Rumor Has It (Longwood U)

Chapter 28

CHAPTER 28

DAK

I rub my hand over my eyes as I fall onto my bed, leaving my textbook on my desk. I have one more final. Just one. Bright and fucking early tomorrow morning. But I think my eyes are bleeding and I’m going to have a permanent kink in my neck and curve of my spine from leaning over my damn books for so long.

Sometimes I wish there was magic in the world. Not for cheating, but so I could lay on my bed and have my textbook float over my head. Also to turn the pages exactly when I’m ready. Oh, and to give me just the right amount of light on the pages without a glare. There’s nothing more frustrating and tiring than holding a heavy book over your head to try to read. I’ve also nearly poked an eye out more than once when I’ve dropped it on my face.

My bedroom door opens and Ezlo steps inside, looking exhausted. The door shuts behind him as he simultaneously kicks off his shoes, drops his bag, and pulls his hoodie over his head. Then he’s climbing in my bed with me, draping himself half on top of me.

Grinning, I wrap my arm around him and scratch his head with my fingers. “You okay?”

“Tired. Need a cuddle.”

I nod. “Last final, right? You’re done?”

He hums, nodding a little.

“Think you did okay?”

“Yep. ”

“Registered for your summer classes?”

“Yes, Dad.”

I laugh. “When do they begin?”

Ezlo sighs. “Few weeks.”

“Any plans until then? You staying on campus for class?”

He picks up his head to look at me. “Why the twenty questions?”

“We haven’t caught up in a while. I feel like I have no idea what your plans are.”

He hums again. After a minute of studying me, he lays back down. “No plans. Probably going home. Yes, I’m staying on campus for classes. Yes, I have all my books and supplies. I’ll be packing my shit and storing it at Lennox’s until I can move back in since he’s paid his rent through June. Anything else?”

“No. You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah.” He sighs. A moment of silence passes between us before he says, “My parents are going to be here in an hour. Want to come to dinner with us?”

“You haven’t told them you need to take summer courses for your new plan, have you?”

I can feel his grin. “I haven’t. I don’t think they’re going to care, but I’d still like for you to join us.”

“Yep, I’d love to see them.”

“Cool. Now… your turn.”

“Sure. But for what?”

“Your plans this summer. Where are you going to live next fall? Are you fucking Sparrow?”

I wince and once again, I can feel his grin. “I don’t have any solid plans for the summer. I’ve completely focused on finals, so haven’t thought about it much yet. My brain can only take so much pressure. I don’t know where I’m going to live next fall, but I’ve put my name on the list for a studio or one-bedroom at the student apartments instead of dorms on campus. And… yes.”

“I thought so. Thanks for telling me.”

Sighing, I squeeze him a little more. “I’m sorry, but I wasn’t really keeping it from you. I just didn’t want to talk about it yet.”

He nods. “That’s fine.”

There’s tension in his shoulders and while this is an awkward angle, I try to rub them. “I’m going to ask again—are you okay, Ezzy?”

“Yes, Dak. I’m fine. I’m tired and still a bit stressed from finals.” He pauses. “And yes, I’m a little nervous about telling my parents I’ve changed my major and have to take a few classes this summer. But they’re still going to let me walk. I would definitely have told them if I wouldn’t be because this would’ve been a waste of a trip for them.”

“They’re here to see you. It’s not a waste of a trip. They’re going to be really proud of you.”

He snorts.

“They will be. I’m super proud of you. Since you’ve decided on coaching, you’ve been really excited. Not to mention, you’re a fantastic student. I’ve seen your grades. You work hard. I’m big proud.”

Ezlo laughs. “Thanks, Dak. I’m proud of you too.”

“For what? I still have another year.”

“Because you learned a lot from your parents.”

I nod, trying to understand what he’s saying. “Okay… good…”

He laughs again. “Sparrow has a dick in his pants, right?”

“Ah. Yes.”

“And that didn’t make you dismiss him like it did every guy I inadvertently tried to set you up with.”

“I wasn’t dismissing them based on their gender.”

“You 100% were. As soon as you saw they were guys, you had already shut down the possibility of anything happening between you. And why, Dak?”

I chew the inside of my lip. Honestly, I can’t say it any other way. “Okay, fine. Yes, their gender.”

Ezlo glances up with a sly smile.

