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Written by: Nicky Smith Edited by: JD Kaster
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: COMING TO A HEAD
TREY'S POV
"Man, my ass is dragging," Reese said as he laid his head on his desk. Our class was over and we were supposed to be getting ready to leave but he didn't look like he had the energy to move.
"Tell me about it," I said before I sat back down as well.
"They don't warn you about this," he said sounding truly exhausted.
"Actually, they do. Well, they did for me anyway," I said remembering that the Deans had told me it would be possibly the most difficult thing I'd ever do.
"No dude. They don't prepare you for this. Like now, I don't even have the energy to move," he said and I could relate. I'd felt like that a few times though I'd hid it from everyone, especially Bear.
"Have you- have you ever thought of dropping out?" He asked hesitantly. I had a few times, though I didn't want to voice it out loud.
"Look, dude, you just need a breather. Take a weekend or a couple of weekdays and just unwind. Do nothing, or do something but make sure it's calming and relaxing. The work will be here when you get back," I said choosing this route instead of voicing my own uncertainty. That would only serve to weaken my resolve and his as well.
"Maybe you're right," he said after studying me for a bit.
"That's the way," I said and gave him a pat on the back before standing up to resume getting my things together.
"Either that or find me a girl like yours," he said and I looked back at him to see an exhausted grin on his face.
"Say what now?" I said cause he had no idea.
"I see you looking so relaxed sometimes. I figure your girl sure knows her stuff on how to relax a guy so I may need to get one like her. She got any sisters?" He said and I almost laughed.
"You don't wanna do that," I said as I zipped up my bag. I knew where this conversation could go if I let it and I was debating whether to keep going.
"Do what?" He asked as he finally lifted his head.
"Get a girl like mine," I said and again I could still stop it.
"Why not? She seems pretty good if she can relax you as I've seen sometimes," he said and this was it. I decided to go for it. I didn't have to contribute too much and if he had a problem with me being gay then that was his problem.
"Because my girl is a guy," I said. I turned around and watched as it dawned on him what I was saying. It was worth it.
"Oh. So, you're," he said with raised eyebrows.
"Yup," I nodded. He looked deep in thought for a bit.
"Yeah, you're right. I don't think I wanna relax that much," he said and I couldn't help but laugh.
"Yeah, it's a lot," I joked as I got my bag and pulled it on my shoulder.
"You mean like, you know," he said as he quickly gestured to my crotch with his eyes.
"That's not what I meant. And yes," I said before I turned and headed for the door.
"I don't care you know. It doesn't matter to me," he said to my back as I neared the door.
"I figured as much," I said and waved at him over my shoulder on my way out.
As I left the building, he texted me and said that if he got any more tired then he'd have to reconsider what team he played for. I couldn't stop the guffaw and two girls were looking at me like I was crazy as they passed by.
As I started to walk away from the building I got a text from Louis. It was a few pics of him in some clothes. He then texted and asked what I thought. I texted back that they looked good because they did. It was certainly better than the clothes he'd been wearing when I'd first met him. He looked dateable if I were into older men.
He replied with a pic of him with a big smile and giving me a thumbs up. I shook my head and replied with a smiley face and a thumbs-up emoji. I'm young, I had to play the part. He replied with an eye roll emoji. He then told me to get in touch with him when I had some free time so we could hang out. I told him I would.
It was now late in the day and I wanted to see Bear. I knew he didn't have any more classes for the day which meant that he was free. I also didn't wanna assume that he'd be up to me coming over even though he'd told me that I didn't have to ask if he ever wanted company. It sorted itself out though when my cell rang with Bear's ringtone.
"Hey stud," I said with a smile as I answered his call.
"Hey yourself, lover," he said in a deep baritone that made me want to lick his body all over.
"What's up?" I said trying to hide my lusty thoughts.
"You know, I'm at my place. You can come over and explore my body if you want," he said and I should have known I couldn't keep anything like this from him. He seemed to have a sixth sense when my motor was revving.
"I'm out in public. You can't talk like that," I said as I tried to concentrate on not throwing a boner on this sidewalk.
"And why not?" He asked in a husky tone and the amusement in his voice was obvious.
"You know why," I gritted my teeth as I fought a seemingly losing battle.
"Then get over here and let me take care of any problems that I've caused," he said emphasizing "problems".
"Nope," I said deciding to be stubborn.
"Okay then. I'm pretty sure I can make you cream your pants over the phone."
"I'm hanging up," I said because I had no doubt, he'd try to make me jizz over the phone while I was out in public just to prove that he could.
"Get your ass over here so that I can do things to your body that will make your toes curl and your eyes roll back in your head," he ordered in a deep voice that almost felt like it was pulling my body to him like in those old cartoons where the scent from the pie on the windowsill could draw cartoon characters to it.
"On my way," I said and I heard him growl over the phone before I ended the call.
I tried to walk casually to his dorm but by the time I neared it, I was in a speed walk. I narrowly missed colliding with Hoyt. He grabbed me to keep us both from crashing into each other. He took one look at me and laughed and shook his head before aiming me in the direction of the dorm entrance. I recalled a similar interaction with him as I headed up to Bear's room.
When I got there, I knocked but the door opened before I could finish. I was yanked in and pushed up against the door after it closed. I looked and saw Bear standing in front of me in a pair of jersey shorts and a muscle shirt and he looked like an artistic masterpiece in my eyes.
He grunted and I knew he could tell what I'd been thinking about him. He grabbed my head and pulled me into a passionate kiss. It was over too soon though but when I realized what was happening, I was grateful.
He took my hand in his and led me to the bathroom. Once inside he turned on the shower and started taking off my clothes and then his own until we were both naked. Then he stepped into the shower and invited me to join him which I happily did.
We spent the next half hour getting clean, then getting dirty and finally getting clean again. It was a great time to be had. I briefly wondered if Reese would change his mind after something like this. I knew things didn't work that way but it was a funny thought.
When we were dry Bear led us to his room and I put my clothes back on while he slowed around in finding something for himself. I knew he was teasing me with his naked body and I admired it freely. He finally got dressed in something similar to what he'd had on when I'd arrived.
"Okay, now that I'm dressed, I have some news," he said and I tried to gauge what that could be.
"Okay," I said slowly as I continued to study him to see what I could see.
"Congratulate me, I'm a dad," he said with a big grin. I, however, was not grinning.
"What?" I said as I looked at him and tried to keep my right eye from twitching.
"Yeah, I have a daughter," he said still grinning and he must have been oblivious to how hard I was working to restrain myself from hurting him. I wanted to give him a chance to explain before I possibly overreacted.
"Really?" I tried to say as neutrally as possible but I'm sure some of my anger was seeping through.
"Yup, I'm the proud father of one miss Prudence Lake," he said as he slowly walked over to me. My building fury was replaced with confusion and a bit of worry that perhaps he'd developed amnesia or something. It wasn't outside the realm of possibilities with him being a football player.
"Uh, Bear, we already knew that. Don't scare me and risk your life like that again," I said as I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Risk my life? Are you saying you were gonna kill me?" He asked with a crooked grin.
