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“Then I guess today is your lucky day,” Lance replied. Though I didn’t fully process what he’d said until the bathtub was half full of water and he asked, “You gettin’ in like that, or...?”
“Wait, what?”
He was already busy getting rid of what was left of his clothes when he explained, “If this is what you’re making me do right now, then we’re doin’ this shit together.” And once he was completely naked, he wasted no time stepping into the tub that was certainly big enough for the both of us, making himself comfortable with his back resting against one side before telling me, “Come on, Yani. You made the water yourself, so you know it’s fine.”
“The water is the least of my concerns,” I responded with a nod towards his dick that was already poking through the bubbles. And when he made it jump on command, that only further proved my point, Lance chuckling as he insisted, “Keep your hands to yourself and you’ll be just fine.”
His logic was flawed for so many reasons. But somehow, I was still convinced, smirking as I maintained eye contact the entire time I got undressed before I finally joined him in the tub. And while he probably expected me to sit right up against him, I did myself a favor by taking the spot across from him, thinking it was safer territory until Lance pulled one of my feet into his hands and began to massage it.
Just like that, nowhere was safe since a foot rub from Lance was essentially foreplay, the pressure from his thick fingertips giving me chills all over even as I asked, “Isn’t this supposed to be the other way around? Not that I’m complaining,but…”
“Nah, you earned this,” Lance interrupted. “You’ve been going extra hard this past week.”
“Yeah, this whole Kicks by Bri thing has been pretty crazy,” I agreed. “And then my shifts at Just Kickin’ It have been unusually busy too, so it’s just been… a lot.”
When Lance opened his mouth to respond, I assumed it was going to be with a reminder that I was built for this moment. But instead, he casually suggested, “You should quit.”
“What?”
“Quit your job, Yani,” he stated fully. “It's served its purpose, and now it's time for you to put all your energy towards what you really wanna do.”
He’d made it sound so simple. And I suppose it sort of was. But the thought of putting all of my eggs in what still felt like an incomplete basket was also terrifying, a fear I shared with Lance when I quietly asked, “But what if this Kicks by Bri thing doesn’t work?”
“It will.”
“But whatif, Lance?” I asked again, finding it a little ironic that I was the one who’d played optimist towards his situation and yet was struggling to do the same towards my own. But thankfully, instead of relying solely on intuitive energy, Lance had an actual answer for me.
“If for whatever reason it doesn't work, then I got you until you can figure out your next thing.”
The way he’d said it so nonchalantly, you would’ve thought the invisible safety net he’d just installed below my feet was no big deal. And maybe for him, it wasn’t. But to me, it was everything for so many reasons; reasons that had me moving to his side of the tub so that we were face to face when I asked, “Why are you so good to me?”
“I just want you to be happy,” he answered as he leaned forward to press a soft kiss against my lips. And when he fell back with his teeth slowly scraping against his bottom lip, I knew my ass wasn’t going back to where I’d been, instead positioning myself so that I was straddling his lap when I replied, “And I want the same for you.”
“Can I ask you somethin’ then?”
“Anything,” I responded as I tossed my arms around his neck with a smile.
“Why’d you go to Oregon?”
Oh.
His question was so out of the blue that it made my heart skip a beat. And considering how close we were sitting now, I honestly wouldn’t have been surprised if Lance had felt that shit. But my sudden uneasiness wasn’t enough to make him change his mind on wanting an answer, his face pulled into an inquisitive scowl as he waited for me to give the explanation I didn’t think he even still cared to hear.
It must’ve been weighing on him.
I mean, that was the only thing that made sense of why he’d chosen a moment like right now to bring it up. But with as much time that had passed since then,how much I’d grown up since then, I was only more comfortable in my truth when I finally told him, “Being completely honest with you, I just really felt like I needed to get as far away from home as possible. I needed a fresh start with people who’d only know me for my talent on the track instead of all the bullshit that was going on here at that time. And I knew only going a state over and still being surrounded by a bunch of familiar faces wouldn’t give me that freedom. At least, not completely. So when the coach from Oregon asked if I was fully committed to going to LSU, I told her no. And, well... the rest is history.”
My heart was racing by the time I’d finished my spiel. And it didn’t help that Lance’s expression was extremely unreadable, even when he responded, “I would’ve come with you. If you would’ve just told me ahead of time instead of at the last fuckin’ minute.”
“Lance, please,” I sighed. “Going to LSU was always your dream. Not to mention, you had a full-ride scholarship.”
“Yeah, as a five-star football recruit which meant I could’ve gone anywhere in the country on a full-ride; the University of Oregon included.”
I knew he wasn’t wrong about that. But I also wasn’t about to just let him rewrite history when I reminded him, “But youwantedto go to LSU.”
“With you,” he added. “I wanted to go to LSUwith you. Be a student-athletewith you. Live that independent, college struggle lifewith you. But you flaked on me, Yani. And then you didn’t even have the decency to really tell me why.”
Nodding frantically, I agreed, “I know. And I’m sorry. Not for my decision to go elsewhere, but for not being a good friend in how I handled it. I should’ve just been upfront about my change in plans, but I guess Ijust… I didn’t think you would understand. And I knew you’d be hurt. So instead of having you hate me while I was still here…”