“I’m not like, blindly just… I really hadn’t ever been attracted to a man before. It wasn’t a conscious decision. That’s just how I’d felt my entire life. So, I suppose that yes, you setting me up with men just had me knee-jerk reacting that it wasn’t my scene.”

“For the record, I didn’t do it intentionally. I wasn’t trying to make you give dick a try.”

“I know. I’ve known you long enough to know that. It took me nearly the entire school year to explain to you that you need to identify their gender first. Honestly, it was as comical as it was refreshing.”

“It’s really difficult for me to see people as their gender first,” Ezlo says. “To me, nothing is inherently male or female.”

“Except sex organs.”

“No. That’s the vessel you’re born into. For some people, that doesn’t define their gender either.”

“Mmm. I guess I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

“The world can be so black and white, but I don’t see in black and white. I don’t even see in grayscale. I see in technicolor. Everyone is a rainbow and none of those colors are gender specific.”

“Something that society also disagrees with,” I muse.

Ezlo shrugs. “Anyway, I’m proud of you because you didn’t look at Sparrow’s gender and immediately dismiss him. I wish Lennox would be like you.”

I shift a little and wrap both my arms around him to hug him tightly. “You’re really hung up on him, aren’t you?”

He sighs, and while I think he’s trying to make light of it, I can feel how sad he is. “Yeah,” he admits. “I’m really trying not to be because I don’t want to make him uncomfortable or pressure him but… yeah. I haven’t stopped wanting him since we met four years ago.”

I kiss his head. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. We’ll go our separate ways and I’ll get over him. It just sucks, you know?”

“Yes.”

He takes a deep breath and releases it slowly. I hug him for a long time and wonder if maybe this is what’s making him so un-Ezlo lately. I chalked it up to finals, but maybe he’s finally come to terms with the fact that Lennox just isn’t into him like he is Lennox.

More than anything, I wish I had some words of wisdom. Some encouragement or comfort. Or maybe even someone I could blindly set him up with. Not going to lie—I’ve kept myself entertained with Ezlo since I began at Longwood. When I wasn’t with Ezlo, I was talking to Edin more as my fear for him just kept growing.

I’m not outgoing like Ezlo or my Pops. I definitely have more of a quiet, reserved personality like my Otec or Dad. I don’t tend to make friends easily and if my first three years of college are anything to go by, I clearly have no interest in making new friends when I have access to my current friends.

So yeah, all I can offer Ezlo is the cuddle he asked for. I have no words of wisdom. I’m by no means an expert in relationships. While Sparrow isn’t my first, he’s the first I’ve felt that I really, truly love. Not that I’ve told him that. He didn’t say the words, but it sounded like he was talking himself out of a relationship, just by what he said following calling me his boyfriend to his friends.

Maybe that should have been a red flag instead of me just going along with it. But I believe his apologies and promises not to hurt me. Besides, he was right when he said we’ve pretty much been in a relationship since the first time we fucked, and it definitely progressed into something beyond sex.

It was the label I was asking for and the acknowledgement of wanting to be something more that forced Sparrow to think about it. Had I not asked for it, probably nothing would have changed. We’d still be progressing in our relationship just as we are.

But there’s a sense of relief in knowing he feels something for me beyond just enjoying my presence and body. That’s what I’d been seeking when I asked him to be my boyfriend. I want his companionship. I want his emotions.

Ezlo’s phone pings in his pocket. He shifts on me so he can reach it and I watch as he clicks it on. “They’re heading to the restaurant. Ready?”

I nod. “My parents are going to be jealous that I’m seeing your parents before them.”

He grins as he gets up. “Yep. Dad will make sure they know that too. Probably post a picture of us at dinner together.”

Laughing, we crawl off my bed and change into something more appropriate for a restaurant. I send Sparrow a text letting him know I’m going with Ezlo and his parents to dinner and he send one telling me I can come over after if I want to.

Obviously, I want to.

Stephen is sitting on the couch when we leave our room. He looks up and I think we’re both expecting him to scowl at us and turn back to his phone. So I’m surprised when he actually speaks.

“Do you have housing lined up for next year? ”

Since I know he can only be talking to me, I shrug. “My name is on a couple lists, but I may just get an apartment in town.”

“Want to room together again?”

I stare at him. He’s going to burst out laughing, right? Tell me he’s joking.

“You’re not serious,” Ezlo mutters in disbelief.

Stephen rolls his eyes, but his attention remains on me.

