Two Point Conversion (13 page)

Kevin took that as a warning. They’d been on their best behavior for years and look where that got them.

“I guess that’s up to Heather, isn’t it.”

“She’s been warned that next time she chooses to spread vicious rumor as fact, she will be finishing up her senior year at another facility. So, when you walk out that door this never happened. Is that clear?”

Coach sat up in his seat, surprise on his face followed quickly by anger.

“So she gets away with it?”

“No. She’s not getting away with anything. She’s still banned from the cheerleading squad. She will serve detention for disrupting school. She knows that if it goes further she will be expelled. Now the ball is in your hands, boys, how you play this after you walk out of my office is up to you. But if you want it to go away, then don’t call attention to it.” And with that Evans left them all sitting around the table.

They sat in silence for a moment while it all sank in. Coach was the first to speak. “That’s the most asinine—"

“Let it go, Coach,” Kyle leaned forward and rested his head on the table. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

“No kidding,” Kevin said and rubbed his brother’s back. He wouldn’t get another chance to touch him until after practice, and even then he didn’t dare in Coach’s house. “So, you talked with our mother this morning?” He spoke to coach, not caring that the man watched him and probably judged him for touching his brother.

“We spoke. Made arrangements for you to stay with me until Saturday. Your dad is a piece of work.” Coach grunted and climbed to his feet. “I always wondered why he never came to any of the games. It’s usually the fathers that push their sons into football.”

“Not ours, he hates it. We wanted to play, and Mom went behind his back to sign us up in elementary school. He didn’t notice for two years, and then he hit the roof.” Kevin laughed at the memory. Not that it was funny. “You look back over our entire lives and what happened today shouldn’t come as a shock. But it did.”

“So what do we do now?” Kyle finally sat up, he looked less green. “I’m so tired I can barely keep my eyes open. I’m stressed to the point that I don’t know if I can go back to class right now.”

Coach took his keys from his pocket and peeled one off.

“Guess you’re going to need this for the next few days.” He handed the key over to Kevin. “Just show up for practice this afternoon, or I really will have to bench you.”

He left them sitting in the conference room alone. “Let’s get out of here,” Kevin said after a moment.

“Yeah,” Kyle stood up. And with a quick glance toward the closed door he leaned against Kevin and wrapped his arms around his shoulders. He trembled while Kevin held him. “I love you.”

“I know.” Kevin buried his face in Kyle’s neck. He wanted so much to kiss him but if anyone walked in they could explain away a hug, but not a kiss. “We’ll get through this.”

“I know,” Kyle sighed and moved out of his arms. “I don’t know how. But we’re together and that’s all that matters.”

“Yeah,” Kevin said as he retrieved their book bags from the floor and handed Kyle’s over. He didn’t want to think about what the future would hold. They’d figure that out later.

Out in the office they signed themselves out with the permission of the Principal, and started for their lockers. To his surprise Bethany waited in the hall. She sat quietly with her head hung down, her hair concealing her pretty face. Kevin hoped they could get past her unnoticed, but she looked up when the door opened.

He and Kyle walked past her but she fell into step with them anyway.

“What do you want, Bethany?” Kyle was less than nice. He clenched his hands into fists. Kevin put his hand on his shoulder and felt him calm down.

“Look, I know we’ve never been friends. And, well,” Bethany rushed to fill the silence. Her eyes looked puffy and red as if she’d been crying. She shifted from one foot to the other and tucked her hair behind her ears. “I want to apologize. I mean, I know I can never make up for what I’ve done. I just—I didn’t know how to stand up to her. None of us knew how to stand up to her. And it got out of hand.”

Kevin didn’t know what to say or do. The last few years if it wasn’t Heather it was Bethany. They were like two sides of a bad coin.

“You think?”

“Kevin. Please just let me say this, okay? I’m so ashamed of the way I treated you and Kyle. I guess it started because I really wanted Kyle to notice me, but when he didn’t me let Heather… Well I guess that’s no excuse is it? She’s mean. I knew those years ago. I just…I can’t say how sorry I am. And I promise that it won’t happen again. The rest of us, we’re all sorry. We want you both to know.”

Kevin reached for her hand when she held it out.

“It’s okay, Bethany.”

Kyle wasn’t ready to give in. He’d taken the worst of their shit over the years. Kevin nudged his side and gave him a sideways glance. Kyle sighed and set his backpack on the floor.

