Hunter:
I was a bit sad that I did not fess up to being the butterfly, but all is well. After class we walked out of class, I was walking next to Clay, and I just said, “penguin huh”. He said, “yes young caterpillar”. We both chuckled, and then Clay said, “what you said about forever yesterday, I feel the same”. I replied, “yeah, I kinda got that from you Mr. Penguin”. Then he said, “no, I’m serious, I have a connection to you that I truly do feel a special bond”. We stopped in the hallway and looked in each other eyes. Then to try and be discreet we ducked into the bathroom. Somehow, we were the only two. We took side by side urinals. Looking straight ahead at the wall I said, “Clay, I mean what I said, I have felt a change inside me, I finally feel like I am comfortable in my own skin”. Hunter replies, “I know how you feel, when it is just you and I noise of the world fades and a warm feeling just kind of washes over me, and when you touch me, it’s like ummm electric”.
We zipped up, after checking each other out of course, washed our hands and made our way to gym class. The school is abuzz with talk of the state championship game coming up on Friday. I honestly have not had time to process everything. The last game with Clay getting bowled over, and Hudson getting hip checked by a baseball, it feels like we already have been through it.
The rest of the day was uneventful, we had lunch, everyone is still talking about the English assignments. Apparently, there were a few surprises in the other classes too. Jacob was an owl and Cole was an otter, which about made me spit out my water. I looked at him and said, “dude maybe in 10 years you’ll be an otter, but now twunk it is”. Everyone laughs at this comment.
Both Hudson and I must meet with the school nurse and a doctor that coach has brought in. They give me some eye tests and shine that stupid light in my eyes. Then they look over Hudson’s hip, damn that is one gnarly bruise. They have reviewed our scans and clear us both. It was determined I was not concussed, but I am a bit sore, and I can tell Hudson is favoring that hip. We dress and make our way out to practice. Some are in the cage taking some batting practice, a few are playing catch. The coaches are working between groups.
We have a team meeting, and coach says this week will be mostly going over strategy, film, some walk throughs and some general practices. The plan is we will leave Thursday morning for state, we stay over night there and play on Friday morning.
Austin:
I had kind of been in my head since I stood up and proclaimed myself a cute, fluffy golden retriever. Hudson and I sat across from one another at lunch. I was not really listening to anything. Then I hear Hud say, “Aus, uhh are you there”. I shake my head and say, “oh, uh, yeah, what’s up”. He then looks at me and says quietly, “babe, are you worried about class”? I say, “well, yeah, kinda, what if everyone knows about you, uhh or us”. He chuckles, and says, “babe, look around, there is not one person here that cares, or honestly didn’t already know”. I look around everyone is just going on about their day. I then feel Hudson’s foot rubbing mine under the table. I look up in his eyes, and he mouths, “love you Aus” and winks. I just smile back and say, “love you more”. That is all it takes, I calm down.
The rest of the day is calm, and he was right, not a soul said anything. After school Hudson goes to practice and Cole, and I meet to work out. We are changing in the locker room, and he ruffles my hair and says, “awwwwe good boy, Mr. Golden Retriever”. I just laugh and retort, “fuck off”. Then he says, “all jokes aside, you are the most caring, protective friend and probably boyfriend a guy could ask for”. I blushed, and really did not know what to say, so I just say, “thanks, now let’s work out”. It is a good workout and run, and much needed.
The rest of the week is going to go fast, a few of us are driving down on Thursday and getting rooms before the game. I know there will not be a lot of academics going on the rest of the week as everyone is amped up for the game. We have a pep rally on the square Wednesday night and then a sendoff Thursday morning from the school.
