Wrestling With Love (44 page)

“Now I feel better.”

“We need to get back anyway. Beck’s due any minute. I’m glad she decided to come for the party. We haven’t hung out with her in the longest time.” Derek had called Beck earlier in the week to let her know about the party and the dance. She had agreed to come for the whole weekend.

Scott’s face lit up. “That’s right. Beck is coming. Awesome! Let’s go.” They headed across campus, talking about random things and making fun of one another. When they got back to their dorm, Beck was waiting for them outside. “Beck!” Scott ran up to her, arms outstretched to give her a hug.

Beck had a stern expression on her face. “I’ve been standing here for ten minutes in the freezing cold and you think I’m going to just give you a hug.” Scott stopped short, cowering slightly under Beck’s glare. “I ought to grab you by the nuts and…” her serious demeanor broke and she began laughing. “Shit, I think I’m losing my touch. I can’t even pretend to be mad at you. Come give mama a hug!”

Scott and Derek both charged forward, grabbing Beck in a bear hug. Beck finally squirmed out of their grip and Derek used the opportunity to grab Scott by the waist and pull him backward to the ground. He grabbed a pile of sloshy snow and piled it onto Scott’s face. Scott howled. “Fuck. It’s wet. It’s beginning to drip down the front of my shirt.”

Grabbing Derek he flipped him onto his back, straddling him and placing his knees on Derek’s arms so that he couldn’t move. Once Scott had secured him to the ground, he unzipped Derek’s jacket and grabbed a large mound of snow. Using his other hand 210

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to lift Derek’s shirt, he shoved the snow against Derek’s skin and started spreading it all over his chest and abdomen. Derek struggled and tried to free himself, but Scott was too strong for him and had a weight advantage. All he could do was writhe and squeal. After a few minutes, Scott stopped. “Uh-oh.”

Derek looked up at him. “What’s wrong?”

Scott had a serious look on his face. “It’s just too bad, that’s all.”

Derek became slightly concerned. “What’s too bad?”

Scott winked at Derek. “It’s too bad Beck just got soaked.” With that he jumped up and grabbed Beck, pulling her to the ground as well. She began shrieking, threatening testicular mutilation every other sentence. Derek, not wanting to miss out on the fun, grabbed snow and began tossing it onto both of them. By the time they finished and got up to Derek and Scott’s room, they were all thoroughly soaked and freezing. Beck was laughing, but she had a scowl on her face.

Derek sat down on the floor of their room and began pulling his clothes off. Scott, completely soaked, stood by Beck, helping her with her jacket and boots. “You’re not mad are you? It was just fun.”

Beck pursed her lips, but then allowed a grin to creep across her face. “That depends on whether or not you have the proper hair products for me to put myself back together.” Scott hopped up and produced a bag filled with his grooming materials. Because Scott’s hair was longer and unkempt, he splurged on hair products to keep his hair shiny and healthy. It was one of the few girly things about Scott and Derek found it oddly comforting since everything else about him was so distinctly masculine. While Beck was in the shower, Derek removed the rest of his clothing and walked up to Scott. Pushing him down to his knees, he grabbed a chunk of hair and pulled Scott’s face to his groin, pressing his cock which was straining and throbbing with excitement against Scott’s face. “I want you to suck me until my brain turns to mush.”

Scott looked up in shock, but then his sly, crooked grin crossed his face and took him into his mouth, delivering one of the best blowjobs Derek had ever received. Part of the allure, Derek had to admit, was knowing Beck could walk in at any time. An hour later, the three of them were sitting at a table with a large cheese pizza and three sodas. Beck took a bite and looked across the table at Derek and Scott. Scott had his arm casually draped over Derek’s shoulder and was leaning back in his seat, completely relaxed. “It’s so nice to see the two of you like this. You wouldn’t even know that just over a year ago, you guys didn’t even know each other. You’ve both come a long way.”

