Football'verse Part 1b of 4 (complete)
Title: Fade Back to the Football'verse (4 parts complete)
Part: Part 1b: "Incomplete Passes" (continued)
Author: bksncleverness
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: J2, implied Jensen/Tom, Mike/Tom (Chad is single)
Summary: Jensen Ackles is the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys. Jared Padalecki is a newly drafted receiver on the team. With Welling on the injured list, Padalecki steps up to play, but there's some tension on and off the field.
Word Count: for the whole 4 parts: 23,000+
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my smutty imagination. Also, this is an alternate universe, so it may be happening *somewhere* but it ain't here.
Betas who rule: stephanometra (mistress of all things Texas), juice817 (mistress of grammar), mooncharm (mistress of my heart).
Part 1a
You are reading Part 1b
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 1b of "Incomplete Passes"
The story so far: Padalecki and Ackles didn't do so well in the game so Coach ordered them to get some extra practice. They did and now they're hanging out at Jensen's place. Oh yeah, the practice didn't go too well either.
They sat shoulder to shoulder on the couch in Jensen’s living room and Jensen had to admit, they were pretty evenly matched at Madden. Try as he might to get the better of Jared, he could only edge him out about half the time. He liked playing with him, though. Liked elbowing the kid in the arm when he made a good play, liked talking smack with him, liked feeling the warm weight of him on the sofa. At the end of a particularly close game, Jared put down the controller and sprawled out on the couch, stretching.
“Shit. I’m beat. What time is it?”
“Um,” Jensen said, looking down at his watch, “Wow. Almost one.”
“I should go.”
“Right. Yeah. Let me get my keys and I’ll take you to get your car.”
“No, man, don’t bother. Just take me home. It’s not far. Closer than the field, anyway. Unless you don’t want to pick me up tomorrow.”
“No, that’s fine. Sure. Let’s go.”
Jared was so tired on the way to his place, Jensen felt like a Dad bringing his sleepy kid home after a big day at the carnival. He smiled to himself as he thought of carrying this giant kid up to his bedroom, and just the thought of putting Jared to bed made Jensen’s body respond in a most unfatherly way.
“This it?” Jensen asked, pulling up to a small split-level.
Jared woke from a doze. “Hmm? Um, yeah. This is it.”
“Okay, well,” Jensen said, suddenly feeling awkward like this was the end of a date. “I’ll see you in the morning then. I’ll come get you around ten, okay?”
Jared nodded, yawning. And Jensen expected him to push the door open and get out, but he just sat there for a second, collecting his thoughts, maybe. And Jensen waited.
And then this big kid turned and gave Jensen half hug across the seat, all arms and shaggy hair, and then the unmistakable smack of a wet kiss on the cheek that took Jensen by surprise.
“Hey,” he said, more from the shock than anything.
Jared pulled back and looked at him, pure joy through his hooded eyes. “Thanks for tonight, man. I had fun.”
Jensen blushed. “Good. Me too. We got work to do tomorrow so get some rest, okay?”
“’kay, Jensen. ’night.” And with that, he was gone, loping up his front steps and disappearing through the door.
Jensen let out the breath he was holding and touched the moist spot on his cheek where Jared had kissed him. He shook his head. Of all the people he’d ever met in his life, no one was like Jared.
He drove home, nerves still on edge, feeling a little strung out from spending the night with Jared. He kept trying to tell himself that he was just nervous about getting things right with the kid. Nervous that they wouldn’t be able to fix the problem. He tried to remind himself he'd faced similar problems before. Like the thing with Tom. That had worked out fine. But he didn't feel any better.
Jensen undressed and got into bed, not bothering with pajamas. He knew he wasn’t gonna be able to sleep without releasing some of the tension. He stared at the ceiling for a while, then ran his hands down his body. When he closed his eyes, he saw Jared’s big hands, dark eyes staring at him from under shaggy fringe. It wasn’t what he wanted to think about. He was hoping an image of one of the cheerleaders would pop into his head, but instead, he got Jared walking naked to the shower. When he came, it was Jared’s name escaping his lips in a choked whisper. Still panting, he swore, turned over, and went to sleep.