“No,” I deadpan. “Why would you even ask?”

“Because we get along pretty well and it’s familiar,” he says, shrugging.

“Stephen, you’re a miserable fucking person to be around. I spent more time out of my dorm than in it this year simply to stay away from you because you made this place so inhospitable to be in. You’re a self-righteous dick and I absolutely do not want to room with you next year. In fact, I don’t want to ever see you again.”

He has the nerve to look offended. Taking Ezlo’s wrist, I pull him through the door and slam it shut behind me. “His fucking audacity.”

“You know what he said to me yesterday?” Ezlo asks. “He told me I shouldn’t go to the LGBTQIA+ meetup on campus because I’m not really gay. I fuck girls, so I don’t belong there.”

“Disgusting,” I mutter, shaking my head. “Honestly, what the fuck happened to him?”

Ezlo shakes his head. “He’s just as toxic to our community as homophobes. If anything, he should be barred from meet ups. He’s not the energy that’s needed there.”

I nod.

The restaurant we’re meeting at is apparently just off campus, about a mile down the road. It’s one that I’ve gone to several times when my parents visit as well. We arrive just as Ezlo’s fathers pull up.

Deryke isn’t your typical beast of a hockey goalie, but he’s a big guy. Somehow, I think he’s gotten even bigger since he retired. Not that I knew him when he was playing. Both he and Max retired shortly after Ezlo was born.

Max is shorter by several inches and definitely smaller in frame. Which served him well because he was an epic player. I’ve heard Max referred to as fine wine—he got better with age as his hockey career progressed.

Ezlo is a lot like Max. They’re similarly loud and filled with smiles. Outgoing with a controlled kind of recklessness. There’s a glint in his eyes when something is a special kind of crazy that Ezlo is prepared to take on.

Once they greet their son, both men give me a hug too.

“So what’s the news?” Max asks.

Ezlo’s eyebrows knit together. “What?”

“When you bring Dak along, you’re nervous to tell us something. So what is it?”

I chuckle and wrap an arm around Ezlo’s waist, offering him my support. I can feel how anxious he is.

“I’ve decided on a career,” Ezlo admits, glancing down to the sidewalk. “I want to coach hockey.”

“That’s awesome,” Max says with his usual wide smile.

“Why does that make you nervous?” Deryke asks.

“Because it means I need to take some classes this summer that are specific to coaching,” Ezlo says, then hurriedly follows it with, “They’re still going to let me walk next week, though. I’m still going to graduate. I just won’t get my degree until my classes are complete. So you didn’t waste the trip out here.”

Max’s smile falls. He yanks Ezlo to him and hugs him tightly. “Ridiculous child,” he mutters. “Seeing you is never a waste of a trip. You’re lucky we didn’t move out here to be close to you.”

Ezlo hugs him tightly, and I smile. Didn’t I just say that they’d be happy to be here to see him, regardless of the reason? I think I did.

Deryke rests his hand on the back of Ezlo’s head and then kisses his temple. “We’re happy to spend this week with you, whether you walk or not, Ez. We’re very proud of what you’ve accomplished.”

Ezlo relaxes. “Thanks. I know you’re disappointed I didn’t continue hockey. I’m sorry I let you down. While I do love hockey and I want to continue to be involved with hockey, I just don’t want to play professionally.”

Max meets my eyes, and he’s still looking at me when he says, “We’re not at all disappointed in you for making a choice that’s all your own. All we want is for our son to be happy in whatever he chooses. Nothing you could do would let us down. ”

I know his words weren’t for me, but I also know he included me in them as if it were my fathers speaking to me. Deryke wraps an arm around my shoulders and pulls me close so I’m included in their hug.

“We should have done better to make sure you understood that,” Deryke says. “There’s a special kind of pressure on your generation—the kids of professional athletes who play the sport of their parents—that I do not envy. But believe us now. We are very proud of you. Of your studies and the things you’ve accomplished. The man you’ve become.”

“You will do great things,” Max adds. He raises his hand to the back of my head. “Both of you will do great things. And we will support you through every single decision you make.”

I close my eyes and lean my head against Ezlo’s. “Thanks,” I whisper. These words might not be coming from my parents, but I heard them in their voices all the same.

I need to call them again. But maybe I should have a plan for this summer first. I know they’re going to ask.

That means I need to ball up and talk to Sparrow.