Escaping Perfect

Warren had never been so thankful for school in all his life. Between pushing himself to do well in the final assignments for his classes and hanging out with Jace and Sarah. The former was keeping him very occupied with enjoyable and non-embarrassing activities.

Somehow, Jace worked his magic and got Warren an interview with the coach. The meeting was initially set for Saturday, but once Warren faxed a copy of his transcripts and play records to Coach Vornier, the meeting had been moved up to Wednesday.

“Chill out,” Jace admonished half-heartedly. “You’ll do fine.” They were in the waiting room of the Texas Steer House, which was one of those family friendly themed restaurants with a particular Texan kitschy appeal.

Jace ran his hand over Warren’s shoulders, smoothing out the wrinkles in his suit. The gesture was very platonic and left no one, who was interested enough to look their way, with doubts pertaining to their relationship. “I’ll be waiting here.”

Warren nodded solemnly and approached the hostess booth. “Reservation for Brick.”

The hostess looked through her log before smiling up at Warren. “Your guest has already arrived.” She picked up an extra menu and set of silverware. “I’ll happy show you to your table, if you’ll follow me.”

He turned back to give Jace one more look and was greeted with a look of encouragement that spurred him forward. “The navigated between tables and Warren was absolutely grateful that he didn’t see anyone that he knew. Being discovered at this point could lead to many questions that he didn’t want to answer without making things further complicated.

They stopped beside the table where Warren got his first glimpse at the winter-blonde coach. “Good evening, Sir.” Warren said as he stuck out his hand.

The coach rose to meet him, smiling. There were only a couple of inches in the difference between their heights. “Warren Brick, it’s wonderful to meet you, Son.”

The hostess left them as they resettled into the booth. “You go ahead and order, then we’ll get down to business.” Warren ordered shortly thereafter and turned his full attention on the coach.

“Coach Vornier, I’m so glad you came out here to see me.” Warren had figured his best bet would be to lay the majority of the story on the table, with the exception of being explicit about his relationship with Jace. Neither one wanted him to risk his chances with testing the coach’s tolerance towards homosexuals, let alone the idea that his star quarterback could be one.

The coach steepled his hands and issued Warren a genuine smile. Coach Vornier had a reputation for being fair, but intense. Meaning the under his tenure as head coach, the Roosevelt University Cougars continuously had winning records in their division. “I was very surprised to hear from you. Word was that you had chosen Stateson Tech.”

“Actually, Sir, I never made a choice. My dad made that choice and wanted me to go along with it.” Warren swallowed thickly. “Sir, I had countless offers and I can tell you that none of those schools were places I wanted to go.”

“I’m intrigued. Tell me why not.”

Warren sighed and his posture slipped into a tired slouch, displaying just how worn down he was after the past few weeks. “I’m a pretty smart guy and I work hard for my grades. I think I’m a pretty good football player…”

“Pretty good?” The coach chuckled. “By word and statistics, you’ll like the second coming of Dan Marino, all the Mannings, Jerry Rice, and Emmette Smith all in one person.”
The boy blushed from the compliment. “I’ll never get used to hearing that.”

“You should. You’re good, Kid. The talent you have is beyond impressive. That leads me to wonder, why would you want to go to a school like Roosevelt?” Vornier explained. “Don’t get me wrong, the school has one heck of an academic reputation, but you won’t get the kind of exposure you’re looking for if you want to enter the draft. Not unless, you pull two sport trick and lead us to repeated undefeated seasons.”

“Can I be frank, Coach Vornier?”

The coach nodded in consent.

“I considered all these things before I called you. A good friend has already told me about the wonderful resources available at Roosevelt, plus the ones that aren’t. I’m not really interested in going into the draft after my senior season.”

“Wait, repeat that please.” Vornier stared at Warren incredulously. “I think I might have heard you wrong.”

“No, you didn’t. I realized some time ago that football wasn’t meant to be my whole life. I like it, I have fun playing it, but I don’t want do it professionally…” He held up his hands to prevent the coach from interrupting. “My reasons are strictly my own.”

“That can’t be entirely true, because anytime you play for in college or otherwise is affected by your reasons.”

This was the impasse that he and Jace had agreed he shouldn’t bring up. But he had to, right? So much of what had happened rested on his orientation. “Coach, I…I-I’m different.” At that, the coach quirked his brow.

“A lot of people, if they knew, would reject me for being different. My own dad h-hates me. Thinks that this is just a phase. It’s not. But at the same time, I’m not interested in hiding or living a lie. If I made it to the pros, and everyone’s sure I would, I’d be living a lie…I don’t want my life to turn into a spectacle and I don’t want to be anyone’s poster boy. I just want a nice quiet life and a chance to play football for a while longer, but under my own terms.”

