The Chronicles of Trey

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Written by: Nicky Smith Edited by: JD Kaster

CHAPTER TWELVE: UNRESOLVED ISSUES

TREY'S POV

It had been about a month since school had started and I was finding that things were looking up academically. I was actually liking my classes and since it helped take my mind off of certain things, that was definitely a plus. The hard stuff wouldn't start until my second semester but I was already doing research into things on my own beforehand to get ready.

Speaking of keeping my mind off of certain things, the tension in the room that I unfortunately shared with Drake Franklin was at a constant level of high. Whenever we were in the room together, we both wore permanent scowls on our faces and I had started checking my face to see if I had any frown lines developing.

I think we both spent a lot of time avoiding the room as much as possible and at first the idea to just camp out at Bear's place was tempting but he lived in one of the athletic dorms and I didn't think it was wise to be spending a lot of time over there, especially knowing that Bear hadn't been going through girls at a constant clip like a lot of jocks probably were. No need to start any speculating, especially with Hoyt still on the team and him knowing about me at least.

I was currently at the local branch of my bank. I hadn't been paying attention to anything as I waited in the surprisingly long line to get to a teller until this suspicious guy got in line next to me. Something about him had me on edge. I was just waiting for him to open that oversized coat he was wearing to revealing he was strapped and hold up the bank or that he had a bomb. I wouldn't discount something like that happening while I was in the bank.

He tried talking to me but after I briefly spoke to him, I politely shut that down by pulling out my phone and pretending to text. I did receive a text from Zane though asking that I come to see him when I got the chance as he needed to talk to me about something. That worried me until he sent another text telling me to stop worrying. I just rolled my eyes as it seemed that everybody knew me way too well.

The suspicious guy started talking to this older woman who was in line in front of him. He was talking about how he was on hard times and he needed some money desperately. That again made me think that the bank was about to be held up. I pre-typed a text to Bear that told him to call 911 because I was at the bank and there was a holdup just in case I needed to send it.

The woman shocked me by pulling out her purse and giving the man $500 dollars. He thanked her and said he'd give her the money back as soon as he could and asked for her address and phone number so he could get in contact with her. I thought that this was a dumb thing to do because this guy had just learned that this older lady had at least enough money to be willy nilly handing out $500. He could rob her.

She gave it to him though and he left the line and the bank. I had taken a pic of him taking the money from the lady and then I took another of him leaving the bank just in case I needed to remember this guy for some investigation or something. I asked the woman if she was sure she should trust him. She said she believed him and only time would tell if she was wrong. I just shook my head.

Now, I know all the platitudes about trusting in people existed but I guess my pessimistic side just had me believing that the guy was up to no good and I was convinced that I'd be seeing on the news soon that this woman and probably her family had been killed in a robbery or a home invasion involving this dude. I was thankful when I left the bank without incident because I was a lightning rod for misfortune.

I arrived back at school to get my truck to go and see what was up with Zane as I had jogged to the bank. I decided though that I'd go and see Bear first as I hadn't seen him in a few days. I made sure to limit how much time I spent with Bear when other people could see. I knew this was stupid but I was paranoid so it was going to continue until something happened to end it because Bear was too considerate to demand that I stop being a pussy, and I was too stupid to stop myself.

"Hey Trey," said Flynn, a teammate of Bear's as I entered the building. I still didn't know how I felt that they knew me on sight. He had a friendly smile on his face though so I decided not to be paranoid.

"Hey man," I said as we reached each other and fist bumped.

"How are things with you?" He asked and I was surprised that he cared. Maybe it was just the customary greeting that a lot of people used though.

"They're good. Just stopped by to see Bear about something real quick," I said trying to make it sound insignificant.

"Well, he's up in his room, but you'd better hurry cause he's due for a workout in about 45 minutes," he said before saying he had to be going too and wishing me a nice day before leaving. I did indeed go on up to see Bear. I was about to knock when the door opened.

"Trey, what's doing dude?" Deacon said as he stood on the other side of the door.

"Nothing much," I said after quickly recovering from being startled by the door opening so fast. "Where's the fire?" I asked as he looked in a hurry.

"I'm supposed to take my lady to pick up her car from the garage that's doing a tune up on it. I'm late though," he said and I understood that. Women were rough when you weren't in a relationship to which I could attest so it had to be worse when you were together.

"She's gonna have your ass man," Bear called out. That's when I looked over and saw him looking not a Deacon but at me and I had to steel myself against the pull he had on me. It was like he got better looking every day and it was almost unbearable sometimes.

"It's not my fault. You held me up," Deacon said looking back at Bear.

"I didn't do anything," Bear argued finally looking at Deacon.

"That's gonna be my story," Deacon said. He then told us later before rushing out of the door and down the hall. Once he was out of sight, Bear yanked me into the room and closed the door.

"Hello, my love," he said in a deep voice that reverberated all over my body in the most pleasant way possible.

"Damn, how do you do that?" I asked almost breathless and we hadn't even kissed yet.

"Don't know. I like to think you inspire my romantic side," he said before he reached up and trailed his fingertips along my jawline. I shuddered involuntarily and didn't hide it.

We moved closer to each other and when our lips met, it was like magic. I wondered how we connected so thoroughly like this before our bodies made complete contact and I stopped wondering about that and started concentrating on how Bear's body felt against mine.

The kiss was a slow and tender kiss that had me warm all over. It was definitely a new one and one that I would welcome any time in the future because I had time to enjoy all of the subtle things about having this connection with Bear.

The kiss went on for a bit before it ended. When we ended the kiss we rested our foreheads against each other and stared into each other's eyes. I don't know where the thought came from but in that moment I strangely thought that I wanted to have Bear's babies even though that was impossible.

"I don't think you can do that, but I'll be more than happy to try as much as you want," he said and of course he saw what I'd been thinking. With how connected we were in that moment, this was one of the rare times when I wasn't surprised in the least that he'd known what I was thinking.

"I can get on board with that," I said before we both laughed.

"So, are you free tonight?" He asked as he stepped away from me and headed for the sofa.

"I have to head home in a little bit because Zane wants to talk to me about something, but I can be back if you have something in mind," I said and he smiled before sitting down on the sofa.

"I'll just come home after I finish my workout and conditioning," he said and the look he shot me even from across the room held promises that I intended to make sure he kept.

"Okay," I said and he smiled.

"I saw Miri earlier. She said she stopped by your room and Drake answered the door and snapped at her that you weren't there," he said and I could hear the desire to go and menace Drake on Miriam's behalf which was sweet, at least to me.

"Damned Drake. I'll deal with him," I said and he looked at me with a strange smile.

"You will?" He asked and I felt I needed to let him know that I could and would handle Drake.

"I will. I'm not a weakling anymore. I'm fully prepared to take care of myself."

"You never were a weakling. You just lacked confidence in yourself. It looks good on you now," he said but I didn't feel confident even if I still wanted to kick Drake's ass for talking whatever shit he had to Miriam.

"If I were confident I wouldn't have a problem with you telling your team about us," I said but the look on his face didn't change.

"That's concern and worry about my safety, not lack of confidence," he said and damn if he didn't know what to say to make me all mushy inside. I decided to play it off though.

"Yeah, I guess," I said. He laid back on the sofa with his hands behind his head. I knew he was trying to seduce me from the smile on his face but I wasn't gonna fall for it.

"Where were you this morning anyway?" He asked as he looked me over.

"I went jogging and to the bank. I thought this guy was gonna rob the place and I actually pre-typed a text telling you that and to call the cops," I said and that got his attention.

"What did he do?" he asked. He didn't move but he stopped trying to seduce me which didn't matter as I still wanted him.

"He didn't rob the place at least. No, he conned this old lady out of $500 dollars with a hard luck story. I fully expect to see her on the news saying that her house has been burglarized," I said to which he rolled his eyes. I heard how pessimistic I sounded but I wasn't sorry.

"Wow," he said looking awed at my pessimism but that didn't sound like a good thing.

"What? She gave him her address and everything," I said trying to get him to see where I was coming from.

"I think it's a nice thing to have a little faith in people sometimes. I know a guy who did something similar for this guy," he said and of course he did.