After our workout the Hudson was done with practice it seems that they were on light duty and walk throughs for the next few days. I put my stuff in my bag and headed off. We were walking out together and from somewhere behind us I heard, well if it isn’t our stray cat and golden retriever. I didn’t sound snarky, but I didn’t know who said it so I was not sure how to take it. I admit my hands got a bit clammy and Hud just reached out and took my hand and said, “come on babe”. Then I heard the same voice say, “finally you two, you know you guys have to be the worst at hiding how you feel about each other”. We both turned and the voice was Conner the Freshman phenom catcher. Hudson said, “what do you mean”. He replied, “well as I have said I study and watch a lot of things, I just picked up on a few things”. Hudson said, “well I remember you knew everything about the batters last game, so good on you for that”. He smiled and replied, “well I really studied you more than them and know your strengths and all”. Hudson said, “well whatever you did, thank you”. Conner then shyly said, “umm can I ask you guys something”. In unison we both said, “sure”. Conner says, “umm there is this girl Ashlynn, and I like her, but I have no clue how to approach her, if you haven’t noticed I’m kind of awkward”.
We decided to give Connor a ride home and see if we couldn’t help the kid out. We devised a plan that was both quirky and kind of cute. We are going have him pick up her favorite iced coffee drink, of course he knows it, and instead of her name, he is going to put a scan code that says, “scan me”. That scan code will take her to a stop motion movie of him asking her on a date. I mean yeah, it’s a bit off beat, but is so Connor!
After dropping him off we make our way home. We have not really had time to process the essay much, so I bring it up and Hudson gets the biggest grin on his face. I say, “what is that shit-eating grin for”. He just laughed and said, “Aus, I have not heard that term since your grams passed”. This makes me smile, because she did say that all the time. He then replied, “well I guess the stray cat’s out of the bag eh”. I just smiled and said, “yeah guess so”.
We talk a bit more about the rest of the week, and then Hudson goes quiet a bit, and I ask, “everything ok”. He said, “yeah”. But I can tell it’s not but I don’t push. As we approach the turn to the farm, I wait for a vehicle to pass, which seems to be going very slowly. It passes, the driver seems to be looking at us pretty hard, I don’t think anything of it, but it was a bit strange.
Once home, mom has dinner ready, we eat and have a few conversations. Sam and Wade are there; they are staying until after the championship game then Sam must wrap up his military things and Wade is going to handle moving everything here. After dinner Wade asks Jimmy if he can help him with something in the guest house, and off they go. After they are gone, Sam says, “I don’t want to alarm anyone but last night my house was broken into again, my realtor called and nothing was taken, it looked like someone was looking for money, but we all know what happened last time”. This makes Hudson stiffen. Then he sighs and says, “I don’t wish someone dead but man I would not be upset if our sperm donor was unalived”. Sam replies, “I completely understand”. Dad says, “do you think we should alert the sheriff”? Sam states that the local authorities have already made everyone aware including the FBI since he has crossed state lines.
I can tell all of this has made Hudson uncomfortable. We head up to bed, and Hudson goes in with Jimmy, and they must be having a conversation. Hudson comes back later and I again ask, “all ok babe”? He replies, “well yeah but Mom’s birthday would have been Friday and it’s kinda messing with my head a bit”. “Oh babe”, is all I can say. I pull him into a hug. We get ready and crawl in bed. There is a soft knock on the door, expecting Jimmy in unison we say, “come in”. Instead, it’s mom. She looks at us and shakes her head. She says, “why did I bother buying two beds”. To which I say, “well sometimes Jimmy, Loki, and Max use that one”. She then says, “ok, you two are like north and south magnets so nothing I can say will keep you apart”. She goes on, “I wanted to process with you about your essays, Mrs. Casady came to talk with me about the stay cat and golden retriever just to make sure I was in the know. I thanked her for telling me and yes, we did know. But boys I want you to understand that people are going to talk and if you need me for anything in or out of school, I am here”. We thank her and she is on her way.
I wrap my arms around Hudson and we fall asleep.
Tuesday and Wednesday bring more of the same boring schoolwork, everyone just seems to be looking to Thursday and Friday.
Finally, Thursday arrives and Hudson packs his bag the bus is leaving from school midday. I will be driving with Cole and Jacob. Most everyone else is just going on Friday morning it is only about a 3-hour drive to the complex where they play the championship game. We play at 1 pm.
Hudson has been a bit pensive likely due to the game and his mom’s birthday. Jimmy certainly has it on his mind too, he slept in our room last night. In fact, he even asked if he could ride to the game and spend the night in the hotel with us before the game. I didn’t see a problem with this if mom and dad agreed. What I found out was that Jimmy was quite the salesman. His convincing smile and soft demeaner made quick work of dad and then mom. That one is going to be trouble; he has already mastered the divide and conquer. Which just means that Hudson and I might have to be the voice of reason when he grows up more. Lord knows how that will go.
