Wrestling With Love (22 page)

“I’d love to hear that.” She scratched her head. “Well, how hyped up are we talking about?” She looked skeptical and Derek remembered her concerns about not being able to get party permits in the future.

“I get people pretty hyper,” Derek admitted. “I could play just one and then keep the rest of the music like my first song.” Elizabeth agreed and Derek’s belly did a jump 104

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of excitement. She had just given him permission to play the kind of music he loved best. Derek switched to one of his standard pre-mixed tracks and let it play. Since most of his music was pre-recorded, he didn’t have to stay with his mixing board while the song played.

He sidled over to Scott and the two watched the crowd. The dorm filled with the sounds of his music and people began jumping around in the dimly lit lounge. Almost everyone was dancing by the time the song had been playing for two minutes, with the exception of a few hard-core drinkers who were in the corner passing a bottle of Jose Cuervo around. Derek couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride. “They really seemed to like the music.”

Scott put an arm around Derek’s shoulders. “And why the hell wouldn’t they? Your music is amazing. I wouldn’t be surprised if you get more gigs because of this.” The thought of getting paid for mixing college parties was intriguing, but Scott’s arm around his shoulder in front of their entire dorm was what had Derek’s full attention. Glancing around, he saw that many of the dancers were looking in their direction, smiling and jumping about, all having a great time. No one seemed to be bothered or curious about their physical contact. More importantly, Scott didn’t seem uncomfortable in the least.

When the party was over, Elizabeth and Ron helped Derek and Scott bring his equipment back to their room. “That was fantastic, Derek. Thanks so much.” She handed him a hundred dollars in cash, taken directly from the money the party-goers had paid. “Would you be willing to mix for the next party?”

Derek agreed enthusiastically. “I love mixing. It doesn’t feel like work to me.”

Elizabeth smiled and said goodnight. When she and Ron left the room, Scott shut the door. He walked over to Derek, giving him a huge hug, then kissing him gently on the lips.

“What was that for?” Derek asked.

Scott leaned his head down and kissed Derek’s neck. “I’m really proud of you. You’re so talented. Wherever you go, you charm the pants off of people. Come on, I want you to charm the pants off of me right now.” He grabbed Derek by the hand, dragging him up into their bed.

For a moment, Derek thought Scott was about to finally take the initiative he had been waiting for, but once they were in bed, he simply cradled Derek, kissing him and running his hands along Derek’s back. Although he felt a twinge of disappointment, he was too tired to really put much energy into being actively upset that they still hadn’t had sex yet. Scott had done a lot of things in the past twenty-four hours which had made Derek really happy.

It might have been his imagination, but it seemed that Scott was beginning to come out of his shell a bit. First, the comment at his parent’s house. When he brought up the bickering, it had been subtle, but it still suggested a degree of intimacy between the two of them. Scott had never been so open about the time the two of them spent together in 105

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front of anyone. Then at the party, Scott had put his arm around Derek’s shoulders. A small gesture, certainly nothing that would be mistaken for anything but a friendly act, but still, it had been done in front of the entire dorm. Scott’s hand wrapping around his cock pushed his thoughts out of his mind as he gasped. The sound of his breath was muffled as Scott’s lips closed over his. Their tongues wrestled and danced as the pace increased on his cock, bringing Derek’s evening to the best high of the night. Thinking about whether Scott was getting closer to coming out or to initiating sex between the two of them would only spoil the moment. He could wait until tomorrow to return to stressing out about their relationship. 106

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Chapter Nine

Derek had a lot of work to do on Sunday and chose to enjoy the outside while the weather was still warm by sitting out in the quad with his books sprawled out around him. Scott had gone for a run and was going to borrow Derek’s car to visit his mother later in the day since his father had left that morning for one of his business trips. It was a good chance for Scott to spend time with his mother without his father’s critical comments to tarnish their time together.

As Derek studied, many of his dorm mates stopped to sit with him, complimenting his mixing from the previous night. Several mentioned friends in other dorms and were going to be sure to let them know about him. Derek was beginning to think mixing for parties was going to become a lucrative business for him while at college. As long as it didn’t interfere with his studies, he was fine with that. After a few hours, he decided to go to the cafeteria to grab some lunch. As he packed his bags, the pink flyer for the LGBT Alliance meeting caught his eye. Butterflies began to flutter in his belly. Before college, he hadn’t even known other gay people aside from Scott, let alone deciding to go to a gay and lesbian meeting. Now that he had just established himself as someone who would be sought out for mixing parties, the idea of doing something that would reveal his sexuality seemed a bit scary. What if word got out to others? What if people decided they didn’t want some gay guy mixing for their parties? What if didn’t want to be friends with him? Derek had had these fears before and had allowed them to stand in his way. It was time to embrace who he was. He made a mental note to attend the meeting regardless of any potential fallout to himself. He wasn’t worried about Scott because Hank had said his best friend was gay and no one seemed to think any less of him. If Scott wanted to keep his sexuality private, Derek’s status as a gay man wouldn’t interfere with that. Not quite hungry, but knowing he would be soon, Derek picked up his things and headed across campus to the cafeteria near the Arts Center. It would give him time to enjoy the day and take in the different parts of campus he hadn’t yet explored. Each area of the grounds housed students with different interests and majors. There was the science and math section of campus where many students wore thick blackrimmed classes and plaid shirts. Derek chuckled to himself, thinking all these students needed to complete their costume were pocket protectors. As he got closer to the Arts Center, students wore much more casual clothing. Women wore wraps as skirts and guys wore bandanas on their wrists or tied around their heads. Most wore sandals or flip flops and had colorful woven belts holding up jeans with large, worn holes in them. Derek felt guilty observing with such a stereotypical eye, but then considered his own section of campus, where most of the students were on sports teams and wore athletic pants and t-shirts with either high school or college logos on them. Checking out his own outfit, he laughed realizing he was just as much a stereotype as everyone else. He was wearing a Brampton High wrestling tank-top, a pair of Adidas work out 107

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pants, and sneakers. He knew if a student from another part of campus had walked by him when he was studying in the quad they would have seen him as just another nameless jock. The thought shifted from amusing to slightly disturbing. If people lived together with others like themselves, acting and dressing their respective parts, how would anyone ever open up to and accept differences. The thought was way too deep for him to handle on an empty stomach.