"Well, he's a sap, middle-middle-middle, he's an idiot," I said ignoring how judgmental I sounded.

"Wow," he said again, "you are so cynical," he said shaking his head at me. He couldn't hide the slight amusement on his face though. I tried to ignore how sexy he looked lying on the sofa.

"I know right? Isn't it great," I said giving him the cheesiest grin I could.

"If you say so," he said before he rolled his eyes.

"I think I'm more of a realist. I see things how they are, not like people want to believe they are," I told him and he couldn't hide the smile that crept to his lips.

"I know. You've said that before," he said and I remembered it.

"Yeah like for example, oh no, that guy stole something, but maybe he needed it because his family is starving at home," I said mockingly toward the optimistic people out there.

"Well maybe he does have a starving family at home," Bear said defending my hypothetical thief.

"Or maybe he saw something, didn't want to pay for it, and just took it," I said in return.

"Wow, your world view is so dark," he said in astonishment.

"Well, that's why I need you, to bring light into my `dark world view'," I said as I walked over to the sofa. He made room and I dropped down close to him.

"So what do you do for me?" he asked looking a bit serious.

"You have to ask that question, big guy?" I asked as I ran my hand teasingly up and down his leg.

"Trey, I'm being serious," he said after grabbing my hand.

"Bear, how am I supposed to know what I do for you? I do know what you do for me," I said confused at what he wanted.

"I know what I do for you," he said now looking completely serious. I wondered where this serious introspection of our relationship was coming from.

"Yeah but would you know if I hadn't just told you?" I asked.

"Yeah I would," he answered while still looking at me expecting an answer. He was also drawing slow circles on my palm with his index finger which had me slightly distracted.

"Well since I obviously don't know the answer, why don't you tell me," I said while actually hoping he wouldn't.

"You already know. You just don't want to say it," he said still looking at me expectantly.

"You're right, I don't," I admitted.

"Why not?" he asked looking confused.

"Because..." I trailed off.

"Because what?" he prodded.

"Because it's sappy, like I just got through talking about. We're guys... we shouldn't be being all sappy and cutesy all the time," I said feeling slightly embarrassed but not sure why.

"Well you're the one who started this particular sap-fest with that whole `light into your dark world view' comment," he said looking all smug like he had won some point. I was silent for a minute before responding.

"Fine. When you're too optimistic, I'm realistic, and when I'm too realistic, you come along with your dammed optimism. I keep you grounded and you help me dream and soar. There, are you satisfied?" I said feeling a bit more embarrassed, but it faded when I saw Bear's face light up like a star.

"Yeah, I am," he said with a supremely happy grin on his handsome face. He leaned over and kissed me and I joined in turning our kiss into a make-out session but it didn't go on too long before we came up for air.

"I'm sorry. Sometimes, I like the sappy, but then there are times when I get embarrassed by it," I said in a bit of honestly I didn't intend but I was glad I had let slip once it was out.

"I already knew that, but thanks for finally admitting it," he said with a smile before he leaned back down and kissed me again.

"I'd love to stay here all day, but I have to head on back home to see what Zane wants and you need to get to the athletic building," I said and it looked like it had just dawned on him that he needed to get there.

"Shit, I forgot. Coach is gonna chew my ass out for being late," he said before he jumped up and rushed to his room.

"You better tell him that your ass is mine and that nobody gets to chew it but me," I joked then realized that Bear would tell him that if only to try to get at me.

"Okay, I will," he said as he came back into the common room in his gym shorts and tank top with a gym bag hung over his shoulder.

"You'd better not," I said but he just grinned at me. He kissed me again before ushering me out of the door along with himself. He locked the door and gave me a wink before he took off.

I went back to my room and hesitated before going in because while I was geared up to deal with Drake earlier, I had lost that mood by the time I got to my room and I just wanted to get in and get out. I opened the door and was glad that he wasn't there. I took a quick shower, packed a bag because I planned on staying the night at home, and managed to get out of the room before Drake returned. I headed for my truck and headed home to see what Zane had summoned me for.

When I arrived back in town, it was late afternoon and instead of heading home, I headed over to Zane's place first to see what he wanted. I pulled into the parking lot to his building and parked next to his car. I got out and headed up to his apartment and knocked on the door.

"Hey bro," he said as he opened the door. He looked especially happy which made me curious.

"Hey, Zane," I said suspiciously.

"Yo Trey," I heard from behind me. I turned and saw Calvin walking up the stairs to Zane's apartment.

"What're you doing here?" I asked as I was surprised that he wasn't out with his friends judging by what I'd heard from Mama. She'd told me that he was barely at home since school had started and people had learned that he was a football player. I wasn't surprised though because our old high school's football team had been a big thing for some years. Even before we had gotten to high school, with Calvin being so popular and in demand, it wasn't a surprise if Bear, Sean and the lot were any indication.

"My brother called me, but you're the one that should be answering that question," he said. As I looked at him, he had a sort a swagger to him that he didn't have just a month ago. I hope he wasn't letting his new popularity go to his head because it was easy to do so.

"I called him too, now both of you get in here," Zane said before leaving us at the open door.

"Alright we're in," I said after we'd walked through the door and I closed it behind us.

"So, what's with the sudden summons?" Calvin asked as he walked over to the island in the kitchen where Zane was now. I followed him in there and noticed that Zane looked kind of anxious.

"You want a beer?" He asked me before walking to the fridge.

"Sure," Calvin answered looking way too happy.

"I wasn't talking to you kid," Zane said before grabbing two beers and heading back over to the island. He slid one of the beers over to me which I caught. I was still watching him though and he still looked anxious. I was thoroughly curious what was up with him.

"I'm not a kid, and he's not 21 either so why does he get one?" Calvin said kind of whiny disproving what he'd first said.

"That was an awful lot of whining there for someone who's supposedly not a kid," Zane said with a teasing half smile.

"What's up Zane?" I asked cutting Calvin off from whatever he was about to say. He was silent for a few minutes only taking a few swigs of his beer in during that time. Finally though, he seemed to make up his mind to say what it was he was about to say.

"I'm gonna propose to Nicole," he said and it was after then that I realized I'd been holding my breath because it rushed out of me.

"That's it? You had me worried," I said not hiding how annoyed and slightly pissed I was.

"That's big to me. I'm about to ask another person to share their life with me. That's a big thing," he said but he was preaching to the choir.

"I know. I've done it," I said but he rolled his eyes which kind of pissed me off.

"That's different," he said and I got even more pissed off. I started to feel like he didn't take my engagement to Bear seriously.

"How so?" I asked with a bit of a hostile tone.

"You and Bear have been engaged since you first saw each other," he said and that was at least a weight off.

"And you don't think you and Nicole were the same way?" I asked.

"I can honestly say that I wasn't thinking about marriage when I first saw her," he said with a slightly lecherous smile.

"Well, I wasn't thinking about it either when I first saw Bear, you know, on account that I was 2," I said but he rolled his eyes again.

"Yeah, whatever," he mumbled.

"Is that all you called us over here for?" Calvin asked looking a bit impatient.

"Man, you two are cold hearted. Your big brother calls you over and tells you he's about to propose to the woman he loves and you two act like I just told you the sky is blue or something," Zane said before finishing his beer. I finally opened mine and took a swig. Calvin was eyeing me when I did this so being the petty person I was, I took another long swig and winked at him afterwards. He flipped me the bird in response and Zane shook his head at his immature brothers.

"Well Zane, that is kind of a thing you could have told me over the phone," I said but I guess that was the wrong thing to say because he glared at me.

"Well jackass, that's not all I wanted. I wanted you two to help me come up with a plan for how to do it," Zane said and I guess that was a good reason to call me down.

"Don't you just get down on your knee and ask her?" Calvin asked.

"No dummy, its gotta be special. That's why I called Trey," Zane said with a look of slight exasperation directed at Calvin.

"That's kind of all I did," I said slowly. Zane looked at the two of us for a moment before he let out a frustrated sigh.

"You two are no help," he said before leaning back against the counter behind him.

"What did you expect?" I asked him. I probably should have dialed back the amusement at his frustration.

"I just said it has to be special," he said through gritted teeth. I did dial back my amusement then because it was obvious that he was serious and nervous about what was coming next.