The coach considered this, his eyes staring directly into Warren’s. Never before had the boy been so nervous. “You know Warren, you just laid out a lot of heavy issues. I have a feeling that I know what you’re talking about…I operate my team like the military—I don’t ask and I don’t expect you to tell me, because it’s none of my business unless you make it my business.”

“Understandable, sir.” Warren agreed.

“My favorite nephew and my youngest son are …gay. It’s hard to hear something like that when you’re in the hyper-macho world of football. I can understand that…I was praying you weren’t going end up saying you wanted to be a woman or something. You don’t, do you?”

Warren chuckled loudly. “No, I good in that respect.”

“Well, good.” The coach said. “Sorry to tell you kid, but you’d be one helluva big and ugly woman.”

Warren had to agree. “My dad seems to think I’ve been brainwashed.” Warren chuckled bitterly.

They shared a laugh as their food arrived. When they finished, Warren offered to pick up the check, since this had been his idea after all. Once they both declined dessert, Coach Vornier extended his hand Warren. “I admire you, Warren. You’re a man, who knows his own mind. Not many can say that. It wouldn’t be fair for me to just give you a spot…”

“I know, Sir. I just want to have a place to study and play. I’ll pay for it all, loans, jobs, whatever I need, I’ll pay for it.”

The boy was resolute to Roosevelt and the coach knew it would take some serious string pulling to help the boy, but the team could use a player like Brick and he already knew to ask no questions. “Son, I think I can help you. Give me a few days and you’ll have something concrete. If you want, I’ll want in a word with the basketball coach?” Warren nodded. “Do you think you can travel out our way to see the campus and register?”

“Anything, Coach,” Warren shook the hand’s hand fervently. Finally, happy that something had actually turned out right.

****

“I can’t believe it!” Warren wrapped his arms around Jace and pressed him against the wall, bringing their bodies into total alignment. “It’s so perfect, Jay. Absolutely perfect, baby…”

Jace kissed Warren enthusiastically. His flush lips suckling and nipping playfully at Warren’s. He was simply happy, because Warren was happy. They’d been cautious in the celebrating after the interview.

Today, though, they came back to Jace’s to find a large envelope with Warren’s name waiting for him. Coach Vornier made good on his promise. He’ll have to submit a formal letter of intent, yet the package he received grants him a merit based scholarship due to his grades and high test scores.

They kiss for a minute or two longer. Though, Warren presses eagerly against Jace. With hormones surging through his veins and the feeling of victory coursing his very soul makes him want to kiss Jace until he’s out of breath. In the time that Warren had lived with the Howards, he’d come to earn Jace’s mother’s respect by virtue of his hard work and desire to be his own man.

“War--” Jace moaned into Warren’s hot open mouth. “Mom…any …second.” The magic words that could kill even the most turgid hard on.

With that, Warren peppered Jace’s face with butterfly kisses before taking a step back. Just looking at Jace, clothes rumpled, and soft curls in disarray was enough to keep his fire burning. “Maybe, you should share your news with the rest of the class.” Jace teased as he smoothed down his t-shirt and headed into the kitchen.
Warren pulled out his cell phone and called his mother’s. It had been safer than calling his house, because his father still did not know who Warren was staying with after their fight. “Mom, are you home?...Good, I need to come by and show you something….No, nothing’s wrong. In fact, everything is going to be fine.”

Warren closed his phone and pulled Jace into his body using the crux of his arm. He snagged the tip of Jace’s banana with his teeth and wiggled his eyes suggestively. “I’ve created a monster.” Jace bemoaned with Warren’s increasingly willingness to make overt sexual advances.

“But, I’m your monster.” He kissed the top of Jace’s head and gradually relaxed his hold around his boyfriend. Who would have guessed that this would be his life in less than a year? New home. Honesty with himself. Boyfriend.

He was a new man and he owed much of it to Jace.

“I love you, you know.”

Jace pushed away from Warren’s chest and tossed the banana peel in the trash. He twined his fingers with Warren’s, their pale and dark fingers, as a singular knot—a connection. Jace stood on his toes to kiss the tip of Warren’s nose. His sharp green eyes were locked with Warren’s pale grey ones. “I love you too…You’ve made some much progress. I’m proud of you.”

“I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Jace shook his head in disagreement. “Yeah, you could.” Warren wanted to argue with Jace about his importance in making Warren take a stand for his future, but the other boy pulled him towards the door instead. “Let’s not keep your mom waiting.”

TBC/?

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