OffsideChanceFormat2 (7 page)

Levi
didn’t listen to anyone but Levi. And maybe that monster he was shacked up
with.

Levi
Brody. He’d known him since freshman year when they were roommates and
teammates and every kind of mate except the kind Levi apparently was looking
for in a man. Almost sixteen years now. And last August when all of Levi’s
carefully built fortress walls came tumbling down, Will was just as stunned as
everyone else.

He
gathered up his new clothes and trudged up the stairs, but instead of stopping at
his room, he walked down the hall to the room Jude lived in. Levi’s room. The
door was open. Jude didn’t have trust issues, or he didn’t have anything here
worth worrying about. He leaned on the door frame and stared in at the real
Levi. The off white canopy bed with pale pink floral bedding. The matching
ornate wardrobe had a couple of feather boas hanging from the finial on top.

A
makeup vanity. The man had a freakin’ makeup vanity. With makeup!

“Are
you interested in switching rooms?” He hadn’t heard Jude on the stairs and
jumped as if he were some kind of peeping Tom caught red handed. “He has an
incredible sound system in there.”

“I’d
be afraid all that pink would…” He didn’t mean to be rude. This was his friend
he was thinking horrible thoughts about. Probably his best friend. Or was his
best friend. The last few months they’d barely spoken. But that was his fault.
“I didn’t know. I had no warning. He didn’t trust me enough I guess. Or he was
afraid of me.”

“Yeah
well, join the club.” Jude leaned against the other side of the door, but
instead of looking inward, he looked at Will. “He has his reasons. I don’t know
the whole story. I was a little kid. But I remember enough to know he became
what he became for a reason.”

“Yeah?
Well, guess we all have fucked up pasts. Mine doesn’t have a cross dresser in
it. Does yours?” Will lashed out. It was what he was good at. A great offense
had served him best in the past.

“Sure,
it’s standing over there in the corner, pretty as you please. Even has a
fucking crown on top.” Jude’s upper lip curled into a sneer, anger filled his
eyes. “My very own personal closet queen. You’re an asshole, Slater. It’s no
wonder he never told you. He knew you’d turn on him.”

And
with that Jude left him standing in the hallway with his shopping bags and a
couple of loads of extra guilt on the side.

He
left his packages in his room, found his well-worn pair of team sweat pants,
and changed. The hard floors were cold underfoot, but it didn’t bother him
enough to make him leave his socks on. When he emerged, he heard the television
on downstairs. Jude would be cruising the news channels right about now. He
would flip back and forth between CNN and BBCA until Will felt the urge to
strangle him. The only reason he hadn’t so far was that once Jude was content
that the world was still spinning, he’d toss the remote to Will and bury
himself in his text book or lap top.

Will
found him doing exactly that, channel flipping. Sitting on the floor with his
legs under the coffee table, his glasses slid down his nose as he went back and
forth between the TV and his text book. Tonight he was watching local news
instead of CNN. He seemed particularly engrossed in the weather report. “How
bad is this supposed to get?”

Jude
didn’t look up at him as he settled on the floor at the end of the table and
helped himself to the reheated containers of rice and gumbo. The sandwiches
were still wrapped in the paper bag sitting on the floor between them. A couple
of beers and real dishes were on a tray in the middle of the table. Jude
thought of everything. He liked that about the man. “They still say clearing by
midnight, but seriously cold the rest of the weekend and into the week. A hard
freeze warning could come mid-week as another front passes. The salt, pepper,
and tabasco are on the tray if you need them.”

 
“Thanks.” Will reached into the bag and pulled
out one of the sandwiches. He’d bought two huge po’boys, one roast beef and the
other shrimp. “Shrimp or beef?” He watched Jude blow over a spoon of gumbo. He
didn’t want to bring up the unpleasantness upstairs. “Or half of each?”

“Half
of each would be great. I forgot to eat today. I’m starving.” He pushed his
glasses up on his nose and looked up at Will with a squint. “My eyes are
killing me. I’m going to need bifocals before I’m thirty.”