"You are getting too worked up about this. All you need is something simple," I said with a calming smile hoping it worked for him.

"Take her out to her favorite restaurant and buy her favorite meal. Then take her on a moonlit walk to somewhere secluded, but safe, and just tell her how much you love her and that you want the two of you to share your lives together. Then pull out the ring and lay it on her," Calvin said and I for one was stunned that he had said all of that. Zane looked the same way.

"Um, yeah. What he said..." I said while still recovering from glimpsing my little brother's romantic side.

"Yeah, that just might work," he said before he pulled out his phone and started scrolling for something. I suddenly had a thought.

"You do have a ring, don't you?" I asked because that would be just like him to get into this without a ring.

"Oh yeah, I got it," he said before he pulled over a chair and stood on it to reach the top of the cabinet behind him. He got something before getting back down, which after, he placed it on the island we saw that it was a red ring box. I looked at him but he just shrugged and I knew the deal.

"You shouldn't have given her a key," I said, but I smiled to let him know I was mostly joking.

"Shut up," he mumbled but he was smiling too. Calvin reached for the box and opened it to reveal a princess cut diamond ring. It was modest in size and I could understand since he'd only been a cop for a year and a half and probably didn't have much money to spend on a ring.

"Looks good," Calvin said and I agreed which made him happy.

We talked more and Zane decided that he'd take her out to her favorite Italian restaurant. Instead of a walk though, they decided to go for a drive up to the overlook. I thought to get mad as I saw that as mine and Bear's place, but that was silly so I told him that was a great idea. So the plan was set and I just had to wait until I heard from him about her answer. I didn't think she'd say no though.

It had been a been a week since Zane had told Calvin and me about his plans to propose to Nicole. I was on edge waiting to see when he'd get in touch with me to let me know how it went. I wondered if Calvin felt the same way. I considered not telling Bear since it was Zane's business until he told the family how it went, but by Tuesday I couldn't take it anymore and told him. He clowned me for my lack of willpower and I proceeded to prove that he didn't have any either by sexually teasing him. This led to quick mutual blowjobs so there were no losers.

On Saturday I got up and went for a long run to burn off the stresses of the week. I had taken to running over the summer to burn off excess energy from... things, but found that I loved it after I got used to it. I had gotten a late start because I'd forgotten to set my phone alarm as I was pissed at Drake after we'd gotten into a small argument about nothing other than that we hated each other.

I was walking down the walkway headed back to my dorm when I saw Bear and smiled. I started to head towards him when I saw that he was with his roommate Deacon and two more of his teammates. This caused me to stall as I was still wary of interacting with Bear out in public, especially with them around. He saw me and smiled briefly until he saw something on my face which caused him to frown.

It may have been my sudden urge to flee before they saw me as I was unsure of how I came off to them. I was especially wary with Bear's teammate Hoyt hanging around knowing that I was gay and at least into Bear. I didn't want him to connect any more dots for some reason. My plans were dashed though when Deacon spotted me.

"Hey Trey, come on over," he said, and he sounded so friendly that I was unsuccessful in thinking of a way to get out of it so I sucked it up and went on over. I made sure that I acted as straight as possible. I even pulled my rainbow bracelet off my wrist behind my back and slipped it in my pocket.

"Hey guys," I said and mentally slapped myself for how insecure and meek I sounded.

"Where you coming from?" Flynn Cross asked. I didn't like that these guys were so interested in me. One part of me should have been glad that they seemed willing to include Bear's "best friend" in their hangouts but I wasn't his friend anymore and hadn't been for 3 years. They probably wouldn't want me around if they knew the truth, or Bear either for that matter, so I was wary around them.

"Trey, are you okay?" Bear asked and he sounded so concerned that I wanted to touch him and reassure him. I had to get away from them.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just came from jogging and I was headed to take a shower," I said as I slowly backed away. I saw Bear looking at me with a weird look on his face.

"Naw, that can wait. We could use another man," said Tyson Hart. I almost laughed at that for some reason but I was able to hold it in.

"For what?" I asked. I still hadn't stopped inching away from them.

"Just gonna play a little ball," he said and I almost rolled my eyes. They just played a game two days ago, but I guess they needed to stay in shape.

"I see four of you. That's an even number," I said while watching Bear watch me with a now unreadable look on his face.

"We got 3 more guys coming," Deacon said and as if waiting for him to say that, three more of his teammates walked up, including Hoyt Daniels. He smirked at me which didn't help things.

"Yeah, we'd usually have the Cap but he's busy with some shit," Tyson said.

"What up fellas," said one of the guys as he walked up. They all fist bumped.

"Not much Ken," Deacon said. I remembered his name now was Kenneth and the guy who looked like him was his cousin Toby. I had a brief thought that my skill at remembering names would serve me well in the business field.

"Trey here is gonna stand in for Cap," Flynn said and I didn't like that they were deciding this for me.

I decided to suck it up and just stay and play. I made the mistake to look at Bear and saw that he was happy that I'd stayed which made me happy. I almost smiled the special smile I saved for him but I was able to reign it in. It didn't bother him though so I was at least thankful for that.

They decided the teams with me and Bear being on the same team of course. Deacon was also on our team and finally, Hoyt managed to get on our team too with Flynn, Tyson, Kenneth, and Toby on the other. Before the game started I tried to remember everything that I'd seen in every football game that I'd seen Bear play in or the games that I watched my brothers play.

Things went okay for the most part, especially with Bear guarding me like his life depended on it. It was almost funny how hard he was trying to protect me from even getting touched by anybody else. It stopped being cute though when I noticed that Hoyt was noticing too.

"So, how have you been?" He asked when we were taking a brief break. Unfortunately I was alone as the guys went to get something to drink.

"Fine," I said as I made sure to stand as far from him as possible without it looking like I was doing so. He noticed though and chuckled as he closed the distance between us.

"So, Bear is really protective of you," he said in more of an observational way than as a flat statement.

"He's like that with everybody. I've seen him play ball," I said knowing I was lying. Bear did take his job on the field seriously but he'd been extra protective of me.

"I play with him and I know that isn't true," he said with an annoying half smile on his face. It was extra annoying because it made him look very hot. I had thought that I'd conquered my attraction to him but I had been wrong.

"Well maybe it's a good thing that he cares so much about the safety of a friend he's had since he was two, who's obviously not built to be playing around with you guys," I said, possibly a little too defensively.

"I think you're built good enough to play around with us," he said using too much emphasis when he said "play around".

"Yeah, whatever," I said wanting Bear and the other guys to come back and save me from this annoying conversation.

"That's an interesting tattoo you have there," he said as he looked at my arm which I'd discovered was exposed as the shirt I had on had rode up around my arm.

"What tattoo?" I asked as I pulled my shirt arm down. It was a t-shirt though and was sweat soaked so it wouldn't stay in place.

"That one," he said as he pointed to my arm. "You know, Bear has the exact same one, only on his other arm," he said. He was looking especially smug now and I didn't like where he was going with this conversation.

"We got them before we graduated high school to commemorate our friendship because we thought we'd be going to different schools," I said almost happy with my quick thinking.

"So it was sort of a bro bonding moment huh?" He asked but he didn't sound like he believed me.

"Exactly," I said quickly.

"It's kind of a weird tattoo for two guys to get together though," he said with the smugness returning.

"What exactly is your problem, huh?" I asked quite a bit forcefully.

"Hey, chill. I was just talking," he said defensively.

"No, you're trying to insinuate things," I said and he didn't look like he was sorry which really pissed me off.

"Hey, I'm just saying that some things are starting to add up," he said with a smug smile that I wanted to drive my fist into for some reason.

"Nothing is adding up except you jumping to dumb conclusions based on flimsy evidence," I said resorting to my tried and true method of deflection.

"Your feelings for Bear aren't one sided. I saw how he protected you, how you looked at him and how he looked at you. He doesn't date, but he wears a ring that he's very secretive about, and now you two have matching tattoos of a Bear protecting a heart, sort of like he was protecting you earlier," he said summing us up way too well. I wanted to explode but I took a moment to take several calming breaths before I spoke.

"I can't stop you from thinking whatever foolishness you're thinking but you'd better keep whatever it is you're thinking to yourself," I said making sure he heard the threat.

