___

_________

: Falling in Love with a HomoSapien

We were in the last minutes of the game. My chest heaved, and my skin was slick - fully covered with a sticky and smelly (albeit, disgusting) layer of sweat. There was a low pounding at the front of my head, the telltale sign of a killer migraine. I groaned at the sensation, trying my best to stifle out and numb the sound of the crowd cheering around me. My teammates hovered around me, a few of them patting my shoulder in an indication of moral support. It didn't matter though, we all knew that we were going to lose - that realization however didn't stop us from trying to beat the Gurner Academy players.

As if on cue, a huge uproar sounded from the opposite side of the field. My eyes flew open, landing on one person, someone that had me enthralled throughout the entirety of the game — number 16.

Hail.

Like most jerseys, that was all that was said on the back of his blue and gold jersey. My eyes swung lower, down the curve of his lower back until they landed on his ass. Immediately, my body tensed. Nobody could possibly blame me though, (definitely not you), his pants simply made his ass look better. Delectable, eatable even, and his body was well-formed. That was a man who clearly worked out. I just wanted to wrap my arms around his waist and bring him into my embrace. There was only one problem with that though; I was still in the closet.

I know. Lame (sad), pathetic (double sad), but being on the football team and confessing that you're gay doesn't really go well. We're practically naked, or half naked, most of the time and with most of them being overly dramatic (and having the egos the size of sun), they might come to the silly conclusion that I was always checking them out.

Which, in all honesty, isn't silly at all.

Because they are only half wrong.

I suck at defending myself. But, the next still stands; none of them are my type.

Anything before that can be thrown out the window.

The game finally finished, the score being uneven by three points and I groaned (again, it seems like the only thing my vocal cords are capable of at this time), walking over to the benches and cursing at the people that were still cheering for us. The killer migraine had grown, fully enveloping my head in a dull rhythm of thuds. If hell were a place, this would certainly be it, thank God an angel was walking towards us.

Wait, an angel? I straightened on the bench. Number 16 had taken off the suffocating helmet and, may I just say; he is absolutely gorgeous. This was definitely heaven. The incarnation of an angel, number 16 had silk straight blond hair reaching beneath his ears and covering his shining green eyes, his pale skin taking on an unnaturally beautiful glow with the help of the (heaven-sent) field lights.

The angels eyes met mine, a devious smirk spreading across his lips as he motioned me over to him - probably me because I was the only one paying attention to him. I cursed at my teammates, how could they ignore a literal angel? Then again, I rolled my eyes, I am 94% sure that most of the other football players were as straight as steel poles.

I huffed lightly as I stood up from the benches, walking towards Hail who had stopped a few feet away from the bundle that formed my team. The beautiful atmosphere that I had created for number 16 was completely and utterly shattered — by the words that escaped his mouth.

Oops. I suppose to never judge a book by its cover is a life lesson?

For the most part, it was understandable, he was prideful in his team but at the same time, he was pushing it. Number 16 continued to brag about his team and then, when he was finished, he stared at my unfazed figure and gave me a small smile whilst running his hands through his hair. For the sake of my image, I am also going to pretend that the actions didn't, in fact, make my heart go haywire in my chest.

"You're different, aren't you?" He asked. I raised an eyebrow, silently questioning what he meant by the question.

After some silent pondering, I asked for clarification. "Different how?"

Hail placed a hand on his hip, jutting out half his body in a slanted pose. "By now many people would've waved me off, arguing that I am being annoying—," His head snapped over his shoulder towards his team, who had started calling out his name. He shook his head and waved them off before turning his attention back to me (that action also didn't introduce me to the concept of warmth, shut up). "Do you want to come eat with me?"

My eyes snapped over to his team, because despite him already waving them off I was a desperate person for self-validation. "With them?"

Hail let out an annoyed groan before shaking his head, "Hell no, they get on my nerves. Just us." Why had my heart never beaten this fast before? I smiled, agreeing to go with him. His eyes widened for a second after, a scoff escaping his throat as he face palmed himself. "I never introduced myself did I? I'm Logan Hail. And yourself, stranger?"

The giggle that left his throat afterwards was too damn innocent. "Tripp Cutlin, it's nice to meet you, we going in my car or yours?" I responded quickly, hoping he wouldn't recognize my last name. Most people only became friends (acquaintances, really) because of my parents money, which just drove me over the edge.

Logan blinked.

"Yours. My brothers taking mine, but let me change," A pause. "Meet you at the parking lot in front of the field?" He asked with what could only be a hopeful tone and we agreed, going our separate ways to get ready.

