Asher
“Hit the showers!” Coach yells, signalling the end of practice. He’s been training us to the bone lately, but we all knew it was to prepare for the first game of the season between the Waterford Capitals and Mountford Rebels in three weeks’ time. To be honest, I’m pumped up about the game; it takes my mind off current things.
“Y’all wanna chill at the diner this afternoon? I could fucking use one of Mamma Jane’s Capital’s right about now,” Brock asks as he stands there buck naked while we exit the showers.
Mamma Jane’s was a popular mom and pop diner most of us frequented, and a Capital was a fully loaded burger exploding with carbs. It shows you how much football ruled this town; the local diner named a burger meal after our team.
The majority of the guys were up for it, but I had my lie planned out already.
“Can’t. My fucking dad has a tutor coming over later. The asshole is threatening my college fund if I keep on failing.” I say as I put on my briefs and jeans. They all looked at me with understanding then because I knew we were basically in the same boat.
“Fuck, man. My old man did the same thing,” Dale mumbles in an angry tone, and I nod at his words. My father might not have hired a tutor, but he definitely had me balls to the wall.
I slap on some cologne and throw a button-down shirt on before saying goodbye to my teammates, knowing full well where I am headed. Today would probably be awkward as hell, but I needed to do something about my grades before everything got taken away from me.
Football is my life. My dad knew this, and he always waved my tuition in front of my face. Some days I think he wants to live his own football dreams through me. It is as if this is what he trained me for - I was his prodigy before I was his son.
I park my truck a block away from Liam’s place and get out to walk the rest of the way. I know it’s a dick move, but I couldn’t risk someone recognising my car parked outside of the only openly gay guy in town. My friends would drag me for days.
As I walk up to Liam’s house, I spot him sitting on his patio and looking down at his phone. He lifts up his head as I near him, then cocks his head towards the back entrance of his house. This surprises me more than I care to let on, but I know why he wants me to go around; no one is supposed to know about this arrangement.
He enters the front door and closes it behind him; then, I wait for a beat before walking towards the backyard. Luckily, his house had high shrubs on either side instead of a fence so that I could enter from the side and no one would see me.
The back door is open when I approach, and Liam steps out with a smile on his face. “Hey,” he greets me, and I can’t help but notice how different this smile of his looked compared to the tight ones he offers people at school.
I shake the thought from my head and follow him inside while returning his greeting. The first thing I noticed about the inside of his house was how homey it felt. You could tell that a lot of love and effort went into what was chosen here, unlike our huge, cold house. The things on display back at my place were all for decoration and to show off my parent’s wealth. It didn’t feel like a home at all.
Liam’s house was different, and it depressed me a bit.
“Okay, I thought you might be more comfortable if we studied in the kitchen area; it’s open and light with minimal chance of distractions from neighbors. Did you bring your chemistry books? We can start with that first since you have the extra credit to finish.” He says in rapid succession again.
I don’t remember him being such a neurotic chatterbox at all, but I nod and follow him into the kitchen, anyway. He sits down and asks me for the paperwork Mrs Williams gave me regarding my extra credit.
“5 Page essay on how kinetic-molecular theory explains the properties of plasmas, including examples and citations. Wow, Williams really meant for you to do this extra credit.” He says and pushes up his spectacles, wincing slightly.
I sat down opposite him and couldn’t help but notice how his eyes shone as he read the rest of the paperwork - did this kind of thing really excite him that much?
I shrug. “It’s currently all gibberish to me, hence why I came to you for help,” I say, and when he looks up at me, our eyes meet for a second before he looks away again, a blush forming over his cheeks, and he clears his throat.
“Okay, well. This is where we start….”
I have to admit, Liam made things seem a hell of a lot more straightforward than the teachers do. I even found myself answering a few of his questions, and this made me wonder what he was doing so differently. By the end of his lesson, I had a bit of confidence returning when we had the first draft of my essay done. I smile when I look down at my notes, and I can feel his eyes on me, but before I could say anything-
“Working hard or hardly working?” A voice came from behind, startling the both of us.
Liam smiles without looking up. “Hey, mom,” he says, and I turn my head towards where the voice came from. It was Liam’s mother: Tall, blonde and has the bluest and kindest eyes I’ve ever seen. She regards us with amusement, and I flash her a smile.
“Hey, Mrs Marsh,” I say, and she returns my greeting.
Then I realised my error; I had forgotten Liam’s mother was basically the town’s doctor whose husband had left her. She sees the look on my face and chuckles.
“Don’t worry about it, please, Asher. I hope Liam hasn’t liquefied your brain too much because I’m making tacos for dinner.”
