Resist Me

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

West

When Linc’s grandma, Mary, took my hand, I felt a flutter in my stomach. From the moment I met them, they’d acted like they accepted me. We’d known each other for one day and I felt close to them already. Like Kai, Linc had some amazing people in his life. Even though his parents weren’t around anymore, he had support, and it was beautiful.

“I brought tomatoes,” I said, holding up the small bag.

She put a hand over her mouth and snickered. Was I going to actually throw them at the stage? It was entirely possible. It might be a good test for our relationship. How far could I push him before he bailed?

I tried to shake the toxicity away. He wasn’t going anywhere. He kept saying it- when we laid down together last night, before we fell asleep, when we woke up this morning.

Willow dropped into the seat on my other side and took the bag from me. After she peered inside, she cackled, drawing the attention of the panel that was going to listen to Linc play. I shushed her but struggled not to laugh with her .

Rick had come with her, which actually didn’t annoy me. He did try to take care of her last night, even though he easily could’ve bailed. A lot of guys wouldn’t want to deal with all of that. Maybe he could stick around. Maybe.

Once Linc came out, everything around me stopped. He already appeared so focused. He sat down and looked directly at me before he turned to the professors. After he took a noticeably large breath, he settled his hands over the keys.

He thought I was going to be bored. Obviously, he was insane. What flowed from beneath his fingers was the definition of art. It was beautiful and pure, a piece of his soul. It was a thread that connected him to his mom and dad. The way he played it made you feel that, even if you didn’t know what it meant.

I may have been biased, but it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever heard. And he… God damnit, he was the most beautiful man. If I thought he was impressive on the field, I hadn’t seen anything. When he played, he got lost in it. His passion for this was inspiring and I could suddenly picture him teaching others the way he planned to after he graduated.

Mary squeezed my hand tightly. I looked over at her and saw tears falling from her eyes. Ah, fuck me. It almost made me cry too. Linc’s mom, Mary’s daughter, wrote this song. I could imagine how it felt to hear it being played by her grandson now.

I’d seen him play it many times but right now, there was more emotion in it. His eyes were closed and his brows were slightly pinched. Everyone in this room felt it, just like I told him they would. I felt proud that I’d been the one who gave him the idea to play Elysium at Midnight .

When he finished, I jumped up. I didn’t give a single shit if it was acceptable to clap and yell. I did it anyway. Willow joined me, followed by Linc’s grandparents. I swore I could see him blushing from here. He gave me a stern look after a moment, so I decided to give him a break and shut up.

The professors apparently needed a minute to talk to him. That or we’d pissed them off. Regardless, we all filed out and waited in the hallway. I didn’t feel the slightest bit nervous for him. He was everything they needed in the program .

After too damn long, the door opened. I lunged forward and wrapped my arms around his neck. He laughed and tucked his face into my shoulder.

Something made a squishing sound and he pulled back abruptly. Willow grimaced, but it looked like she was going to throw another tomato.

Linc looked at me. “Really?”

I shrugged. “I did warn you. Don’t tell me that you underestimated me.”

He scoffed before he hugged his grandma. She was still misty-eyed. Even his grandpa looked emotional, although he wouldn’t dare to admit it. He was that old, gruff type of man, but it was clear that he loved Linc to death.

“You made it come alive again,” Mary said.

He smiled. “I want to keep it alive forever. Oh, if you were wondering, they loved it and want me to join the program in the fall.”

“None of us were ever worried about that, honey. We just wanted to experience you playing it up there.”

“Okay, we can leave now. It’s getting too heavy in here.”

“Can we get something to eat?” I asked.

“Since you’ll get hangry if we don’t, yeah. Let’s get something to eat. Chocolate cake and all.”

*****

“Nervous?” I asked, flashing Sen a smile.

He definitely looked like it. I wasn’t sure why. This was like some weird, possibly somewhat fucked up reunion. Maybe it’d be a trauma dump. The possibilities were endless.

“He might not even remember me,” Sen said. “He most likely doesn’t.”

“You’re the reason he got in trouble at gay camp. You and your irresistible little self.”

He tensed at the mention of it. With a sigh, I threw an arm over his shoulder and guided him down the steps. During the entire game, he’d been internally freaking out. No matter what me or Kai said, he was a nervous wreck.