With everything in order and packed, Jimmy and I pick up Cole and Jacob and are off. We enjoyed the drive and I blasted my 80s music the entire way. You see, I am the product of parents that were born in the 70s and grew up in the 80s. So not only have they probably lived through most everything one could they blessed me with the love of some of the best music ever! I do not think there is a Journey, Def Lepard, Poison or Van Halen (the Sammy Hagar Era of course), that I don’t know. I even mix in a little bit of old country from grams, a little George Jones, and Merle Haggard never hurt anyone. This is not as popular with the crowd in the Jeep but oh well.
We finally pull into the hotel, Cole and Jacob check in and I scope out where I think I can pull off my request. I look around there are three front desk attendants, a young girl maybe in her early 20’s, a gentleman likely in his mid 40s, and a “bingo” an older lady maybe 50 or 60 with Cindy on her name tag. I march over to her and with my sweetest smile and slight country drawl, greet here with a “good afternoon young lady, I’m here to check in”. The words roll off my tongue, and she immediately smiles and meets my eyes. I give her my name and have Jimmy in tow; he is part of the plan. I tell her we are with the school baseball team, and this is my best friends younger brother and he would love nothing more than to be as close to his brother as possible. I shoot her my toothiest smile and say we sure would appreciate it she could check and see which room was assigned to Hudson Nash and Tanner Simmons were in. She looks around like she part of some deep covert CIA operation and punches a few buttons. She says, “well the baseball team have been assigned rooms, however, they have not checked in yet, as of right now they are slated to be in room 318. The problem is that is in the middle of the hallway with no rooms close”. I reply, “aww shucks, dog gone it Jimmy we will just see if we can hang out with him for a little bit before he has to go to bed”. Jimmy, being a fast learner replies, “it’s ok Aus, you tried, I’ll try not to miss him to much, this will be the first time in a long time we haven’t shared a wall between our rooms”. This draws an “oh sweetheart, one moment”. She starts tapping on her keyboard, then looks around again. Then she looks at us and says, “ok boys you are in room 326, and I may have made it to where Mr. Nash and Mr. Simmons are in 324, and there just so happens to be an adjoining door between them”. She went on to say, “now this is a bit unorthodox, but I have grandsons and they are pretty tight too”. I smile at her and say, “oh Cindy, now I know you didn’t just say you are a grandma you do not look a day over 39”. She just smiles at me and says, “well Mr. Tucker aren’t you just as sweet as punkin pie, those young ladies better watch out, she then adds or young gentlemen maybe” and gives me a wink.
With Jimmy grinning ear to ear and calling me punkin all the way to the room. We slide the keycard in and open the door. Jimmy says, “damn Austin, this is a suite”. I just smile and say, “well I guess it is”. He runs around and says, “Aus, there are two bedrooms, and two bathrooms, this is niiiiiice”. I just laugh and say, “sure is buddy, you can choose your room”. He gives me the biggest hug and says, “thanks for always being there for us”. I feel hugs me for the longest and I hear a sniffle; this causes tears to pool on my bottom eyelids. I hold him a little tighter and say, “I’ll always be here buddy”.
After we settle in, I give mom and dad a call and let talk to them a bit, they say they will be in first thing in the morning and we need to get some rest and not be a distraction to the team.
We are settled in and Jimmy is playing a game on his iPad, we hear a ruckus in the hall and lots of whooping and hollering. Then we hear coach say, “calm it down and get to your rooms, team meal is at 6:30, room check at 9”. Then doors open and close and it quiets down. After a bit, I go and open the door on our side of the adjoining rooms and give it a knock. I hear, “what the fuck was that”. So, I knock again, then I hear, Hudson say, “ummm who is it”. I jokingly say, “housekeeping, you want me fluff pillow”. I hear a roar of laughter and the door opens. Hudson is beaming at us and says, “hi boys” and then gives us a huge hug. He then looks over my should and says, “is this a fucking suite”? I laugh and say yeah and Tanner walks in and says, “this is niiiiiiice”. I just laugh and say, “oh lord”.
