True Love Ch. 10

"Sup dude, you look a little better. Is that a smile I see." David walked up and patted me on the back before sitting down.

"I guess. I ran into someone from high school. She didn't say much of anything, but somehow I feel better for bumping into her." I smiled and looked over at David who looked pretty much the same as before except for a beaming glow. "Did she find out if the rumors about black guys are true?"

"What? Oh, ha, yeah. Yeah, she was a decent enough lay."

"How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

David just grinned and remained as charming as ever, even when calling Lisa over. She looked upset, knowing what he had just done, but still looked interested in him. He ordered a drink, leaning over to whisper his order seductively, causing her to blush.

"How do you just sleep with women like that? How do you have girls just come up to you and then fuck them in a bar bathroom and walk away?"

"I don't know. I don't really think about it. Women have always thrown themselves at me. I just kind of rolled with it through the years. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious I guess. I've never had women hit on me like they do with you and I've never been able to see myself just sleeping with a woman and walking away. It seems strange to me. Do you not feel bad about sleeping with a girl who you don't even know?"

"Not at all. Sex is sex dude. I'd rather have some girl around my dick than my hand. Know what I mean?"

David had a point, though I still couldn't see myself in his shoes. He was charming, tall, and handsome. He had this natural charisma about him. I had just met him and vice versa, but he felt like a close friend. I could talk to him with very little effort.

"Yeah, I suppose so."

"So, let me get this straight. Bear with me. You're an attractive guy. You work out. Shit, you look like you could be stronger than me. You play baseball. You're gonna be in the Major Leagues one day. You'll be rich and famous. All that, and girls don't flock to you? You don't have to bat them off with a stick? It's crazy. I knew about you ever since your rookie year. You broke like every NCAA record. You became national news. Then I meet you and find out you're this super nice guy who is down in the dumps cause his longtime friend and lover dumped him. You're a free man. You got everything going for you. Be confident dude. After this year I'm sure you're gonna leave college and go pro. Live it up while you're here. That's what I would do."

I didn't know what to say. It was a lot to take in. I had never really thought about it. I still thought of myself as this skinny goofy kid. All I could imagine was myself as I was in high school. I wanted to be confident with women, but it wasn't me. I just viewed them like I viewed everyone else. I didn't think about what they looked like naked. I didn't imagine what would happen behind closed doors. I felt hopeless.

"Thanks man. It's weird hearing that out loud, but I appreciate it."

"Just telling you how I see it." He patted me on the back and finished off his drink. "Listen. I got mine. You want to get out of here, or do you wanna stick around for a little while longer?"

"We can go ahead and leave. Thanks for the beer."

"No problem man."

---

-Samantha Summers-

"Hey mom. How are you?"

"Sweetie! It's so good to hear from you. I'm doing wonderful. How is school?"

"It's amazing. Everyone here is so nice."

"That's wonderful. Are you making friends?" Mom sounded concerned.

"Yes mom. I'm making friends. As I said, everyone here is nice. You don't have to worry mom."

"You're my baby, I'll always worry about you." I could hear her pause and move around the room. "Are you seeing anyone?"

"You know I'm not ready for that. I'm going to focus on my studies." She always found a way to remind me of Alex whenever we talked. "Enough about me, how are things going back home?"

"Oh, they're the same as always. Your father started fishing. He thinks it'll help with his blood pressure. I keep telling him he needs to eat better, but you know how he loves steak and whatnot. Did I tell you about Janet? You know Janet. I think she's having an affair..."

I sat back in my bed and listened to mom talk. As soon as I would ask about home she would go on forever. Mom loved to gossip and I loved to listen. It was a nice distraction, although I didn't need them as much anymore. My school work kept me so busy that I didn't have time for anything else. I went to my classes, studied, and worked out. That was it.

The dorms here were much nicer than those back in Texas. They gave me a room to myself. They didn't tell me if it was because of my unique sexuality or if that was how things were. I hadn't bothered to ask around.

