Chapter 27: April 27th, 1992
Mark ducked down behind the metal frame of the bleachers.
Fuck this noise. The thought played on repeat in his head until he was sure the supervising coaches hadn’t seen him make his escape. He peeked out from the spaces underneath the metal seats. None of them had moved from where they stood at the opposite side of the field, none of them even looking in his direction.
Every Monday was the mile-run day. Or, as Mark called it, “Hell on Earth”. A little less than halfway through his run, he’d hide under the bleachers when he jogged close enough to sneak around without getting caught by anyone who gave a damn. How anyone had the patience for that sort of bullshit on a Monday morning he had no idea. And why did it have to count towards his grade for the class?! It was too tedious and too embarrassing in the moment for him to have any desire to participate. At least in front of other people.
Though if it were only Cesar watching him and cheering him on, maybe he would give it a chance for the sake of his health and feeling better about his body. He could make Mark do anything with the right persuasion.
But there were too many eyes that didn’t belong to the only important person in his world. There were too many people whose opinions he didn’t care to hear anymore. He would do what he always did every Monday morning: Wait until others started to file off the field after finishing their run, then jog out and around the far end of the field to finish his “last” lap. He never got caught—those coaches were never paying attention, preferring to chat with each other about what happened over the weekend instead—and nobody was about to rat on him for it. This wasn’t elementary school. Some people still had nasty shit to say about his appearance and it stung like hell, but until they did something to blow his cover he wasn’t going to stop sneaking off.
Cesar always noticed. He’d pass him a playful sideways glance each time he passed the bleachers, knowing that Mark was watching from the slats under the seats. This spot gave him the best view of Cesar. One where nobody else would notice him staring. They couldn’t see how he watched every detail of Cesar’s body as he ran. They didn’t see the way Mark stared at those tantalizing legs, or how he watched the sweat that drenched his hair and dripped down that perfect slightly-tanned skin, making all of him glisten in the sunlight. There was no missing that blinding smile of his that he wore all the time that brightened up every room and Mark’s eternally-sour mood. Even the way he moved was like a secret language for Mark’s eyes only, a way of flirting with him from a distance. Cesar may or may not have been doing it on purpose, but that didn’t make him any less exciting to watch. The privacy was a godsend. Not enough to whip his dick out and start rubbing one out on the spot, but enough to tuck away a very inconvenient boner.
Cesar didn’t always know about this, though. He always knew Mark would sneak away and hide to get out of running the full mile, and of course, never snitched. There was no snitching on his best friend. But before they confessed to each other he didn’t know that Mark would peep on him like this. It was a habit that started after Mark made the discovery about himself after jerking it to those pictures of half-nude male models and the initial realization and guilt of “oh no, I think I’m into men” and “oh no, Cesar’s hot”. Ever since Cesar found out what he was doing back there, he never let him live it down.
On his next lap, when he passed by again, Cesar shot another coy look in Mark’s direction, pushing a few wet strands of hair behind his ear as he ran in front of Mark’s hiding spot.
Again with the bedroom eyes! Knock that shit off, Ces, he thought inwardly, hoping the scowl on his face would be enough to get the message across. It’s hot, but if you keep doing that, someone’s going to notice.
Soon Cesar was on his last lap. It was about time for Mark to sneak out and pretend he’d been running the entire time. As long as the coaches weren’t looking, which they never were, he was home free. But not long after he scuttled out of hiding, just before he finished rounding the last turn around the track, he caught sight of Cesar hunching over, then sitting on the ground clutching his stomach. A few concerned female classmates gathered around him, and Mark moved in as quickly as he could without making it look like he cared too much. The one thing that could get him sprinting full speed was Cesar needing his help, but he couldn’t with all these people around. Anyone else could, but not the guy known for being prickly and aloof.
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
A few of the girls surrounding him tossed him nasty looks. He ignored them. When Cesar had the nerve to respond to him they glared at him harder, but backed off. “No, it’s just…I got this crazy stomachache out of nowhere. Give me a hand?”
They grabbed each other by the wrists and Mark hauled him back onto his feet. “Do you need me to walk you over to the bench?”
“Actually, I think… I think I need to go to the clinic. Can you get me there?”
