Vincent Kinsington

I had been to the stadium parking lot before, but I had never been inside it. I stood in line and purchased a ticket. Chet knew I was coming, but I hadn't told Alex. If he knew, he would feel pressured to sit by me instead of with Mateo's family. I entered and found my seat. My seat was about halfway up the rows. There were a few people on my aisle, but no one sat directly by me.

I saw Alex enter with I assumed Mateo's family. He did look happy as Mateo's younger brothers walked on either side of him talking animatedly. They sat in my section, but in one of the first rows. Alex didn't notice me.

Mr. Watakeekul entered with his wife and Chet's little sister. Chet had been correct in that she looked like a prettier, feminine version of their father. Chet and his sister didn't look too much alike, but there were enough similarities to tell they were family.

Chet's sister and Mateo's sister waved to each other as the Watakeekul family passed Mateo's family. They sat in the next set of rows to the right. Mr. Watakeekul didn't notice me. That was good. He didn't know Chet and I were dating, but I was just glad I didn't have to deal with facing him as Chet's secret boyfriend. I had met Mrs. Watakeekul at a few work functions, but I had never seen Chet's little sister before. The seats filled with more people.

Soon an announcer named the players on the other team. The stadium was mostly silent. Then the announcer named the players on our team. Cheers came from the crowds in the stadium as they announced our players. My heart thumped a little harder when Chet's name was announced and he came out with his other teammates waving his arm vigorously to the crowds.

The game started. Chet was on the sidelines. I tried to pay attention to what was happening on the field as I knew how much Chet loved soccer, but it was difficult. I only wanted to stare at his back. Mateo sat next to him on the bench. He turned once and waved at his family and Alex.

Chet turned once, he saw his family first, then his eyes landed on the girl who had been at his birthday party last night and a wave of jealousy washed through me. I hadn't even noticed her until then. Chet's eyes changed when they landed on me. The corners of his mouth lifted into a slight smile. I couldn't help it, I smiled back. I didn't think anyone was paying attention to me so they wouldn't notice. Chet's attention went back to the field. At some point during the first half, Chet and Mateo were substituted into play.

I found myself leaving my seat and walking down to stand at the front where I could better see him. This was a new side to him I had never seen before - focused, running, there was a knowledge and confidence in his eyes and a sharp look that was extremely attractive. He usually had an innocence and sweetness to him, but while he was playing he was totally focused on what was happening on that field. And...I had never seen him in his soccer uniform before. The muscles of his thighs peeked out from under the shorts. They were defined and thick and hard to look away from as the muscles tightened and shifted underneath his caramel skin every time he moved.

There was a nudge on my shoulder that startled me. I blushed when I saw Alex there beside me. How long had he been there?

"I've been wondering this since last night," Alex said. "Do you have a crush on Chet?"

"No." My blush deepened. "Yes," I admitted. Alex could tell when I was lying.

"Were you just checking out Chet's legs?"

I paused. There was no use lying. He clearly saw me. "Yes."

Alex smiled and looked out over the field. His eyes found Mateo. Mine found Chet.

"I do like the uniforms," Alex said. "Who knew you were a leg guy?"

"Not me," I said as I stared at Chet's legs and discovered something new about myself.

"Why are you here?" he asked. "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy, just confused."

I wanted to say I was there to support Mateo, but Alex would know that was a lie. Why did the two favorite people in my life have to be so perceptive?

"I like Chet," I answered honestly.

"Wouldn't it be something," Alex said, "if you were the person Chet has a crush on and we could go on double dates."

I looked at him like he was crazy.

"What?" he asked.

"My family," I said and understanding dawned on his face.

"Well," he said as we turned our attention back to the players. "We could still go on double dates and just pretend you and Chet are there as friends to support me and Mateo. No one would need to know you were dating."

We stopped talking as the ball got close to the other team's goal with Chet and Mateo in the lead. Mateo dribbled the ball, he got passed an opponent and passed the ball to Chet. I saw the moment of calculation in Chet's eyes right before he kicked and it made my heart race. He was incredibly attractive in that moment. The ball slid passed the diving goalie and hit the net. Chet ran to his teammates with his hands in the air. Those closest to him patted him on the back or rubbed his hair. His eyes found mine and he smiled wide. I forgot to breathe.

"I'm pretty sure you're the one Chet has a crush on," Alex said.

I peeled my eyes off my boyfriend to look at my best friend. I didn't know what to say.

"I think you need to find a way to work around your family," Alex went on.

"I don't know how," I said. A whistle blew as the first half ended. "You should go back to Mateo's family."

"I can go sit with you," he offered, but I shook my head.

"No. I'm fine. I think you should sit with them." I nodded my head towards Mateo's family and Alex looked to see that Mateo's two brothers were on their way to him. "I have to go to the bathroom anyway," I said.

"Okay," he said. "Try to think of a way to make your feelings known to Chet though."