In the morning, Jensen found himself back in front of Jared’s house. He beeped the horn and when no response came, he realized he didn’t even have Jared’s cell number, so he parked and walked up the front path to the door. He rang the bell and waited, but Jared never came. So he tried the knob and the door was open. Stepping into the front hallway, he called out for Jared.
“Hey, Jared, man. Where are you?”
“Upstairs. Just got out of the shower. Be right down.”
“I don’t know why you bothered. You’re gonna be sweating soon,” Jensen said, although he too had showered. The phone rang then, once then twice. Jensen looked around the sparsely decorated and somewhat untidy living room. Jared seemed to like things comfortable, but not fancy. He had a huge television mounted on one wall opposite a huge couch, but other than that, there wasn’t much. A table with some mail on it, an easy chair, some pictures of Jared’s family. From what he could gather, Jared had an older brother and younger sister, just like Jensen. The phone rang again.
“Should I get that?” Jensen called up the stairs.
“Nah, just let the machine pick it up.”
“Hey, this is Jared. You know what to do.” *Beep*
“J.T. this is your mother calling. Congratulations on the game, sweetie. Now, I know you’re busy, but see if you can’t spare a minute to call. Sadie and Harley miss you like crazy and they are dying to hear your voice. So call when you can, baby. All right? All right. I love you, J.T. Bye-bye.” And then she made kissy noises. Jensen wasn’t sure, but he would have bet a thousand dollars that Jared unashamedly returned those kissy noises when he spoke to his mom on the phone. Jensen couldn’t help himself from smiling at that.
Jared bounded down the stairs, hair still damp and hanging around his face. “Who was it?”
“Your mom.”
“Dang. I owe her a call.” He sat down on a chair that stood by the door and started to put his sneakers on. “You know someday, you should come out to San Antonio and meet my folks.”
“How come?” Jensen asked, a little surprised.
“Dude, if I could bring starting quarterback of the Cowboys home to San Antone, well shit, I’d be the coolest guy ever. My little sister would freakin’ worship me.”
“You mean Sadie?”
“No, man,” Jared said, laughing. “Sadie’s one of my dogs. Harley too. Did my Mom say the dogs missed me?”
“Yeah.”
“She’s always saying that. Cuz she knows I’m such a shit I’ll call just to talk to the dogs. I wish they were here.”
“Why aren’t they?”
“Look around this place. I can barely take care of myself. I’m not gonna neglect my poor dogs during the season.”
“You could get someone to look after them. Feed ‘em. Take ‘em out.”
“Maybe.”
“It’s not like you don’t make enough money to hire someone, Jared.”
“True. I mean, I guess like knowing they’re home with my mom. Like part of me is there. But I miss those guys.”
Jensen looked at a family portrait of the Padaleckis Jared had propped up on the mail table.
“Your mom sounds nice.”
Jared looked up at Jensen with an expression of warmth that only seemed to exist the faces of children holding puppies. “She’s the best. I love my mama.”
“Well all right, mama’s boy. You ready to work today?”
“Sure. Let’s get going.” Jared picked up a duffel bag and opened the door for Jensen.
“You plannin’ on moving in?” Jensen said, nodding towards the bag.
“Just thought if we ended up hanging out after, I might as well bring some clean clothes to
change into. Unless you want me stinking up your nice house.”
“Clean clothes. Perfect.”
Jared locked the door behind them and they got into Jensen’s SUV. On the way there, Jensen hit play on the his CD player, and turned the volume down so they could talk, the low strains of Skynyrd filling the quiet of the car.
“So, your Mom called you J.T. on the message. Whassat short for?” Jensen asked.
“Oh, Jared Tristan, first and middle name. It’s a family thing, you know,” Jared said, shrugging his shoulders. “You got anything like that in your family?”
“Not really. My little sister’s name is Mackenzie and we all call her Mac, but as for me, it’s just Jensen. My older brother took to calling me Jenny now and then, but let me just tell you that if you even think of calling me that, I will never throw the ball to you again.”
Jared stifled a laugh. “Okay, no calling you Jenny. Got it.”
