The Trappings of Love Pt. 01

Boston Reyes was sitting in the dugout at his school's baseball field, waiting for Coach Jenkins to address the team post-practice. Boston, the team's 6'1" 180 lbs Shortstop, was one of the team's best players despite being a freshman. Baseball ran in his blood, both his father and his uncle were longtime minor-league ballplayers and their father (Boston's grandfather) was a legendary high school baseball coach in their home state before his death a few years previously.

Even his name was inspired by baseball, as his father insisted on naming his first-born son after his favorite major league team, the Boston Red Sox. Actually, his father really wanted to name him Fenway after their home field but Boston's mother mercifully put her foot down, something which Boston was eternally grateful for. "What kid wants to be named Fenway," he always thought.

Boston always loved his name, it was relatively unusual but not unheard of or obnoxiously weird. He got told all the time by girls that they loved his name. Unfortunately, Boston had made the mistake of telling this story to his little league teammates when he was 12 years old and they had found the name so hilariously bad that they started calling him it. Ever since then, he's been called nothing but Fenway by his teammates and coaches.

Boston loathed the nickname, but admitting that would only make it worse so he never really complained about it. The only teammate he had that would call him by his first name is his best friend, Josh Nixon. Josh is a few inches shorter than Boston at 5'10" but he's stockier, packing 190 lbs onto his compact frame. Josh mainly plays at second base, but he's considered a utility guy that can play every infield position. His physical athleticism and speed even allows him to play in the outfield if the team is in a pinch as well.

While Josh is a little more of a physical specimen than Boston is, he's not a particularly talented baseball player. He's certainly good but is more of a defensive ace on the field while being a streaky batter. Boston, on the other hand, is considered a "five-tool" player, excelling in all areas of the field. Boston has serious major league potential while Josh could probably carve out a solid career in the minor leagues like Boston's father did if he chose to seriously pursue it.

The two eighteen year olds have been best friends ever since they first played together in little league when they were 13. The first thing about Josh that struck Boston was his bright green-hazel eyes. It made him feel bitterly jealous. He had inherited brown eyes (and pale brown skin) from his father's side of the family who were hispanic and he always thought brown was the most boring eye color ever. That combined with Josh's shaggy dirty blonde hair gave him a pretty boy surfer look and Boston had immediately written him off as one of those kids who only played baseball for the attention of girls. After their first practice together, however, he couldn't help but be impressed by how hard Josh worked and how athletic he was. It was after this first practice that Josh had approached him.

"Is your name really Fenway?" he'd asked Boston curiously.

By this time, Boston's nickname Fenway had already been solidified and that's all anybody ever called him at the ballfield, including the announcers.

"No, my name is Boston but they insist on calling me Fenway because that's what my fool of a father had originally wanted to name me," Boston had explained a little irritably.

"Oh, he must be a Red Sox fan...well I'm just gonna call you Boston man, that's way cooler," said Josh brightly with a smile that was contagious even back then when he wore braces.

Boston found that really endearing and from that point on, the boys became inseparable. Boston had two siblings but he was the oldest by 7 years and Josh was an only child so they really took to eachother like the twin brothers they never had. They even chose to attend the same university together. Boston had earned a scholarship offer thanks to his talent on the field but Josh was a walk-on player at their school, meaning his parents would be paying his tuition.

Boston had actually received over a dozen scholarship offers, including from several high-profile elite universities but he made it a stipulation that the school he committed to reserve a walk-on roster spot for Josh. As a result, he wound up at a mid-major division 1 school willing to acquiesce to his request but Boston didn't care. He was happy he got to give his buddy the chance to play D-1 college ball. Beyond that, if he was being honest with himself (which he never would be), he was rather attached to Josh and Josh to him as well.