Derek took a sip of his soda. “Are you excited for the next two nights? Tomorrow’s party will be smaller, but you’ll meet some of our closer friends. The dance is going to be amazing. I’m glad you agreed to come. Since I’m going to be mixing, you’ll have to make sure Scott behaves.”

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Scott lifted the hand that was gently brushing Derek’s collar bone and smacked him on the side of the head. “And what makes you think Beck and I won’t both act scandalously at the dance?”

Derek stuck out his tongue and Beck laughed. “Honestly, the two of you get cuter and cuter. It is so unfair.” Her eyes sparkled with her happiness for the two of them. Slowly, she took on a more serious expression. “Derek, could you please explain to me once again why you’ve allowed this boy, Tyrell, to get away with the things he’s done?”

“I don’t know, Beck. There’s just something in me that feels like it would make things worse. What harm has he really done? He confronted me publicly outside my dorm and now I’m out and know people accept and like me. He grabs my arm and causes a small bruise and a few cuts and now I have my excuse for not having anything to do with him at all.” Derek shrugged his shoulders. “I just don’t see what benefit would come from it. I’m happy. I’ve come to realize what’s important to me and I understand myself better now than I ever have. Scott and I are closer than ever and Tyrell is alienating himself from everyone. Which is the better revenge? Getting him in trouble or making him see how all of his efforts have failed?”

Beck shook her head. “I understand what you’re saying, but still, what if he was the one who vandalized your door? He shouldn’t be able to walk away from doing something like that without paying some sort of price for it.”

Derek became acutely aware of Scott’s silence. He and Derek had gotten into enough arguments over this issue that they had agreed not to fight about it anymore. If Derek decided he was ready to take action, he would.

“Well, make sure you point him out to me tomorrow night. I want to see who he is.” Beck crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for Derek’s response. Derek said nothing. “Derek, I’m going to sit here and stare at you until you answer me.” Derek still said nothing, but his lips began to pull up into a thin, mischievous smile. “You little shit! You’re fucking with me. Derek Thompson. You tell me right now you’ll point him out or I’ll—”

“All right, I’ll point him out. Just don’t threaten me. I plan on using my nads later on.” Scott’s mouth fell open, but he quickly closed it and kicked Derek hard under the table. Derek winced. “Fuck. That hurt.”

Beck looked back and forth between the two of them. “Haven’t you boys learned I don’t care what you do with your dicks, so long as I don’t have to watch.” She took another bite of her pizza.

Scott looked at Derek, then turned to Beck. “There’s one thing Derek hasn’t told you about my position on all of this.” Derek turned to face Scott, giving him a warning look, but Scott ignored him. “What he hasn’t told you is I feel that Tyrell is unstable. I think his behavior is escalating and I’m worried he may do something stupid or crazy. Does that make me sound weird?”

Although he didn’t move away from Derek after making the comment, he did lower his hands to cover his groin. Derek looked at him and shook his head. “The only 212

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reason I wouldn’t hurt you there is because I need that particular area to remain functional.” He then turned to face Beck.

She remained thoughtful for a moment. “No, Scott. I think it sounds like you love Derek and don’t want to see anything happen to him. I feel the same way. Why don’t we both keep an eye on this kid and see what we can figure out?”

Derek felt his heart sink. It seemed all the people closest to him tended to band together to protect him. When his mother and Scott got together, they sided with one another. Now he and Beck were siding with one another. Derek wasn’t angry, but it did make him feel like a baby. Rather than become upset, he reminded himself Scott’s protectiveness was a turn on and made him feel special. “You guys play Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson all you like. Just leave me out of it.”

Beck dismissed Derek’s comment with a wave of her hand as she and Scott began discussing how they could get to the bottom of figuring out just how crazy Tyrell really was. When they finished eating, they returned to the dorm where a number of students were drinking in the lounge and playing foosball. Scott joined the foosball game, leaving Derek and Beck to hangout. After a few hours, they all headed up to their room and went to sleep.