"Trey, I'm not a fool. You act like I'm gonna run around screaming that you and Bear are fucking," he said way too loud for me. In reality it wasn't loud at all but the fact that he'd said it in public was too loud for me.

"We aren't so shut the fuck up," I hissed but he only chuckled again.

"You know, you're not doing a good job of convincing me that nothing is going on between you and Bear. Maybe you should work on that," he said and he was right but I wasn't in any mood to hear it.

"Fuck you," I seethed.

"I'm down if you are," he said in a deep husky tone as he stepped too close to me.

"You wouldn't be able to take it," I said and delighted in his widened eyes as he glanced down at my crotch. We looked over when we heard the guys coming back. Bear looked happy so I put a happy look on my face to keep from alerting him to my annoyance.

"Look Trey, I'm not in any position to be outing anyone. You know about me and your friend, I believe her name is Miri, told me that I'd better watch myself if I didn't want anything to happen to me cause she could make my life miserable," he said and that was a huge shock. Miriam hadn't said anything to me about threatening Hoyt. I shook my head at the women in my life.

"What's going on?" Bear asked as him and the other guys reached us.

"Just getting to know Trey better," Hoyt said and thankfully he cut the smug shit out. That didn't mean that Bear wasn't suspicious though, which if the look he had was any indication, he was.

"Yeah, just having a quick chat," I said with probably the fakest smile I'd ever put on. It seemed to fool Bear though as he smiled too.

We played for a little while longer and I made sure not to stay in Bear's shadow and let him protect me anymore. I was surprised that I was able to hold my own, although I'm sure they weren't playing anywhere near serious. Still though, I was happy with how much I'd managed to retain over my years of watching Bear play football and my ability to pass as a real guy's guy.

The "game" broke up after another 30 minutes and I really did need to go and grab a shower because I was getting rank. I finally managed to slip away from the group and head back to my room. Thankfully Drake wasn't there so I went to take a long shower in the bathroom I was thankful I only had to share with my roommate. Unfortunately, that roommate was Drake, but I guess you can't win them all

I hopped out of the shower, grabbed a towel, and went to check my phone to see if I'd received any calls or texts. All I saw was a text from Justice asking me if my sister was becoming a mad scientist. I texted her back to ask why she was asking that and she replied that Carly had called her and asked her about some chemical compounds even she'd never heard of. I just told her that Calvin thought she was. There was a knock on the door that interrupted me from answering the reply text.

"Bear, how did you shower, change, and get over here so fast?" I asked as he looked, and thankfully, smelled freshly scrubbed clean and looked very tasty. He was definitely a big thirst trap that I'd happily fall into.

"It's a gift," he said with a kind of flirty smile before he pushed his way into my room, closed the door, and pulled me to him and his waiting lips. The heat started to tick up as my towel dropped and I felt his big hands grip my ass cheeks.

"G-good gift," I managed to say after the kiss ended. He looked proud of himself for his ability to make me momentarily unable to talk properly.

"I know," he said with a huge grin before he stepped back and looked down at my mostly hard dick. "Want me to take care of that?" He asked as he slowly trailed his fingertips down over my chest and abs.

"You sure know how to light my fire big guy," I said almost breathlessly as my dick reached full mast.

"So is that a yes?" He asked with a hopeful grin as he reached my dick, but bypassed it and gripped my balls and tugged on them.

"I'd love that, but I'm gonna have to decline," I said and his grin turned into a frown.

"Really?" He asked because as he was probably correctly thinking, there were a ton of gay guys, and maybe even a few straight guys, that would love to have a hot stud like Bear on his knees servicing them.

"Yeah. I have to actually, and sadly, do some research for two papers I have due," I said which didn't do anything to his mood.

"I'm starting to think this whole thing was a bad idea as you're way too busy now," he said and his pouting was kind of cute.

"Tell me about it," I said before I stepped away from him, which was very difficult. It was made even worse when I glimpsed the bulge in his jeans. I went to put on some clothes to help distract the both of us.

"I want to thank you for sticking around and playing ball with me and the guys," Bear said after a minute or so of silence.

"No need to thank me for that," I told him as I pulled on my pants. I noticed his eyes were on my crotch. When he raised them and realized I was watching him watching me he actually blushed and damn if that wasn't cute.

"I know you wanted to disappear in a hurry but I'm glad you decided to stick around," he said and I wasn't too thrilled that I was right in that he'd seen that. I tossed the shirt that I was about to put on back on my bed and sat on the bed and let out a deep sigh.

"I just, I didn't realize how hard it would be to be here with you and have to be very careful about not showing the wrong kind of attention toward you," I said and he frowned. He walked over and crouched down in front of me and took my hands in his.

"I want you to listen to me. Showing your love and affection for me is not the "wrong kind of attention". I love seeing how much you love me written all over your face," he said with such a beautiful smile that I just had to kiss him so I did. When we ended the kiss that smile returned but I resisted the urge to kiss him again as I had to say something.

"I know you do and I love seeing it on you too, but if our relationship is gonna remain a secret, we have to keep things on the down low," I said and I hoped it didn't lead to an argument.

"Does this have anything to do with Hoyt?" He asked and even though he shocked me, I was impressed with my ability to remain neutral.

"What about him?" I asked and again I impressed myself with my cool demeanor.

"He's the guy who kissed you... the guy who's secret you don't want to tell," he said and I watched him very carefully to see if he as angry. I couldn't get a read on him though unlike his very obvious disapproval of me keeping the fact that Carter was gay from him.

"I-" was all I could say. I realized quickly enough that the way I wasn't answering him was instead an answer in itself.

"I thought so," he said confirming my thoughts.

"I know I'm probably being too paranoid, but I'm worried about what could happen to you on the field so I wanna try as long as we can to keep the truth about us under wraps, so to speak," I said and I was surprised when he smiled. I expected a little bit of push back.

"I get it, and I'll try to stop being so sexy so you can control yourself," he said before aiming a teasing smile at me. I rolled my eyes and gently shoved him. After he recovered from almost falling over he gripped my face and kissed me. There were still rare moments when I thought that it should be impossible that I was able to experience such a thing as Bear Davidson kissing me. This was one of those times.

"You're an amazing kisser," I let slip out after our kiss ended. I covered my mouth as a huge cheesy grin appeared on his face.

"You don't say," he said annoyingly.

"I didn't mean to say that," I said feeling strangely embarrassed.

"I know you didn't. You couldn't help it though because you were still under the influence of my kiss," I said and then stood up quickly. I guess he thought he needed distance from me before I retaliated.

"Whatever," I said not at all being convincing in my attempts to play it off.

"So anyway, I was thinking that this weekend, we'd go home," Bear said after a minute of silence which I used to finished getting dressed.

"Yeah, I guess," I said. It was actually a good opportunity for me to check and see if Zane had proposed to Nicole.

"I don't think you understood what I said," Bear said as he walked up and wrapped his arms around me from behind. "I meant that we'd go home this weekend, and not let our families know we're there, so we can be all alone," he said in a deep baritone before pulling me closer to him.

"How would they not know?" I asked as I tried to get even closer to him. It was impossible but I still tried.

"Well, my parents and Steph are going to visit my dad's parents this weekend and I thought we'd spend the weekend at my parent's place," he said really close to my ear which made his words wash all over me in a very good way.

"I'm down," I said kind of breathlessly. He chuckled before kissing me behind my ear in the spot that I loved.

"And don't worry about my jackass brother. I called Jerry and got him to make sure Brian was preoccupied so he wouldn't get the annoying urge to come home," he said which definitely was a good thing to hear. Brian had a knack for showing up and ruining a good time with Bear so knowing he wouldn't be doing so this weekend had me ready to get home immediately.

"I'll be ready in a few minutes," I said quickly and he chuckled again.

"We've got time," he said sounding very amused at how turned on I was. "Be ready in an hour," he said in a husky baritone near my ear again and lightly smacked my ass cheeks before stepping away from me and winking at me before he left my room.

I rushed to throw some clothes in a duffel bag as fast as I could until I realized that I'd put seven pairs of pants and no shirts in the bag. I started over again and had a couple changes of clothes and all of my essentials. Then I went and took another very thorough shower and was ready in 40 minutes. If only I could have been gone by then.

