Chapter six
That’s Gotta Be Heterophobic
Dex
Staringupatthesky, Dex fought to catch his breath after another hard tackle. His ears were ringing, and frustration built in his gut as he accepted the hand of the teammate who’d sacked him.
“You good, man?” Tamor asked as he hoisted Dex to his feet.
“Yeah, just got the wind knocked out of me, jackass.” He gave the Bovyn a playful shove. “Good tackle, though.”
“Sorry for letting him get through,” Doni, one of the offensive liners, said as she tugged off her helmet and rubbed a paw through her sweaty hair.
Dex shook his head immediately. “Not your fault. If I had passed the dysc when I should have, Tamor would have pulled back. It’s my bad. Sorry, everyone.”
Most of the team waved off his apology, though a few were visibly frustrated at yet another failed play. Lynd, a Nyko from Lust, jogged over with a scowl on her face, tail twitching in annoyance.
“Dude, I was open! You saw me; I know you did.”
“Yeah, but Rosco was right there—”
“Rosco’s a blunderingbulgridge,” Lynd said, making Rosco turn toward her with an offended, “Hey!” She ignored him, leveling Dex with a stern stare. “I’m a big girl; trust me to deal with defense, and pass me the fucking dysc.”
With a nod, he wiped the sweat from his eyes. “You’re right. I hesitated when I should have taken the shot.”
She picked up the metal dysc and offered it to him. “Trust us, but also, trust yourself. You’re gonna make bad calls. Everyone does. But second-guessing is always worse than taking a risk.”
“I don’t think I’m cut out for this handler shit,” he admitted on a whisper, and her fierce expression softened marginally. “Wish Coach would just let me stay a receiver and train someone else for second-string.”
“She sees your potential; maybe you should too.” Lynd pushed the dysc into his hand, the weight heavy but familiar. “But if you’re gonna fail, at least fail big. Enough sacking around. Pussy the fuck up.”
“Thanks for the pep talk,” he muttered, before clapping his hands to get the team’s attention. “Okay, let’s run it again!”
An hour later, after several successful plays and a few more sacks, Dex dragged himself off the field, sliding the dysc into the holding rack. Coach pulled him aside to debrief, and while her critiques were harsh—and accurate—she still sent Dex off with an encouraging clap of his shoulder.
Freshly showered and blow-dried, Dex walked with Lynd across campus to the science building. They were in the same anatomy class, and they always partnered up for projects. At the beginning of the semester, he had flirted a bit, even asked her for coffee, but she’d laughed and proclaimed that she was a proud dyke and had no interest in his dick.
“Well, add pussy to our shared interests, then,” Dex had said, and she’d laughed harder.
As he followed Lynd up the steps to the front door, Dex spotted Cya a few yards away, heading in the opposite direction. He put two digits in his mouth and whistled shrilly, garnering the attention of a dozen other students. Cya’s head turned in his direction too, and he waved exuberantly.
The Sypent looked around, as if they thought he was waving at someone else. Since they were alone on that particular sidewalk, they must have realized he was actually waving at them. A hesitant hand raised to return the greeting, and his tail wagged.
Lynd held the door open for Dex to walk through first. “Who’s that?”
“Cya. I told you about them, remember? We work together at the cafe and—”
“Math class,” she finished, and he nodded. “Cya Vysov.”
“Uh-huh. You know them?”
“Not really. I’ve heard… things,” she said carefully, “but never met them myself.”
Curiosity scratched at the back of his brain. “What kind of things? Like rumors? You know rumors are hardly ever true.”
“Like I said, I don’t know them, only what I’ve heard through thekilivine.” They took their normal seats in the classroom as Lynd added, “I hear they’re kind of a bitch.”
Dex frowned down at his secondhand laptop. “I don’t think that’s true.” Memories of their past interactions flipped through his mind, and he amended his statement. “I mean, sure, they can be intense and maybe a little bitchy, but I don’t think they’re actuallya bitch.”