Wait, dinner?? I grab my phone and look at the time. What the fuck? It was 7 pm already!
“Oh! I didn’t realise that it was this late already. I gotta get going,” I say, gathering my things together.
“You sure? I got enough to feed an army here.” Dr Marsh asks, and I nod, smiling at her kindness.
“Yes, unfortunately. Maybe next time?” I say, and she returns my nod and continues to pull ingredients from the pantry.
With my backpack slung over my one shoulder, I turn to Liam, and he stands up.
“Thanks for today; it helped a lot. I think I should be able to finish the essay sooner than expected.” I say while he leads me towards the side entrance again.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves yet; there’s still lots to learn.” He says with a chuckle as he leans against the door, and I shrug.
“I’m not that dumb, Marsh,” I say and wink at him before walking out. “See ya,” I say without looking back.
I reach my truck up the road and floor it as I go home, hoping that my mom wouldn’t be pissed at me for staying out late. But when I reach my house, I get no weird vibes from my parents, well, from my mom at least.
She was in the kitchen, busy with prepping food for the week. She looks up when she hears me.
“Asher,” she greets me, then points to the warmer. “Your supper is in there.” Walking up towards her, I plant a kiss on her cheek.
“Thanks, mom, sorry I’m so late. I got a kid from school to help me with some of the subjects I’m struggling with, and we lost track of time.” I say as I grab my food from the warmer, suddenly feeling starved for days.
My mother smiles, “Well, tha-”
“Well, thank God for that,” I hear behind me, and my mom and I both stiffen at the sound of my dad’s voice. I look up at him, trying to gauge his emotions, but get nothing.
“Wouldn’t want you to lose that one foot you have in at Ohio State, would we?” He says, crossing his arms.
This man. If there was anyone who could put the fear of God into me, it was my dad. The asshole had my mother and me under his thumb, and he knew it. On certain days, when he gets a bit in too deep with the Tennessee whiskey, he reminds us of how worthless we were without him. We both have the scars to prove this as well.
“No, sir,” I say, suddenly losing my appetite.
My dad shakes his head. “Good. Because I’m giving you two months to get your grades up, if you fail, I’ll spearhead the quarterback from Mountford to OSU in your stead. Don’t fuck this up, Asher.” He then stomps out of the kitchen area, leaving nothing but the stench of whiskey in his wake.
Did I mention how much I loved my father?
Asher It’s been about a week since Liam started tutoring me, and yesterday I handed in my essay. I’m confident in what I wrote, but I can’t help thinking of my father’s taunt regarding my tuition. Knowing my old man would make good on his threat, I know this. As I said, I’m my father’s prodigy, not his son. “Mr Prince, please stay behind,” Mrs Williams calls as the lunch bell goes. “Fuck, what did I do now?” I think to myself as I grab my things, and I feel eyes on the back of my head, already knowing that it was Liam staring at me. As soon as the class empties, Mrs Williams gets up and walks towards me, then puts a piece of paper in front of me. I look down, and my heart stopped - it was my essay. B. I got a fucking B! I wasn’t sure if I should laugh or cry! When I looked up at Mrs Williams, she had a smile on her face. “Is Liam tutoring you?” she suddenly asks, and my heart jumps into my throat. How the fuck did she
*TRIGGER WARNING - POSSIBLE SEXUAL ASSAULT AND HOMOPHOBIC SLUR* Asher “It’s about fucking time the quarterback in you came out again. Good job, Prince.” Coach says and gives me a slap on my back. I feel a regained sense of unity between my teammates and me, something I hadn’t felt in a long time. We hit the showers, with the others talking bullshit while we get ready. Their shitty comments didn’t even phase me today; I felt fucking invincible. I leave the practice feeling refreshed and ready for the first time in weeks. My grades were up, and I got a booty call with my girl just now, Coach was happy with me - life is good! “Ready?” Fallon says as I approach my truck, and I nod. “Fuck, yeah,” I reply, taking her into my arms and kissing her. My dick starts to twitch at the feel of her body pressed up against me, and I squeeze her butt. It’s been a while since I got turned on by anything Fallon did to me
Liam It’s almost 6 pm, and Asher hasn’t been to my place or called to say he wouldn’t be coming today. Should I call him? I sigh and walk over to the kitchen window to look out for him, something I had been doing all afternoon since I got home from school. A smile teases my lips when I think back to what happened this afternoon. A guy from the swim team came up and talked to me; we exchanged numbers, and guess what? He’s bi! He admitted to having a crush on me but didn’t have the courage to talk to me until he saw me sitting by myself this afternoon. The guy had the most swoon-worthy green eyes, full, kissable lips and a body to die for. Ugh, what is it about jocks that just gets me so worked up? We were meeting up for a movie on Friday night, and who knows what could happen afterwards? 6:30 pm and I decided to give up on Asher coming. It’s weird, though. Usually, he would text me if he would be even ten minutes late, but now