What I told my mom was the truth though. I had made friends. On my first day of class there was a girl who sat next to me. Her name was Amber. She made an effort to help me out whenever I needed it. Then there was a guy in the gym named Devin. I think he just thought I was hot, but he also offered to help in any way he could when he learned I was a transfer. I studied in the library with Amber and began working out with Devin.

It was strange being somewhere new. I thought that I would be used to it by now, but I still felt nervous about revealing the truth about myself to people. I went back to dressing conservatively. I made sure to tuck myself neatly whenever I needed to wear anything tight, like in the gym.

A part of me wanted to tell people, but a larger part of me wanted to keep it hidden. I didn't want anyone to know. I wanted to remain hidden. I didn't want to be invited to parties. I didn't want to be called every hour of every day by people looking to hook up. It was a nightmare before. I'm sure it would be the same here.

"Sam, sweetie, did you hear me?"

"Sorry, I guess I zoned out."

"I asked if you had tried reaching out to Alex yet?"

"Mom..." Why? Why did she always have to mention him? "You know I haven't. I can't think about him. It hurts too much. I want to get my degree and focus on my career..."

"Samantha Rose Summers!" She cut me off. "You two have been best friends your whole lives. You were friends long before you two started dating. You know that he calls us almost as much as you do? He asks about you and I have to lie to him and tell him that I haven't heard from you. I'm getting tired of it." I could hear the pain and frustration in her voice.

"Mom..."

"No, don't whine at me like I'm the one being the child. You're a grown woman. Act like it. I have to go now. I'll text you his number. I suggest you seriously consider whether or not you are ready to lose him forever."

Just like that. She hung up. That was it. A stared at my phone and sure enough a few seconds later it lit up with a message that only had seven numbers on it. I clicked on the number and saved it into my phone. My finger hovered over the symbol of a telephone. I could feel my heart race as I thought about talking to him. It had been so long now. It was April. He would be in the middle of the season. I dropped the phone on the bed and walked away.

---

-Alexander Winters-

"Diving catch! Winters! This kid is something else. Let me tell you something about this kid. He was drafted by the Astros coming out of high school, but turned down the offer to play college ball. He was considered a low level prospect, but boy did he prove everyone wrong. His freshman year, we saw Winters go from a low level prospect to being the number one player in all of college baseball and the number one player on every team's scouting list. Fast forward to his sophomore year, we see him get even better, if that is even possible. His team won their second national championship in a row. Now, we are halfway through his junior season and he has improved still. He is hitting a remarkable .601 for the season so far. His name is scattered across the record book. Lucky for the Astros, they have the number one pick come June and it is almost a sure thing that he will be playing for his hometown next year."

It was the third time I had watched the Sports Center loop play on the TV. I still couldn't believe what was happening. I was playing on another level. Without Sam around I spent every minute focused on baseball. I watched more film than I ever had. I worked out harder than ever before. David convinced me to join him in working out with the football team. I was now slamming home runs left and right. My record breaking pace for steals dropped simply because instead of hitting singles I was slamming doubles and triples with ease.

My phone rang and buzzed non-stop. I was getting calls from agents, teams, and people I didn't even know. I had so many messages that I couldn't check them all, it would simply take too long. So, I ignored my phone. That was, except for a few special ringtones.

"I'm a boss ass bi..." The ringtone rang out and I quickly picked it up to cut it off.

"Yes Trixie. How may I help you?"

"What's wrong? You always sound so upset when you pick up. Do you not like the ringtone I picked out?" She always answered with that same condescending tone that grew on me after a while.

"You know I do."

"So why don't you change it?"

"Because you're my friend and I told all my friends that they could choose their own ringtone that I would always pick up for."

"Awww, so cute." She cooed.

She did this every time she called. She picked that annoying song because she liked to imagine me sitting in a crowded place when I picked up and liked to think that everyone was giving me a frustrated look.

"Is there a reason why you called me on one of my only days off?" Despite my irritated tone, I enjoyed every second talking to Trixie. I always smiled when I heard her voice.

"What are you doing tonight?" She sounded busy, as if she was walking around her apartment.

"Nothing right now, David is hanging out with his girlfriend."