Once he turned his back to me, I ran to the locker rooms, ignoring anyone that was calling my name and quickly dipping into a shower. When I stepped out, I changed into the set of clothes I brought with me, cursing down at the selection. My sweater was black and had plastered over the front in large, white letters.

I grumbled in annoyance, tying my shoes before walking out of the locker rooms and into the parking lot. Logan was already there, leaning against the fence of the field. I took a second to take in his appearance— tight jeans, and a grey shirt that nicely tightened around his waist, showing the slight outline of his abs. I wet my lips before walking towards him, Logan's head snapped up from his legs that were making shapes with the sand beneath his feet. A second passed, my chest tightened, then he barked out a laugh, throwing his head back.

"Hug dealer?" He asked in between laughs and the sound did nothing but speed up my heart.

"Hey, I'm not afraid to show my true colors." Complete lies. Nobody deserves to know about my cuddly nature on the first date. Nevertheless, I beamed at him and he sent me a goofy grin as he pushed himself off the fence.

"I'm sure you aren't. Which ones yours?" He scanned the parking lot and I pointed towards my white Range Rover, making him gasp and fast-walk towards it.

"From this point on we are best friends and I love your freaking amazing car." Bossy, why did I want to crush that?

"Woah there, make sure not to get too excited." Logan's green eyes snapped over to mine as he sat down in the passenger seat. Understanding the sexual innuendo, he craned his neck back against the headrest of my car, capturing my gaze with his.

"Too late for that." He stated with a soft moan and my eyes widened, something akin to excitement blooming from my chest. Then, he ruined the moment, straightening on the seat. "Joking, though, no need to actually worry."

That only brought disappointment, but instead of voicing those said disappointments, I simply turned to the front as I turned on the engine. "Where to Captain?"

"Crispy's." I hummed at the response, driving out of the parking lot. When we arrived at the nearest one, we grinned at our luck of finding seats. Since it was Friday (after a school game), fast-food places were usually swarming the tables and chairs with their peers.

I took Logan's order, telling him to save our table and absolutely preening when he did as told. The process went by quickly and I soon found myself sitting across from him. His gaze was far off, staring at two guys that seemed closer than friends across from us. They were smiling towards each other fondly, hands caressing, and words being whispered despite already being plastered next to each other.

Affection? Disgusting.

My breath caught in the back of my throat, "What's wrong?"

He shook his head, eyebrows furrowing in uncertainty for a second before — before, "Just looking at them," A nose scrunch upwards. Disgust maybe? My heart stopped for a second at the thought. Wait, chill, don't tell me-

— Logan was homophobic?

Welp. , God.

"Don't like them?" Uncertainty, holy, why was I so nervous? We had only just met. Logan blinked a couple of times before he let a smile take over his face, looking back over to me.

"Uhm, I don't really know. My brother's gay buy I don't dislike him because of it. I still love and accept him. One's sexuality doesn't change my views on someone. If they're an asshole and a part of the LGBT+ spectrum, they're still an asshole. Yeah?" He didn't let me answer (the clarification however, had a wave of hope washing over my soul), "Oh, I should have your number, we are best friends now after all."

I grinned, taking his phone and sending a quick message to my number. "Of course, bestie."

He sipped from his soda but a small grin tugged at the edges of his lips at the title. A pair of girls walked towards us, one placing her hands on my shoulder while the other leaned on the table. I ignored them, eyes trained on Logan, wanting to see how he would react to them. Logan rolled his eyes at their gestures, leaning back on his chair to stretch his back. He then narrowed his gaze at them, an annoyed sigh escaping him.

"Not interested." He growled out, standing from the table as one of the workers called out our number. The girl that was closest to him scoffed, the one on my shoulder deciding to ignore him and twirling strands of my hair with her finger.

I smiled at her, "Sorry babe, I'm not exactly straight per se." Immediately, she flinched away. Murmuring an apology under her breath as she walked away. My thoughts drifted back to Logan and his reaction towards the girls. Was he interested in them? Or completely turned off by them (like yours truly)? Or did he simply refuse them because he was with me, like he had with his teammates?

I'm going to cry, why was this so hard to figure out? And screw that gay-dar thing, apparently I didn't have it. And if I did, it was broken.

Logan came back, setting the tray holding our food on the table and sending me a heartwarming smile. I bit down on the inside of my lip. Damn, he was already impossible to ignore.

꒰꒱꒰꒱

I flinched when Logan's phone started ringing, interrupting our very very amazing conversation (really, I had just learned that he was single). He let out a laugh at my reaction, pulling out his phone and swiping to answer. "Hey," He paused, probably being interrupted from the voice on the other side of the line.