He didn't wait for my answer before he headed off to the brothers. I went to find the bathroom. It didn't take me long. There was one close by. On my way back to my seat, I saw a familiar face - one that followed Chet around.

"Hi," Melissa said to me.

"Hi," I didn't mean to sound hesitant but that's how it came out.

"You probably don't remember me," she said. "We both went to..."

"...North High," I said at the same time.

She smiled and said, "I didn't think you remembered me. It looks like we're both friends with Chet."

"And Mateo," I added because I didn't want it to look like I was only friends with Chet. "He and Alex are dating."

"Chet told me," she said. "I'm glad Alex found someone nice."

"Me too. Well, I'm going to head back inside."

"Okay, see you around."

I waved goodbye to her. I wanted to be a nicer person because of Chet, but I couldn't help my thoughts that I hoped I didn't see her around anymore.

The game got going again, but to my disappointment, Chet didn't get to play anymore. We won 2-0.

I waited only long enough for Chet to give me a knowing glance before I left. I waved goodbye to Alex, but didn't go talk to him as Mateo's brothers were still talking to him.

It didn't take me long to get home and start dinner. Spaghetti was one of the things I knew I could make well. I hoped Chet liked spaghetti. Maybe I should have asked him first. Oh well, who didn't like spaghetti? I started on the meatballs first mixing the ingredients in with the meat and rolling them into balls. I placed them on a baking sheet. It was then that my doorbell rang.

I quickly washed my hands to get off the remnants of meat and ingredients before I opened the door. Chet stood there smiling brightly. He had a backpack slung across his shoulder.

"Hi," he said.

His smile spread to me. "Hi." I stepped aside so he could come in. "You're earlier than I expected."

"I didn't talk much so I could shower, dress and get here quickly. Usually it takes me long because everyone else talks to me. I still ended up waiting for the bus though."

I shut the door behind him and headed back to the kitchen. "Why did you bring a backpack?" I put the baking sheet full of meatballs into the hot oven.

"I brought a pair of clothes to sleep in," he said.

I was hoping he would be sleeping over, but we hadn't confirmed it. He put his backpack on the floor and then came into the kitchen.

I had the noodles and sauce going and was spreading garlic butter over bread to go into the oven as soon as I took out the meatballs.

"Do you need help?" he asked. He stood close behind me. He placed his chin on my shoulder as he looked to see what I was doing. "I love spaghetti," he added when he saw what I was cooking.

"No, I don't need help," I said. "It's for your birthday. Just go sit and relax."

He didn't go far. He jumped up and sat on an empty counter as I continued preparing dinner.

"You've had girlfriends before," Chet said after a pause.

"Yes," I said not sure where this was going. I started on a green salad.

"Did you ever sleep with any of them and by sleep I mean sex?"

I smiled at his phrasing. "No," I said, "I didn't."

"Why not?"

"Do you want me to have slept with them?"

He shook his head sheepishly. "No, but didn't you ever have a rebellious phase where you just did everything your parents told you not to?"

"Did you?"

He shook his head again. "I think Kiet took all the rebellion that I and Kannika would have had and used it for himself."

"I couldn't afford to be rebellious," I said. "I couldn't take the chance I would be kicked out. You are the most rebellious thing I've ever done and this doesn't feel rebellious. It feels like I'm becoming myself."

He smiled grandly at that. His feet swung back and forth. I finished the salad and checked on the noodles and sauce.

"My family wouldn't have considered me sleeping with a girl rebellious though," I said. "I told you my dad proposed to my mom, but what I didn't tell you was that she was pregnant with my brother. My grandma didn't want my dad to marry her, but he did anyway. I never wanted to take the chance of getting a girl pregnant and then being roped into marrying her. Especially if she just got pregnant to marry into money like I'm pretty sure my mom did." I turned off the sauce so it wouldn't burn.

Chet didn't say anymore as I went about preparing dinner. I had done a little research and yesterday before I had gone to help with Chet's birthday party, I had stopped and got condoms and lube. I didn't expect we would use it soon, but I wanted to be prepared just in case. They were safely hidden away in the end table drawer on my side of the bed. I didn't want him to accidentally come across them and think I expected him to move faster than he was prepared to.

"Any more questions?" I asked after a length of silence.

"Not right now," he said.

"You don't have to help because it's your birthday, but if you do want to help, you could set the table."

He hopped off the counter. He knew right where to go for the plates, glasses and silverware. While he did that, I took out the meatballs and put in the garlic bread. I drained the noodles and added the sauce and meatballs.

When everything was done and on the table Chet took a bite. My heart thumped nervously that he wouldn't like it.

He immediately smiled. "It's delicious," he said. My heart eased and I could enjoy the dinner I made.

"You looked really good out on the field," I said as we ate.

"Thanks," Chet said with an adorable smile. "I was happy to see you in the stands." For the rest of the dinner he told me that was the last regular game and next week there was a sort of mini tournament in his conference before the bigger division I tournament following. To my disappointment, there wouldn't be any more home games. I should have started dating him earlier.