"You're damn right I was," I said and that grin vanished. I just set him a pointed look to let him know I was serious, well, mostly serious.
"Okay, in an effort to preserve my life, I won't tease you like that again," he said before walking over to his desk. He picked up a manila envelope and walked over and handed it to me. I opened it and took out some papers that had some lab work on it. I saw the words paternity test and looked at him.
"You took a paternity test?" I asked and he nodded.
"Yup," he said as he sat down next to me.
"I thought you said that you knew for sure that she was yours just by looking into her eyes?" I said and cringed at the slightly condescending tone I'd taken.
"I was. The test is for my father. He wanted Alicia to get one and when I told her she didn't have to, she insisted that I do it," he said and I struggled to keep from rolling my eyes.
I looked over the papers again and tried to make sense of all the lab results. It didn't matter though as the paragraph at the end stated that there was a 99.9999% probability of paternity of Barry Davidson to Prudence Lake. That was as definitive as it could get. Just one more piece of evidence that this was real.
"Happy Father's Day," I tried to joke but it didn't come out in a joking tone.
"I know this is a lot and I'm sorry that you're having to deal with it," Bear said after taking my hand in his. He brought my hand up to his lips and kissed it and then me.
"I'm fine," I said as I wanted to be so bad.
"I know you're not, well, not completely and that's okay. I'll take anything you're willing to give me," he said and damn it if he didn't know how to touch my heart. I kissed him and I felt his smile through the kiss.
I put the papers back in the envelope and handed them back to him. He took them and put them back on his desk. As he did this a thought occurred to me, a thought that made me remember something that I'd yet to tell Bear about.
"You said Alicia insisted on taking the test," I said and he turned to look at me.
"Yeah, I did," he said as he regarded me curiously.
"You told her she didn't have to and she still went through with it," I said and he frowned a bit.
"Yeah, why?" He asked looking very curious now.
"Maybe she did it to establish that you were Prue's father," I said and he rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, duh. That's kinda the point of a paternity test," he said but he was smiling so I knew he wasn't trying to sound patronizing.
"I mean that she did it so there would be a legal record of you being Prue's father. She now has a paternity test that states unequivocally that you are Prue's father," I said and he looked at me suspiciously.
"Okay, now tell me what's going on in that head of yours," he said and I made sure to give him as an incredulous look as I could.
"I just did dummy," I said and he gave me that crooked grin again.
"Nope. I want the whole story," he said as he watched me with those eyes that it was hard to lie to. I knew I'd have to tell him at some point.
"Well, you have to promise not to get mad with me," I said stalling. I was unsure why though as it would be Alicia and not me to incur his wrath.
"I promise nothing," he said in a deadpan with a serious look on his face. I could see it cracking around the edges though.
"Bear, I'm serious," I said and he snickered.
"Okay, I promise not to get mad at whatever you've kept from me," he said as he held up his hand in a mock boy scout oath.
"Okay, you see," I said stalling a bit before blurting out what Alicia had done in regards to the paternity suit and what his mother and I had conspired to do in return.
"Well, it's a good thing you made me promise not to get mad," he said as a deep frown etched itself into his face and he crossed his arms.
"Bear, I'm sorry. I just didn't want to make things even worse than they already were," I said and he nodded while still frowning.
"I'm not gonna lie to you, Trey. I am angry that you kept this from me," he said and I prepared myself to grovel and asked for forgiveness.
"Bear, I'm sorry-"I started but he held up a hand to silence me.
"I am pissed, but I'll get over it. I love you. I know you love me and that you were only trying to keep the fragile peace," he said and I was surprised at the almost non-reaction.
"That's it? I expected more of a reaction," I said and he let loose a light chuckle.
"And you probably would have gotten it if Alicia hadn't already told me," he said and of course she did. She was really trying to earn those brownie points.
"When did she do this?" I asked and I heard the suspicion in my voice.
"When we were getting the test done. I had my say then. I think she waited until we were in public to do it and she was right to do so," he said and I didn't miss the dangerous edge his voice took when he said the last part.
"So, you're okay, for the most part?" I asked and he smiled. He walked over to me and pulled me up to stand in front of him. He then hugged me tight and whispered in my ear that we were good and to not worry. I hugged him back and apologized again anyway. He told me there was no need to apologize.
He held me for a bit longer before we separated. He ordered dinner for us while I did some work on my laptop. He did some studying as well before the food came. We ate and he teased me by eating his food very seductively. By the time we were done, I was mostly hard again.
Bear laughed at this and like he'd said earlier, he took care of the "problem" he'd caused. Once I came down from my second orgasmic high of the evening he asked if I wanted to spend the night. I wanted to but I had an all-nighter ahead of me and told him so. He told me I could still spend the night and pull my all-nighter. I told him that I wouldn't be able to focus on my work with him around. This made him smile a bit.
He saw me to the door and gave me a long kiss. As I stood on the other side of the door not wanting to leave but knowing I had to, I saw that he looked sad and a bit worried. I gave him another brief kiss to try to alleviate his worry. It didn't work but at least I tried. I told him I'd see him later and he blew me a kiss as I headed down the hall.
One of his teammates saw but only gave a small smile and a nod as we passed each other. That was reassuring as I don't think any of them had seen any PDA between us other than Deacon and Hoyt. It was good to see that they weren't too freaked out with having Bear and Hoyt on the team. I had my suspicions about another of the players but I wasn't gonna say anything. That was his decision on if and when he wanted to tell people he wasn't straight.
"This class is a bitch. I can't even imagine what you're going through," Miriam said to me as she sat across from me on the grass at the park near her dorm. It was nice out so I decided that I'd do my studying outside. It was a few days after Bear's announcement about the paternity test.
"Yeah, you got some balls of steel to do what you're doing," Richie said as he sat near her.
"It's not too bad," I said, totally lying. Another reason I was outside was to prevent myself from falling asleep as I'd done yesterday. I was working on 4 hours of sleep and I needed the fresh air to keep me awake.
"You're lying so bad," Miriam said after looking at me for a few moments.
"Maybe a little," I said before a yawn betrayed me.
"Well, we can still help each other," Richie said which was true. Both he and Miriam were business majors as well. I just had a lot more on my plate than they did.
"You two just wanna look over my notes for my classes," I said and they both nodded. I shook my head and went back to looking over my work for a class I had later in the day.
A few minutes later my cell rang with Bear's ring-tone. I answered and he asked what I was up to. I told him that I was studying with Miriam and Richie. I almost slipped and said her whole name. I asked what he was up to and he said he was meeting Mike and asked if I wanted to come. I begged off as I didn't wanna see Mike.
I still had his apparent drugging of my drink when we'd gone out a couple of weeks ago in my mind. I also had Louis's words in my mind, "that guy is after your guy". I knew he was right but it didn't matter what he wanted if Bear didn't want it.
Finally, as much as I didn't trust him, I most definitely did not trust myself around him. About a week ago I let Bear talk me into the two of us going to a concert with Mike. It was pretty cool for, as Liberty would call it, "white people music". It was late when it was over and we headed for Bear's truck which was a long way away from the concert grounds.