The tuition cost was expensive for Josh but that was fine since his parents were both from affluent families and could afford it. Despite this, Josh was determined to earn a scholarship before his freshman year was over. He wasn't the kind of guy that rested on the comforts that his privileged background afforded him. Therefore, he'd been working extremely hard, even harder than he normally did. As a result, he had already earned the trust of the team and an assurance from Coach Jenkins that he would receive significant playing time as a walk-on freshman which is rare at the D-1 level. He wouldn't be an everyday starter but he'd still start when other players needed a rest day or were injured.

So as Boston sat in the dugout a sweaty mess, Josh was naturally seated right next to him also drenched in sweat. Boston was wearing his team baseball cap and his jet black hair was almost dripping in sweat. Josh had his arm resting on the bench, his hand behind Boston's head absent-mindedly fiddling with his buddy's hair that stuck out from the bottom of his hat and curled slightly upward.

This wasn't unusual for them and Boston didn't care, that's just how Josh was and he didn't mean anything by it. And it really was tame compared to how Josh acted when they were alone. No, the two friends weren't sexually involved or anything like that. They were just extremely close and Josh had little understanding of what "personal space" meant or rather what it meant when it came to Boston in particular. None of it fazed Boston though, it was just part of the dynamic of their friendship and he actually rather appreciated Josh's friendship and everything that came with it.

When Coach Jenkins walked into the dugout, Josh stopped what he was doing and everybody sat up a little straighter. Coach gave them a big speech about their first exhibition game of the season coming up in two weeks and how he expected the team to approach it like it was a regular season game that actually counted. It was pretty typical coach speak, telling the team to work harder, take the fielding drills more seriously and things like that before dismissing the team for the day. Boston and Josh headed back to their dorm room.

They lived together in a dormitory that was mostly occupied by other freshman and sophomore student-athletes. As such, their dorm was one of the nicest and newest at the university. The rooms were alot closer to a decent-sized motel room than a traditional dorm room, with two full-sized mattresses along with an attached bathroom. They had two small dressers, one upon which sat a 42' inch TV and an Xbox with two controllers while the other had a microwave atop it. The boys had a mini-fridge that also functioned as a bedside table between their beds and kept a large bluetooth speaker box in the back corner of the room.

"Bro you have got to start cleaning up after yourself," said Josh with a laugh as they walked in. The contrast between the two sides of the room was almost comical. Boston had dirty clothes all on his bed and floor along with a few empty drink cans and food wrappers on top of the fridge between their beds. Josh's side, on the other hand, was spotless with his bed made up as always.

"Now why would I do that when I know you'll eventually get sick of it before I will and then clean it up for me," replied Boston cheekily as he started taking off his dirty practice uniform.

Josh just laughed, there was no point disputing that fact. They'd been rooming together for a month at this point and Josh had already cleaned up Boston's side twice when it finally got too messy for him to deal with.

"Yeah well you're gonna run out of clean clothes soon and then you're gonna be walking around school in dirty 'drawls'," teased Josh.

"I ran out of clean underwear three days ago and you never noticed so I think I'm fine," replied Boston with a smirk, before adding, "I'm gonna go take a shower real quick." He gave a t-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts he'd already worn multiple times the smell test before grabbing a towel and heading into the bathroom.

Josh laughed and watched him walk to the bathroom and close the door. He shook his head smiling as he quietly started gathering up the trash on Boston's side and throwing it in the trashcan before tying the bag shut and setting it by the door. Then he gathered up his friend's dirty laundry and threw them in their clothes hamper that already contained some of Josh's own clothes. He then headed downstairs to take the trash out before heading to the laundry room on the bottom floor.

Josh might complain about it and nag Boston about things like this but he genuinely didn't mind. It was thanks to Boston that he got the chance to play D-1 baseball and he was extremely grateful for him. True as that may be though, Josh had always done stuff like this. He was always helping Boston with his chores when he went over to the Reyes' family home. This was one of the reasons that Boston's mom loved Josh dearly. He even would get on to Boston whenever he talked back to his mom or just wasn't doing what she asked him to do.