We all agree that no one can know about our little set up, and then to relax I pull out the PS5 and hook it up to the TV in the living room. Jimmy and Tanner immediately start playing Astro Bot.
As they played in the living room Hudson and I snuck into the bedroom the Jimmy didn’t choose. We set on the bed and Hudson took my hand; he began running his thumb over the back of my hand. I just sit there with him. Finally, he says, “I don’t know how I could get through life without you”. I reply, “good thing you will never have to”. He smiles at me and I pull his hand to my lips and kiss the back of his hand.
The silence we are wrapped in is broken with Tanner knocks on the door and says, “umm Hudson I hate to interrupt but we gotta get down to dinner. We both rise and hug, he says, “keep that door open, I’ll be back after dinner. I smile and say, “done”.
We head out and Tanner and Hudson, go back through to their room, and I ask Jimmy what he wants for dinner, he opts for a cheeseburger, we pick up Cole and Jacob and head out. We have dinner and are walking out and heading to the car. As we leave the restaurant, Jimmy grabs my hand as we are walking out the door, there is a man holding the door for us. He looks at us and says, evening boys. We walk on by and head to the car. Jimmy had a death grip on my hand the entire time. Once in the car, I asked him what was wrong, and he said, “that man seemed weird and gave me a funny feeling”. Austin immediately said, “yeah, he was creepy for sure”.
By the time we got back to the hotel all was ok. We made our way to the room, and Jimmy fired the game back up. I set with him to make sure he was ok. We heard the coaches doing bed check. Once all was clear there was a knock on our door. Before I opened it Jimmy said, “hey Aus, can we not mention the weird dude to Hudson”. I said, “um ok sure”.
Tanner and Hudson come over, and we all played for a bit, then it was decided that bedtime was upon us. Jimmy piped up and said, “he Tanner there are two beds in my room if you wanna stay over”. He chuckled and said, “sure buddy”. We headed to bed and set our alarms to make sure we were up in plenty of time.
We got ready and hopped in bed, I noticed that Hudson was wearing my boxer briefs, I just chuckled. We lay there and Hudson snuggled up to me and buried his face in the crook of my neck. He scooted even closer. I just held him tight. Before long I heard his breathing slow, and a slight snore escaped his breathing. I nodded off too. I must have been tired because when I awoke, we were virtually in the same position, but my alarm was blaring. We got up and said our good lucks and goodbyes. They headed to their room to get ready. Jimmy and I ordered room service for breakfast and hung out. We heard the boys leaving for the game and started packing ourselves. We checked out and loaded the Jeep, as we were pulling out of the parking lot there was an old truck parked at the end. The truck looked familiar I couldn’t put my finger on it, I knew I had seen it before. But I just drove on, maybe I was just overthinking things.
By the time we got to the field we met mom, dad, Sam and Wade and a few others. I kept looking around the parking lot and Sam noticed and asked what I was looking for. Once Jimmy was off with mom and dad, I told him and Wade about the truck, the man at the door and all. Sam asked what I felt and what exactly happened. I described how Jimmy reacted and the truck. He asked what the guy looked like. I described him a bit. Sam froze, Wade said, “babe is it”. Sam said, “that mother fucker”. I was more confused now, then it hit me, I said, “it can’t be”. Sam pulled up a mug shot on his phone and said, “this him”? I said, “fuck yeah”. He said OK, be on alert, I am calling the sheriff. I chuckled and said, “don’t have to he’s right there”. Sam went to talk to him, and Wade immediately went and stood next to Jimmy and took his hand. Sam then pulled my parents over to the sheriff too. After some consternation we decided not to tell Hudson. We made our way to the stands with Jimmy firmly wedged between the two Army Rangers.
I went and stood beside the dugout and caught Hudson’s attention, I gave him a wink and when no one was looking I blew him a kiss and mouthed “love you”. He blushed and mouthed, “love you more” then adjusted his cup. I just laughed and made my way back to the stands.