The next day went by quickly. Derek, Scott, and Beck showered and got themselves ready for the party at Josh’s dorm. Since this was the first party Derek and Scott were going to as an open couple, they decided it would be romantic to wear clothes that had meaning for them. Scott wore the white long sleeve shirt with the Tasmanian Devil, the shirt he was wearing the first day Derek met him at the beginning of their senior year. Derek wore the black short sleeve button down Pierre had given him when they had gone to New York for the Howie Day concert. Before leaving, Derek pulled out a bottle of vodka from their fridge and poured a shot for the three of them. “To friends and to opening our hearts to love.”

They clinked their glasses and drank. Derek felt giddy. So much had happened in such a short period of time and he had to continually remind himself things were as good as they seemed. The love he felt for Scott was powerful. Spending the first few months of school struggling with the choice to come out and facing his fears had been trying on both of them, but here they were, open about their relationship and more in love than ever.

Although being brave enough to look into his heart with honesty had been difficult and painful, it was that act of courage which had ultimately freed him to finally accept who he was and what he wanted. As hard as it had been to admit his own shortcomings and the many ways he had created his own problems, the reward of his courage was clear. He was happy and he was in love.

Walking in the haze of his own thoughts, he wasn’t paying much attention to Beck and Scott’s conversation. They had been talking to each other non-stop since they got up that morning. In fact, they had been conspiratorial from the first moment Beck showed up, so Derek had taken to tuning them out. While he didn’t want them to do 213

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anything to incite Tyrell, he decided he was simply going to enjoy the day and not worry about it.

When they arrived at Josh’s dorm, the lounge was decked out with the banners and posters the dance committee had made. People were already drinking and music was playing. Several people were dancing and there was a great deal of laughter. Jared came up to them when they arrived. “Hey guys, how are you? Holy crap! Derek, that shirt looks amazing on you.”

“I know. It really does, doesn’t it?” Scott leaned in and kissed Derek on the cheek. Jared smiled. “Can I borrow him for a few minutes? I want to go over a few last minute things for tomorrow’s dance.” Scott nodded, allowing Beck to drag him towards the keg as Jared led Derek to the other side of the room. “You really do look fantastic. You don’t wear clothes that show off your body. You really should.”

“Are you hitting on me, Jared?” He said it in a playful manner.

“If I am, I’m sure Chad wouldn’t be too happy with me.” Standing to their right was a tall, lean man with short-cropped brown hair and smoldering amber eyes. Jared introduced them. “Derek, this is Chad, my boyfriend. He just graduated last year.”

“Yes, I’ve heard about you. It’s very nice to meet you.” Chad had been the captain of the wrestling team. When Jared’s roommate, Hank, told Scott that their previous captain had been gay, something in Scott had shifted from being afraid of coming out to embracing it. Derek felt like he owed Chad a huge debt of gratitude. Chad’s smile was wide and he had prominent dimples dotting each cheek which reminded him of Scott. He glanced across the room and saw Scott and Beck huddled together, talking intently. “Jared tells me great things about you. I’m looking forward to your music tomorrow. I’ve heard the CD you gave him and it’s awesome.”

Once they had been introduced and talked for a few minutes, Jared returned to the business of the dance. “I need to know what to set up so you can do your thing.” They talked for a while as Derek explained what he would need and how much time it would take to set up and test the equipment.

Once they had a plan in place, Derek worked his way through the crowded party to Scott and Beck. They were standing on the other side of the room and still whispering into each other’s ears. Derek was about half way through the room when his path was blocked by Tyrell. “Where’s your boyfriend?” He hissed the final word.

“He’s right over there, Tyrell. Please leave me alone.” Derek tried to walk past, but he blocked his path. “You mean he’s over there with that cow. Who’s she? His girlfriend?”

Derek ignored him and once again tried to walk away. “Look, I don’t want any problems, Tyrell. Why don’t you go and bother someone else for a change?”

Just as Tyrell was about to respond, Scott appeared next to them. “Is there a problem here?” He was tense and stood with squared shoulders, looking menacing. 214