Boston's hispanic grandmother lived with them as well and she absolutely doted on Josh as well. She even gave Josh his own term of endearment similar to how she does for all her grandchildren, calling him "mi ángel." She says she calls him that because it only makes sense that "mi cielo" (or my heaven, which is what she calls Boston) would bring such an angel into their lives. Josh would also play with Boston's little brother and sister all the time. They were 11 and 9 and always got excited when Josh spent the weekend over there because they knew Josh would make Boston play with them.

Even Boston's father, a notoriously tough man to impress, was fond of Josh. He always raved about Josh's work ethic on the field and encouraged Boston to treat Josh as a measuring stick for how hard he should be going at practice. Boston had such god-given talent on the field but Mr. Reyes always stressed to his son that talent does not mean he can slack off and take shortcuts in practice. His father always says, "If Manny Ramirez had Josh's work ethic, he'd be the greatest player of all time!"

Josh threw their laundry into an open washing machine and then stripped down to his underwear and socks so that he could throw his dirty practice uniform in too and then set an alarm on his phone to remind him to go back and place them in the dryer before heading back up to their dorm room, walking through the halls and stairwell in his socks and underwear.

Josh wasn't self-conscious at all and actually enjoyed displaying his body. He had a great thickly-built body with large pectoral muscles and an impressive six-pack that surprises people given how stocky he is. He'd worked very hard to obtain such a figure, ever since he was a chubby 10 year old and started working out.

By the time he arrived back to their room, Boston had gotten out of the shower and was walking back into the bedroom. He was wearing a t-shirt and free-balling in his basketball shorts. Boston was much more slim and, though he had a 6-pack and was solidly built, he never really worked out beyond what was required of the baseball team. His body was mostly a gift of genetics, much like his natural baseball talent.

"Ah dude, you should have told me you were gonna take the clothes to the laundry room so I could rub one out while I was in there," said Boston, only half-joking.

He didn't enjoy masturbating in the shower anyway but he just felt awkward about trying to do so while Josh was in the dorm room waiting patiently for his own shower. He'd only gotten to jerk off a couple times in the last month and it'd been two weeks since he'd been able to, as he and Josh had virtually identical schedules.

"Dude, just do it next time. You're gonna have to get comfortable with it because we'll be sharing this dorm the next 2 years," said Josh, rolling his eyes.

Only upper-classmen were allowed to move into off-campus housing and all the single-person dorms had a long waiting list so they were always taken by older students as well. The only other option was to join a fraternity, something the more reserved Boston had no desire to do. Josh's parents had encouraged him to join a fraternity and he probably would have joined one if not for Boston. He had a very outgoing personality and enjoyed making new friends. This naturally meant that he had always been extremely popular, while Boston was his quiet (but still well-liked) friend that tagged along with him to parties. At the end of the day though, Josh much preferred just hanging out with Boston most of the time.

Josh had no such problem with beating off with Boston in the room, but he had kept it to a minimum out of respect for him. Boston had always been a little weird about nudity and sex. It took him most of the previous month to get comfortable just sleeping in his underwear around Josh. It wasn't even that Boston was self-conscious around Josh, he was just considerably more modest about that sort of thing than his friend was. So modest, in fact, that he always chose not to shower in the locker room after games, preferring to wait til he got home.

Josh went to his dresser, grabbing a clean pair of boxer-briefs, socks and a t-shirt before heading to shower himself. Josh always let Boston shower first so he could mop up the water on the floor and rinse the bathtub and sink out after he showered and brushed his teeth. He showered quickly before pulling the curtain back and reaching for a towel that wasn't there on the shower rack.

"Shit, BOSTON! Bring me a towel please, I forgot to grab one!"

Josh stood there in the tub, waiting for Boston to crack open the door and throw one in. He was surprised when Boston opened the door and stepped inside to hand him the towel.

"Ah shit, sorry dude I thought you'd be behind the curtain," said Boston, blushing furiously and looking towards the floor as he handed Josh the towel.

"S'all good man, don't worry about it! Ain't no shame in my game," he said, smiling and shaking his hips a little so that Boston could see his penis shake in his peripheral vision.