"Who would have thought that asshole would have a girlfriend?"

"Well, I'm not sure if she's the only one."

"Figures."

"Yeah, but yeah uh, I don't have anything else going on that I can think of."

"Perfect. Me and Chelsea are throwing a party at the apartment tonight. I was wondering if you wanted to stop by?"

"I don't know if that's a good idea." I still remember the last party they had thrown. I woke up with a splitting headache and sharpie all over my body.

"I promise we won't write on you." She giggled like a little girl.

"Promise?"

"Promise. So, can you make it?"

"Yeah, fine." I sighed. "When should I head over?"

"We have to grab a few things and cook a little. The party won't start until nine, but if you want to come over early, Chelsea and I wouldn't mind." I could hear her grin through the phone.

"We'll see."

I hung up and watched the same highlights that I had seen before for a few minutes. It was times like this where I was at the greatest risk of thinking. Thinking was dangerous. My thoughts were my worst enemy, for they tended to drift to Sam. I thought about what she was doing. I wondered if she had found someone new. I worried that she was as much a wreck as me, or worse. I hated stillness.

Trixie had said that she would be ready in a couple of hours. It was just enough time to work out. With Sam in my life, I worked out twice a day. Now, I worked out constantly. I ran countless laps around the track, lifted weights until I couldn't move, did box jumps, swam up and down the school's pool, and anything else I could think of. I lived at the gym. It was the only place, besides the baseball field, where I could black everything out.

It was incredibly effective at filling my time. I would take my time planning out my meals and supplements. Then I could actually work out. All the stress from physical activity took its toll on my body and I had to replenish it. I spent a lot of time in the sauna, sweating out toxins. Each session in the gym was followed by a lengthy shower. After it was all said and done, I would look at the clock for the first time and notice the hours that had ticked by.

Before I knew it, it was nearly dinner time. I dressed in a simple black v-neck shirt and a pair of khaki shorts before making my way over to their apartment.

Since Sam left with her car, I had to find a new way of getting around. After she left I had the choice of either walking everywhere, grabbing cab rides, or something else. I chose the latter and decided to buy a bicycle. It was nothing fancy, but it got the job done. The only downsides were having to plan ahead in advance to make sure I had time and the weather on my side.

Lucky for me, it wasn't raining right now. Though it looked to be heading that way sometime soon, but that didn't really matter because I had made it safe.

Trixie lived in a little complex on the outskirts of the campus. It catered pretty much exclusively to college students. You could tell just by looking at them that they were cheap, but they were an effective solution to living in the dorms.

The building she lived in, much like the rest in the tiny array, was two stories and had six units on each floor. According to Trixie, there was only one floor plan. Two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a kitchenette connected to the living room slash dining room. The whole thing was one wall away from being a studio apartment.

Trixie liked it though. The college wasn't as nice to her as they were with Sam. All it took was one incident with her roommate and they kicked her out of the dorms. She'd been living in the apartment ever since the second week of school. She'd had to work at that department store since starting school in order to pay for it. I sometimes felt bad for her, but then again I didn't. Trixie sure as hell didn't. She loved it. She found it all to be a part of the experience. It was all a part of being in college to her.

After knocking a few times on the door, her roommate Chelsea answered and let me in.

Chelsea was another girl that I had grown to be close friends with ever since the departing of Sam. At first it was just because she was always around when I visited Trixie, but I learned that she was a pretty cool person. Chelsea was another girl just like Trixie and Sam. Although, she hadn't gone to the same high school as us. She wasn't even from the same state. She was from New York.

Chelsea met Trixie by answering an ad she had posted on craigslist looking for a person to split rent. Trixie didn't want people to be left in the dark and put that unique fact into the ad's information and that fact alone drew in Chelsea and the rest is history.

"Hey Alex, looking good, like always. We weren't expecting you for a couple of hours. Come on in, have a seat on the couch."

"And you look as lovely as ever Chels." I greeted her by planting a kiss on her cheek and moving past her to hug Trixie from behind, since she was busy cooking something. "And it's nice to see you as well." I kissed her cheek as well before separating myself to go have a seat in the living room.

