The Boy I Love

Squash?

My first match comes that night. Coach Turner comes to my door to get me, sizing Leo up in the brief minute or so that the door is open. Leo doesn't even glance up at him.

Coach takes me to another building pretty much right next to the hotel, and we enter through a side door. I get geared up, and then sent into the area where the match will take place. I spot my opponent and immediately start sizing him up- he's a little bigger than me, but that shouldn't be a problem. If I stick to my usual strategy, this guy could be down in under ten seconds.

I go through all the stuff that I have to do before the match can start, until I finally end up facing off against my opponent. The ref comes over, and we shake hands before starting.

I don't even bother taking a test swipe at him. I just go. He's on the ground in a second. He struggles a little, in the process touching his shoulder blades to the ground. The ref blows the whistle, and I stand. We shake hands again, the guy looking shocked and a little humiliated. The ref holds up my arm, and the spectators all look a little confused. I make eye contact with Coach Turner, and he's grinning like a madman.

As we're leaving, he claps me on the shoulder. "This competition is as good as yours, Andrews. That was beautiful."

I smile. "Thanks, Coach."

Leo's not in the room when I get there, which leads me to briefly wonder where he is (this morning he was at a match, but nobody has two in one day). I dismiss the thought pretty quickly and take a shower, even though I don't really need one. When I get out, my phone is lit up. I check it- it's from Vick.

We're in billiards room when you finish your match

I quickly pull on some clothes and head down, having to ask someone at the front desk where the billiards room is, then make my way there. It's on the bottom level of the hotel, and as I venture down hallways, I smell chlorine. A pool, probably. I'll mention it to the guys, see if they've checked it out yet.

I finally find the door to the billiards room, swiping my key card through the lock to get in, and open the door. The room has a few billiards tables, but it's empty except for Nick, Jack, and Vick. The guys are already playing a game, but they all look up when they hear me enter.

"Hey! It's the champion of the day!" Nick says, wearing a huge grin.

"We would've come to watch you, but we figured it would be over too quickly to make the walk worth it," Vick tells me, coming over to clap me on the shoulder. I roll my eyes.

"It's not even a walk. It's right next to the hotel."

"Yeah, but how long was your match?"

I grin a little. "Like, ten seconds."

"I rest my case."

"You're a beast, dude," Jack tells me. "Ten seconds? That's unheard of."

"He definitely wasn't expecting it."

"Still unheard of."

"Leo's got nothing on you," Nick tells me. "And his match was insane to watch."

"Okay- speaking of Leo, what the heck happened at that match? Because what I've heard doesn't sound as extraordinarily impressive as you're making it sound," I say as Jack seems to remember that they're playing pool and takes his shot. He misses. I smirk a little.

"It was just so crazy to watch him escape that many times. He almost got pinned so many times, I still have no clue how he avoided it. And you'd think he'd lose by points, but he managed to avoid getting dominated there, too. It was just an incredible comeback- so incredible that it didn't even seem to be a comeback," Jack tells me as Nick shoots and sinks one or two balls before missing.