each other’s throats.
Chapter 21
Drew
“Youwerefuckingstunningout there tonight, babe.” I murmur into his ear, my voice hoarse from cheering on the sideline. Austin hauled in the game-winning touchdown with seconds to go, snatching it down from two cornerbacks. He had to step it up after Charlie shanked the easiest points of his life. My Lover Boy did what no else could. “Best rookie wide receiver I’ve ever seen.”
“How many rookie wide receivers have you watched?” Austin snarks, his grin growing.
“Just one…” I growl.
“Yeah? And how am I going to be rewarded?” He chuckles, the laughter echoing through the humming of the air conditioner in the hotel room.
“However you want, baby. Upside down, in the hallway. On the balcony with a view of the city lights. Blokes from miles around could see us… You tell me what you desire, and I’ll make it happen.”
His eyes shift, those chestnuts going glossy, hunger glinting through the polish of victory. “King, that is so generous of you.” His fingers brush down my jaw, the other hand fumbling with my belt.
The chill of the AC fades, swallowed by the furnace festering between us. My teeth land in the slope of his neck, leaving sharptender marks. My nips are met with a string of precious moans. Sounds that send waves of aching lust through me, feeding my feral desires. I’m desperate to make those moans louder. Loud enough for his coach to hear down the hallway.
The taste of dried sweat isn’t enough. I want every inch of him branded with ink, my signature etched into every flawless crease of his paleness. His voice barking in my ear as the needle drives in, while I fuck him to distract his mind from the pain.
I land a spank to his beautiful arse, tearing off his scanty shorts, exposing him down to his jockstrap with his bulge begging to profuse, thighs dazzled with black hairs. A scrumptious fucking sight, his member is like a missile pending takeoff to outer space.
Our lips brace, tongues swarming in a wrestling match to which he hastily surrenders. His muscle melting into mine. “Lover Boy… you are a bloody wonder.” I groan as my tongue brushes his mouth, sweeping every corner until he's gasping for air.