“I’m serious, dude.”
“Right. Serious.” Jared giggled.
“Oh, Jesus. I’m gonna regret telling you that, aren’t I?” Jensen said, shaking his head.
Out in Jensen’s backyard, a large equipment shed held everything they would need for practice, and so they wasted no time running plays and tossing the ball around. Jensen watched Jared run down the length of his backyard, legs pumping hard on the grass, arms reaching up over his head. And the more he tried to convince himself his close scrutiny was all about the game, the more his passes betrayed him. The fact was, Jensen wasn’t really thinking so much about football as he followed Jared with his eyes. The evidence was everywhere: Jensen was throwing like shit.
“Fuck!” Jensen spat when the ball left his hand too early.
“Jesus Christ!” When yet another ball sailed over Jared’s head.
“Sonnofabitch!” When the elusive pigskin went wide for seemed like the hundredth time.
“Jesus, Jen. What the hell, man?” Jared said from across the yard, concern lining his breathless voice.
Jensen pulled his helmet off and held it down at his side. “Let’s take a break.” He went inside to grab them a couple of bottles of water and when he came back out, Jared had settled into one of the chairs on the deck. They drank in silence while they caught their breath.
Jared looked upset-not angry-but almost sad. Jensen wanted to explain what was going on. Explain everything, but he didn’t really know why he couldn’t just suck up whatever was eating at him. Why he couldn’t just ignore it and throw the fucking ball. And the look on Jared’s face was so close to heart-breaking, Jensen struggled to find words that would erase the furrow in Jared’s brow.
But Jared spoke first. “Is it,” Jared began, peeling the label from his water. “Is it me? Am I not getting where I’m supposed to be? Can you not see what I’m doing or where I’m going?”
Jensen smiled a little. “You’re a giant, Jared. I see where I’m supposed to throw. I just… I can’t seem to get it to you,” Jensen said, his voice trailing off.
Jared nodded. More silence. “Is it because you don’t um, because you don’t-” he cut himself off and then cleared his throat. “See, because my first year at UT the QB and I didn’t get along. Oil and water. No matter what I did. And he could never find me out there. He just, you know, never saw me. You know what I mean?” Jared said, even more engrossed in his water bottle.
Jensen watched the slender fingers of Jared’s huge hand dance along the label nervously and he was tempted to either laugh or kiss the kid. Was Jared for real? “You think I can’t find you out there because I don’t like you?” Jensen asked. And Jared just nodded. “Well, shit, J.T. that’s not it at all.” Jensen said, managing to keep a smile on his face. The truth was, the opposite was the case. Jensen found himself not being able to tear his thoughts away from Jared’s incredible body long enough to throw the perfect spiral and hit the kid in his perfect fucking chest.
Jared looked up at him.
Jensen decided to ignore the topic at hand for another thirty seconds. “Sorry I called you J.T., I know it’s a family thing.”
“S’okay,” Jared said, shrugging. “I don’t mind.”
“Look. I don’t really know why I’m throwing rocks out there,” Jensen said, and he could tell Jared needed more than that. He just wasn’t prepared to give it just yet. “You hungry?”
“Yeah, always,” Jared said.
“Come on, let’s find something to eat.”
As they walked into the kitchen, which was spotlessly clean, Jensen sensed Jared wasn’t quite ready to table the discussion.
“So, Tom said you guys had a little trouble finding your rhythm at the beginning. How did you guys fix it?”
Jensen swallowed hard. He hadn’t even let himself think of that night with Tom years ago. Not since Tom and Mike got together, anyway. Jensen and Tom had been arguing. Sweaty and tired and fucking pissed off at each other because they couldn’t get their shit together. It was still training camp, wasn’t even after a game, but they were the only two left in the locker room, and each one blamed the other for their poor performance. Jensen didn’t even remember who tackled who, but before they knew it, there were pads and jerseys everywhere and they were kissing each other and rolling around on the floor. It was awkward, it was angry, and when Tom fucked him in the locker room shower-using nothing but spit and soap-Jensen knew he was gonna feel it for a week.
