Reap What You Sow 🌈

Chapter 17

This update is for BlAcKc0Ff33. Thank you for asking for an update, I easily forget to update this book when I have a feeling no one cares. (: 

. . .

Nieck was the last person Rory went to. He felt like a coward for finding it hard to look him in the eye, but except for Patrick, he hadn't been turned down by many people. And Nieck was gay, he did like guys but apparently, there was nothing he liked about Rory to give it a shot.

"Hey," he said to the boy, briefly looking him in the eye but lacking the courage to hold his glance. "You uh — you wanna put in money too? For the FIFA tournament?"

"Sure — hey, I know you," Nieck said. "We met at a party, didn't we?"

Rory scratched his neck, he was sweating. "Yeah — we did." He didn't know how he felt about Nieck recognizing him. It would have been a bit painful if he hadn't remembered him at all, but this was awkward too. "I'm Rory," he said.

"How funny to see you here," Nieck said. "How did that happen?"

Rory slipped his hands in his pockets. It was supposed to look nonchalant, but it didn't go very smoothly with one hand full of money. "I met Mickey at a bar and we hung out a few times."

"Cool!" Nieck smiled. "How are you?"

Rory relaxed a little. Luckily, Nieck wasn't unfriendly. He understood why he had felt attracted to him, although it paled in comparison to the feelings Emilio called up inside him. "I'm good. I've met some cool people. What about you?"

"I'm good," Nieck nodded. "But I have to admit I'm not that great at gaming. I never gamed when I was younger so I don't have hours of training as some others have. And you? Are you a gamer?"

"I wasted way too many hours while gaming," Rory admitted. "Especially when I moved out of my parent's house." During the months that he had lived with Maddie's parents, he had gamed for nights because he was too stressed to sleep.

"How long ago did you move out?"

"Umm — about eighteen months ago."

"Do you live alone? Or with roommates?"

"I live with Maddie," he pointed aside to his friend, "and with two others. In a student residence a few streets ahead. It's a giant one... so we all lead our separate lives and we don't hang out with the whole building like you guys."

"But you took her with you, so she's a good friend of yours?"

"Yeah, Madds is my best friend. She loves to game too — although I expected more girls to come." He looked aside and shrugged. "But she's doing fine with all the male attention."

Nieck chuckled. "She looks like someone who stands up for herself. How did you two meet?"

Rory had never met someone who asked so many questions, but it didn't feel awkward. "I met her younger brother at a Christian camp when we were teens. We hang out a lot at those camps." He lowered his voice and looked over his shoulder to make sure Emilio wasn't around, but the guy was nowhere to be seen. "When my parents wanted nothing to do with me anymore when I told them I was gay, I lived with Maddie's family for a couple of months and that's when we got really close."

Nieck was silent for a while. "Does it still bother you?"

"I think it will always be difficult. Not only because they all disgust me, but also because I find it hard to tell new people I meet that I'm into guys. I lost many friends. Practically all of them." He thought about Emilio and suppressed a sigh. That was the reason he didn't dare to tell him, hoping it would be easier to accept his 'handicap' when they knew each other better.