When we got to the truck I was bushed as I'd only gotten a few hours of sleep the night before. Mike said that he couldn't find his phone and Bear being the gentleman that he is volunteered to go back to look for it for him with only light protest from Mike.
I was wary of him as we sat alone in the truck. I guess I wasn't wary enough though as I felt myself getting sleepy. The next thing I knew Bear was waking me up as we arrived back at the dorm. He told me I was asleep when he'd made it back to the truck and he didn't wanna wake me.
I didn't like that as that meant that I was alone and unconscious for who knows how long with a guy who had possibly tried to drug me already. I decided then that since I was so prone to falling asleep these days that I'd stay away from this dude until I figured out what his deal was. If it was just him being attracted to Bear, I could handle that but what if that wasn't all he was up to.
"You don't like that Mike guy, do you?" Miriam asked and I thought about lying but there was no need as she'd see the truth anyway.
"No, I don't," I said. I decided to not divulge what all was worrying me as I didn't need the cavalry riding into town intent on taking this dude apart. At least, not yet.
"Why?" She asked as she observed me closely.
"I just don't trust him, is all," I said and she narrowed her eyes at me. She started to speak but changed her mind.
"If there's something you're not telling me, I will find out," she decided to say instead. I guess she figured I would probably lie in answer to whatever question she'd ask.
"There's nothing that needs your attention at the moment," I said and she looked at me for a long time again before nodding.
We went back to studying, well, they went back to studying as their finals were coming up. My finals were still over a month out. They kept pestering me with so many questions that I reconsidered my method of trying to stay awake. It was good to spend the day outside doing my work for once though.
After a bit, Miriam called it quits to studying for now and forced me to join her and Richie for lunch. We had a pizza and while it was pretty good, I missed home cooking. Again, as if on cue, my mother called my cell.
She grilled me about what was going on with school and with Bear. She knew that he was spending time with Prue and while she was happy about that, she was also rightly worried about me and never missed a chance to ask me how I felt about Prue. I was finding I was less and less angry about her. I was however nowhere near forgetting my anger for Alicia.
She filled me in on what was going on at home as well. Cara seemed to have a little boyfriend, Carly had been offered the chance to skip 2 grades, Calvin was in trouble after she'd found a used condom on the floor beside his bed, and the date for Zane and Nicole's wedding was June 29th. My finals would be done by then so I could devote my time to the wedding prep.
She again asked how I was doing. I told her again that I was doing good but a traitorous yawn decided to make itself known. She then nagged me about eating right and getting enough sleep. She then said that she was sending me some food which brightened up my mood. She noticed and laughed. She told me that she loved me and that she'd better hear from me soon. I told her she would and she finally let me go.
I shook my head and went back to Miriam and Richie, who I had stepped away from to talk to my mother privately and she teased me about what a Mama's boy I was. I told her I'd call her mother and tell her she was picking on me. That ended that and we went back to studying and working on our classwork.
As the afternoon started to move into the evening, we decided to call it quits for the day. Well, they did. I still had a class that I had less than an hour to get ready for so I told them I'd see them later before rushing to my room to take a quick shower. I needed something to help me stay awake and tried to never go to class funky.
As I rushed to get dressed Drake came in with a box. I didn't ask what it was because it wasn't any of my business. Besides, I was in a hurry. I grabbed my stuff and headed off to class. I tried to focus but a lot was going on in my head from exhaustion to Mike to missing home.
When class was over and I was sure I'd retained enough information, I dragged myself back to my room. I was hungry again and considered calling out for some takeout again but the idea became less enticing as I opened the door to my room and my bed called me.
I walked over to my bed and saw a note lying on it from a now sleeping Drake that said that the box that he'd been carrying earlier had been for me. It had contained several containers of food that had the return address of my house. He had put them in the fridge and wanted me to know that he hadn't poisoned any of it.
I couldn't help but laugh at both him and my mother. At him, because even though we'd had our very bad past, I wouldn't expect him to try and poison me. At my mother, because she hadn't been joking that she was sending me some food.
I checked the fridge and saw pot roast with veggies, some fried chicken, green beans, a fruit salad, and some peach cobbler. I looked for the box and found it along with one of those cold boxes that people used to ship food.
I laughed at the fact that she paid to ship food to me when she could have easily driven the few hours and brought it to me. Then I thought that maybe that was the better idea. While I loved my mother, when she was in smother mode, she could be unbearable.
I took the fried chicken and green beans and went to warm them in the microwave. I chowed down as I looked over some stuff on my laptop. My RA was heading to one of the microwaves to cook a cup of ramen when he saw my food. He looked longingly at it so I took pity on him and gave him a couple of pieces of chicken. He thanked me and retreated to his room after reminding me to clean up after myself.
I finished eating and cleaned up my mess. I washed the container that the beans were in and packed up the leftover chicken and headed back to my room. Drake was still asleep so I kept down the noise as I put the chicken away and got comfy on my bed to start another all-nighter.
I checked my phone but there was no text from Bear. He would have usually texted me by now so I wondered where he was. I sent him a text telling him goodnight anyway. He didn't respond also as he usually did. I put it out of my mind though and just assumed he was already asleep. I grabbed a Red Bull and downed it before getting to work.
"Hey, your phone," I heard as someone shook me. I woke up immediately as I expected it to be Bear since he didn't respond to my texts and hadn't by the time I finally fell asleep by 4 am.
"Give it to me," I said as I sat up quickly. Drake just laughed.
"I'd love to precious but I don't swing that way," he said with that annoying smirking grin of his.
"Give me the phone jackass," I said while unsuccessfully trying to suppress my annoyance.
"No need, I turned off the alarm," he said as before pointing to my phone lying on my nightstand.
"Alarm?" I asked feeling confused.
"Yeah, your alarm went off so I woke you up," Drake said while looking at me funny.
"Oh, I just thought," I said before trailing off. Drake looked at me for a few moments before realization hit him.
"Oh, right. Well, that wasn't him calling. Sorry to get your hopes up," he said before heading over to his dresser.
"My hopes? I don't need any hopes of Bear calling me," I said, perhaps too harshly.
"I didn't mean anything by that," he said with his hands up before gathering his clothes and heading for the bathroom.
I picked up my phone looking and still seeing no response text. I started to worry as that was completely out of character for Bear to not communicate with me for this long. I pulled up his contact and dialed. His phone rang and I thought that it'd go to voicemail. He picked up though on the 5th ring.
"Hello," came the sleep hoarse voice of Bear through the phone.
"Bear, are you okay?" I asked in a rush before I could stop myself.
"Who is this?" He asked with his still raspy voice. At a different time, I might have found it sexy. Not now though.
"Bear, it's me, Trey," I said, getting annoyed now that I knew he was alive.
"Oh, hey baby," he said, and I was starting to wonder if he was drunk. Bear hardly ever got truly drunk but I guess there was a time for everything.
"Bear, where have you been?" I asked and then cringed at my annoyed accusatory tone.
"I've been sleeping," he said with a bit of annoyance in his tone now too.
"I haven't heard from you since yesterday," I said and while I did realize I was sounding too clingy, I couldn't stop it.
"I was out with Mike. I told you this yesterday," he said now with clear annoyance in his voice.