I was surprised his boyfriend even left him with me. He wanted to talk to Travis first because he was a bit of a control freak. I was sure he wanted to protect him, especially his emotions. Still, he was a monster.

When we made it downstairs, Linc came toward us. He was carrying a giant hot dog, which he passed to me. I immediately stuffed half of it in my mouth. He licked his lips, probably thinking unholy thoughts about my ass or something.

“You need Jesus,” I said.

He came up to my other side and wrapped his arm around my waist. As a weird little trio, we continued toward the room the team apparently chilled in after the game. Kai was waiting outside and when he saw us, he immediately tugged Sen closer.

“We don’t have to do this,” Sen muttered. “It’s pointless.”

“You’re the one who’s been talking about it,” he pointed out.

“Fine, whatever.”

Kai chuckled and led us into the room. I recognized Travis from his social media videos. He was a big dude, probably about my height with broad shoulders and biceps that were droolworthy. From his place on the couch, he watched us approach and cocked his head.

“Your boyfriend said you’re a fan,” he noted. “He’s a bit… pushy.”

Sen grimaced. “Sorry.”

Travis waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t be. I like meeting people.”

“We’ve actually met before.”

“You do seem sort of familiar. What’s your name?”

“Sen.”

“Sen…” His eyes widened. “Dumont.”

Immediately, Sen’s shoulders rose. Travis must’ve noticed his reaction because he got to his feet and moved toward us. There was something in his eyes, restrained, but it reminded me of what I’d seen from Sen.

After a moment, Travis smiled. “You two make a beautiful couple. I’m glad you got out of all that.”

“It wasn’t easy.”

“Did you… go back?”

“Two more summers.”

“Jesus. I’m sorry, man. I wish we could’ve kept in touch. It might not have changed what you had to go through, but still. You know, I wondered about you for a long time.” His eyes shifted to the side before coming back to him .

“Really?” Sen relaxed a little. “I actually thought you were dead.”

Travis laughed. “Dead? Why?”

“That’s what they said at camp. That you killed yourself in the bathroom.”

“My god. That’s… horrible. I wish I could say I’m surprised, but places like that have done worse than make shit up to scare kids. I’ve heard too many stories from people who reach out to me online, ones who know people who’ve actually committed suicide because of harmful people like the ones at Dumont. It’s reprehensible and makes me sick that you had to live with that memory.”

“Yeah, but I’m really glad that you’re okay, that you’re here. I hope you and your dad have figured things out.”

“We have a good relationship now. What about your parents?” Sen looked down at his feet and Kai tightened his arm around him. Travis’ eyes softened. “I’m sorry, man. Look, we’re not heading back to Atlanta until tomorrow. Are you guys free to hang out with the rest of the team? I’d love to catch up.”

My mouth dropped open. “You’re inviting us to spend time with the Atlanta Braves?”

“Yeah, why not? Sorry, I didn’t get your guys’ names.”

“I’m West. This is Linc.”

“Cool. Are you guys together?”

I wrinkled my nose. “I’m not gay.” His confused expression made me grin. “Well, only for him. Maybe Kai if he’d have me, but he only gets wet for Sen.”

Linc groaned. “It’s best to ignore him. He just likes to hear himself talk.”

I gasped and put a hand on my chest. “Just because it’s true doesn’t mean it isn’t offensive.”

“You’ll get over it.”

“You’re a hoe. I’ll beat you in another duel.”

“You didn’t beat me.”

“Prove it.”

He shot Kai an exasperated look. He just shrugged and started talking to Travis. I watched them all exchange numbers and wondered if they’d become besties .

After sticking my tongue out at Linc, I headed over to the table I’d seen as soon as we walked in. It was loaded with food and I was starving.

“You just demolished that hot dog,” my oh-so-overbearing boyfriend said.

“I’m a grown man. Five thousand calories per day is the absolute minimum. Oh, shit. They have pinwheels. Love those fucking things.”

It looked like I was embarrassing him. Good. He got himself into this mess. I wouldn’t be West Densmore if I didn’t consistently test his feelings for me by being the biggest pest ever. Not a cockroach, though. Absolutely not.