They didn’t say much about it afterwards. They both seemed to understand that it was something that had to happen, otherwise they’d never connect. And after that, things did get better. They got a lot better. All of a sudden, the cloud of tension between them dissipated and they could get down to business. Everyone noticed that their playing improved and asked how they did it, but both just claimed that extra practice was the key. Jensen had never breathed a word about it to anyone, and he was pretty sure Mike was still in the dark. It wasn’t like Jensen was gay the way Tom was, it was a football thing. A bonding thing.
“Yo, Jensen. Still with us?” Jared said, pulling open the refrigerator. “Holy shit! When do you have time to go grocery shopping?” Jared marveled at the fully-stocked fridge.
“I don’t. Not during the season, anyway. I have, you know, help,” Jensen said, ducking his head.
“Help?” Jared asked.
“Yeah. I have some people that come by to take care of things during the season. You know, keep the house clean, take care of the pool, mow the lawn. That kind of thing.”
Jared pulled out a stack of cold cuts. “So, you basically hire yourself a gardener, a pool boy, and a fifties wife.”
“I guess you could think of it that way. Rosalita doesn’t have sex with me, so I guess she is a fifties wife.”
“Rosalita, huh?” Jared said, cutting him a sideways glance.
“Dude, she’s sixty, and she comes up to my navel.”
“She live here?” Jared said, looking around.
“No, she comes by in the mornings. Makes me breakfast when I have time to eat it. Cleans up after me. Washes my clothes.”
Jared nodded as he stuffed a piece of roast beef in his mouth. They didn’t talk much while they made sandwiches. Jensen was grateful for that. He’d all but decided that he was going to stick to the party line and tell Jared that extra practice had been the key to fixing things with Tom, but there was something still bothering him.
After lunch, they played some Madden then decided they’d had enough football, even on TV, and switched over to Halo 3 and shot at each other for a while.
An hour later they went outside for some more practice, the heat of the late afternoon hanging heavy in the air. They were sweating by the time they ran the first two plays. When the ball refused to go where Jensen wanted it to go, Jared called time. “Let’s try something else. This time, I’ll hike the ball to you and then I’ll run the play, and you keep your eyes closed. I’ll call out to you and you throw it to the sound of my voice, okay?”
“What? No.”
“Come on, Jen. Jensen. Really. Let’s just try it.”
“Fine.”
“No peeking, all right?”
“Okay,” Jensen said, feeling like a world-class jackass.
Jared hiked the ball and Jensen faded back, closing his eyes. Jared called his name and just the sound of it, as Jared said it breathlessly-his lungs working hard, the sound ragged-was almost too much for Jensen. He could feel his dick thicken at the single word, but he tried hard to ignore it, instead aiming towards the sound and throwing. He wanted so much for the ball to reach Jared, so that he’d know that he’d heard, and when he opened his eyes, Jared was whooping and hollering, cradling the ball in his arms. “Yes! Perfect spiral, perfect aim, perfect everything!”
Jensen smiled. Laughed almost.
They ran it again and again, same way each time. And almost every time, the ball found Jared.
When they tried it again with eyes open, though, whatever connection they had seemed to break, and Jensen started throwing like shit again. But by then, they were exhausted and sweaty, and they decided to call it a day.
Well, it wasn’t so much that they had talked about calling it a day. Jared just started to take his clothes off as he walked towards Jensen’s pool. By the time he reached the pool’s edge, all he had left on were his shorts.
“Can I swim in your pool naked?” Jared asked, eyes fixed on the water.
“Um, I guess. But you can get a suit from the pool house. I have extras.”
“Oh, I brought a suit. I just wanted to know if you minded me being naked in your pool.”
Jensen suddenly felt like a teenaged kid whose parents were on vacation.
“No,” Jensen said, voice cracking. “Go ahead.”
Jared smiled his thousand-watt smile and shucked off the rest of his clothes. Before Jensen could see, he turned himself towards the pool house, reminding himself that towels were an important part of swimming. When he reached the door, he heard a splash as Jared hooted and threw himself in the pool. Jensen changed into his trunks, his dick still semi-hard, grabbed some towels, and went to join Jared in the deep end.