"Well, I'm sorry that I was worried that I hadn't heard from you all day and night yesterday and was concerned when you didn't respond to my text. Don't worry, I won't do it again," I said and ended the call.
I stewed for a few minutes until I realized that maybe I had overreacted. I was clearly not functioning well with minimal sleep. I heard the message alert go off on my phone but I was too stubborn to look as I was sure that it was Bear. I heard it about 5 more times before I guess he stopped trying to get through to me. I turned on my phone and cleared the notifications so I couldn't see any glimpse of what he'd texted.
Drake came out of the bathroom and was way too obvious in trying to act like he hadn't heard me snap at Bear. I tried to ignore him but it was hard with the silence. He finished getting dressed and grabbed his backpack. He looked at me and looked like he wanted to say something but chose not to and left the room instead.
I got up and got dressed before grabbing my backpack and laptop and heading out. On my way to class, I got another text. I checked just in case it was from someone else but the notification showed it was from Bear. I saw the message in the notification that simply said: "Love You". I couldn't stop the smile from appearing on my face as seeing those words.
I sat in the student commons looking over some work for my next class. The commons were close to my class so I chose to just camp out there and do my work instead of walking back to my room. Several students spoke to or waved at me as they walked by and it surprised me that so many people recognized me. I guess I had been secluded, except for my inner circle, for too long as the brief acknowledgments uplifted me a little bit.
"Hey, you," someone said as they dropped down next to me, a female someone. I turned and saw that it was Artemis.
"Hey yourself," I said before going back to my paper.
"So, where has your man been?" She asked way too loudly for my taste.
"Will you watch your mouth," I hissed at her.
"Chill, nobody can hear me. And even if they could, so what? I never said a name," she said looking annoyed that she even had to say that.
"Yeah, but if people heard that I was gay and had a boyfriend, but the only guy they ever saw me with was Bear who doesn't have a girlfriend, what do you think they'd think?" I asked in almost a whisper just in case someone was within earshot.
"I didn't think about that," she said while looking thoughtful.
"Well try to be more careful," I said more harshly than intended.
"Wait, Bear isn't the only guy you're ever seen with. In fact, you're seen with a lot of guys," she said as she glared at me.
"How do you know that?" I asked because I didn't think that she knew me well enough to know such a thing.
"Also, doesn't his team know about you two?" She asked ignoring my question.
"Yes, they do. That doesn't mean we want it getting around everywhere else," I said. She looked like she was trying to understand before eventually rolling her eyes. I knew she understood discretion though so I wasn't too worried after that.
"So, tell me where your "bestie" has been then," she said putting air quotes around bestie before rolling her eyes.
"Probably with Mike," I said with undisguised annoyance before rolling my eyes. I heard a snort escape her and turned to see her smirking at me.
"Somebody sounds jealous," she said before looking me up and down.
"Don't know who that could be. I'm chill over here," I lied before going back to working on my assignment.
"Yeah, your super chill," she said sarcastically.
"Glad you can see it," I said and she snorted again.
"Well, if you see your "best bud", tell him that I would like to see him before our next class," she said again adding obvious air quotes.
"You know, using air quotes completely negates your use of code-switching," I said.
"Ooh, baby knows a big word. I didn't think you knew about that since it's usually used by Black people," she said and this time I rolled my eyes.
"Well, I am Black so I know about it. I also know it though because I'm, you know," I said as I didn't know who would walk by right as that word left my mouth.
"Yeah, I know," she said before she stood up. She threw a later over her shoulder as she walked out of the commons. I went back to work but was interrupted about a minute later with a text. I looked at my phone and it was from Artemis. I looked and it said "Super-Gay". I couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped from me.
"What's so funny?" I heard as someone else dropped down next to me, someone big.
"Artemis," I said before showing him the text she'd sent me.
"I'm gonna need context," Bear said as he looked at me with a raised eyebrow and a small smile.
"I'll tell you later," I said before leaning back over and trying to get back to my classwork.
"I hope so," he said before leaning over a bit and looking at my laptop.
"How did you know where I was?" I asked without looking up at him.
"I have my sources," he said with a teasing tone in his voice.
"Are you sure it's not because you have secretly hacked my phone and LoJacked me?" I asked while trying to keep a straight face.
"I have connections on this campus. I can find you whenever I want," he said and I knew he was joking, mostly.
"Stalker much," I joked.
"Gotta keep tabs on that sweet ass," he said close to my ear which had me fighting the shudder that his words caused.
"Don't say stuff like that to me in public," I said through gritted teeth.
"Did it make you horny?" He rumbled near my ear. I could hear the amusement in his voice.
"Not in the least," I lied big time.
"Okay then, I'll just have to try harder," he said and I knew he was about to say something that would have me in a struggle to keep myself from jumping up and straddling him.
"You'd better shut your damned mouth," I hissed at him which drew a deep chuckle from him which didn't make things any easier.
"Okay, I'll be good," he said after I glared at him for a minute.
"So, what are you up to now?" I asked after making sure he behaved.
"Nothing much. I only have a few classes left for the semester and then I'm free," he said the lucky bastard. I still had a month of classes and work left ahead of me.
"Peachy," I said with a fake smile full of teeth which caused him to chuckle a bit.
"Jealous?" He teased.
"Not really. It just means I'll be that much smarter than you," I joked and tried to keep a straight face.
"Jerk," he said as he elbowed me a bit. I couldn't keep that straight face any longer.
"Well, since you have all this free time what are you up to today?" I asked as I went back to work.
"Mike is supposed to be picking me up here in a few minutes," he said and wasn't that great.
"Peachy," I said again and tried to sound less fake. I don't think I succeeded but Bear didn't say anything about it.
"What are you doing later?" he asked after checking his phone.
"Working but you can drop by if you want. Maybe Drake will be there and we can scar him for life by 69ing in front of him," I joked as there was no way I'd ever do anything sexual with an audience, especially Drake.
"Cool by me," he said and my head snapped to look at him struggling to keep from laughing.
"Freak," I mumbled before going back to my work.
"You love it," he said with a chuckle. I looked up to respond and noticed Mike entering the building.
"Here comes your new bestie," I said and he looked up to see Mike making his way over to us.
"Hey, guys," Mike said but only looked at Bear.
"What's up. Are you ready?" Bear asked and Mike nodded. He looked very happy as he practically gazed at my man. Okay, maybe I was being dramatic but I wasn't far off.
"Hi Mike," I said perhaps a bit too forcefully. He finally looked away from Bear and at me.
"Hey," he said but looked slightly confused. Maybe it was because he had already spoken to me. It was while eyeing my boyfriend though so it didn't count.
"Okay, let's roll," Bear said as he stood. He looked down at me and I could tell he wanted to kiss me. I just gave him a mock salute though and he grinned that sexy grin of his at me. I gave him the message that Artemis told me to give him and he nodded before he and Mike departed.
I went back to work and tried not to think about Mike, about him and Bear together but my mind was like my worst enemy, especially when I didn't wanna think about something. I tried to remind myself that I trusted Bear but since I didn't trust Mike like I shouldn't have trusted Alicia, that reminder didn't really set in.