The
abrupt segue left Will confused. He could only stare into the man’s whiskey
colored eyes, with his mouth hanging open. He closed it abruptly and took a bit
of hot gumbo without blowing on it first. “Fuck, that’s hot,” he said when he
could speak. His tongue and the roof of his mouth now scalded. He had to look
quickly away from the smirk that filled Jude’s eyes, before he was caught
looking at the man’s lips. And why the hell had he suddenly developed this
overwhelming need to think about Jude’s eyes and mouth and— “maybe if you
didn’t have your nose stuck in a book all the time or that computer you
wouldn’t have eye strain.”

“And
I wouldn’t be where I am today. Which is highly educated with a private
practice and a nice nest egg. Ever upward, never stop learning.” He could hear
the condescending derision in the man’s voice and did not need to look over to
see how
smirky
his pointy face had gotten, but he did
anyway.

“Unlike
us slobs who work for a living?” Will took out the shrimp po’boy and bit into
it without cutting the large sandwich in half. Serves him right for pissing
Will off.

“If
you call playing a kid’s sport work,” Jude said, going straight for the
jugular. “Don’t get me wrong, when Minnesota drafted Levi it was the best thing
that happened to both of us.

But
what does he have now? Three years of college and a lifetime of pain ahead of
him from the abuse he’s heaped on his body. Where’s the sense in that?”

“And
you took everything he could give you to get you to this highly educated better
than everyone on the planet pedestal you’ve placed yourself on. Well, good for
you, Jude. It’s nice knowing you can look down on guys like Levi and me from on
high when you owe everything to him.”

“And
I paid him back, every penny. And even managed to triple the amount with stocks
and properties. And I built him an incredible portfolio that will take care of
him for the rest of his life even without the millions he’s made. I’m not the
poor brother hanging on my brother’s coattails, if that’s what you’re
insinuating. I’m very wealthy on my own. And plan to do everything I can to
stay in that position. Not that that’s any of your business.” Jude reached over
for the remote and turned the volume up on the news just as the credits rolled.
When the theme to
Jeopardy
began to
play, he turned the sound up higher and hid the remote.

Son
of a bitch was going to watch fucking
Jeopardy
?
Hell no
. Will went for the remote,
but Jude stuck it between his legs while the theme song ticked on Will’s nerves
like a time bomb. There wasn’t an offside chance in hell that he would chase
that remote now, and the fucker knew it.

With
a grunt he decided to wait the asshole out. Let him have his fun. Will reached
for a bowl and spooned a heaping helping of rice in before dumping the rest of
the gumbo on top. He opened a beer and took a long drag while the questions
began to flow. Jude pulled his text book out and seemed to ignore the show
while he read and picked at his food, except he answered every freaking
question correctly.
 
He didn’t bother
with the what-is part though.

After
a few minutes of being ignored, Will relented on hogging the shrimp sandwich
and cut it in half. As well as the roast beef. But Jude didn’t seem interested
in the food now that his mind was absorbed elsewhere. “Your food is getting
cold,” Will said during the break before the final question.

Jude
looked up with surprise in his eyes. It was almost as if he’d forgotten Will
was in the room. “Oh, yeah, thanks.” He put the text book aside and picked up
his bowl of just gumbo and proceeded to devour the contents. The final question
was miraculously one he didn’t answer, but Will did. It was a sports question
after all. Jude simply lifted an eyebrow, handed him the remote and picked up
the half shrimp sandwich.

“I
didn’t get any cooties on it.” Will decided not to flip straight to the sports
channels. He went to the movie channels instead, looking through the
pay-per-view choices. He excluded porn because he didn’t want a repeat of that
first night. He tried not to remember Jude’s face. He tried every night not to
remember the look in his eyes at that moment… “Is there a movie you want to
watch?”

Jude
just shrugged and chewed the cold sandwich. “What, no football? I know you’re
dying to find out who won today.”