With a curt nod, he went to wrap an arm around him to keep him standing. It took him a moment to decide where would be best to grab him without people thinking they were too close. His natural impulse was to hold him at the waist, but Mark knew that he might as well hold up a giant neon sign that said “FLAMING GAY! BASH AT WILL!” . Around the neck? No, that was still too much. He settled on Cesar’s upper back while lending a shoulder for support. There was still the deep paranoia that someone might suspect that there was something between them, but it was the best he could do. He couldn’t leave Cesar there on the ground, in pain, to preserve their reputation from the sorts of people who would make up shit to judge him for anyway. The small group that had gathered around him started to disperse. Some visibly disappointed, others angry.
Good. Mind your damn business. He’s not yours and never will be.
They cleared it with the coach, and they waved the boys away to go do whatever they needed to do. Two less people to be responsible for.
Getting farther away from them, Mark was still fuming. Those girls were so obsessive and weird about his boyfriend, and they didn’t like that he talked to some nobody who didn’t even have a pretty face or a nice body. At least a few of them had some stupid crush on Cesar. It was one of those things that made Mark wish they could be open about their relationship; some of these girls were real annoyances, and he wanted to see their hearts shatter into pieces when they learned that Cesar was only into men.
…Was that jealousy? Mark wasn’t sure. It wasn’t like they’d ever have a chance, so it’s not like he felt threatened by them. They were annoying, but that was it. And he didn’t have a problem with Cesar hanging out with the theater guys, despite the fact that he was willing to bet at least one or two were probably gay.
Then there was that guy who put his hands on Cesar right in front of him. He was still burning up over that. Who the fuck does he think he is?
Yeah, okay, there was a little bit of jealousy. But only a tiny bit! It was normal to get upset when people crossed a line, wasn’t it? And that guy, and those girls? They crossed the line right into Mark’s territory.
They rounded a corner around the building. Out of sight from everyone else, Cesar’s back straightened up and the pained look on his face eased. Mark didn’t have a chance to question it before he was grabbed by the arm. Cesar made a mad dash for the backdoor to the boys’ locker room, pulled Mark inside, and let the door slam shut behind them.
“Cesar, what the hell—”
Cesar held his hand up in front of him, cutting Mark off. “Wait. Hang on.”
He let go of Mark and quietly searched around the room, checking between each row of lockers before coming back. “Okay. It’s empty.”
“Again—What the hell?”
He slid up against Mark’s body, wrapping his arms around his waist. Fingers teased the edge of Mark’s shirt and gently stroked his back and waist. “I really needed to see you again. Alone.”
Mark swallowed hard. While he may have been just as eager to be with him, this was too much. It was tempting, too tempting, but anyone could walk in at any time and see them here. What he wouldn’t do to have some extra time alone with Cesar! But this was dangerous. He had to shut this down before it got out of control. He grabbed the older boy’s wrists and pried him away, putting a few inches of distance between them. “No. We can’t do this here. You know that.”
He smiled shyly. “I can’t wait.”
“Of course you can’t. You’re so needy.”
“Oh, I’m the needy one?” Cesar teased, leaning the side of his head against Mark’s shoulder. “Have you looked in a mirror recently? I know you’re watching me where nobody can see you tucking your dick between your legs. I’m needy?”
Mark scowled. Right, that whole “don’t argue with Cesar” thing he kept forgetting about. There was no arguing with him. Especially when he was right. Mark was hormonal and needy. He thought about Cesar all the time, every day. So much that he wondered if it was healthy, or if he was too obsessed. “Okay, whatever, fine, I do want to screw around with you. I’m just trying to have some self-control, I’ll have you know.”
“You? Control? There was no control in how you glared at those girls.”
Mark’s eyebrows shot up in shock. “Was it that obvious?”
“If looks could kill….”
“Damn,” was all Mark could say at first. His hands played with the soaked back of Cesar’s shirt. “But was I wrong?”
“You don’t look at Bryce that way.”
He shrugged. “I don’t give a shit about Bryce.”
“I think he might be gay,” said Cesar, twirling a stray strand of Mark’s hair around his finger, not caring about the sweat.
“He’s a theater kid. He probably is.”
“But you don’t get all jealous when I talk to him. We hang out all the time.”
“He doesn’t look at you like you’re food. Too busy staring at Kyle’s ass, I think.”