This was either going to be a very interesting night, or the most frustrating night of Jensen’s life.
Part 2
Part: Part 1b: "Incomplete Passes" (continued)
Author: bksncleverness
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: J2, implied Jensen/Tom, Mike/Tom (Chad is single)
Summary: Jensen Ackles is the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys. Jared Padalecki is a newly drafted receiver on the team. With Welling on the injured list, Padalecki steps up to play, but there's some tension on and off the field.
Word Count: for the whole 4 parts: 23,000+
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my smutty imagination. Also, this is an alternate universe, so it may be happening *somewhere* but it ain't here.
Betas who rule: stephanometra (mistress of all things Texas), juice817 (mistress of grammar), mooncharm (mistress of my heart).
Part 1a
You are reading Part 1b
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 1b of "Incomplete Passes"
The story so far: Padalecki and Ackles didn't do so well in the game so Coach ordered them to get some extra practice. They did and now they're hanging out at Jensen's place. Oh yeah, the practice didn't go too well either.
They sat shoulder to shoulder on the couch in Jensen’s living room and Jensen had to admit, they were pretty evenly matched at Madden. Try as he might to get the better of Jared, he could only edge him out about half the time. He liked playing with him, though. Liked elbowing the kid in the arm when he made a good play, liked talking smack with him, liked feeling the warm weight of him on the sofa. At the end of a particularly close game, Jared put down the controller and sprawled out on the couch, stretching.
“Shit. I’m beat. What time is it?”
“Um,” Jensen said, looking down at his watch, “Wow. Almost one.”
“I should go.”
“Right. Yeah. Let me get my keys and I’ll take you to get your car.”
“No, man, don’t bother. Just take me home. It’s not far. Closer than the field, anyway. Unless you don’t want to pick me up tomorrow.”
“No, that’s fine. Sure. Let’s go.”
Jared was so tired on the way to his place, Jensen felt like a Dad bringing his sleepy kid home after a big day at the carnival. He smiled to himself as he thought of carrying this giant kid up to his bedroom, and just the thought of putting Jared to bed made Jensen’s body respond in a most unfatherly way.
“This it?” Jensen asked, pulling up to a small split-level.
Jared woke from a doze. “Hmm? Um, yeah. This is it.”
“Okay, well,” Jensen said, suddenly feeling awkward like this was the end of a date. “I’ll see you in the morning then. I’ll come get you around ten, okay?”
Jared nodded, yawning. And Jensen expected him to push the door open and get out, but he just sat there for a second, collecting his thoughts, maybe. And Jensen waited.
And then this big kid turned and gave Jensen half hug across the seat, all arms and shaggy hair, and then the unmistakable smack of a wet kiss on the cheek that took Jensen by surprise.
“Hey,” he said, more from the shock than anything.
Jared pulled back and looked at him, pure joy through his hooded eyes. “Thanks for tonight, man. I had fun.”
Jensen blushed. “Good. Me too. We got work to do tomorrow so get some rest, okay?”
“’kay, Jensen. ’night.” And with that, he was gone, loping up his front steps and disappearing through the door.
Jensen let out the breath he was holding and touched the moist spot on his cheek where Jared had kissed him. He shook his head. Of all the people he’d ever met in his life, no one was like Jared.
He drove home, nerves still on edge, feeling a little strung out from spending the night with Jared. He kept trying to tell himself that he was just nervous about getting things right with the kid. Nervous that they wouldn’t be able to fix the problem. He tried to remind himself he'd faced similar problems before. Like the thing with Tom. That had worked out fine. But he didn't feel any better.
Jensen undressed and got into bed, not bothering with pajamas. He knew he wasn’t gonna be able to sleep without releasing some of the tension. He stared at the ceiling for a while, then ran his hands down his body. When he closed his eyes, he saw Jared’s big hands, dark eyes staring at him from under shaggy fringe. It wasn’t what he wanted to think about. He was hoping an image of one of the cheerleaders would pop into his head, but instead, he got Jared walking naked to the shower. When he came, it was Jared’s name escaping his lips in a choked whisper. Still panting, he swore, turned over, and went to sleep.