"Is mom there?" Another pause. "She's probably at work." He scoffed, I took another bite of my meal, interested in his conversation. "No, don't go in. Just wait outside, okay? Promise? Okay, yeah. I'll be there in a bit." He hung up, distress written all over his body.

"Want me to take you home?"

His lips puffed into a pout at the question, "Would it be an imposition?"

"Nah, we're friends now and I think I can provide you with that place to stay." I gathered out trash, standing up swiftly to dispose of it. It looked like he wanted to refuse the offer, "Logan, I offered, now come on."

That quickly shut him up and before I knew it, I was driving to what I assumed to be his home. I could deal with this, I was okay with just being friends with him. Right? I stopped on the side of the road, next to the destination. Logan turned to face me.

"No question-asking, no probing. Just - if you want to know, ask later. I'll be right back." He whispered, as though someone was lurking in the backseats of my car. A few minutes passed until the passenger and back door opened, making me look back to see another male climbing in. Logan sighed as he stumbled into his seat, hands clenching at his sides. "Tripp, this is my younger brother Kyle. Kyle, this is my new friend Tripp."

Screw introductions, was that how my name sounded rolling off of his tongue?

I'm in love. Not friends! possible.

I sent Kyle a small nod in acknowledgement, which he returned. "Are you sure we can stay at your house for the night?" Logan asked again, I nodded quickly, starting the car again and making my way over to my house.

Man, if my mom could see me now. Taking someone home on the first (unofficial) date, she would be ecstatic that I was moving on from casual hook-ups.

"Yeah, my parents aren't home. So the only person that should be there should be their assistant and the housekeeper, which should be wrapping up right now." I responded with a shrug and did the last turn before finally entering the driveway to my parents house.

The immensity of it made Logan gasp next to me, "I call dibs on the bed!" He shrieked, jumping out of his seat. Instead of explaining that there were enough guest rooms for everyone to have a bed, I got out of the car, grabbing my gym bag from the back and heading towards the house.

Logan followed me like a newborn duckling while his brother didn't really seem impressed. Which was alright, he wasn't the one that made me swoon with my name on their lips. Before I could unlock the door, it opened for me, revealing my short statured housekeeper (honestly, she was family at this point). I called the brakes on my legs, making sure I didn't crash into her accidentally.

"I'm leaving, no time to talk. Behave and keep the damn house clean." She said, poking my chest repeatedly as she gave me orders.

"Feisty old lady," Logan mumbled as she made her way to her car.

I snickered, "Don't tell her that. Come on."

Quickly, I told them the layout of the house. Letting them know that the main living room, kitchen, and overall business quarter was on the first floor. The second floor holding most of the guest rooms and entertainment centers. "Okay so, restrooms are at the end of the corridor to the left with baths and there are six rooms on each side. You can take whichever you want, there should be extra clothes in the drawers if you need them."

As I finished, Kyle nodded towards us as a goodbye. "It's like a hotel," Logan mumbled under his breath, looking back at me when his brother disappeared into one of the rooms. "So, your room?"

My room? What? Does he want me to fuck him? Cause I can do that.

"What?" Eloquent. Real smooth Tripp.

Logan's eyebrows knitted together. "Don't you have any questions about why me and my brother need a place to stay?"

I shook my head as realization struck me. "Logan, we're best friends now and we all have issues to deal with. I won't force you to tell me anything. If you think I should know or want to tell me then you can but you don't have to. Do you have any questions for me?"

A loose gesture to the house, Logan scoffed. "You're a cool guy, I don't care about money or what your parents do."

There seemed to be a moment of peace and understanding between us. I opened my mouth and like always he beat me, fist-pumping the air. "Let's play video games!"

꒰꒱꒰

This. . . was an odd position for people that are only going to be friends, to say the least. Logan had his legs over my thighs, his hands on his abdomen, as his head rested on my shoulder. His breath tickled the skin of my neck, low sounds and groans bumping into my throat.

I blinked as something brought me out of my trance, a black figure shadowy figure next to the entrance of the entertainment room. I looked over, recognizing the figure to be Kyle. He caught my gaze, walking a few steps before looking down at his brother.

"It's been a while since he's gotten a good rest." He started, "You seem like a good person Tripp. I hope that you stay by his side." It was shocking to hear, coming from someone who I thought wanted nothing to do with me. I placed my hand on my face, passing my forefinger over my lips to illustrate that this would be our little secret.

He nodded in understanding, walking back out of the room as I looked back down at Logan.

Such a beautiful piece of art.