I finally gave up and gathered my stuff together. I needed a break and some fresh air so I got my bag and left the student commons. I walked around for a bit until my phone alarmed to let me know I had to get to my class. I was thankful that the distraction arrived.
I was sitting in my room later doing some work, as usual lately when Drake came in. He was on his cell talking to someone, As I listened closely, I realized that it had to be Serena. They were planning something so I tuned them out so as not to be nosy.
I was waiting on a call or at least in some way to hear from Bear. As if on cue my cell rang with his ringtone. I shook my head at his ability to call when I was thinking about him.
"Hey you," I said as I answered my cell.
"Hey babe, there's been a change of plans," he said and I frowned.
"What's up?" I asked and tried to keep my voice neutral and hide any disappointment at possibly not seeing him.
"Deacon needs me to take him somewhere and I couldn't say no," he said and of course he couldn't.
"Okay, well, we didn't have any concrete plans so it's cool. I'll just see you later, or tomorrow," I said even though I really needed to kiss him.
"Okay, will do. See ya later babe," he said before he disconnected the call. A few seconds later I get a text from him with a heart emoji and I just smiled.
"So, you're alone for tonight?" Drake asked after I tossed my phone over on my bed.
"Yeah, why? You gonna stay and keep me company?" I asked kind of jokingly. I was fully prepared to spend the evening alone buried in schoolwork.
"Not tonight," he said as he put his back to me and went about changing his clothes.
I was about to go back to my work when my phone chimed with a notification. I picked it up and saw that it was a text from Bear. I smiled and opened my messages app and read the message and I couldn't believe what I was reading.
"Trey, what wrong?" Drake asked likely noticing my reaction to the text. He asked again and I didn't speak. He finally walked over and took my phone from my hand without any resistance. I watched him with a frown on his face as he read the text from Bear that said "Got Trey outta my hair. Be right over. See ya soon Mike" followed by a heart emoji.
"What the hell," I said softly as I tried to get my head around what had just happened.
"Maybe it's a joke," Drake said but he didn't sound convinced.
"Do you truly believe that?" I asked more aggressively than I'd intended.
"Why else would he send that to you?" Drake asked and it was a good question. I figured an answer pretty quickly though.
"He thought he was texting Mike but hadn't exited my contact," I said as my heartbeat roared in my ears.
"C'mon Trey, you can't possibly believe that Bear would cheat on you, especially with that guy," Drake said and why wouldn't he? If I looked past my extreme dislike for Mike, I could admit that he was good looking.
"Why not?" I asked harshly.
"After all you've been through, you're gonna believe that Bear is cheating on you, after everything he did to win you back?" He said and he did have a point.
The thing was that I always expected a girl to come along and turn Bear's head. Even with what happened with Alicia it didn't happen. Now though, he had been different since he'd met Mike and I could tell.
Was I truly willing to believe that he'd cheat on me though? He'd done a hell of a lot to regain my trust and I promised him that I'd trust him. I loved him and I was sure that he loved me but a part of me felt betrayed. It was probably the secret part of me that was always waiting for the other shoe to drop and Bear to decide that he didn't wanna be with me.
"I gotta get some air," I said before I grabbed my phone and keys and bolted from the room to objections from Drake.
I hopped in my truck and just sat there trying to reason away the text. I had known Bear for almost all my life. He didn't have a deceitful bone in his body, even with him keeping what happened with Alicia a secret. That's why this was so strange and so jarring.
I started my truck and pulled out of my parking spot and out of the parking lot. I drove around for a few minutes debating if I should do what I was thinking about doing before the debate was resolved on its own by my subconscious as I found myself pulling up to Mike's house.
I parked out front on the street and stared at Bear's truck in the driveway parked next to Mike's car. Seeing his truck there hurt more than I'd expected and I'd expected it to hurt a lot. I looked up at the house and the big picture window and waited, for what I wasn't sure.
I got what I was looking for, or rather, what I didn't wanna see after a few minutes. It was night by this time and the light was on in the room with the window so I got a clear view when they walked in front of the window and looked at each other before Bear pulled him into a tight hug. They stayed like that for what seemed like forever but was really only a few minutes.
They separated and Bear gripped his face and that was enough for me. I pulled away from the house and just drove. I don't know where I was going but that wasn't important to me anymore. After all that he had said and done to try and prove himself to me, this is how I find him?
I thought I would be angry. I thought I would feel hurt and betrayed. I didn't feel any of those things though. What I felt was numb and I didn't like it. I even tried to drum up some good old-fashioned rage but came up empty.
I just drove around in a fuzz trying to get my head on clear. After about an hour or so of driving, I got tired so I decided to go back to my dorm. When I arrived back in my room it was empty. Drake must have gone out to his date with Serena. That was good as at the moment I just wanted to be alone.
DRAKE'S POV
After Trey bolted out the door I just stood there staring at the closed door. I know I had messed with him plenty about Bear getting tired of him but deep down I never expected it. Any idiot could see that Bear was so hopelessly tied up in Trey. That's why the text made no sense.
I wanted to believe it was a joke because after everything that had gone down between them regarding Alicia last year I just couldn't see Bear actually cheating on Trey, especially with that Mike guy.
I'd only seen him a few times and only spoken to him once but I could tell that the dude wasn't all that. But what did I know about what attracted a guy to another guy? I was still kinda working on what attracted Bear and Trey to each other.
After a few minutes, I decided that I needed to mind my own business. Besides, I had a hot date with Serena. I grabbed my wallet, cell, and keys and after checking myself in the mirror in the bathroom I locked up and left our room and the dorm.
I got in my car and started it up before pulling away from school and heading in the direction of Serena's apartment which was only a few minutes away.
I pulled up to the building and parked. I started to get out of my car but something pulled at me. No matter what I had expected when I first saw Trey standing in my room 9 months ago, he had done what he hadn't managed to do in the entire 5 years I'd known him before graduating from high school. He had grown on me. I cared about his well-being and I was actually worried about him. Damn him.
I pulled my phone from my pocket and debated doing what I was sure I would end up doing anyway. I started to put it back and continue my evening as planned before the memory of hearing about him being raped reared its ugly head. It pulled at something in me that I did my best to ignore and I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed Serena.
"Hey hon, where are you?" she asked and it would have been so easy to just go upstairs and live my life and forget about Trey. I knew I couldn't though.
"Serena, I'm gonna have to get a rain check for our evening," I said reluctantly.
"What's wrong?" She asked likely noticing the tone of my voice.
"Something happened with Trey and I need to check on him," I said and I was stunned to hear those words leave my mouth.
"He's not hurt, is he?" She asked and I heard the slight panic in her voice. The dude really did possess the ability to make friends everywhere he went.
"No, nothing like that," I said and heard a soft sigh of relief from her.
"You really are a good friend," she said and I heard the slightly teasing tone over the phone.
"Trey and I are not friends," I said even if it rang a bit hollow to my ears.
"So, you say," she said and again I detected the note of teasing in her voice.
"Bye with you," I said and disconnected the call. I heard her laughing before the call ended. She sent me a text almost immediately saying "rain check" with a kiss emoji. I smiled because she could touch me like no other.