Once at the cafeteria, he took a seat by a window and ate alone, contemplating his first month at BU. College life was so different than high school. He reveled in the freedom of being able to do whatever he wanted and loved being surrounded by thousands of students his own age. He could go in and out of the city at his leisure and was living with his boyfriend, in a dorm with lots of really cool people. The bonus was that he could continue to mix while at college and even make some money at it. Courses hadn’t been going long enough for him to really get a sense of whether they interested him or not, but he was taking classes which hadn’t been available in high school such as sociology, art history, and music technology. He was really enjoying the music technology course and was learning a great deal about the mechanics of the mixing he so enjoyed.

As he watched people walk by outside, a few students sat at his table. There were two guys, both rather attractive and one girl who was relatively overweight. They were in the middle of an animated conversation.

One of the two guys said, “I’m really looking forward to tomorrow night’s meeting. The first one was really lame.”

The second guy said, “First meetings are always small and boring. Once the year gets underway, they usually get much better, especially when we start planning the really big events. That’s when most people show up.”

The girl rolled her eyes. “Big events. More people. Why do boys always worry about the size of things?”

The last comment caught Derek’s attention. Interrupting their conversation, he asked, “Are you guys talking about the LGBT Alliance meeting tomorrow night?” All three students looked at him as if he had materialized out of thin air, none of them responding. Derek found their stares comical and wondered if he should ask again in sign language.

Finally, the girl answered him. “Yes, but we don’t call it the LGBT Alliance. We just call it The Alliance. Why do you want to know?” There was a defensive edge to her voice.

Derek thought the reason for his question would have been obvious. “Well, I’m interested in attending.” Both of the boys surveyed Derek with a new sense of interest. The girl extended her hand. “My name’s Charlotte. These guys are Phillip and Oscar,” she said, waving dismissively at the two boys sitting next to her. They both nodded, but didn’t speak. “So you’re interested in joining The Alliance? That’s great. 108

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What year are you?” There was something predatory in the way she asked him questions, as if she were interrogating rather than engaging in conversation.

“I’m a freshman and I live over in the quads.” Both of the boys stared at each other, then resumed their silent examination of him.

Charlotte smiled, “Don’t mind them. They keep to this part of campus but have fantasies of what it’s like over in the jock section of the world.” Her comment reminded Derek of his observation on the walk to the cafeteria. Why did students feel the need to consign themselves to specific parts of the campus? Wasn’t the point of college to meet people you otherwise wouldn’t normally meet?

Finally, the boy with the darker hair extended his hand. “Hi. I’m Phillip and what she said isn’t entirely true. We have friends in all of the different parts of the campus, but we tend to spend most of our time over here.” Derek assessed him. Aside from shaggy dark hair, he had angular features: sharp jaw line, narrow nose, prominent cheek bones. He would have had a classic English look except for the dotting of freckles covering his cheeks which gave him an all-American boyish appearance.

“That’s because we’re majoring in performance arts and most of our classes and friends live over here.” Oscar had spoken and extended his hand and smiled. Derek thought he could sense a slight hint of a flirtatious glint in his amber eyes. He had ginger hair, pale skin, and quite a few more freckles than Phillip and was lanky, his arms as thin as twigs. “So you’re a freshman, huh? How do you like it here so far?”

“I love it. My dorm is awesome and I love the freedom. It’s really fun.” Derek shook his extended hand, then redirected the conversation back to The Alliance meeting. “So, you guys said the first meeting was pretty small?”

Charlotte shook her head as Oscar answered him. “The first meeting is always the smallest. People are settling in, getting into their routines, and don’t put time into extra activities until the year has gotten started. Tomorrow night’s meeting should be a lot bigger. We put up flyers and we’ll begin planning some of this year’s events.”

Charlotte wiped her mouth and then took a huge slug of her soda. “Tomorrow we’re hoping to have a bunch of new meat, such as yourself. It’s important to make sure we encourage new students to join each year, otherwise The Alliance would fizzle out.”

Derek had finished eating his lunch and still had some studying to do. “Well, I’ll see you guys tomorrow night.” He got up and brought his things to the garbage can. When he looked back to wave goodbye, he noticed both Phillip and Oscar whispering into each other’s ears, both sets of eyes trained on him.

* * * * *

The next night, Derek was standing in front of the mirror he and Scott had installed on the wall. He had already gone through three outfits, dismissing each for one reason or another.

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“Should I be worrying?” Scott walked up behind him, wrapped his hands around Derek’s bare chest and tweaked a nipple. He then leaned in and grazed his teeth along his neck. “You look great.”

“What, like this? I’m only in my boxer briefs.”

Scott lifted his head so he was staring into Derek’s eyes in the mirror. His lifted his eyebrows suggestively. “You could slip out of those and stay here instead of going to the meeting.”