Significant Other [BL]

”Hey faggot, come to see your little boyfriend? ”

I looked up from my phone, subconsciously pulling out my earbud even though I wasn really listening to anything. I thought wearing earphones was a universal signal for don **ing talk to me or Ill break your face but I guess some people just can take the hint.

”Im sorry, was that supposed to be an insult? ”

The two jocks stood in front of me sneered as they looked me up and down.

”The insult is having fags like you anywhere in the vicinity of our basketball team. ”

”Well my bad, I didn realize there was a time machine nearby since clearly you two live in the **ing Stone Ages. ”

The taller and dumber looking one of them narrowed his eyes at me, stepping forward menacingly.

”Speak one more time and I will break your cock-sucking face. ”

Oh my God. This is so stupid. There are still people like this?

”Hey, you two. I will not tolerate any kind of homophobic behaviour on my team. You better apologize, right now, or you
e out. ” The three of us turned our attention to a tall, hunky dude that seemed to just appear out of nowhere on the right. I recognized him as the captain of the basketball team, but I didn really know his name.

”Don you think you
e kind of abusing your power there, cap? ” Said stereotypical jock number one with a scowl.

”Not really actually, you
e the ones abusing someone for no good reason. ”

”I do have a reason, and its because hes a sick **ing- ”

”No reason that concerns you. Apologize, or you
e off the team. Both of you. ”

”Thats fine actually, I don need an apology because I couldn care enough to be offended, ” I piped in. He eyed me intensely and I couldn help but give him an appreciative once over. He wasn exactly the type Id usually go for but he was definitely easy on the eyes. Tall, dark and handsome, broad shoulders, big arms and sexy thighs. His eyes were honey-coloured and warm, lips pink and plump, his striking blonde hair pushed back away from his face. This guy was the definition of a hunk.

”Whatever, loser, ” the guys scoffed and walked away, shaking their heads.

”Thats 20 more laps for you two! ” he yelled after them, crossing his arms. Did I mention he had amazing arms? Because he had amazing arms.

”I appreciate the assist but I could have handled them myself. ”

In case you didn notice, that roughly translates to that was hot as hell and Ill be willing to have your babies if and when you ever decide to play on this side of the court.

He smiled at me softly, all signs of coldness or strictness dissipating from his face. ”I had no doubt about that. But they really did get on my nerves. I was serious about not tolerating that kind of behaviour on my team. ”

”Fair enough. ”

”Julias, right? You
e Tobys friend? ” ”

I blinked. I was surprised he knew that at all. Its a big university, so the fact that he knew my name even though I don have much of a social status to speak of and we never actually talked before was either really flattering or really creepy. ”Got that right. And you
e… ”

”Avery. ”

”Avery. Nice to meet you. ”

”Likewise, ” he grinned a little too widely, standing there for a second too long before speaking again. ”Anyways, I should… I should probably get back to it. ”

”Yeah, of course. You go do your captain things. ”

He went to walk away but hesitated, looking back at me. ”Ill see you around, yeah? ”

I quirked a brow at him and shrugged. ”Sure, I guess. ”

He grinned again, and by God it was even brighter than the sun right behind him. ”Okay. Bye, Julias. ”

I waved uncaringly as he jogged off, curiously staring at his retreating back…

Okay I was staring at his butt. Its a good butt.

”You came, ” Toby jogged over to me, all sweaty in his purple jersey as he finished his laps.

”Couldn miss the big game, ” I said with a shrug, ”Your teammates are cunts though. ”

”Most of them, yeah. But I couldn care less, Im still the star player. ”

”18 and 69 over there seemed to think I was over here waiting for my little boyfriend. Whats up with that? ”

”Uh, I don know dude. Who cares. Wheres Sam? ”

”She said shell be right over. Shes getting us some snacks from the cafeteria. ”

”Tell her to get me a red bull. ”

”Yeah, way ahead of you man. ”

”Aww, you
e the best, ” he cooed as he lightly touched my cheek, ”I love you in the most non-gay way. ”

”Don touch my face, you know I hate that shit, ” I scowled, swatting his nasty hand away.