I slid my phone back in my pocket and after a minute of thinking pulled it back out. I recalled Mike's last name and put his name into google. I got one address with his name, which was local so I figured it was his name. I put the address into my GPS and headed that way.
After a bit, I pulled up to a white modern colonial house with a big picture window in front and Bear's truck sitting in the driveway. I shook my head that he was indeed at this guy's house. It felt like everything I knew about Bear had been wrong. After all the hatred and malice and violence between me and Trey, I actually felt sorrow for him, and quite a bit of mounting anger at Bear.
I pulled away from the house before I did something irrational. I called Trey's cell about 5 times and it went straight to voicemail. I drove around a bit to see if I could find him and debated if I should call any of his friends. Since I wasn't on speaking terms with any of them and the only number I still remembered was Liberty's, I decided against that. Besides, that might not even be her number anymore.
After a while, I decided to call it quits and head back to the dorm. I didn't know where Trey hung out so my best bet was to wait for him to return to our room. I arrived back at school and saw his truck in his parking space so that was a good sign.
I parked and headed for our dorm. When I reached the door, I took a deep breath and wondered if I should stick my nose in his business any more than I already had. I decided that I was never one to not butt in, especially when dealing with Trey so I opened the door and nobody was there.
I should have guessed that just because his truck was here didn't mean he was. He was probably with Miriam. I released a deep breath and closed the door. I had to take a leak so I headed to the bathroom. I turned on the light and found Trey sitting on the floor of the bathroom with his back against the tub and his knees pulled up to his chest with his head resting on his folded arms.
"Trey," I said carefully as if speaking to an agitated animal.
"What do you want?" He said in a hoarse voice so he must have been crying.
"Are you okay?" I asked and cringed at the stupid question.
"Peachy keen," he said sarcastically.
"You went over to that guy's house, didn't you?" I asked and his silence was all the answer I needed. He'd seen Bear's truck over there at least.
"They were fucking hugging in front of that fucking window for everybody to see," he said in a muffled huff.
"Trey, that doesn't have to mean anything," I said as I tried to defend Bear. I don't know why though. Hell, I didn't know why I was involved with any of this.
"He lied to me and went over to Mike's place. If he wanted to go over there, he could have told me. Why lie?" He said and I'll admit that I didn't know.
"There has to be a reason," I said. He looked up at me and narrowed his bloodshot eyes at me. That couldn't mean anything good.
"I'll bet you're getting a real kick outta this," he said in an accusatory tone before he got up and stormed out of the bathroom. I followed him and he was pacing back and forth next to his bed.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I asked because here I was missing my evening with my girlfriend to check on him and he speaks to me like that?
"It means you spent the better part of a year and a half telling me that Bear would get tired of me. Well, here we are, so start gloating," he said, well almost shouted. I started to get mad but I managed to calm myself once I realized what he was doing.
"I'm not doing this with you," I said as I held up my hands.
"Doing what?" He asked and was he ever pissed off.
"Letting you start a fight with me by bringing up bullshit I said in high school to keep from dealing with what's happening now," I said and that seemed to piss him off even more. Then he thankfully thought about what he was doing and cooled some.
"He promised me," he said before he dropped down on his bed.
"Trey, talk to him. Maybe there's some weird explanation," I said, and honestly, I hoped that I was right.
"Maybe," he mumbled after some time.
He didn't speak anymore for the rest of the night. I tried asking him questions to distract him but he just hummed or grunted an answer so I stopped after a while. I ordered a pizza and he picked at a slice before he tossed it and went to the bathroom.
He came back dressed for bed and I took the hint and stored the leftover pizza in his minifridge as best I could and got ready for bed as well. I got into bed and after looking over at Trey staring at the ceiling, I got my phone and texted Serena. I apologized again for postponing our date but she wouldn't hear it. She wanted to know if Trey was okay but all I could tell her was that he was here. The truth was that I didn't know if he would be okay, especially if what it looked like happened had indeed happened.
TREY'S POV
I spent a sleepless night staring at the ceiling. I tried to get up and do some work but I couldn't concentrate. It was hard to believe that one little text could shake me up so much. Then around dawn, I wondered if I was giving Bear the benefit of the doubt. I mean, I could have misunderstood the whole situation. I started to really believe that until I read the text for the 10th time. There was no misunderstanding there.
I got up and went to the bathroom. After taking care of business I got in the shower. I took a long shower to try and refresh myself. I succeed a bit and hopped out of the shower. I wrapped a towel around my waist and left the bathroom to find Drake sitting on the side of his bed yawning.
"Morning," he said through another yawn.
"Yeah," I said as that's all I could manage.
He watched me for a few moments before he got up and went to the bathroom himself. I took that time to get dressed. Then I grabbed my phone and thought about what I was gonna do. I considered calling Bear but I didn't trust myself to talk to him over the phone.
Drake came out of the bathroom while I was thinking. He had a towel wrapped around his waist too as I had heard him turn on the shower while I was getting dressed. He looked at me and started to say something but chose not to and instead went to put some clothes on.
I took a brief moment out of my current crisis to think about the fact that the dynamic between me and Drake had shifted so much over the time we'd shared this room that it was jarring if you thought about it.
I mean here he was standing in a room stark naked with the same guy he used to bully in high school because he dared to be gay and exist alongside him. The way we were now with each other was just so strange to me. I made sure not to pay too much attention to him though, as I always did, as I didn't wanna start anything, especially now so I looked back down at my phone.
"I know you were just checking me out," he said and I looked back up at him to see that annoying smirk of his on his face.
"You wish," I said before looking back down at my phone.
"Who told you?" He said and I almost laughed a little. I did smile a bit though.
"I just know," I said and he snorted.
"Well, take a gander if you want," he said as he posed butt naked in front of me. I just rolled my eyes.
"No thanks. I can only handle one trauma at a time," I said and he snorted again. He started to get dressed while I returned to thinking about what to do about Bear.
"What are you gonna do?" He asked and that was a good question.
"Don't know yet," I said and he hummed.
I thought again about calling Bear but that was out of the question. I finally decided to text him and see what he was doing. Maybe he'd see the text that he thought he'd sent to Mike and get freaked. Maybe he'd already pulled up my conversation and seen it which would explain why he hadn't texted me last night to say good night.
I sent him a text asking what he was doing. He sent me a text saying that he'd just gotten up and that he wanted to see me. I didn't know what that could mean so I played it cool and told him I'd come over in a bit to see him. He replied that he couldn't wait. I rolled my eyes and tried to keep from getting pissed. I was gonna keep an open mind.
I had a class soon so I grabbed my stuff and said a later to Drake before I left the room. It looked like he wanted to say something but was holding back. I was glad as I didn't need anything to distract me from what I needed to do, no other voices in my head.
I headed to class and tried to concentrate. I succeeded a little bit but not nearly enough. Thankfully this was what I called a filler class that didn't require too much attention. Bear texted me during class to tell me to come on in when I arrived and don't bother knocking as he was alone. I left class and walked around a few minutes before I drummed up the courage to face Bear with what I knew, or thought I knew.