Cesar pulled his head away. Looking at Mark’s face, making sure he was serious. “What? Kyle? Really? Poor Bryce, I’m pretty sure Kyle’s straight.”
“You never noticed? Then how the fuck did you already know—alright, we’re getting off topic here,” he said, throwing his hands up in defeat. “Listen. You got me. But what if someone finds us?”
“I think we have twenty-five or thirty minutes before anyone comes back here,” he whispered, tucking his head back into Mark’s neck. Everything was so wet, but neither seemed to care. “But if they do, we’ll scatter and pretend we weren’t doing anything nasty.” He left a trail of gentle kisses across the warm skin of Mark’s neck, taking heavy breaths in and out, like he was taking hits of a drug he couldn’t live without.
There were no complaints from Mark as he settled his hands back on his body, but he couldn’t help but wonder what happened to the cornered animal that his boyfriend turned into the last time they got caught. Wasn’t he worried? Something changed. Even if Mark was too horny to care, he noticed something was different. “Only if you can stay quiet.”
“I’ll try,” he giggled. “Come on. I know how bad you want it.”
Thanks Captain Obvious, Mark thought to himself, but he was in too deep to say it out loud now. He did want it, and there was no stopping that train now. The arms around Cesar’s body tightened, making him squeak in surprise, and Mark snarled in his ear, “You have no fucking idea, Ces. If I could, I’d wreck you in front of everyone. I’d make them watch.”
Cesar shuddered and moaned. His body went limp in Mark’s arms, melted like candle wax. His knees buckled in from the force of the blood pumping to his groin. “You’d show them all who I belong to…”
“I’d never let anyone who looks at you like that anywhere near you. Ever.”
All the hairs on Cesar’s arms stand on end. Leave it to Cesar to flatter him. Never in his life did Mark think there was anyone out there so attracted to him that he could give them chills. The death grip loosened into a tight hug. Mark rested his chin on Cesar’s shoulder. “I love you so much, you little weirdo.”
“I love you too, Mark. I missed you.”
“Missed me? It hasn’t even been three hours since we split for first period.”
“So?”
“...I missed you too.” Why did they have to spend so much time away from each other? Mark wondered how they would ever handle going out and living a normal life with jobs and responsibilities keeping them apart all day. They’d come home to each other every night, which would be better than only having the weekend together, but they’d want more. And what about college? Cesar was graduating this year. His grades weren’t the best, but he might still look for a chance to go to college, and he might have to move away…
“Mark?”
He realized he’d spaced out and was still hugging Cesar. They were on a time limit here and had to get moving. “I hope you have lube then, because I’m not doing another dry quickie for as long as I live. You got ripped to shreds the last time.”
Cesar didn’t argue. Instead he pushed away from Mark and went and opened up his own locker, dug around through his bag, and pulled out a tiny travel-sized bottle of lube.
Mark grabbed him by the shoulders, ready to start shaking him. “Wh— Cesar, are you crazy? You brought that here? Why?!”
“Doesn’t hurt to be prepared. Expect the unexpected, right?”
His voice dropped to a harsh whisper. “Dude, you know if anyone finds a bottle of astroglide in your bag, you’re hardcore fucked, right? Even if they think you’re into girls, you’re suspended as hell. Explain that to your mom.”
“Baby, relax. I keep these buried at the bottom of my bag. Nobody’s going to find my lube, and we won’t get caught as long as we’re quick about this,” he said, but Mark was already twelve steps ahead of him. There was only so much of Cesar’s antics that he could handle before he would break, and he was long past that breaking point. He slammed him back, hard, against the lockers. The force of the impact made Cesar moan. The sound made Mark freeze, until those smoldering brown eyes reassured him that he liked being pushed around and roughed up like this. Cesar pulled him down, two hands full of Mark’s wet hair, and kissed him. Their bodies pressed and rubbed together, feeling each other through their thin gym shorts. Mark willingly gave up control of the tide of battle between their tongues, letting his boyfriend do what he wanted there, sighing into his mouth, while Mark’s fingers teased over the waistband of his shorts.