”Duh, thats why I did it. ”

”Shitstain. ”

”Thanks, love. Anyway, take a picture of me real quick. I wanna send it to Tat. My right biceps been looking tight today. ”

”I don get paid enough for this. Oh wait, I don get paid at all, ” I rolled my eyes but took his phone anyway. He posed with his basketball, leaning to the right with his arms over his hips, not-so-subtely flexing his arm. Still made for a great picture especially with the sun and the thin sheen of sweat covering his tan skin. Not that I found sweat attractive because I never did.

He changed up his pose and once I was about to take the picture, there was a sudden sharp wind and a distinctly flat ass covering the screen.

”Photobomb! ”

”Seriously, Sam? Get your ironing-board looking ass out of my shot. ” Toby scowled at her as she grinned cheekily.

”What, scared Thotianas gonna get jealous and not bust it down for you later tonight? ”

”My girlfriend actually trusts me thank you very much. ”

”Aww, whats with the blue face? ” She cackled loudly to herself, ”Get it, you know, cuz Thotiana? That Blueface song? ”

”You were just waiting to make that joke today weren you? ” I suggested but it was more like a statement.

”Of course I was, how did I never think of that before? It just like… Fucking came to me last night. ”

”Clearly because no man will ever come for you. ”

”Do you want to die? ” She glared.

”No, not at all. Just get out of my shot. Thanks. ”

She rolled her eyes and took a seat next to me as I clicked a few more pictures for Toby before tossing the phone back to him.

He whistled as he scrolled through them. ”Oh man, she is gonna love these. Thanks Jules, you
e the best! ” He blew me a loud kiss before stalking off to the court to join his team.

Alright, pause game. My best friend was a fairly attractive guy. So you might be wondering, why wasn I into him? Well, reason number one is that, believe it or not, not all gays drool after any piece of man meat they see. Sometimes we have types and standards. I know. Crazy, right? Reason number two is we were literally brought up together, since day 1. He was there when I took my first shit, he was there when I graduated kindergarten, he was there when I got circumcized, and he was there through all the awkward teen years, the sexuality crisis, the painful coming out and everything in between. He was this constant presence in my life that I would almost call a brother if he wasn more like a looming shadow consistently haunting every waking moment of my life.

Back to the story.

”Dude, Im telling you, the economics prof totally wants to ** me. He drew a smiley face next to the A+ on my quiz. Semicolon, bracket and everything. Like, who still does that? ”

I side-eyed Sam as she sighed dreamily.

”Isn he like, forty? ”

She gasped, offended. ”Thirty-seven, excuse you. And thats the best part! An older, well put together man who has a career and knows what he wants! ”

”Isn that what you said about your football coach? ”

”Yeah but hes married. As much as I like the idea of being a mistress, I also like having my head attached to my body. I mean have you seen his wife? She literally looks like Bigfoot. ”

Oh I forgot to mention. This is Sam, aka Song Shin. Shes Chinese, shes smart and likes to read. Shes a slut, but shes also my friend, so I support her.

Yeah, thats pretty much it. Moving on.

”Whats the whole charm about older men anyway? ” I asked thoughtfully.

”Maybe it has something to do with the fact that men age much slower than women. So if you think about it, mentally wed be on the same level. That and older men are almost always better in bed. ”

”Of course, ” I rolled my eyes. She smirked a little, tucking her straight brown hair behind her ear.

”Well, theres actually one more reason. Older guys usually don play around. They
e more serious with their relationships, so unless they actually want something real, chances are theyll dump you. And I like that kind of straightforwardness. I don want some arrogant jock whos just gonna play around and use me to get what he wants and then move on to the next side-bitch. ”

”But its okay if you
e the one doing the playing? ” I quirked a brow.

She grinned, ”Definitely. You guys have **ed girls over for centuries. We have every right to return the favour. ”

”Hey, leave me out of it. Im gay. ”

”I was speaking in general. Honey, you know I would have already sat on your face if you were straight. ” She winked and I scrunched my face up in disgust.

”Glad Im not. ”

As she laughed and went back to watching the game, I couldn help but go over what she said in my head as I absently stared out at the basketball court. That was when I caught a smoldering gaze on the side of my face, bright blue eyes shining under the sunlight as they bore into mine. I instantly recognised him, Avery, but as soon as I caught his eye he was quick to look away with… A blush? Nah, maybe its just the sun.

Well, it made me smile anyway.