In the morning, Jensen found himself back in front of Jared’s house. He beeped the horn and when no response came, he realized he didn’t even have Jared’s cell number, so he parked and walked up the front path to the door. He rang the bell and waited, but Jared never came. So he tried the knob and the door was open. Stepping into the front hallway, he called out for Jared.
“Hey, Jared, man. Where are you?”
“Upstairs. Just got out of the shower. Be right down.”
“I don’t know why you bothered. You’re gonna be sweating soon,” Jensen said, although he too had showered. The phone rang then, once then twice. Jensen looked around the sparsely decorated and somewhat untidy living room. Jared seemed to like things comfortable, but not fancy. He had a huge television mounted on one wall opposite a huge couch, but other than that, there wasn’t much. A table with some mail on it, an easy chair, some pictures of Jared’s family. From what he could gather, Jared had an older brother and younger sister, just like Jensen. The phone rang again.
“Should I get that?” Jensen called up the stairs.
“Nah, just let the machine pick it up.”
“Hey, this is Jared. You know what to do.” *Beep*
“J.T. this is your mother calling. Congratulations on the game, sweetie. Now, I know you’re busy, but see if you can’t spare a minute to call. Sadie and Harley miss you like crazy and they are dying to hear your voice. So call when you can, baby. All right? All right. I love you, J.T. Bye-bye.” And then she made kissy noises. Jensen wasn’t sure, but he would have bet a thousand dollars that Jared unashamedly returned those kissy noises when he spoke to his mom on the phone. Jensen couldn’t help himself from smiling at that.
Jared bounded down the stairs, hair still damp and hanging around his face. “Who was it?”
“Your mom.”
“Dang. I owe her a call.” He sat down on a chair that stood by the door and started to put his sneakers on. “You know someday, you should come out to San Antonio and meet my folks.”
“How come?” Jensen asked, a little surprised.
“Dude, if I could bring starting quarterback of the Cowboys home to San Antone, well shit, I’d be the coolest guy ever. My little sister would freakin’ worship me.”
“You mean Sadie?”
“No, man,” Jared said, laughing. “Sadie’s one of my dogs. Harley too. Did my Mom say the dogs missed me?”
“Yeah.”
“She’s always saying that. Cuz she knows I’m such a shit I’ll call just to talk to the dogs. I wish they were here.”
“Why aren’t they?”
“Look around this place. I can barely take care of myself. I’m not gonna neglect my poor dogs during the season.”
“You could get someone to look after them. Feed ‘em. Take ‘em out.”
“Maybe.”
“It’s not like you don’t make enough money to hire someone, Jared.”
“True. I mean, I guess like knowing they’re home with my mom. Like part of me is there. But I miss those guys.”
Jensen looked at a family portrait of the Padaleckis Jared had propped up on the mail table.
“Your mom sounds nice.”
Jared looked up at Jensen with an expression of warmth that only seemed to exist the faces of children holding puppies. “She’s the best. I love my mama.”
“Well all right, mama’s boy. You ready to work today?”
“Sure. Let’s get going.” Jared picked up a duffel bag and opened the door for Jensen.
“You plannin’ on moving in?” Jensen said, nodding towards the bag.
“Just thought if we ended up hanging out after, I might as well bring some clean clothes to
change into. Unless you want me stinking up your nice house.”
“Clean clothes. Perfect.”
Jared locked the door behind them and they got into Jensen’s SUV. On the way there, Jensen hit play on the his CD player, and turned the volume down so they could talk, the low strains of Skynyrd filling the quiet of the car.
“So, your Mom called you J.T. on the message. Whassat short for?” Jensen asked.
“Oh, Jared Tristan, first and middle name. It’s a family thing, you know,” Jared said, shrugging his shoulders. “You got anything like that in your family?”
“Not really. My little sister’s name is Mackenzie and we all call her Mac, but as for me, it’s just Jensen. My older brother took to calling me Jenny now and then, but let me just tell you that if you even think of calling me that, I will never throw the ball to you again.”
Jared stifled a laugh. “Okay, no calling you Jenny. Got it.”
“I’m serious, dude.”
“Right. Serious.” Jared giggled.