I headed to his dorm and up to his room. I passed one of his floormates as I headed to his room and got a head nod from him as a greeting. I stopped in front of his door and took a deep breath and opened the door to find Bear and Mike on his couch kissing.
"Trey," Bear said in a panic as he struggled to push Mike off of him and stand up.
"Don't bother," I said and turned to leave. I was just done. He ran up and grabbed my arm though. I tried to fight him but he was stronger than I was.
"I said wait dammit," he said while sounding out of breath.
"I gotta go," Mike said before bolting from the room.
"So, this is what my trust gets me huh?" I asked and the pain in my chest was almost unbearable.
"You can't possibly believe that I'd do this," he said sounding desperate.
"You mean I can't believe what I just saw with my own fucking eyes?" I nearly shouted as I tried my best to hold my cool lest I hit this bastard.
"Trey," he said sounding desperate but now also looking slightly pained.
"You were kissing him," I hissed and that fight to hold my cool was fast becoming a losing battle.
"That wasn't me. He did that," he said and I rolled my eyes.
"I feel so stupid. It's starting to come together now," I said as a realization hit me.
"What's all starting to come together?" He asked now with barely contained anger. He could let it loose for all I cared.
"All the time you spent with him, your slacking on checking up on me at night. And then last night, you wanted to get caught and today too," I said feeling like a sad Columbo.
"What the hell are you talking about? What exactly did I wanna get caught doing last night?" He asked and I wanted to hit him so bad.
"Are you gonna tell me that you weren't at Mile's house last night?" I asked and the brief guilty look was enough for me.
"I can explain," he said but I didn't wanna hear it.
"That text that you sent me last night, that I was supposed to think was accidentally sent to me instead of Mike was sent on purpose. You wanted me to come over there and see you two, just like the one you sent me today telling me to come on in and don't bother knocking. You wanted to get caught so you wouldn't have to deal with breaking up with me yourself," I said and he looked at me like I was crazy.
"What the hell are you talking about?" he said and I considered just leaving because I was seriously close to kicking him in the nuts and strangely I didn't wanna hurt him.
"So, you're saying you didn't send me this text last night?" I said as I showed him the evidence. "Or this text a little while ago," I said and after he'd seen the text, he pulled out his phone and showed me his iMessage app and the texts weren't there. His texts to me before I left for my class were there and all the texts from before I'd gotten the message to Mike were there but those two were missing.
"I didn't send you those texts," he said and I really wanted to believe him but I knew how easy it was to delete a text from your own phone so it didn't show.
"You deleted them," I said and the hurt look in his eyes did make me pause. He recovered quickly though and anger reappeared.
"You wanna check out my iCloud? The messages are stored there even if I delete them from my phone. Or we can have Justice come down here and hack my phone to prove to you that I didn't send you those messages," he said and he sounded so sure that I started to question what I thought I knew.
"What were you doing over to Mike's last night?" I asked a little bit calmer.
"He called me after I texted you to ask me to come over because he'd heard his parents were in a car crash and he didn't wanna be alone," Bear said and my gears starting turning.
"Huh," I said as I tried to think.
"You can ask Deacon if I was supposed to take him somewhere last night and why I had to cancel if you want. He wouldn't lie to you. He thinks very highly of you," Bear said and I tried to ignore what he'd said about Deacon for the time being, although I kinda already knew.
"So, he said his parents were in an accident and called you over?" I asked as I tried to sort this out.
"Yeah," he said looking relieved that I was finally talking to him instead of yelling.
"And the hug?" I asked as my ire started to build again.
"The hug?" He asked looking confused before it dawned on him what I meant. "You were there?" He asked and I nodded.
"So, he calls you and tells you that his parents were in an accident and asks you to come over. In the meantime, I get a text from you supposedly meant for Mike that gets me to come over to his place just in time to watch you hug him, in front of the big picture window," I said doing my best deducing work yet.
"I guess," he said looking confused.
"Why did you hug him?" I asked. I felt that was important.
"I couldn't help it. He was talking about his parents and he started to cry," Bear said and I barely restrained myself from rolling my eyes.
"And what was he doing over here today?" I asked and Bear started looking suspicious.
"He sent me home after a while last night and told me he'd let me know what he heard. Well, he came over this morning to say that he had heard from his parents and that while they had been near the accident that they weren't involved," he said and I did roll my eyes this time. I also started to feel duped.
"What happened just before I came in? Tell me everything," I said as I was getting an idea of what was going on. I just didn't know how it was done.
"He was checking his phone a lot and then when I stood he did too and pushed me down and started kissing me," Bear said and by the time he was done he was frowning, his jaw was clenched, and the vein on the side of his head was pulsing.
"Call him back here. Convince him that I left after not listening to you and that you don't know what is going on," I said and he looked confused for a second before he seemed to at least get a tiny bit what I was thinking.
He called Mike and did a great job of playing clueless. It briefly made me wonder if he had just conned me but I wanted to see this out before I started doubting him again. When he was done, he paced back and forth with a deep frown on his face. I thought to turn my phone off if what I was thinking was indeed the case.
There was a knock at the door about 15 minutes later. I nodded to Bear and he went to the door while I hid behind the door. Bear did his spiel again about being clueless about what was going on. Mike told him everything would be okay and Bear held the door open for him.
"We'll figure it out," Mike said as he walked in and Bear closed the door. When he turned around, he saw me standing next to Bear and looked shocked. He also looked a bit busted.
"Yeah, we will figure it out," Bear said in his deepest baritone with his arms folded and glare directed at Mike. Any other time I might have been a bit turned on. Thankfully my libido knew to take a chill pill.
"Bear, Trey, what's going on?" He asked trying his best to look confused.
"You know damn well what's going on," I snapped but I calmed a bit when Bear placed a hand on my back.
"No, I'm afraid I don't," Mike said with a slight edge to his voice.
"Well, apparently, Trey got a text from me that was meant for you telling him that I'd "gotten him outta my hair" and that I was on my way," Bear said and I could hear the restrained anger in the tone of his voice.
"But you did come over," Mike said and I didn't miss the very brief smirk aimed at me.
"After you called me. I came over because you sounded upset and I thought you needed a friend," Bear said sounding a little disappointed in Mike.
"I did," Mike said and I rolled my eyes.
"Tell me, Mike, if I called your parents right now would they know anything about this accident that they were supposed to have been in?" I asked and he looked briefly, very briefly, panicked.
"They weren't in an accident though," he said recovering.
"Well about the accident that they were near then," I asked and this time he managed to keep his expression neutral.
"What is this?" He had the nerve to ask.
"You lied, didn't you?" Bear asked now very much sounding hurt.
"Bear, I," he started but I wasn't in the mood.
"How did you do it?" I asked and managed to keep my cool.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he said knowing very much what I was talking about.
"Trey got two texts, one last night and one earlier that I didn't send him so where did they come from?" Bear asked and I could tell his anger was mounting.
"How the hell should I know," he said and it seems that was enough for Bear. He rushed over, grabbed him by the collar, and brought him up so that he was looking him in the eyes very close to his face. I didn't like it but the look on Bear's face definitely didn't scream make-out session.