"So, what do you think of my outfit?"

Chelsea had sauntered over in front of me and twisted herself from side to side showing off her choice of dress for the evening. She was wearing a navy blue pleated skirt that cut off a couple inches above her knee, exposing a tantalizing amount of her mocha skin without being overly revealing. Her top matched well with her skirt. She had on a semi-sheer white blouse with sleeves that stopped at her biceps. You could just barely make out the lacy black bra underneath.

"You look like you're interviewing for the role of slutty secretary." I chuckled warmly, knowing she would take it as a compliment.

"Perfect!"

She plopped down next to me and flung her legs across my lap. She loved invading people's personal space. This was mostly because she knew no one would call her out on it. I know I wasn't.

Chelsea was quite attractive. It was actually stunning. Both Sam and Trixie were absolutely beautiful, but in the right light you could detect the slightly masculine features underneath. There was a slight edge to their jaws, the subtlest crook to their brow, or the tiniest hint of facial hair that betrayed their femininity.

Chelsea was flawless. She looked every bit the part. She looked like your everyday drop dead gorgeous college girl. She was half black and half white. Her rich caramel skin was free of any imperfection. She glowed. When she entered a room you noticed. When you were in the same room you couldn't keep your eyes off of her.

She knew this.

"I would ask what you think of my outfit, but I don't care what you think." Trixie chimed in from the kitchen.

"Ouch. If you did, I would have said you look great." I held my hand to my chest in mock hurt.

"What do you know? You're just a boy. We could be wearing an old wrinkled t-shirt and some baggy jeans and you'd probably say we looked nice."

"Maybe..."

"Lay off of him Trixie. Some of us dress up nice to get compliments from guys and not to get them interested enough to trick them into bending over for us."

"Bitch! I don't have to trick anyone."

I sat back and let the two girls go at it. I had witnessed these two bicker playfully at each other countless times and knew not to interrupt anymore.

"And how many guys have you had storm out of your room when they found out what you had between your legs?"

My face turned between the two of them each time they spoke, but this go around it looked like Chelsea won because Trixie just huffed and tried to mumble out a response but failed.

"That... It's not... Shut up."

"How many guys do leave your room in a hurry?" I had to ask. I was curious.

"You too? It's not like that. I don't trick guys. I'm very upfront about who I am. It's a different story when they see my size is all." She shook her head and huffed as she turned back to the stove and finished up some more food for the party.

"Bullshit." I laughed and sat up a little. This time it was Chelsea watching me with a look of amusement. "If a guy was interested in sex he wouldn't just run away. No matter how big the dick is. If they knew you had one, they'd stick with it."

"Not all of us are size queens like you Alex." Trixie finished her stack of burgers and covered them in foil. She stepped out of the kitchen and set the try on the table, choosing to face me for this showdown. "And they all know that I have a dick, but some think that because I'm a girl that I won't use it. Then they find out that I don't bottom for anyone and they run away." She had her hands planted on her hips and her face showed the confidence of a person who thought they had won.

"Then you aren't being honest enough, and besides that, I've been at the bar with you enough times now to know that you pick your targets out. You go for the ones who look like they'll bend over for you. You don't pick the macho jock types."

"So what, some guys just can't handle it when we get to my bedroom. So instead they run away."

"They won't even give you a blowjob?" I wasn't convinced of her argument at all. I didn't believe her one bit. There was no way that she was so large that guys left without hesitation.

"Listen, I'd love to show you personally, but the party is about to start and I have to take a shower. I smell like grease and sweat. If I want any chance of getting laid tonight I should probably freshen up."

Just like that she stormed into the bathroom that was nestled between the two bedrooms. This left me alone with Chelsea on the couch for the next hour before the guests would possibly start showing up.

"You two are cute."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She didn't answer me back, instead deciding to stick her tongue out at me.

"Would you pass me the remote? I think there's a Golden Girls marathon on."

"You're the weirdest girl I've ever met." I poked fun at her as I passed her the remote from the end table next to me.