THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS, WA, Columbus Day Weekend 1991
“If you didn’t want to come, you should have said.” Mason finally spoke up. Parker had been restless ever since they’d arrived at the cabin.
“Oh, babe, no, it’s not that,” Parker said, kissing Mason before snuggling back into his chest.
Mason resumed stroking Parker’s hair, relieved everything between them was okay.
As soon as they’d arrived at the log cabin, the first thing Mason had done was light a fire in the stone fireplace in the main room, as well as a smaller one in the master bedroom. After they’d carried in the bags and supplies, the pair had crashed on the couch in front of the blazing fire.
“It’s my back. I took some hard hits today.”
Mason had watched from the bleachers as Parker had done his stuff, wowing the crowd of visiting Falcon fans as he tore apart the Jackson Raiders defense pretty much single-handed. Mason knew he was exaggerating, but he didn’t care. Parker had been awesome; he had scored a touchdown, gained 162 yards, and caught 7 passes. At the end they gave him the game ball. As soon as he had climbed stiffly into Mason’s Beretta he handed the ball to Mason.
“A couple of the hits were late.” Parker wriggled against Mason’s chest. “Those fucking refs were blind, or playing for the other team.”
It wasn’t like Parker to swear, especially when they were alone. “Want me to give you a back rub? I’ve got some massage oil around here somewhere.” Mason didn’t add that its usual purpose was as an aid to jerking off.
“Would you? I was gonna get one from the trainer after the game, but I knew you’d be waiting, and I didn’t want to delay us.” Parker had been given permission to leave the Jackson campus with Mason, rather than return on the team bus.
Mason sighed before gently pushing Parker from him and rising from the sofa. “You should have stayed. I feel terrible that you’ve been in pain all this time.”
“I’m tough.”
Mason leaned down and kissed the recumbent Parker on the lips. “But what few people realize is inside that macho stud super-jock exterior, you’re a real pussycat.”
Parker meowed.
As Mason rooted around in his bag for the massage oil, he marveled at how close he and Parker had become over the past week. He was no longer afraid of the big jock, but he still couldn’t get his head around the fact that they were boyfriends. When Parker had called him by that term the previous day, Mason had had to fight hard not to burst out crying.
“Okay, we best take this to the bedroom.”
Parker got stiffly to his feet and followed Mason down a short hallway. |