"I keep forgetting that you're here," Drake said as he walked into the room with a sour look on his face.

"Well, cheer up douchebag. I'm gonna be gone for the next two days in about 20 minutes," I said which didn't seem to appease him though.

"Why don't you move over there in the dorm with Bear?" Drake asked with a cocky smirk on his face.

"Don't be dumb. You know why," I said before looking at my phone and willing Bear to hurry up.

"How long do you two think you can keep this whole... thing of yours a secret?" He asked with a sneer.

"As long as we can," I said coolly. I think he expected to get under my skin but I was determined that he wouldn't.

"Did you forget that there's a video out there of your proposing to Bear?" He asked and I would be worried about that if I hadn't already concocted a very simple explanation for it.

"If anybody sees it and asks about it, we'll just tell them that it was a joke," I said but that seemed to make him happy for some reason.

"That is a good idea. Maybe it'd work too if not for the fact that Bear wears that ring to this day," he said with a smug smile. He had a point though and that annoyed me.

"We can just say that he already had it and that's what we used as a joke," I said slowly losing faith in my plan.

"And what would someone find engraved on that ring if they asked Bear to see it?" Drake asked and that had me stumped, especially since he wasn't supposed to know that it was engraved.

"How do you know it's engraved?" I asked instead of answering his question.

"I didn't until just now. I just made a guess," he said while looking even more smug if that was even possible.

"Look, don't worry about me and Bear. Concentrate on your own life," I said while trying to keep my emotions under wraps.

"Oh, I'm not worried. I'll just wait until this whole thing blows up in your face and this time, I won't have had anything to do with it," he said, leaning in uncomfortably close to my face before saying the last part.

"Go to hell," I said through gritted teeth which only seemed to delight him as I guess he figured that meant he'd gotten to me. There was a knock on the door that couldn't come soon enough. I opened the door to see Bear standing there leaning on the door jamb looking all hot and everything and I quickly forgot about Drake's bullshit.

"You ready?" He asked in a deep sexy baritone that had me raising my eyebrows and a smile instantly on my face.

"You know, you could have just texted me to meet you at your truck," I said, but it was impossible to hide the smile that he inspired.

"I know," he said while smiling sexily at me.

"See, that's why you two will never be able to hide this... thing," Drake said, saying it with distaste in his tone and a sneer on his face.

"Say what now jackass?" Bear said as the seductive look on his face vanished, replaced with a scowl as he stalked toward Drake.

"I was just telling your girlfriend over there that you might as well prance out of the closet because you two will never be able to keep your little `relationship' a secret with how disgusting you two are around each other," he said while trying to not look intimidated by Bear looming over him.

"You seem to be under the impression that because we used to be friends that I won't kill your ass. Don't think that. My father can attest to when it comes to Trey, I'm very capable, so keep flapping your damned lips and see what happens," Bear said in as threatening a tone as I'd heard in a while.

He then picked up my bag off my bed without missing a beat and stalked toward the door. He paused and shot me a sly wink before heading out of my room. I walked over and picked up my cell phone off my bed and noticed that Drake looked deep in thought and slightly worried. I simply walked over to the door, shot him a smirk and a wink and walked out of the door.

"So, what's the game plan?" I asked as we neared home. He looked pleased with the sports term I'd used.

"Dinner, alone time, lots of sex," he said with a sexy grin.

"Ah, the championship playbook," I said and we both laughed at my bad joke.

"So, you wanna eat out or order in?" He asked while slowing down as we entered the city limits.

"I can cook," I said, because I kind of wanted to cook this recipe that I'd found on the internet.

"Cool," he said with a sly smile before heading toward the recently built Whole Foods store. I briefly wondered if I'd been conned but decided to let it go as I definitely didn't mind cooking for Bear.

He pulled into the parking lot and we hopped out of the truck and headed into the store. The store had been built while I'd been away at school during my freshman year and I hadn't had the chance to shop there yet. It was just as fancy as I'd expected it to be, and just as expensive as I walked around and looked at several things.

"Go wild," Bear said as he handed me a credit card and winked at me.

"What's this?" I asked as I held it up like I'd never seen a credit card before.

"It's a credit card," he said like it was obvious.

"I have money, you know," I said although I wasn't sure why I felt so defensive about this.

"I know," he said before taking my hand in his. "You cook, I pay," he said with a disarming smile before sliding the card into my hand. I wanted to object but the look in his eyes said that I wouldn't get far so I just took the card and shook my head at his triumphant smile.

I walked around and got everything I wanted to make the chicken parmesan lasagna, a green salad that became much more than a green salad once Bear got through adding things to the cart, and a pie that cost way too much. He was laughing at me every time my eyes bugged out at the prices and I decided that I'd get him for it later.

We went to the cash register and I did a double take at the over $200 total. I didn't move but I did notice the cashier giggle when Bear lifted my hand and helped me swipe the card that I still have a hold of. When she handed me the receipt I quickly shoved it and the card into Bear's hand which seemed to also amuse him.

I walked off and left Bear to get the bags and follow me. When we got in the truck, I stood there quiet and mad, although I wasn't sure why I was mad. If Bear didn't care about spending over $200 on one trip to get food for two days then who was I to care. I guess he realized when I'd made this realization because after I did he reached over, took my hand and placed it on his thigh where he liked to have it before starting up the truck and heading to his house.

Once we pulled up to his house, we both got out of the truck and while Bear was getting the groceries and our dufflel bags, I made sure to look around the outside of the house just to make sure Brian wasn't there. It's not that I didn't believe that Jerry would keep him preoccupied but I wasn't in a mood to deal with him so I was a little paranoid.

"Brian isn't lurking around out here waiting to spring out and ruin our weekend," Bear said with an amused smile yet again at my expense. I decided to get back at him though.

"I was just checking to make sure there were no witnesses," I said and made sure to shoot an ominous smile in his direction before heading toward the door.

"Witnesses to what?" He asked as he stopped in place.

"Don't worry about it," I said not turning around.

"If you kill me, my ghost will haunt you forever," he said kind of jokingly.

"It's a good thing that I don't believe in ghosts then," I said as I turned around to see him standing right behind me. He was watching me intently like he was trying to see if I was being serious.

I didn't give him anything though. I just reached into his pants pocket and pulled out the keys to unlock the door. He smiled at my hand's proximity to a certain something and I guess he completely forgot to question if I was planning on killing him. I had to make sure not to let him off the hook so easily.

We got the bags into the house and I took the groceries and headed toward the kitchen while Bear took our bags upstairs. I washed up and got to work making our dinner. About 10 minutes after I started Bear entered the kitchen dressed in only a pair of black boxer briefs and a pair of matching socks. I almost dropped the knife I was using to slice the chicken breast in half on my foot.

I glared at him as he laughed at my reaction to him. As I got the lasagna ready, Bear teased me by striking sexy poses and doing other sexy stuff. By the time I got the lasagna in the oven I was rock hard and very distracted.

I shoved Bear up against the wall and latched onto his neck which elicited a shocked yelp then a deep moan from him. Satisfied I'd sufficiently surprised him, I dropped to my knees and wrapped my fingers around Bear's now raging boner and teased it for a bit before taking it down to the root. My mouth and throat were stretched and the long moan from Bear was very exciting.

I wasted no time in driving Bear insane and after only a few minutes he was blowing his load down my throat. I was thoroughly satisfied in my ability to make the man who was formally known for his endurance come unglued very quickly. I wasn't worried about his endurance though because Bear was a stud at heart.

Once I was finished I gave him a gloating smile and started back to the counter to continue making dinner but that was not to be. Bear decided that he'd repay me for the gift I'd just given him and reciprocated in kind. I was always surprised at Bear's talent for setting me on fire, especially since he had no experience with guys beforehand. Then again I didn't either so I guess we were just naturally gifted, or biased.

After I recovered and Bear stripped me of all my clothes until I matched him, I washed up again and went back to fixing dinner. Every time I glanced at him he had this easy contented smile on his face as he watched me. It made me feel like this was what our lives were meant to be, us being together and loving each other. I felt truly happy and content in that moment.