“Oh, Jesus. I’m gonna regret telling you that, aren’t I?” Jensen said, shaking his head.
Out in Jensen’s backyard, a large equipment shed held everything they would need for practice, and so they wasted no time running plays and tossing the ball around. Jensen watched Jared run down the length of his backyard, legs pumping hard on the grass, arms reaching up over his head. And the more he tried to convince himself his close scrutiny was all about the game, the more his passes betrayed him. The fact was, Jensen wasn’t really thinking so much about football as he followed Jared with his eyes. The evidence was everywhere: Jensen was throwing like shit.
“Fuck!” Jensen spat when the ball left his hand too early.
“Jesus Christ!” When yet another ball sailed over Jared’s head.
“Sonnofabitch!” When the elusive pigskin went wide for seemed like the hundredth time.
“Jesus, Jen. What the hell, man?” Jared said from across the yard, concern lining his breathless voice.
Jensen pulled his helmet off and held it down at his side. “Let’s take a break.” He went inside to grab them a couple of bottles of water and when he came back out, Jared had settled into one of the chairs on the deck. They drank in silence while they caught their breath.
Jared looked upset-not angry-but almost sad. Jensen wanted to explain what was going on. Explain everything, but he didn’t really know why he couldn’t just suck up whatever was eating at him. Why he couldn’t just ignore it and throw the fucking ball. And the look on Jared’s face was so close to heart-breaking, Jensen struggled to find words that would erase the furrow in Jared’s brow.
But Jared spoke first. “Is it,” Jared began, peeling the label from his water. “Is it me? Am I not getting where I’m supposed to be? Can you not see what I’m doing or where I’m going?”
Jensen smiled a little. “You’re a giant, Jared. I see where I’m supposed to throw. I just… I can’t seem to get it to you,” Jensen said, his voice trailing off.
Jared nodded. More silence. “Is it because you don’t um, because you don’t-” he cut himself off and then cleared his throat. “See, because my first year at UT the QB and I didn’t get along. Oil and water. No matter what I did. And he could never find me out there. He just, you know, never saw me. You know what I mean?” Jared said, even more engrossed in his water bottle.
Jensen watched the slender fingers of Jared’s huge hand dance along the label nervously and he was tempted to either laugh or kiss the kid. Was Jared for real? “You think I can’t find you out there because I don’t like you?” Jensen asked. And Jared just nodded. “Well, shit, J.T. that’s not it at all.” Jensen said, managing to keep a smile on his face. The truth was, the opposite was the case. Jensen found himself not being able to tear his thoughts away from Jared’s incredible body long enough to throw the perfect spiral and hit the kid in his perfect fucking chest.
Jared looked up at him.
Jensen decided to ignore the topic at hand for another thirty seconds. “Sorry I called you J.T., I know it’s a family thing.”
“S’okay,” Jared said, shrugging. “I don’t mind.”
“Look. I don’t really know why I’m throwing rocks out there,” Jensen said, and he could tell Jared needed more than that. He just wasn’t prepared to give it just yet. “You hungry?”
“Yeah, always,” Jared said.
“Come on, let’s find something to eat.”
As they walked into the kitchen, which was spotlessly clean, Jensen sensed Jared wasn’t quite ready to table the discussion.
“So, Tom said you guys had a little trouble finding your rhythm at the beginning. How did you guys fix it?”
Jensen swallowed hard. He hadn’t even let himself think of that night with Tom years ago. Not since Tom and Mike got together, anyway. Jensen and Tom had been arguing. Sweaty and tired and fucking pissed off at each other because they couldn’t get their shit together. It was still training camp, wasn’t even after a game, but they were the only two left in the locker room, and each one blamed the other for their poor performance. Jensen didn’t even remember who tackled who, but before they knew it, there were pads and jerseys everywhere and they were kissing each other and rolling around on the floor. It was awkward, it was angry, and when Tom fucked him in the locker room shower-using nothing but spit and soap-Jensen knew he was gonna feel it for a week.