It turned into a mutual give-and-take; Cesar controlling their fervent kiss, while Mark pulled their pants down just enough to free their aching cocks and pressed them together in his hand, gently stroking them both. Precum quickly started to bead at the tips that Mark smeared down both shafts. All the while, Cesar was left gasping and whimpering into his mouth and pathetically trying to buck himself through Mark’s fist. It gave Mark the confidence to move his hand faster, though Cesar soon broke the kiss and tried to squirm away. Mark gave the smaller boy his space. Clothes started to come off. Watching Cesar strip made Mark want to do the same, and with all of their clothes off he picked up the tiny bottle of lube. But then he grabbed Mark by the hand and dragged him toward the communal shower area, a few steps away from where they abandoned their clothing.
“Whooaa, whoa, wait, what are we doing?”
“We’re both a little sweaty and smelly, right?” He winked and led him to a far corner of the room, a shower head above them, in a spot in such an awkward position that if someone walked in they would still have some time to separate and pretend they were only showering. Mark stared at his lean, toned body that cried out for his attention and touch every time he was blessed to see it. “Can’t go back to class like that.”
This was still a terrible idea. Depraved as hell. What if they got caught screwing around in public, at school of all places? Then what? They were fucked, figuratively and literally, and their lives were as good as over. Jokingly, Mark shook his head. “Damn it, Ces. Look what you’re making me do,” he huffed. The two stood there, drinking the sight of each other in like it was their first time all over again.
It turned out that Mark was not the only one turned on by the sight of a sweat-drenched body. He was about to pop open the bottle of lube when Cesar stepped in, closer, brushing his nose against Mark’s neck, taking the world’s longest drag of a breath in through his nose. Kissing him there on his neck again, trailing down to his collarbone, then grabbing his arm and leaving kisses along the length of his bicep in a poorly-veiled move to take in as much of his smell as he could. Mark nearly recoiled when he got a little too close to his shoulder. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what he was trying to do without him noticing.
Mark laughed and ran his hand through Cesar’s wet hair. “Oh, I’m the ball-sniffer, but you like smelling sweat?” It was big talk—he secretly liked how Cesar smelled, too. Not dirty or unpleasant; just a stronger version of his usual musk. But this… this was something else. “Straight up B.O., man? Pits? God. Don’t make fun of me for smelling your dick ever again. At least that’s normal.”
“Sniffing cock is normal to you? You’re warped,” he sighed out, quietly against the pale skin of his arm, rubbing his hands up and down Mark’s bare shoulders. “But I’d bet you’d love to smell mine right now, nasty boy. I wouldn’t mind. You look good on your knees.”
“Bet you look even better.”
He cocked his head and smiled. “Do I?” Cesar dropped to his knees and took Mark into his hand again, stroking him, inspecting him up close. He throbbed hard, and Cesar kissed the side of his shaft. “Big boy’s loving this, huh?” He tilted the length up and trailed his kisses down the underside until he got to Mark’s balls. Cesar dipped his face in, and it took Mark a moment to realize what he was doing. “Oh, fuuuuck,” he moaned, eyes hazy. “I get it now. I’ve seen the light.”
Bullshit, Mark thought. As much as Cesar liked getting on his case about it, he knew damn well that he’d done it before on the sly and was just as into it. There was so much playful teasing between the two of them and the hypocrisy didn’t matter. He’d be sure to rag on Cesar later for snorting his freshly cum-stained boxers. Two could play this game, and Mark was down to play. The play would have to wait for later, though. Right now Cesar was giving his cock the wettest, sloppiest kisses, even taking him into his mouth so far he started to cough and gag. He moaned around it, taking himself in his hand and violently jerking himself while Mark watched him from above.
As much as Mark wanted to see this, there wasn’t much time. He gave Cesar’s cheek a few gentle taps with his palm and motioned for him to stand. “Not trying to rain on your parade, but we gotta move this along.”
Cesar stood and forced a very fake frown. “But you got your chance to lead the foreplay. What about me?”
“I’ll make it up to you this weekend.”
“With what?”
“Whatever you want.”
“Anything?”
“Yeah. Anything.”
“...Really? Anything I want?”
This fucking guy. “Yes, dammit, anything!”