It seemed he truly liked my cooking because he had 2 generous portions of spaghetti.

When dinner was over, he helped me clean up and wash the dishes even though I told him I could do it myself. Then we went into my bedroom and played video games for awhile. I died several times in game because all I could think about were Chet's legs and how I wanted to see them again and touch them. I finally gave up and put the controller down on the coffee table.

He glanced at me before he went back to the game. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"No," I said. I continued to watch him as he played.

It didn't take him long before he placed his controller next to mine and turned to me on the couch. "I know I'm handsome, but I'm not so handsome you have to keep looking at me like that."

"Yes you are," I said.

He smiled. "Okay, I am, but still it seems like you want something from me - like how I used to hug my mom and tell her I loved her before I asked her to buy me new soccer cleats."

"I discovered something about myself today," I said and I slid closer to him.

"What?"

I looked down at the jeans covering his thighs.

"I learned I was a leg guy." I looked back up into his rich brown eyes. "Can I touch them?"

"My legs?" he seemed taken aback by my request. Maybe I was being too forward.

"You have handsome thighs. I never knew because I had never seen you in shorts before. And I had no idea I would like them so much. I just want to touch them. Do I sound creepy?"

"If it came from anyone else, yes, but from you no. It doesn't sound creepy."

I still didn't know what he thought of my request although he wasn't moving away from me so that had to be a good sign.

"So can I?"

He nodded. My hand slid from my thigh to his. His leg was thick and hard. His leg muscles were bigger than mine. I squeezed and felt the muscles tighten underneath the jeans. My hand went higher on his thigh grazing every muscle. I kept going and glanced at him wondering how much he was going to let me do because I was now dangerously close to moving between his thighs.

His breathing had changed and so had mine. He shifted so he was leaning above me with his hands on my shoulders. My hands went to his hips as he leaned down and kissed me. His kiss wasn't just lips and tongue, but also lust, desire and fire.

My body had responded before when he was above me like this and it responded again now. We were only kissing, but already my pants were confining. My hard on came quickly with him pressed above me like that. I pushed him off and stumbled into the bathroom.

I undid my pants button and was about to unzip it when there was a knock on the door.

"Need some help?" The smirk was clear in his voice, but the thought of it made me forget to breathe. Maybe this was one of those moments where he teased, but was secretly serious.

"Would you?" I asked.

There was a pause from behind the door as I held my breath and I physically ached even more needing relief with the thought of him coming in and doing it himself.

"Yes." His voice was serious this time. I opened the door.

He stepped inside and looked at my unbuttoned pants and the obvious bulge. Then his eyes drifted up and met mine.

He stepped forward so there wasn't much space between us. His hands moved slowly to my zipper. I stared at his face as he pulled the zipper down. His hand shifted so he was cupping me over my boxers. I was heated everywhere, but especially where he touched as he ran his hand up and down the shape of my hard on over my boxers.

This was much better than any dream. His hand moved again and slipped underneath my boxers this time. The entire time he watched my face. My legs went weak as he gripped my hard on and began to stroke me. I leaned forward so I was leaning against his shoulders. My head bent next to his ear. My breath must have been loud in his ear, but at the moment I couldn't care.

He stroked and explored and touched. I had never felt such ecstacy. My euphoria hit its peak. I came on my boxers and his hand. I shifted back slightly to look into his face. He stared at me for a slight moment before he leaned in and kissed me gently.

He stepped away from me and cleaned his hand. "You better take a shower," he said.

"Take one with me."

He stiffened and I hoped I hadn't just taken it too far. His face was pensive when he turned back to me.

"You don't want to?" I asked.

I couldn't decipher what he was thinking as he stared at me for several silent moments, but the desire was there in his eyes.

"Take a shower," his voice was quieter and deeper than usual and he quickly left.

He hadn't said he didn't want to. It was just too soon. I needed to be careful about not taking things too fast.

When I came out of the shower, I was about to call out to him to get me some clothes for bed, but noticed he had already placed the clothes neatly outside the door. I quickly got dressed and went out. He was already dressed and in bed. His eyes were closed, but I didn't think he was asleep.

I turned out the lights and crawled into bed next to him. I scooted close to him and draped my arm over his stomach. He rolled over so he was facing me. His eyes stared at me in the darkness.

"Am I taking things too fast?" I asked him quietly.

He shook his head. "I'm afraid because I want things to go faster," he answered equally quiet. That wasn't the answer I had expected, but at least I knew it wasn't because I had made a mistake.

"What will you do if your family finds out about us?" he asked.

"I don't think I can be without you," I said. He smiled. His warm hand reached up between us to caress my cheek. Then he closed his eyes and relaxed against me. He drifted off to sleep, but I thought back on how my body responded both times he had hovered above me. I had always thought when we had sex I would be the one on top, but I was wondering more and more what it would feel like to have him inside me. I still wanted to feel what it was like to be inside him. I wanted it both ways.