_

I walked into the coffee shop, surveying my surroundings. It was your usual run off the mill coffee shop really, artsy fartsy decor and all that. Complete with the leaning tower of Pisa posters slapped on a brick wall, like something straight out of a millenials Instagram.

When I eventually spotted a familiar pair of gray eyes, Vincent was already smiling and waving me over. Oh yeah. You probably forgot Tobys hot uncle. Today hes… Still hot, unfortunately, in his expensive looking blue button-up and jeans. And no annoying demon child in sight, thank God.

You
e probably wondering what happened. We never actually ended up chatting after dinner last week because his daughter suddenly came down with a fever and he had to rush her home for her medication. If she wasn so annoying I probably would have felt bad for her, but instead I felt bad for the fact that he had to leave so soon. The good news is I got his phone number and we agreed to meet after school today.

I made my way over to his table and sat across from him, offering a small smile.

”Well you
e early, ” I said, ”Have you been waiting long? ”

”Not at all, I just got here a few minutes ago. How was your day? ”

”Lovely. Education. Homework. Assignments. All that good stuff. ”

”Trust me when I say youll miss these days. ”

”Said every parent ever. ”

He chuckled melodiously and I couldn help but admire the way his stubble decorated his pink lips and pearly whites. What a snack.

And I am a despicable human being.

I shook those thoughts out of my head, maybe a little too physically just as the waiter came by to take our orders.

”Just order whatever you like, its on me, ” Vincent said. ”Ill have a cup of earl grey. ”

”Oreo milkshake, ” I said before I could realize how unsophisticated that sounded. Well, who cares. After the waiter left our table, I pursed my lips awkwardly.

”You don have to pay for my drink, Ive got it. ”

”Oh please, its the least I could do, after all you took the time to meet me here today. ”

”Last time I checked, you were offering me a job. ”

”You
e also my nephews best friend. My sister wouldn let me hear the end of it if I let you pay. Please, save me the trouble. ”

”Well when you put it that way… ”

He grinned. Goddamn it. Lets stop lying to ourselves. No one likes to pay. Everyone likes to be treated. Especially to the eye candy sitting right across-

Keep it together, Jules. Seriously.

I need to get laid stat.

”So, lets get down to business, shall we? ”

”Alright. ”

”I wrote out a rough job description last night, ” he said as he pulled out a neatly folded note from his pocket along with a pen. In a similarly neat handwriting, there were a couple of bullet points which he began to read off one by one. ”So most of the work is gonna be on the weekdays. Im typically at work from 9 to 4 but if Ill be doing overtime, I would be getting home anywhere from 7pm to 9pm. First Ill need you to pick Anya up from kindergarten by five. Its only a walking distance away from home so it shouldn be too much trouble. I usually prepare supper the night before so all youll have to do is reheat it and eat with her. Then you
e gonna have to give her her medication. Let her nap for an hour. Then help her with homework if she has any, and just keep her company until I get back home. In case I get back late, bedtime is 10pm, read her a story and she falls asleep immediately. Apart from that, Im gonna need you to do at least half of the chores. I don expect you to cook if you don want to. ”

I blinked at him, staring down his list again. ”Thats it? I just have to look after her for a few hours on the weekdays? ”

”Pretty much. You
e free to do whatever you like on the weekends. Unless I do take some weekend overtime, which will only be on occasion and Id let you know prior. ”

Huh. That actually doesn sound too bad.

”Also, whats this about reheating supper? You do know I can cook, right? ”

”I honestly didn want to trouble you too much, I know you probably have a lot to do yourself, you
e a student with lots of responsibilities. ”

”Don worry about it. Ill make dinner everyday. I can make breakfast too. And pack you guys lunch. ”

His eyes widened slightly, blinking at me in disbelief. ”Wouldn that be too much? ”

I waved my hand dismissively. ”Im a quick cook. Don worry about it. ”

”That is very nice of you, Julias. Thank you, ” he smiled, seeming genuinely touched. ”Ill add that to the job description then, since you don mind. Now lets talk about your compensation. I have a spare room in my apartment, completely furnished, it should have everything you need. Now let me be honest, I really can pay you much. But groceries are on me, you
e free to eat whatever you like whenever you like, or ask for what you want. And minimum wage per hour. Is that okay? ”