“Jeez, okay grumpy!” He covered his evil little smile with his hand. “You better keep that promise.” He stepped forward to get the water running, and immediately side-stepped out of the way of the cold water. Mark calmly stood in the soothing relief from the heat. Cesar was less amused and, fussy as always, hassled Mark to wait until the water warmed up. The fun would be over before it started if this took out Mark’s hard-on, and this little cretin would wring his neck if he didn’t get dicked down right now.
“Don’t I always?”
“Yeah. You do.” Cesar grabbed Mark’s hands, massaging his thumbs into them, dispersing the thin sheen of sweat left on them. “I’ve turned you into a troublemaker, haven’t I?”
“There’d be no trouble if you stopped making trouble,” he murmured affectionately. Mark uncapped the bottle. He was quick to lube himself up as much as he could without it dripping or washing off. It was such a small bottle, and if he wasn’t careful most of it could end up down the drain.
“Don’t be stingy,” said Cesar. It was like he knew what Mark was thinking, though it might have been a little obvious that he was trying to conserve; the stuff was expensive. “Got a whole pack of those at home. I stockpile them just in case.”
Mark smirked. “Just in case? In case of what?”
His smile widened. He shrugged.
He dropped the emptied bottle to the floor and whirled Cesar around to face away from him. “Uh huh. In case you seduce me at school?” He didn’t wait for an answer. The naughty glint in his eyes told him everything he needed to know: Cesar did expect, at some point, for things like this to start happening. What was Mark going to do about it? Punish him? Give him more of what he wanted? Cesar was dangerous, but who could stay mad at him?
But this could be a challenge. They’d had plenty of quickies before, but they’d always gone with the flow, everything done in the heat of the moment. Never with stakes so high. Now there was a time limit, and he had to get them both done when they had such different preferences. Cesar finished faster when they took a faster pace, but Mark got off quicker when they took it slow. He’d have to get creative and work fast at it.
As Cesar moved to press his chest against the wall in front of him, Mark stopped him and held him back, forcing his back against his chest. He turned them around so Mark could lean his back against the wall instead, an arm hugged around Cesar’s chest and the other hand anchored firmly at his hip. He pushed himself in quickly. The entire length sunk in effortlessly, catching both him and Cesar off guard as the boy in front of him let out a delighted squeal. The hand holding his hip shot up to his mouth.
“Keep it down. We need to be able to hear if someone comes in, and they can’t hear you making those sounds.”
The look in Cesar’s eyes warned him that he was asking the impossible. He’d have to quiet him down by force. He slid his fingers into his mouth, muffling most of his cries, though Cesar desperately suckled and slobbered on them through garbled moans. Mark immediately started bucking hard—Cesar’s favorite, fast and aggressive. For this to go the way Mark wanted, he needed to make him cum as fast as possible. There was no more time for buildup or to play around, and he was immediately bearing down hard on his prostate.
He let his hot breath fall on Cesar’s ear as he begged and moaned around Mark’s fingers. “This is what you get when you play hardball with me, babe.” A series of vicious thrusts made slapping sounds echo through the showers, tearing a strangled gurgling sound from his boyfriend’s stuffed mouth. “You think you can fuck my ass and spank me raw and get away with it? There’s consequences for that. Still got the handprints on my ass from last night, you nasty son of a bitch.”
Something that sounded like an oh, God made its way out from around Mark’s fingers. This whole roleplaying thing still felt damn weird, but it got his boyfriend excited enough that he was squeezing hard around his cock and shaking like a leaf in his hold. He loved him enough to bury the feelings of embarrassment if it meant pleasing him. With a sigh, he nuzzled his face into Cesar’s neck. He took a long, deep inhale of his smell before the water washed away the last traces of it. “Seriously. Do you have to spank me every time?”
There was the smallest hint of a giggle between the moans.
With Cesar leaning back, Mark figured he could move his other arm and instead use it to give that neglected, dripping cock some more loving strokes. More lewd sounds escaped from Cesar, making for a risky move when he decided he could take the fingers out of his mouth and use the slick saliva to play with his nipples.
Come on, come on… he’s gotta be close by now! I’m hitting him with everything I have!
Mark kept up the pace for as long as his stamina would let him, giving Cesar the full-force treatment, and it paid out in the end; a long, strangled moan and a series of tight squeezes told Mark that he was done for, and looking down he could see the strings of cum falling to the floor and spiraling into the drain. Mark quickly slid out of him while he calmed down, both panting heavily from the effort.