When Boston went back into the room, he couldn't get the image out of his head. The main thing that he'd noticed is that Josh was well-trimmed downstairs. Boston knew that alot of guys trimmed but he'd never done it. Seeing the contrast between Josh's pubic hair and his own, he suddenly felt a little self-conscious.

He was still technically a virgin but he'd received handjobs and blowjobs from a few girls before. None of the girls he'd messed around with had ever said anything about it but he started wondering if they were put off by his rather large bush.

Josh, on the other hand, had had sex with several girls as a young teen at their private catholic school and had actually gotten his girlfriend pregnant in his sophomore year. When the girl started to really show at around 6 months, her devoutly religious parents discovered the pregnancy. They quite literally packed the family up and moved them to another state almost overnight. The girl was not allowed to contact Josh and her parents sporadically provided photos and updates solely through Josh's parents. It broke Josh's heart as he really did believe she was his first love.

Josh was eventually able to contact his ex-girlfriend when she went off to college the previous year but she wasn't keen to speak to him. She explained that her parents were raising the child as if he was their own and that she would be known to him as his sister until he was old enough to understand the truth. She said she agreed with the decision and asked that Josh respect her wishes and no longer contact her.

As a result of this situation, Josh had become celibate his junior year of high school and had actually stopped dating altogether. He wanted to get custody of his son after turning 18 but he knew he just wasn't in any position to do so while he went to school and in all honesty, he still wasn't ready to be a father. He figured it was all for the best or at least he convinced himself it was because it was too painful to think of it any other way. During this time, Boston had been a real shoulder for Josh to cry on and they spent many nights just talking about it. These conversations tended to turn into musings on all manner of deep philosophical and existential questions.

While Josh really depended on Boston for emotional support as he went through this, he never spoke about it anymore. Boston knew better than to bring it up, lest he send his buddy into another depressed tailspin. Even still, the experience had deepened the bond between the two boys and they were genuinely as close as anyone could ever be to another person that they weren't sleeping with.

It was around this time that their dynamic seemed to shift a bit. Josh had become much more affectionate towards Boston. He started giving Boston random hugs, scratching his back, playing with his hair and things like that when they were alone. Most guys would probably be put off by that sort of thing but Boston found that he enjoyed the attention and affection. Boston always assumed it was just an outlet for the more emotionally needy and lonely Josh and they never spoke about it. That said, they both seemed at least aware of how it could be perceived by others because they kept it to themselves.

Josh kept it to a minimum in front of people, usually only lightly fidgeting with Boston's hair occasionally in front of people when he was bored. Josh normally wasn't even aware he was doing it and even though Boston certainly noticed, he just let it go. It seemed inconspicuous enough to others that nobody ever really questioned the behavior so why should Boston draw any attention to it by telling Josh to stop? Besides, he didn't want to embarrass his best friend or hurt his feelings.

Something about the scene in the bathroom seemed to annoyingly stick in Boston's mind. He turned the Xbox on and started playing a game to try to push it from his mind. He was starting to get into it when Josh emerged from the bathroom, cleaning his ear with a q-tip.

"What you playing?" asked Josh as he flicked the q-tip in the trash bin.

"Fortnite, wanna split-screen?" responded Boston, knowing what the answer would be.

"Nah, I'll just watch you play," said Josh, who rarely ever played and preferred to watch Boston play or mess around on his phone.

Josh grabbed his phone and connected it to the Bluetooth speaker. This was the typical arrangement, Boston agreed to let Josh pick the music and he got to play games. Some people might wonder why Josh would want to just sit around while Boston played video games but the truth was that he just enjoyed Boston's company. They could sit around for hours and barely speak but it never felt uncomfortable or awkward.

Once Josh got his phone connected to the speaker, he walked over to Boston's bed and sat down behind him. They always sat together on Boston's bed because the TV was on the dresser in front of Boston's bed. The TV was actually Josh's but he put it on Boston's dresser because he was the one who played games. They did watch alot of TV and movies together as well so the only time Josh was really in his own bed was when he was sleeping.