They didn’t say much about it afterwards. They both seemed to understand that it was something that had to happen, otherwise they’d never connect. And after that, things did get better. They got a lot better. All of a sudden, the cloud of tension between them dissipated and they could get down to business. Everyone noticed that their playing improved and asked how they did it, but both just claimed that extra practice was the key. Jensen had never breathed a word about it to anyone, and he was pretty sure Mike was still in the dark. It wasn’t like Jensen was gay the way Tom was, it was a football thing. A bonding thing.
“Yo, Jensen. Still with us?” Jared said, pulling open the refrigerator. “Holy shit! When do you have time to go grocery shopping?” Jared marveled at the fully-stocked fridge.
“I don’t. Not during the season, anyway. I have, you know, help,” Jensen said, ducking his head.
“Help?” Jared asked.
“Yeah. I have some people that come by to take care of things during the season. You know, keep the house clean, take care of the pool, mow the lawn. That kind of thing.”
Jared pulled out a stack of cold cuts. “So, you basically hire yourself a gardener, a pool boy, and a fifties wife.”
“I guess you could think of it that way. Rosalita doesn’t have sex with me, so I guess she is a fifties wife.”
“Rosalita, huh?” Jared said, cutting him a sideways glance.
“Dude, she’s sixty, and she comes up to my navel.”
“She live here?” Jared said, looking around.
“No, she comes by in the mornings. Makes me breakfast when I have time to eat it. Cleans up after me. Washes my clothes.”
Jared nodded as he stuffed a piece of roast beef in his mouth. They didn’t talk much while they made sandwiches. Jensen was grateful for that. He’d all but decided that he was going to stick to the party line and tell Jared that extra practice had been the key to fixing things with Tom, but there was something still bothering him.
After lunch, they played some Madden then decided they’d had enough football, even on TV, and switched over to Halo 3 and shot at each other for a while.
An hour later they went outside for some more practice, the heat of the late afternoon hanging heavy in the air. They were sweating by the time they ran the first two plays. When the ball refused to go where Jensen wanted it to go, Jared called time. “Let’s try something else. This time, I’ll hike the ball to you and then I’ll run the play, and you keep your eyes closed. I’ll call out to you and you throw it to the sound of my voice, okay?”
“What? No.”
“Come on, Jen. Jensen. Really. Let’s just try it.”
“Fine.”
“No peeking, all right?”
“Okay,” Jensen said, feeling like a world-class jackass.
Jared hiked the ball and Jensen faded back, closing his eyes. Jared called his name and just the sound of it, as Jared said it breathlessly-his lungs working hard, the sound ragged-was almost too much for Jensen. He could feel his dick thicken at the single word, but he tried hard to ignore it, instead aiming towards the sound and throwing. He wanted so much for the ball to reach Jared, so that he’d know that he’d heard, and when he opened his eyes, Jared was whooping and hollering, cradling the ball in his arms. “Yes! Perfect spiral, perfect aim, perfect everything!”
Jensen smiled. Laughed almost.
They ran it again and again, same way each time. And almost every time, the ball found Jared.
When they tried it again with eyes open, though, whatever connection they had seemed to break, and Jensen started throwing like shit again. But by then, they were exhausted and sweaty, and they decided to call it a day.
Well, it wasn’t so much that they had talked about calling it a day. Jared just started to take his clothes off as he walked towards Jensen’s pool. By the time he reached the pool’s edge, all he had left on were his shorts.
“Can I swim in your pool naked?” Jared asked, eyes fixed on the water.
“Um, I guess. But you can get a suit from the pool house. I have extras.”
“Oh, I brought a suit. I just wanted to know if you minded me being naked in your pool.”
Jensen suddenly felt like a teenaged kid whose parents were on vacation.
“No,” Jensen said, voice cracking. “Go ahead.”
Jared smiled his thousand-watt smile and shucked off the rest of his clothes. Before Jensen could see, he turned himself towards the pool house, reminding himself that towels were an important part of swimming. When he reached the door, he heard a splash as Jared hooted and threw himself in the pool. Jensen changed into his trunks, his dick still semi-hard, grabbed some towels, and went to join Jared in the deep end.
This was either going to be a very interesting night, or the most frustrating night of Jensen’s life.
Part 2