“Wait… Mark, you… you didn’t finish?”
He kissed the nape of his neck. “Do me a favor and press your thighs together for me.”
He did, and Mark pushed his dick in between Cesar’s legs. He could go at his own pace without overstimulating or frustrating Cesar, and he would be able to get himself off much faster. Those legs drove him crazy.
Each drag of his cock against that perfectly tanned skin that surrounded him on all sides left him breathless, every exhale hot and heavy against Cesar’s neck. Cesar was craning his neck back to look at Mark with those soft bedroom eyes of his, indulging in the look of pure bliss on his face. Fucking his legs shouldn’t feel this good, but God, Mark couldn’t help himself. He’d been wanting to do this to him for years, but could never find a good enough excuse to do it before now. That was probably stupid though, he realized. Cesar would let him do just about anything he wanted. Except for breathplay, of course. Never again.
He didn’t think fucking Cesar’s legs would bring him so close to cumming so fast, but fuck, it was better than he expected. Unlike the coarse hair on the rest of his legs, the hair on his thighs was soft and downy. Almost nonexistent, leaving his legs feeling silky smooth. Goddamn irresistible. He pulled Cesar into another kiss as he felt a shudder rip through his body and down his spine, making him spill out onto the floor of the shower. A few streams dripped down those perfect legs. What a crime it was that he didn’t have his camera with him for such a golden opportunity. He took a few deep, heaving breaths with his eyes closed. When he opened them again, that beaming smile was there to meet him again.
Mark held onto him, both relying on the other for support. He let out a deep exhale. “You’re insane.”
“But you went along with it.”
“Oh, stop. Gotta haul ass now, though. We’ll have to rinse off with a little soap and get the hell out.”
Cesar nodded, splashing some water to rinse the last bit of semen down the drain. No evidence, no crime, though Mark wished he had the time to sit and scrub the spot since the thought of anyone standing there after this made him shudder. Then again, who knows what else has happened in these showers? Dudes have probably pissed in there before. The thought didn’t gross him out any less, and suddenly his feet felt a lot less clean. They helped clean each other up, grabbed their towels, dashed back into the locker area, and threw on their regular clothes. There wasn’t much time left to grab their things and go. Mark rushed back to his locker and threw it open, grabbing his bag and an aerosol can of body spray. Two spritzes of it, and he heard Cesar gagging from the other side of the lockers.
“Fuck, dude, every time! Chill with that, you always stink up the whole locker room!”
“What do you mean ‘stink’? I wear this so I don’t stink!”
“You don’t need to wear the whole can!”
“You don’t need to wear the whole can,” Mark repeated back in a mocking tone. “Get a grip, it’s not that much.”
There was a long moment of silence, and for a second, Mark worried that he crossed a line and hurt his feelings.
“I prefer your natural smell.”
“Because you’re a pit-sniffing freak, Ces.”
“Not as much of a freak as the guy who chokes everyone out with that shit. Ball-sniffer. ”
Mark slammed his locker shut and grabbed his bag. He walked back to the other side where Cesar was gathering things from his locker. “You wear cologne, too. But I don’t complain about it because it’s nice cologne.”
“I don’t bathe in it.”
“How do you put it on then, genius? Show me.”
He rolled his eyes and grabbed the rather dainty bottle of cologne. He sprayed it, once, into his fingers, and dabbed it against each side of his neck.
Ha, gay, Mark considered saying to mock him, but held his tongue. Hypocrisy aside, he wanted to walk free without becoming a homicide victim. “Fine. I get it.” He wrapped his arm around Cesar’s waist and started to lead him towards the door, giving him one final kiss on his lips for good luck. One last kiss goodbye before they went back to the real world where they had to pretend to be something other than themselves. As soon as that door opened, they would have to rip themselves away from each other.
They peeked around the corner to make sure nobody was watching or coming in, and they bolted for the main hallway to their next classes.
“Same time next week?” Cesar asked, wearing a casual grin.
“Absolutely fucking not.”
He gave Mark a slap on the shoulder. “Fine then, be that way. Call me?”
“Yeah. Five-thirty?”
“You better.”
The bell rang, signaling the end of fifth period classes, and Cesar turned the corner and was out of sight before the crowds filed out into the hall.