I blinked, ”Yeah, thats perfect actually. ” Thats gonna be a lot of extra money in my hands. ”You
e being really generous to be honest. Thank you. ”

”I wish I could do more. But really, it has been really hectic lately. Anya is sick and… Her medication isn exactly the cheapest. ”

”Oh…What does she have, if you don mind me asking? ”

He pursed his lips, ”Anya was born prematurely. Barely made it, actually. Shes been sickly all her life. ”

”Oh… Im sorry to hear that, ” I fidgeted. ”How was she feeling the other day? ”

”Ah, don worry about it. She was well enough to go to kindergarten the next day. I must say, she wouldn stop gushing about that meal all week. I think she just found her new favourite food. Thank you, really. ”

”Oh it was nothing. I can make it whenever you like, as long as you
e buying the ingredients. ”

He chuckled, ”That sounds like a deal to me. ” His eyes glinted almost hopefully, his smile lighting up his whole face. I groaned internally. ”Only of course, if youll take my offer. ”

How can I say no to that face?

”But… Theres something I have to tell you, just so Im completely honest. ”

”What is it? ”

I chewed on my bottom lip nervously, ”Tobys parents already know this of course but… Im gay. I thought it better if I let you know, in case you were uncomfortable with it. ”

Vincent looked puzzled, and was uncharacteristically quiet for a few excruciatingly long seconds.

”Julias, ” his tone went stone cold serious and I couldn help fidgeting when he said my name like that, ”Im not the least bit concerned about your sexuality, that is your private life. Frankly, Im more concerned that we still live in a world where something like that should be some sort of a disclaimer. ”

I pursed my lips, looking down at my untouched milkshake quietly. I couldn help the small smile that spread across my lips, because that was just the sort of thing I needed to hear after being harassed just a few hours earlier. It felt good. Reassuring.

”Thank you. ”

”For what, ” he chuckled, ”Now that thats out of the way, do we have a deal? ”

”Is that even a question? Sign me up. ”

_

”I can believe you
e finally moving out. ”

Toby tossed his basketball around the room as I went through the painstaking process of clearing out all my clutter and getting ready to pack. After sorting out the finer details with Vincent, I was set to move out by that Friday, so I still had a few days. But I liked to get a headstart on things that were generally considered a giant pain in the ass, like moving.

”Yes, Ill be out of your hair soon, ” I rolled my eyes.

”Nah, I mean. Its gonna be hard getting used to your absence. ”

”Im sure youll be just fine. ”

He thought about it for a while then shrugged, ”Yeah, I probably will. ”

”Asswipe, ” I grunted.

”But, remember you have a job to do. You need to take good care of Anya. Vince has had bad experience with nannies in the past. Hes only trusting you because my parents vouched for you. Remember that everytime you get the urge to choke a child. ” He lectured, holding his basketball to his waist and pointing his finger at me like a mom.

”I get it, Im not an idiot. Ill try not to murder the little brat. What the hell happened with the past nanny, anyway? ”

”Well, on top of a massive attitude problem, lets see… She was a kleptomaniac, a liar, an unhygienic smelly twat, she forgot to give Anya her meds on a regular basis. Basically the poor girl had to be hospitalised because her neglect. Good thing Vince found her passed out when he did. It was a whole thing. ” He shook his head disapprovingly.

”She sounds like hell. ”

”Vince did not let her go unpunished. He pressed charges, and now shes serving time. ”

”Damn. ”

He snorted, ”Serves her right. She could have killed a child! And Vincent is especially ruthless when it comes to Anya. So take this job seriously. ”

I nodded thoughtfully, thinking for moment that maybe I bit off more than I could chew. But come on, I just have to watch this kid for a few hours everyday. How hard could it be?

”Vincent seems like a good father. ”

”Yes he is. ”

I started at Toby absentmindedly for a second before frowning, noticing something off about his face.

”Dude, what happened to your cheek? ”

”Huh? Oh, its nothing. I got injured while I was playing. ”

”Seriously? ” I asked worriedly, touching the light bruise on his cheek. ”Did you get into fight? ”

”Don be ridiculous, ” he chuckled. ”The ball hit me in the face. ”

”You sure? It kinda looks like- ”

”Pack your shit already, I want you out of my room as soon as possible. ”

I scowled at him, ”Well then in that case, Im gonna take my sweet ass time. ”