Once I'd gotten the food done, Bear set the table and we sat down to a nice easy meal together. We talked about a lot of stuff and I found that there was no sexual tension between us. I actually liked this as I didn't want our relationship to be one sexual encounter after another with no talking in between. While I was happy that we were a couple, I still wanted some part of our relationship before we got together be intact.

After dinner was finished, we both cleaned up the kitchen and put the leftovers away before Bear grabbed my hand and ran for the stairs dragging me along with him. We got to Bear's room and he finished stripping us of our clothes before leading me to the bathroom and into a steamy shower, in more ways than one.

After getting clean, then dirty and then clean again, we went to Bear's bedroom. He put on some soft music and pulled me to him and we actually slow danced. I was frequently being surprised by how romantic he could be.

The rest of the night was filled with kissing, groping and multiple blowjobs. By 3 am, we were both worn out and drifting off to sleep. The last thing I saw before I closed my eyes was Bear softly snoring with a smile on his face which in turn had one on my face as well.

I woke up to an empty bed but it didn't take me long to locate Bear walking into the room with a serving tray that held bacon, scrambled eggs, toast, coffee, and orange juice. He looked proud of his accomplishment of fetching breakfast for me which made me smile and snicker at him.

"Breakfast is served," he said triumphantly before setting the tray down on the bed. I just rolled my eyes at him and grabbed the cup of coffee. I took a sip and it was just how I liked it. I looked over at Bear who had sat down and already dived in on his breakfast but all he did was wink at me before returning to stuffing his face. I joined him because I was hungry too.

"So, what's up for today?" I asked after a few minutes of us eating in a comfortable silence.

"Well, since our friends aren't home, I thought we'd pay your parents a visit," he said which sort of surprised me. I guess it shouldn't have though as Bear had always seemed to like being at my house more than his own. I found that strange as his family's house was huge and mine while not small by any means was much smaller.

"What happened to nobody knowing that we were here?" I asked even though I should have figured that it wouldn't happen.

"I lied," he said simply with a shrug before downing half his orange juice.

"It's fine, I guess. I need to check and see if my sisters have cloned Calvin or my parents yet anyway," I said and Bear chuckled.

"I think cloning Calvin would probably qualify as a crime against humanity," Bear joked and I laughed as I kind of agreed.

"I know right," I said before Bear tackled me and held my wrists above my head in a strong grip that I didn't mind. It made me think of something we could try later.

"You are so irresistible. You are on my mind all the time and I don't want that to ever end," he said as he looked deep into my eyes and somehow stirred up some new feelings that I'd never experienced before. I couldn't describe it but I wanted this new feeling to last forever.

"I love you so much Bear," I said before I knew it. It was so spontaneous that it shocked me. I meant it though and seeing how happy he looked to hear it every time I said it made me want to get it tattooed on me.

"I love you too," he said before leaning down to give me a deep kiss. "Now, let's hop to it," he said after pulling back from our kiss. I hopped out of the bed and helped him take the used dishes down to the kitchen and clean up where he had messed up.

We then went back up to his room to get ready to leave. We decided on separate showers to save time and while he was in the shower I took the chance to make his bed and straighten up his room. When he came back into his room and saw it was basically the way he'd found it, he shook his head with a smile at my bout of neatness.

I had a thought and asked him where Juanita was for the weekend and he said that she had the weekend off. I shrugged and headed to take my own shower. It went much faster without Bear being in there but that wasn't necessarily a good thing in my opinion.

Once we were dressed, Bear checked the house like he always did to make sure all windows and doors were locked. There wasn't a reason to as we only used the front door, but I guess he had a process. Once he was done he set the alarm and we left the house. We hopped into Bear's truck and we were off to my family's house.

When we pulled up to the house I saw that there was a car in front of the house that I'd never seen before. Curious, I wasted no time getting out of the truck and walked to the front door. I could hear Bear snickering behind me as he reached the door. I just gave him a shot to the ribs before I unlocked the door and walked in.

"I see you two finally made it over here," I heard as we rounded the corner into the living room.

"Hey Jess. What are you doing here?" I asked as I saw the source of the asked question.

"What? I can't be here to see you?" She asked defensively.

"No you can't seeing as how I wasn't even here," I said and I heard someone snort behind me and it wasn't Bear as he was next to me. I turned and saw that it was my mother giving me a weird look. She was smiling though so I didn't think too much on it.

"Hey Mama," I said before I pulled her into a hug which she returned twofold.

"Hey sweetie," she said before giving me a kiss on the cheek after we stepped away from the hug.

"So baby girl, you never told us what you're doing over here," Bear said bringing my attention back to my original question.

"Well if you two must know, it's finally happening," she said starting off looking sane enough before morphing into what I imagine a crazed serial killer looks like.

"Stop looking like that, and what finally happening?" I asked her as I took a step back just in case she'd went crazy or something.

"Your mother is teaching me how to cook like her," she said sounding like Beyoncé or Rihanna was teaching her how to cook or something.

"I wish she wouldn't act so happy about it though. It's not like I'm Emeril Lagasse or something," Mama said trying to play off Jessica's almost crazed enthusiasm.

"Oh please. That hack can't hold a candle to you," Jessica said with a wave of the hand.

"Oh hush girl," Mama said, but she was obviously eating up Jessica's adoration of her.

"Chill Jess. You don't wanna give her a big head. It's already hard enough to live with her," I joked but the look my mother gave me let me know she was about to roast me.

"Well then child, it's a good thing you don't live here anymore," she said with a smirk and told Jessica to follow before turning and walking away.

"Ouch. Burned by your own mother," Jessica said not sounding sorry at all before following my mother.

"Are you okay?" Bear asked but I didn't know why he was asking.

"Yeah, why?" I asked.

"I was just concerned, because of that burn," he said before busting out laughing. I just rolled my eyes and left him standing there laughing at something that I didn't think was funny.

Bear followed after a minute and we watched as Mama instructed Jess in some of the techniques she used. Calvin came in after about 10 minutes and after watching himself for a few minutes asked Jessica why she didn't just have Mama teach her how to be a cook and save her parents from paying for her to go to culinary school. I'd had the same thought so I waited to see if she would answer it.

She didn't though. All she did was wave us off before going back to looking at my mother chopping some vegetables. She was looking at everything my mother did like she was star-struck fan or something. It was funny at first but it began to border on creepy.

Mama made some kind of French dish that was difficult to pronounce, even for me. Then she had Jessica try and replicate it and I guess culinary school was doing it's job because she didn't do a bad job of doing so. We decided to eat Mama's dish for lunch while Jessica wanted her family to taste hers and she left after thanking my mother way too many times. After she left we headed to the dinig room to chow down. We got a welcome visitor near the end of the meal.

"Hey people," Zane said as he strutted into the dining room with Nicole bringing up the rear. I looked them both over carefully to see if there was any sign he'd popped the question. I couldn't see Nicole's hands so I couldn't verify it that way.

"Hey you two," Mama said. Everyone else gave their greeting as well.

"So um, I've got something to say," Zane said and I knew then that he'd done it. I glanced at Calvin and he looked like he was trying to keep his face neutral so I did too.

"Okay... We're listening," Dad said looking extremely curious.

"Well," Zane said with a sly smirk dragging the whole thing out for effect.

"Well what?" Mama asked obviously curious as well. Zane took Nicole's hand in his and she walked up to stand next to him. I saw Mama realize what he was probably gonna say before he opened his mouth.

"I asked Nicole to marry me, and she said yes," he said finishing excitedly. Mama let out a high pitched squeal that I don't think I'd ever heard from her.

"That's great son," Dad said looking proud as he walked over and hugged Zane.

"Move back Evan," Mama said as she pushed Dad aside to get to Zane and Nicole and pulled them both into a hug. Dad hugged her too after Mama was done.

"It's a bit premature, but welcome to the family," Dad said and I don't know why, but what he said kind of irked me.

"Thank you Mr. Healey, Mrs. Healey," Nicole said.

"Uh uh. No more of that. We're Mom and Dad now," Mama said as she hugged Nicole again. That really irked me and I knew why when I glanced at Bear and he had this weird look in his face as he looked at my parents. They were going on and on about Nicole and it pissed me off because they never did that for Bear, and they had known him for almost all of his life.