Hudson started and the game was on, it was intense and Hudson was throwing a gem. He had faced the minimum through 4 and in the bottom of the 4th, we broke through with 2 runs. There were a lot of scouts watching the game, I seen a few jackets from colleges, I recognized Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Texas, and Oklahoma. Impressive! I had no idea who they were watching but they all got quiet when Hudson went back out to pitch, which told me a lot. Then I noticed there were also a few MLB scouts. Wow!
The game was a lot less intense than previous ones, we added 1 more run in the 5th and 1 in the 6th. In the top of the 6thHudson walked a batter and gave up a base hit, but kept the shut out in tact. He was now at his max pitch count so Oliver the flame thrower was coming in to close. His first pitch made all the scouts take note; he was probably touching 90 on the radar gun. His only trouble was he could be a bit erratic now and then he walked a batter and then gave up a hit. Of course there would have to be some tension. The next guy up is their clean-up hitter. He was sitting on a first pitch fastball, and he launched that thing, everyone stood and watched it, damn he crushed it. I watched and it began hooking, hooking, and whew just went to the left of the leftfield foul pole. Damn! The count was now full, I look over and see Connor in the dugout giving signs. The next pitch was a gem of a slider in the dirt, and the batter stood no chance, he was swinging for the fences and was way over it. Our crowd erupted with 2 outs now; we were all standing. The next batter immediately went down 0-2, but fought back to 2-2, and on the 5th pitch, he popped up and Clay flung his mask off and called for the catch. He was made the final out about 5 feet in front of home plate. The batter was called out and the team and crowd erupted. They had just won the state championship.
Gloves and hats went flying and there was a dog pile on the field. Celebrations all around. Everyone was jumping and cheering in the stands too.
Everyone regrouped quickly for the trophy and medal presentation, there were handshakes, and hugs around the other team did their photos and left for us to celebrate. It was awesome but there was a twinge in me because I also knew what losing this type of game felt like. But my heart was bursting with pride for my man.
The team took pictures, and celebrated, Hudson was named the game MVP, and had several scouts wanting to talk to him. Coach handled it all with grace and asked that they all please refrain from talking to him and go through school next week. Most were very gracious. I also took note that Wade and Sam were on alert with all the commotion going on. I asked if everything was ok, and Sam said, yes, the sheriff had notified all authorities and they were on the lookout.
The team made their way back to the locker room. The athletic director came out and said, we could all meet the bus outside of town for an escort through town and to the school. Sam spoke with the Sheriff and then the coach. Coach was then talking to mom and dad. It was decided that with all that had gone on that the bus would receive a police officer escort all the way home, and that Sam would drive mom and dad home with Jimmy and Wade would drive us home. Lloyd walked over to us after making a phone call and was up to date with what was going on. He had made some calls and would like Jacob and Austin to ride home with him. He has dealt with security issues before and felt it best if they would go with him. Jacob knew better than to argue. Quickly a black SUV pulled up and whisked them away.
We made it home there was a big show of the escort with lights and sirens, and the entire town was there. We arrived back at the school; the bus was unloading. It was such a relief for me to see Hudson hop off the bus bag slung over his shoulder. I rushed and hugged him. We were all ok and that was great. The team went into the locker room with their gear, we all waited outside. One by one the guys started coming back out, Wade was there with me while Sam took Jimmy home with mom and dad. We waited and waited. Hudson didn’t come out. Wade became nervous and we went to the door of the locker room. We walked in and there were a few guys left around. I did not see Hudson; I did see Clay. I walked to him and asked where Hudson was. He replied, “I think he is still in the hall with Tara, she stormed in demanding to talk to him”. I said, “Tara, fuck that bitch”. I immediately went to the hall, but they were not there. I could hear yelling from down the hall. Wade and I followed the voices. I rounded the corner and what I seen stopped me cold. I was looking right at Hudson standing there, I could also see the back of a man. He was clearly out of his mind. He was yelling at Hudson how he was a “worthless, ungrateful son just like his older brother”. Wade stopped short of the corner and I ducked back. Wade’s eyes flew open. He sprang into action. Without a hesitation Wade jumped on him from behind placing him in a choke hold. There was screaming, and Wade had the dude locked up. He was squirming but Wade flipped him over and slammed him to the floor. Within 30 seconds the sheriff was there and helped Wade handcuff him. My eyes went to Hudson who was on crouched against the wall. I ran to him; he looked up at me. The pain in his eyes was evident. All I could do was hold him. He just leaned into me.
