Page 26 of Roommates
“Papa!” I felt myself flush. That was not something I wanted to talk about with my parents.
“Oh, don't be that way, Luke. You don't have to be ashamed. Honestly, you don't want to know what I was like at your age.”
No, I did not want to know, and I didn't want to think about it either. Part of me suspected, though, that there was a reason my father was so understanding of my situation. “I don't know how I feel about him,” I said, hoping that would satisfy my dad's curiosity. I couldn't be sure that it did, but he didn't ask any more questions after that.
When the call was over, I put the phone back in my pocket and laid back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. I'd told my dad that I didn't know how I felt about Adam, but that was a lie.
Or wasn't it?
The more I thought about it, the less sure I became of anything. When I closed my eyes and thought of Adam, I could picture him clear as day. I knew all the strong lines of his face, of his body... I wasdefinitelyattracted to him. But was there more than that? How would I even know? I'd never concerned myself with these things before, always too focused on my academic goals, my future career goals. My dad said I was 'driven', but maybe that was just a nice way to say I had a one-track mind and I forgot to look around myself on the way to my goals, missing all the sights along my way.
Adam was hard to miss, though.
I'd run right into him. And aside from being in a crappy situation right now, I didn't regret the time I spent with him. No. I wished things were different, but I didn't wish myself away from him.
In fact, I kind of wanted to see him, even now.
Before I knew what I was doing, I got up from the bed and headed out the door.
1 5
L U C A S
I was lucky that the game Adam had that day was a home game. The game had already started by the time I made it to the field, but that wasn't too bad. Because I hadn't come in a large group, I still managed to get a seat close enough to the field that I could actually make out the players and who they were. It was true that I wasn't a huge sports fan and that I'd never watched any of Adam's games, but I'd seen him in his uniform before and my eyes zeroed in on him as easily as if I'd stuck a shining beacon on him. He looked so determined running across the field, completely focused on this game.
I wasn't even sure I understood all the rules to football, but I didn't get bored watching him.
After a few minutes, suddenly everyone around me cheered, so I did too, even though I couldn't tell what had happened. Had someone scored? Adam pumped a fist in the air too, so it must have been someone from his team. I felt myself smile. Sitting here, a warm breeze whipping through my hair, the smell of cheap hotdogs in my nose and the roar of the crowd in my ears, it was easy to get lost in the excitement around me and forget about my own problems.
For only a moment, Adam looked to the bleachers, as if only just noticing the audience. I knew that moment that he wasn't playing for us because he wanted to be popular. He wasenjoyinghimself. I liked that thought. He deserved to enjoy himself.
Then the game went on and Adam focused his attention on the game again. I was sure there was no room in his head for the people watching him, but only a few minutes later, I started to doubt myself.
Adam scored a goal, and the crowd went wild around me, and Adam... Adam turned and looked straight at me. As if he knew that I was here and exactly where I was sitting. He couldn't! I hadn't told him that I was coming, and yet...
He waved before getting back to the game.
Was it only coincidence that he'd looked my way?
I kept second-guessing myself and what I'd seen until after the game was over and Adam looked my way again, waving. Okay, he'd definitely noticed me now. He approached the bleachers and I fought my way through the crowd of fans to meet him at the railings.
“I can't believe you came!” Adam had to shout over the noise of the crowd, even though we were close now. “I just felt like it,” I said with a shrug because I didn't know what else to say.
Adam grinned. “Did you see me score for you?”
“That was for me?”
“Yeah.” In one fluid motion, Adam leaned in and kissed me square on the lips. In front of all his teammates and everyone still watching—which was quite a lot of people.
“What was that for?” I asked, feeling dazed when he broke away.
Adam only kept grinning. “I just felt like it.”
I stared at him.
He took a step back. “I gotta go change and shower.”
“You don't have to,” I said before I could stop myself. Damn, but there was something about the smell of his sweat mixing with his alpha pheromones that turned me on to an unhealthy degree.