They all continued to carry on over the engagement with Mama already planning the wedding and it pissed me off the whole time as Bear was unusually quiet and I could tell that he was feeling some type of way about all this. I know that I should have been happy for my brother and my future sister-in-law, especially since I'd been eagerly anticipating hearing if Nicole would accept but I was feeling slighted on Bear's behalf.

"You okay?" I asked him as I took his hand in mine.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said with a smile that I could tell he wasn't really feeling. He gave me a peck on the cheek before excusing himself to go to the bathroom.

I glared at my mother who was talking to my dad, Zane, and Nicole while texting with Nicole's mother, who they had apparently told first, and I needed to excuse myself as well so I went to the kitchen to grab myself a glass of water. I took the time while I was in there to try and reason with myself to put my feelings aside and concentrate on my brother and for once to not make the moment about me and I was almost successful. Then my mother had to come into the kitchen.

"Hey sweetie," she said as she went to the fridge and got a pie, that I guess she had made the night before as it hadn't been cut yet, and some saucers and forks and the pie server.

"Hey," I said trying to sound as neutral as I could so my irritation with her wouldn't seep into my voice.

"Isn't it great that your brother is getting married? I can't wait to plan the wedding," she said and again I tried to reign in my feelings.

"Yeah, it's great," I said again remaining neutral.

"What's wrong with you?" She asked and I guess I should have known she would figure me out.

"Nothing," I said and it was obvious it wasn't nothing.

"I know something's wrong. I figured you'd be happy for your brother and your soon to be sister-in-law," she said and that was the final straw.

"Where was all this excitement when you found out that Bear and I were engaged?" I asked no longer being neutral.

"What are you talking about?" She asked and the fact that I could tell that she was stalling pissed me off even more.

"When you heard about Bear and me, I got a lecture, but Zane and Nicole get a big hoopla," I said. I could see her formulating a response and that hurt for some reason.

"That was different. You and Bear were teenagers in high school. Zane and Nicole are adults with jobs," she said and she had a point. I had one too though.

"Bear and I had no intention to get married then, but that didn't matter to you. Even when I told you this you didn't make a big deal about it like you just did in there," I said and I could see her working over what to say before her expression changed and I knew I wasn't gonna like what she said next.

"Trey..." she said in a kind of desperate tone, like she wished I'd just leave it alone. I thought about doing just that, but that wasn't me. I was a glutton for punishment after all.

"Trey what?" I asked and she was silent for a few seconds before she spoke.

"Trey, I'm just being realistic," she said and I took a breath before speaking to calm myself.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked and I guess I didn't breathe deep enough.

"Trey, you must know a lot can happen between now and when you graduate from college," she said and I'm sure she thought that was supposed to calm me. It didn't.

"The same can be said for Zane and Nicole about whenever their wedding day is," I said through gritted teeth.

"Trey, it's still a long ways off and you need to be realistic about how this can end up. You and Bear aren't exactly a normal couple," she said and I think she knew she's said too much from the look on her face.

"So, you're saying that you can be happy for Zane and Nicole because they're straight so of course they will make it to their wedding day and get married, but because Bear and I are gay, it's stupid of me to expect that he'll still want to marry me 2 ½ years from now so there's no reason for you to even acknowledge the fact that we're engaged?" I said. I didn't notice that my voice had been rising as my tirade went on until I heard movement off to my left and I looked over and saw we had an audience.

"What's going on in here?" Dad asked as he walked over and stood next to Mama.

"It's nothing," she said trying to dismiss my feelings. That definitely pissed me off more.

"No it's not nothing. I was just listening to your wife tell me what she really thinks about my relationship with Bear," I said getting loud again.

"Boy, don't stand there and put words in my mouth," she had the nerve to say.

"No I heard you loud and clear. To you, my relationship with Bear is just a fling, something to be looked over because it won't last long because everybody knows that two men can't possibly have a serious relationship. No, only the straights should be taken seriously," I said not caring that I was basically shouting at my mother.

"Trey, she obviously didn't mean it like that," Dad said trying to defend her.

"Don't bother Evan. Trey obviously knows better than me what I feel so that's that," she said matching my attitude. I guess I'd gotten it from somewhere.

"Don't do that," I said a tad bit calmer.

"Don't do what?" She asked like she didn't know.

"Don't try to belittle me like what I'm feeling doesn't matter. You went on and on in there about Zane and Nicole's wedding and telling Nicole to call you mother now. You've known Bear for almost all his life yet you didn't say anything like that when you found out about us. I guess I should have listened to Taylor when he said that you didn't like me and Bear being together," I said and I know it was a low blow, but I didn't care.

"Now you wait just a minute," she said with a finger pointed at me.

"No, you wait a minute," I said pointing a finger right back at her.

"Alright, that's enough. Trey, you need to leave and cool off before you say the wrong thing," Dad said and I just had to look at him because, was he serious?

"Before he says the wrong thing? I think it's too late for that," Mama said but Dad held his hand up to silence her. She looked at him in a similar way to the way I'd done. I just looked back and forth between the two of them before I said fine and left the kitchen.

I was wondering where Bear was because he was gone a long time. I went in search of him and I didn't find him anywhere downstairs. I went to look in the bathroom and didn't see him there either. I finally went to my room and saw him siting my bed with a guilty look on his face.

"Why did you do that?" He asked after I'd closed the door.

"Do what?" I asked even though I kind of knew what he meant. There was almost no way he didn't hear any of that.

"Get into a fight with your mom," he said.

"Bear, I saw the look on your face. It pissed me off that she was going on and on about Nicole when she never made any fuss whatsoever about you," I said and the guilty look deepened.

"I thought I'd hid it. That's why I left the room," he said. I couldn't stand him blaming himself so I had to go over to him. I took his hands in mine and gave him a quick kiss.

"It's not your fault. It's hers," I said but he didn't look convinced. I was about to continue reassuring him but a knock on the door stopped me. I told whoever it was to come in as I was sure it was my dad. It was Zane and Calvin though, who closed the door behind them. I don't know why, but I had a brief flash to another time they'd both showed up in my room after a blow-up. Bear lightly squeezed my hands though and looking at him helped me shake that nightmare of long ago.

"What was that?" Zane asked after a minute.

"I'm sorry for how it sounded but not for saying it. I'm happy for you and Nicole, but I wasn't happy with Mama fawning all over you two and yet she barely acknowledges the fact that Bear and I are engaged. She told Nicole to call her "Mom" yet I never heard her say anything like that to Bear. All we got was a lecture," I said making sure I didn't go at Zane the same way I'd done our mother. He didn't deserve that.

"Come on man. You know that Ma is happy for you," Calvin said instinctively trying to defend her. I understood the feeling and would feel it any other time than at the moment.

"Calvin, she said I need to be "realistic" about my relationship with Bear. Translation, we're two guys so expecting to be together that long is unrealistic so there's no reason for her to make a fuss about our engagement," I said not really feeling anger anymore. It was being replaced by hurt.

They both tried to reassure me that I was being silly and convince me that I'd been wrong to go at Mama like I'd done. I was starting to think that maybe they were right, at least a little bit. We didn't resolve anything as I stayed holed up in my room until evening. Bear decided that he was going home around 9. I know he expected me to stay and patch things up with my mother but I wasn't feeling it at the moment.

I told my dad that I was going to stay with Bear for the night and maybe talk to Mama in the morning. I had no intention to do that though but that seemed to placate him so he gave me a pat on the back and told me he'd see me in the morning.

The drive to Bear's house was silent but he did gesture for me to move over toward him which I did and laid my head on his shoulder. He seemed to relax when I did this and a small smile crept onto my face. When we got to his house he warmed up some of the leftovers from our dinner the previous night and we ate mostly in silence.

Afterwards, we cleaned up and took a shower before going to bed. As I laid my head on his chest, my anger at my mother which had started to subside with guilt rolling in to replace it flared up again. How could she believe that it was unrealistic for me to feel what Bear and I had wasn't going to last. As I laid there, I couldn't help but feel the connection that in some way I'd always felt with Bear and for her to not be able to see that really pissed me off.