"You'd better talk before I break your fucking neck," Bear nearly growled as his steely gaze held Mike in place.
"Bear, I don't know-" Mike started but Bear wasn't having it.
"Talk now motherfucker. Tell me what you did," Bear shouted and that was my cue to save Mike. Damn my uncontrollable compassion.
"Bear," I said simply as I stepped up to him and laid a hand on his arm. He looked at me before he let Mike go but the force he used made him fall to the floor. Bear took advantage of this and stood over him glaring down at him. Mike looked terrified.
"Okay, I did it," he said as he held up his hands.
"Did what?" Bear hissed as his hands balled into tight fists.
"I- I hacked Trey's phone," he said and my eyebrows went up. I mean I knew it had to be something like that but his admission made it real.
"You what?" I asked as I took my phone out of my pocket.
"Well, actually, I put spyware and malware on it," he said, and aside from the fact that I wanted to let Bear stomp this fool, the fact he'd done all that was astounding. For what purpose?
"How did you do that? And when?" I asked because I couldn't see when he'd have access to do so.
"The night we went to the concert," he said and it suddenly clicked.
"But we were together all night," Bear said looking a bit confused. I wasn't though.
"No, we weren't," I said as I glared at Mike. I guess my instincts to stay away from him had been spot on. Too bad he had already done what he'd needed to me. Bear looked at me for a few moments before he realized it too.
"Your lost phone," Bear said and Mike nodded.
"That was a dummy phone. I got Trey's phone after he fell asleep and did what I needed to do," he said and I felt stupid and furious.
"Why?" Bear asked now a bit calmer.
"So I'd know where he was with his GPS and I could access his texts and things like that," Mike said like this whole thing made sense.
"And how did you text him using my phone?" Bear asked because what he'd said didn't explain that.
"I did your phone too. I cloned it so the messages would go to the same conversation," he said and strangely, I felt violated.
"So, you hacked our phones and sent Trey texts from me for what reason exactly?" Bear asked but that answer was obvious.
"It's obvious. He was trying to break us up because he wants you," I said and Bear's glare directed at Mike could pierce steel.
"Bear, I'm sorry," Mike stated but Bear held up a hand to silence him.
"Get up and get out," Bear hissed as he stepped to Mike.
"Bear, please," Mike tried once more. I don't know what he thought was gonna happen.
"Now! Before I lose what little is left of my restraint and hurt you," Bear said he glowered at Mike.
He scrambled to his feet and started to speak again but a pointed look from Bear nixed that idea. He dragged to the door and turned back to look at Bear with a forlorn look. Any other time I would have felt sorry for the guy but he was pushing up on my man, trying to break us up, and that killed any compassion I might have had for him.
He took one last look at Bear and then at me before walking out the door and closing it behind him. That left us alone with what had just happened, with my belief that Bear would betray me like that after all he'd done to regain my trust. I felt like a huge ass.
"Are you okay?" He finally asked as he walked over to me.
"I'm fine other than the fact that I'm gonna have to get a new fucking phone," I said as I held my phone out from me like it was contaminated. In my mind it was.
"Trey," Bear said strongly as he gripped my arms.
"Bear, I'm fine. I just feel stupid is all. I can't believe I let that fucker play me like that," I said as I hated that bastard even more.
"Well, it's not like I've given you any reason to trust me," he said sadly with a deep frown. I reached up and placed my hands on both sides of his face.
"Bear, no. I don't blame you for that. That wasn't your fault. Alicia took advantage of you. You didn't willingly have sex with her," I said but he still looked pained. "It wasn't your fault Bear. She-" I started but he held up his hand.
"Don't," he said and the look in his eyes was all too familiar. It was finally starting to dawn on me why he was so insistent on feeling guilty for cheating on me. It kept him from dealing with what Alicia had done to him. I know how I felt when Kent had raped me so I could imagine it being worse for a big guy like Bear to even admit it to himself.
"I understand, more than you know," I said before I pulled him into a tight hug which he returned. "And I'm sorry for not trusting you with Mike," I said and had another urge to gut punch that bitch.
"That's not your fault either. After hearing about what he'd done to make it look like we were sneaking around I don't know if I wouldn't have believed me either," he said and I wasn't sure about that but chose to say nothing.
"Well, it's over now," I said and Bear let out a deep sigh.
"I just wish they'd leave me alone," he said sadly.
"Who?" I asked as I pulled back from him.
"Mike, Alicia, all of the obsessed fools who see me as some grand prize that's worth destroying the relationship that I want so bad and hurting the most important person in the world to me other than Prue," he said before releasing me from the hold he had on me. All the other stuff aside, I was glad he felt that way about his daughter now.
"Bear, can we just-" I started but he stopped the pacing he was doing now and rushed back to me.
"Trey, please don't leave me. I promise to be true to you always. I'll do anything you want so please stay with me," he pleaded as he gripped both sides on my head in his big hands. He sounded so desperate and scared that it broke my heart.
"I promise, big guy. I'm sorry for not trusting you," I said. I didn't get any further as he started placing kisses all over my lips, face, and neck. He pulled me close again and I heard the telltale signs that he was crying from his sniffles and felt the tears on my neck. My heart that belonged to him broke for him even more. We were an insecure mess but hopefully, we had time to fix that and make each other feel secure in our relationship.
To be continued...
***** Author's Note:
Here we are after a long hiatus returning to the lives of Trey and Bear.
Things continue from last time, a long time ago, with Mike and Bear's friendship. Bear also gets a paternity test with unequivocally proves that Prue is his child. Is that a part of a scheme by Alicia?
Trey's workload is continuing to weigh heavily on him and with things not going the way he has become accustomed with Bear, his mind starts doing what it does best; overworking.
But this time his fears are founded as Mike plays his hand and tries to break up the boys in a sinister way. After a night filled with worry Trey confronts Bear and the truth about Mike comes out. Will this be the end of him? Stay tuned.
Hello everyone and welcome back to the story. I'm sorry that it's taken so long for this chapter but life has been hectic. This year especially has been crazy for the world over but I don't have to tell you all. I hope you enjoy this chapter and please forgive the extremely long delay. I can't promise when the next chapter will be uploaded but I promise to try not to wait another 7 months. Send any comments to me a thestoryguy9783@gmail.com. Also send any inquiries to my editor JD at the email below. Thank you again for waiting and until next time... Nicky
***** Editor's Note:
Hey everyone, really sorry for the wait, life and the world are all crazy right now (year 2020 for those reading this in the future) but we are back with another chapter of Trey and Bear's life.
We can see that Trey's college work load is keeping him awake, and I can see that it may get to him soon. Mike and Bear continue to hang out and Trey was starting to think some bad things about Bear. I was going to say that it was a ticking time bomb. But all is fixed with Bear and Trey confronting Mike on the texts Trey was receiving.
Mike is now out of the picture, but could he possible show up later and mess with the boys? Who knows?
That is all from me for now, if you happen to notice anything I may have missed in editing you can reach me a jd.kaster1987@gmail.com. Be sure to also let Nicky know what you think or the chapter at the email address at the top of the page.
Until next time...
JDK