“We’re trusting you, Bethany.” He pulled her into a hug and let her go quickly. “And I guess we should say thanks for…” He didn’t finish. Maybe it wasn’t Bethany who had thrown Heather under the bus, but they couldn’t take that chance. “So we’re good. Okay. We, uh, gotta get to class.”

Bethany wiped her eyes and nodded. She reached up to hug Kevin and with another whispered apology she went on her way back to her class.

Once they were in the SUV, Kevin leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes.

“So where to, now?”

“Are you hungry?” Kyle gripped the steering wheel without starting the engine.

“Not particularly. Too stressed to eat.” Kevin wanted to reach for him. He wanted to hold his hand and kiss him and let him know it would all be fine but he couldn’t.

“Me either.” Kyle relaxed and started the car. “How long until practice?”

Kevin looked at the clock on his phone. “Five hours.”

“Okay then.” Kyle didn’t say where he was going. He just drove. They didn’t talk. What was there to say that wouldn’t open up the jagged wounds they were both carrying? Kevin was surprised when they pulled into the driveway in front of Coach’s house. Or maybe he wasn’t. Kyle said he was tired. Kevin was too.

“This feels strange. What if the neighbors call the cops and report us as burglars or something?”

“God, let’s hope not. We broke in to take a nap probably won’t be a good excuse,” Kevin said as he unlocked the door and let them into the quiet house.

“Probably not.” Kyle led the way to their room and dropped his bag on the floor by the door. “I’m thinking I’m about ready to give up on homework.”

“Doesn’t count for college anyway,” Kevin said well aware that they were dancing around everything that had happened since Friday.

“Still have to keep our grades up to stay on the team.” Kyle kicked his shoes off and stripped out of his jeans.

“There is that.” Kevin watched his brother take his shirt off. He tried not to think about touching. But that’s exactly what he wanted. No, needed. He
needed
to touch Kyle. His whole body trembled with that need.

The briefs went next and Kyle stood naked in front of him, his back turned to Kyle. He didn’t say anything. He seemed to be waiting for something.

“If you don’t touch me soon—"

That was all that Kevin needed to hear. He stripped in record time and had Kyle in his arms before either of them could come to their senses. Kyle wrapped his arms around him and angled his face for a kiss. Kevin lifted him off his feet and walked the few feet to the bed.

“I need more than—"

“I need to make love with you. Now. Before I fall apart. Kevin, I want you to—I want to know you need me as much as I need you.” Kyle pulled him close. Easing his legs open, he wrapped around Kevin in a way that made Kevin’s blood boil. “I want to feel you inside me. I want to hold you while you fuck me. I just want to
be
with you for as long as we can.”

“For as long as we have left.” Kevin felt his heart breaking. Kyle’s beautiful face mirrored what he felt. Less than a year. That’s all they had left together. “Love you so much.”

Kyle cradled his face and pulled him down for a kiss.

“Show me how much,” he whispered.

And Kevin did.

About Mercy Celeste:

Mercy Celeste is the pen name and super hero persona of mild mannered MJ Colbert....which is bull, I'm not mild mannered. I was, in fact, raised in a barn--or several. We even had grain silos. My motto growing up, anything a boy can do, I'm right behind him doing it just as well or better. I've broken too many bones to begin to count. Scraped, skinned or scarred pretty much everything that can be scraped, skinned or scarred. How I'm still walking and talking is a miracle.

So about the writing, well, I don't really consider myself to be a writer. I'm a storyteller, and when I have a story to tell, it won't rest until it's twisted me up and purged itself. The result is at times comical or tragic, depending on the people who live in my head and what they have to say. Most days that's not a lot of anything. Others I can't shut them up. They especially love when I'm driving, oh, yeah, a drive across town is a lesson in how not to get myself killed or be pulled over for reckless driving. And those are the good days.

Welcome to my crazy world, if it's boring now, wait five minutes, and don't blink. Things have a tendency to get interesting around me.

Other Books by Mercy Celeste

Available from Liquid Silver Books

Let it Go

Available from Total E Bound Books

Behind Iron Lace

Under a Cresce
nt Moon

Available from MJC Press

The 51
st
Thursday

In from the Cold (book one in The Cold Series)

Beyond Complicated

Six Ways from Sunday (book one in the Southern Scrimmage series)

Sidelined (book two in the Southern Scrimmage series)

Offside Chance (book three in the Southern Scrimmage series)