"Stop thinking about today and go to sleep. We'll deal with it tomorrow," Bear said as his arm around me tightened a bit. I decided to take his advice and raised my head to give him a kiss before drifting off to sleep.

"What is it?" I asked as I was jolted to consciousness. After looking around I could see that it was daylight.

"The doorbell," Bear said. I looked over and saw him raised up on his arms staring at his door with a frown on his face. The doorbell must have awakened him too.

"What time is it?" I asked as I moved to get out of bed.

"8:12," he said as he followed me getting out of bed. I dug into my bag and pulled out some sweat pants and a t-shirt while Bear looked in his closet and threw on the same.

"Damn, I should have known that Jerry wouldn't be able to keep your brother busy," I said as I started looking for more clothes to put on for some reason.

"Don't be silly. My brother has a key. He wouldn't need to ring the bell. It's probably Jess," he said and that made sense as I'm sure Nicole had probably told her about the fight as they talked a lot. It reminded me that I needed to talk to her to let her know that I wasn't mad with her.

"Oh, right," I said and at that moment my phone chimed with a notification that I had received a text. I picked up my phone and looked and saw that it was from my mother. I almost ignored it but them I looked and it said to come to the door and let her in.

"What?" Bear said likely picking up something from the look on my face.

"It's my mother at the door," I said. He looked at me for a few moment likely expecting me to move. When I didn't he let out an exasperated breath, grabbed my wrist before dragging me out of the room and down the stairs. He pulled me over to the sofa and gently pushed me down before heading to the door. After about a minute my mother entered the living room but stopped just inside the door.

"Hello Trey," she said way too formally to be talking to her son.

"Hello Mother," I said just as stiffly.

"Boy stop it and let's talk," she said dropping the formalities.

"Why? You already said what you had to say," I said being stubborn.

"No, you heard what you wanted to hear," she said after walking over and standing in front of me. I stood up after that.

"Do you think I wanted to hear my mother basically say that my relationship wasn't as important as my brother's relationship is simply because I'm in mine with another guy?" I asked getting agitated again. This already wasn't going well.

"That's not what I said," she said getting defensive.

"Oh, that's right. You said I wasn't being "realistic" about things. Is that right?" I said and she took a deep breath likely to calm herself. I didn't care at the moment.

"Trey, what I meant was that in any relationship, you need to be realistic, but especially in a homosexual one since there's much more going against you than there would be a straight couple. You are just living in La La Land believing your love was fated by the stars or something but that's simply not the case sweetie," she said and while some of it made sense, I wasn't gonna budge on my anger.

"All I know is that I've known Bear almost all my life. I've always felt a connection with him and I just thought you would recognize that. When you found out about our engagement, you lectured me. Even after I told you that we weren't even thinking about marriage until we were finished with college, you still didn't congratulate us."

"Then Zane and Nicole come home and say they're getting married and you jump for joy and fawn all over them and the man I love saw that and I know that he felt that you didn't care about him and our relationship like you did Zane and Nicole's. He has always felt like you and Dad were his second parents but you never made a fuss over him like you did yesterday with Nicole. I had to watch him, seeing that and I felt how it affected him. That's why I'm pi- mad with you," I finished. She still had raised eyebrows over my almost saying I was pissed off at her before he expression softened.

"Trey sweetie, I never want you to believe that I don't think you and Bear love each other. I just want you to realize that not that many high school romances end in long happy marriages," she said and after running over what she'd said in my head again I guess she had a point. There aren't a lot of high school sweethearts that end up married for 60+ years. Add to that the fact that Bear and I were two guys and that Bear was supposedly straight before we got together and it's not hard to have doubt in the longevity of our relationship.

"You're right," I said as I dropped down on the couch.

"No Trey, I don't want you doing that," she said as she sat down next to me and grasped my hands.

"Doing what?" I asked and I didn't like the sullen tone of my voice.

"Thinking that you and Bear can't have a long happy marriage. If you two love each other like you just got through telling me and you put the work in then you should be able to prove me wrong," she said and I had to laugh at the irony of this situation.

"Somehow we switched positions on this whole thing," I said and we both chuckled a bit.

"I guess so," she said with a smile. Her smile somehow always seemed to make me feel better, but I guess that was the same with a lot of mothers and their kids.

"I'm sorry I came at you like that. It was disrespectful and I know better," I said while she gave a small nod.

"Yes you do, but maybe this was for the best. I think we need to talk about things that haven't been said between the two of us," she said and I initially looked worried before she leaned over and kissed my forehead.

"Everything okay in here?" Bear asked as he stuck his head in the room.

"Yeah, we're good," Mama said before standing up. I stood as well.

"Good cause breakfast is ready," Bear said as he stepped fully into the entryway of the living room. I tried not to laugh at him with his mother's pink floral apron hanging from his neck. There was no way the string was gonna be tied around his big frame.

"Don't mind if I do," Mama said as she headed for the kitchen. "Thanks, son," she said before she gently pulled him down to her by his collar and gave him a kiss on the forehead as well. The smile that appeared on his face was big enough to make me jealous but I tried to hide it.

We talked over breakfast and maybe I should have not opened this can of worms because Mama started grilling Bear and me over what we wanted at our wedding. I thought she was just making conversation at first until she took out her phone and started jotting stuff down. After about two hours I was starting to regret even starting this whole thing and dreading whenever her and April got involved in this together. I smartly reminded her of the wedding that I was sure to come much sooner than mine and Bear's would and that got her up and moving.

She kissed both of us on the cheek before leaving. Bear and I enjoyed the time we had left at his house before we got packed up and got ready to go. While he checked on the house I called Nicole and congratulated her on her engagement and apologized for making the day about me. I told her to call if she needed anything and after she said she would, we ended the call.

Bear set the alarm, and we headed out the door and hopped in his truck to go back to school. I was kind of sad about that, especially since Drake awaited me there, but I just had to remember all the good things I had and all the other stuff wouldn't be able to affect me. I especially had Bear and I had faith in our relationship. It would endure, I was sure of it.

To be continued.....

Author's Note:

Good news everyone... We're back for another installment in the Chronicles of Trey.

In this chapter, Trey hangs out with Bear's friends and Trey struggles with how to interact with Bear around his teammates and still keep their secret. An exchange between Trey and Drake leaves Trey in the back of his head worrying about when the secret will come out. Oh yeah, Drake is a putz.

Also, Zane announces to his brothers that he's planning on proposing to Nicole and surprisingy, Calvin is the one to give him pointers on how to do it.

After announcing to his family that he did indeed propose to Nicole and she said yes, the family, especially their parents gush over them. This leads to a blow-up between Trey and nis mother over her happy enthusiasm over Zane and Nicole, but giving him and Bear nothing like that.

After having another talk though, they are able to patch things up and finally talk about things they hadn't talked about before.

With all of this talked over, Trey is sure of his relationship with Bear and is now just trying to work up the courage to not care what Bear's teammates think about them. Will he be able to do so? How long will the secret of their relationship remain a secret?

Stay tuned.

Thank you to everyone who is hanging in there with me and I hope you enjoy this chapter and forgive me for the long delay. If you want to, you can email me any comments to thestoryguy9783@gmail.com.

Have a great day wherever you are and thanks again for reading my story.

Until Next Time... Nicky

Editor's Note:

Hello all and welcome to another chapter of Trey and Bear's lives. We only had a few big things happen in this installment. Zane and Nicole are engaged to be married, and Trey has a little fit about the way his mother had gushed over this and not his and Bear's engagement. But all gets settled the following day.

Trey plays some ball with Bear and his teammate's and does well at it. Also a little bit more of a confrontation with Hoyt and he seems to have put two and two together after seeing the tattoo and the way Bear is with Trey at times.

Like Drake said gotta wonder how long Trey and Bear can keep their relationship a secret, its gotta be coming soon or maybe I'm wrong and they keep it secret for a year or more. Anyway that's all I have for this chapter.

Make sure to let Nicky know what you think of his story at the email mentioned above, and let me know if I'm doing an okay job of editing. You can reach me at jd.kaster1987@gmail.com, and you everyone who has emailed me in the past and I never replyed I want to thank you for the kind word's and some that weren't so kind. I will try to reply back to emails when I get them.

JDK