“I
know who won. Denver is probably going to win the trophy this year. Tomorrow
it’ll be Green Bay, I’m pretty sure. Either them or San Francisco. My money is
on Green Bay.” Will flipped through the movie choices. There wasn’t anything
worth watching.

“Didn’t
know betting was allowed. Isn’t that why Pete Rose was banned?” Jude paid more
attention to his sandwich than Will had ever seen him pay to food.

“Pete
Rose was baseball. But no…I didn’t mean I was literally betting—“ the smile
that turned Jude’s face into something extraordinary stopped him midsentence.

“I
knew what you meant. I just wanted to see you bluster about it some.” He took
the last bite of sandwich and licked the sauce from his finger and thumb.
Will’s mouth went dry. He turned back to the television and went to the On
Demand menu.

“How
about
Terminator
or
Rambo
or something where shit blows up?”
He found the action-adventure category and thumbed down.

“Whatever,
Will, I have so much work to do this weekend, watch whatever you want.”

Jude
went back to his textbook, this time bringing his computer back up from the
screensaver. Will couldn’t read a damned thing on the monitor. The print was
tiny and there were no pictures. “You know computers are great for other
things…like porn.”

“I’m
sure my professor will be thrilled if I turn in a porn presentation complete
with GIFs and links to hot local girls.”

“It’s
New Orleans. Your professor would have to be a complete eunuch not to know
where to find hot local girls. Just walk down Bourbon and point.”

“Is
that how you do it? Just walk down Bourbon and point to the nearest stripper?”

“Baby,
I just step outside and they all come running.”

“Except
lately there doesn’t seem to be many lacing up their running stilettos.”

“Ha
ha…smart ass.”

But
he was right, and Will couldn’t explain why he wasn’t interested in bringing
anyone home. He chose a movie and let Jude go back to his reading. And
complaining…“It’s cold in here.”

“Do
you want me to warm you up, sweetheart? Or just go turn up the heat?” Will had
to admit it was a bit nippy, but he could have pulled on a sweatshirt. Jude
seemed to be bundled up and still shivering.

“The
heat is on ninety. Remind me to have the windows in this place upgraded. Levi
should have had it done years ago.”

“Except
it doesn’t really get that cold here.”

“It
does
get hot. And I know the AC unit
would work better if all the cold air wasn’t seeping out through the cracks.”

“Damn,
Jude, you are annoying.”

“And
you’re a pleasure to live with? Guns in the bathroom and threesomes every
weekend.”

“You’re
just jealous because I didn’t invite you.”

“Blow
me, Slater.”

“In
your dreams, Four Eyes.”

“At
least I don’t need Viagra to get it up.”

Every
muscle in Will’s body screamed to take the asshole apart for daring to make
such an accusation. Except he was right. Will just didn’t know how he knew.

“I’m
sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.” Jude laid his pen down. He’d started
chewing on the tip during the silence. The other half of sandwich was
forgotten.

“Are
you going to eat that?” Will pointed to the wrapper with the remote.

“No,
I’m full. Thank you for dinner. I owe you one.” He went back to tapping his
legal pad.

“Don’t
worry about it… I was injured five years ago. A groin injury that ended my
season. Since then I’ve had… issues. You’re right about the abuse we take. I’m
thirty-three. Some days I feel like I’m eighty-three. I have to work hard to
even be able to get out of bed. And now I’m possibly facing a forced early
retirement. My contract is up. My performance this season wasn’t as good as it
was three seasons ago. Hell, it wasn’t as good as last season, and that season
sucked. So I take a little something for help when I need it. Sue me.” That was
mostly the truth. At least the truth he told himself. The groin injury didn’t
start his issues and most likely didn’t cause them.

“I
guess. I wouldn’t know. On all counts.” Jude went back to his homework, the
subject dropped. Or at least Will hoped the subject was dropped. “So what are
your plans for after football?”