Asher I can’t believe I just did that. What the fuck is wrong with me? I knocked into Liam on purpose just so I could piss him off, but that fucking Jason Adams only pushed my buttons more. If he had just shut up, I wouldn’t have gotten even angrier than I am now. Fallon leads me into the guy’s locker room and pushes me against the wall. “What the fuck was that all about, Ash?!” She exclaims, watching me with a disappointing expression. “You know, the reason I fell in love with you was that you weren’t like all these other fucking jocks in this school; you were kind and hated bullying. Now you’ve turned into your fucking friends!” I look at her, not even trying to deny that I had fucked up. “Don’t you think I fucking know that?!” I say without raising my voice, but the tone of my voice made her eyes widen in surprise. “I thought that after yesterday you would be over whatever slump it is that you’re in. I thoug
Asher I knew that I shouldn’t be here. I’m probably the last person Liam wanted to see right now, but I knew the longer I stayed away, the harder it would be to ask for forgiveness. His eyes narrowed when he saw me sitting in his lounge area; it was evident that I had been waiting for him. “Your mom let me in; she had to rush to the hospital about an hour ago and said she would be late.” “What are you doing here?” He asks me, ignoring my entire sentence. I get up and walk towards him, but he takes a cautious step backwards. His reaction hit me harder than I thought it would and proved something: Liam was scared of me. I sighed and wiped a hand over my face in frustration. “I came to apologize for my behaviour today, Liam,” I say and see the surprise on his face, then his eyes narrowed in suspicion again. “What’s the point in apologizing to me when you broke my boyfriend’s nose? Nothing you can say will justify what you did to me; the humiliation, you of all people, made me feel to
Liam After seeing Asher out, I ran to my room and shut the door behind me. I’m still reeling from what just happened; Asher Prince fucking kissed me. Every other jock who has come to me to experience the urges they’ve kept locked inside made it clear that no kissing would be involved. So why… What was that?! I sink to the floor and hang my head in my hands with my fingers tracing my lips; I could still taste him and feel the warmth of his body against mine. But then the image of Jason’s face pops into my head, and guilt immediately wells up in my chest. Oh.. oh no; I cheated on him not even one day after going steady. God, he cannot find out about this. I have to tell Asher not to mention anything, but then again, I doubt he would. The shock and disgust on his face after he pulled away from me was as clear as day. I don’t even think Asher knew what he wanted. “Liam, grubs up!” my mom shouted from the kitchen, so I took a deep breath before going out to meet her. She can’t know wha
Asher “Yo, what the fuck, Prince? You let that sweet ass just dip out on you?” Dale comments as we get ready for practice. I shrug, pushing on my gear. “Shit was getting stale; maybe some new pussy will get me more motivated,” I say to a gaggle of jeers from the team. Becoming the asshole jock was an easy role to slip into lately, especially since my team saw me picking on Liam and beating up the other queer, Jason. I seemed to have gained their respect more, which is sickening if you ask me. Fuck it, and it’s only for a few more months, then I’ll be out of this fucking place. Dale moves closer and slings an arm over my shoulder. “So if we had to, you know, fuck at the bonfire, would there be any hard feelings between us?” He asks, asshole that he is, but I just flash him a grin. “Have at it, make sure she sucks your dick first, though. She’s a genius with her mouth,” I say and see his eyes widen. He didn’t expect my answer, but he clapped me on the back anyway, grinning like a f
Liam All I want to do is be left alone. Couldn’t they fucking see that? Or do they get off on my misery? Dale and his gang of closeted assholes got me as I walked to my car, clocking me one in the nose before I could even register what was happening. Walking away and jeering, they left me alone with a bleeding nose and nursing my wounded pride. The best part of all was when I got home; Asher was there pretending to care about me and see if I was hurt. Can’t these months pass by without me having to wonder if I make it out alive? Can’t I just catch a fucking break? After I clean myself up, I remove my glasses and walk toward my bed, breathing out a sigh as I sit down and try to level my anxiety. I didn’t want to cry, not like this, while I had the King of Assholes sitting in my kitchen, waiting for me to tutor him. My life fucking sucked. A knock comes from the door; it’s probably my mother coming to check on me, so I get up and walk towards the door. “Liam, are you okay?” I am a