I am not sure how fast they drove, but Sam and dad were back at the school in a matter of minutes. The police had Troy cuffed and were pulling him off the floor, he turned and spat at Hudson and I, “fuck you does that mean I have two fag sons” just as Sam was walking in. I heard Troy then say, “well if it isn’t my oldest piece of shit spawn, you still playing faggot, GI Joe”? It was at that moment that Wade ran toward Sam and grabbed him. Troy’s eyes followed back to us and he said, “you two are both worthless, I sure hope my youngest is normal”. I could see Sam’s face, and it was redder than a strawberry, his fists were clinched. Hudson just squatted there in shock; I heard a sigh. I pulled him tighter. Troy was belligerent and screaming profanities, as the sheriff was walking him out, he was not gentle, there may have been a run in with his head and the door as the sheriff said, “you better stop resisting”.
Once he was in the custody of the state police sheriff came back, and asked if everyone was ok, and checked to see if anyone needed medical care. Noone did. He asked if we could give brief statements and then we could be on our way. Hudson agreed.
He told his story about how Tara had come into the locker room asking to talk to him in the hall and once he got there that’s when Troy cornered him. Tara then took off. We also told him about how we had seen him by the farm, and at the restaurant and hotel. The sheriff then had questions about Tara. I too wondered why she would be wrapped up in this. That really did not make sense to me, but then again not much make sense about her.
The sheriff said we were good to go home, but if they had any more questions, he would be in touch. Sam had not calmed down much, but he walked out with Hudson and I to the car. Wade just said, “give me the keys I’m driving”. Hudson and I hopped in the back and Sam in the passenger seat. Dad made sure we were all ok and said, “see you at home, and Jimmy does not know what was going on just FYI”. Hudson said, “we plan to keep it that way mostly, he does not need to know details”.
We got home and everyone went into the house; Jimmy greeted us and gave Hudson a huge hug. He said, “Hudson what happened, mom won’t tell me anything and dad and Sam ran out of here like their ass was on fire”. I was thinking, was I the only one who caught him calling them mom and dad? No matter. Hudson took Jimmy to the couch and said, “ok buddy here is what happened, he told him about Tara and going into the hall and seeing Troy and going right back in and getting the police. Jimmy said, “oh Hudson are you ok”, he just chuckled and said, “yeah buddy, I am fine”. He then said, “I have to tell you something else, remember the man at the door in the restaurant, well that was Troy too”. Jimmy said, “the creepy guy”? Hudson said, “yeah”. Jimmy said, “I knew something was off about him, he just kept staring at me”. Hudson replied, “well we never have to worry about him again, he is going away for the rest of his life”. Jimmy then got up and went to Sam and hugged him and said, “are you ok, you look real tense”. Sam, chuckled and said, “yeah buddy, I’m good are you ok”. He said, “yeah, I never have to worry look who all is around to take care of me”. Just then mom is the voice of reason and says, “ok you boys, all of you boys, need to make your ways to bed, it’s been a long day, we will have a celebration of the championship tomorrow”. There are several murmurs of “yes ma’am and yes mom” from all of us.
Jimmy and his entourage are on their way up the stairs, closely followed by Hudson and I. We bid everyone good night on the way up. Hudson asks Jimmy if he wants to stay with us, and he says, “nah I’ll let Austin protect you tonight”. This makes us chuckle.
We get into the room and strip off, and Hudson turns on the shower, He says, “I need to wash off this evening”. He steps in and turns and looks and says, “join me”. I smile and say, “heck yeah”. We shower off and I can feel the tension leaving him. We brush our teeth and make our way to bed, I am about to get in when Hudson smacks my ass and says, “hey there golden retriever, now that I am a champion maybe I can slide into home” he then snakes his finger toward my hole. I give a groan and say, “anytime baby”.
As always, thank you for reading, In the coming chapters we will explore a bit about Sam and Wade, and other characters too. Please continue to support others here, all comments are welcome.
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