Home and Away E-Book

Ariel Tachna

• Herausgeber: Dreamspinner Press
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 309

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

Lexington Lovers Taking their shot at love. University of Kentucky senior Kit Parkins has his life planned out. He'll graduate, get a good job, find a better apartment, meet the guy of his dreams, and settle down to a happy life near his brother and uncles, the only family he has left. But meeting Lincoln Joyner, UK's star basketball player, calls all his priorities into question. Like Kit, Linc knows exactly where life is taking him: to the NBA and as far away from his hardscrabble childhood as possible. There's just one problem. He falls in love with Kit, who can't imagine life anywhere but in Lexington. Can they find a way to keep their relationship going without giving up on their dreams?

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Blurb

Sneak Peek

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Epilogue

By Ariel Tachna

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Copyright

Home and Away

By Ariel Tachna

Lexington Lovers

Taking their shot at love.

University of Kentucky senior Kit Parkins has his life planned out. He’ll graduate, get a good job, find a better apartment, meet the guy of his dreams, and settle down to a happy life near his brother and uncles, the only family he has left. But meeting Lincoln Joyner, UK’s star basketball player, calls all his priorities into question.

Like Kit, Linc knows exactly where life is taking him: to the NBA and as far away from his hardscrabble childhood as possible. There’s just one problem. He falls in love with Kit, who can’t imagine life anywhere but in Lexington.

Can they find a way to keep their relationship going without giving up on their dreams?

“Kiss me properly,” Kit demanded.

“I am. Momma always says to savor the good things in life. I’m savoring you.” The smile he gave Kit was so tender Kit felt himself melting into it.

Chapter One

WHOEVER invented ties deserved to be shot.

Kit Parkins tossed his backpack on the floor next to his desk, pulled off the tie currently strangling him, and rolled up the sleeves of the button-down shirt he was required to wear for his internship at Alltech. He loved the work—trying to increase sustainability in agriculture in both Kentucky and the world—and the internship would give him an in for a job after he graduated, but he didn’t think he’d ever get used to the dress code.

As comfortable as he could get without going home to change clothes, he flipped open the appointment book for the tutoring center, where he was doing his work-study, and checked to see if anyone had signed up for today. It had been fairly quiet the first few weeks of the semester, but now that professors were getting into more complicated material, he expected a flood of freshmen needing help with organic chemistry or Biology 101. He might get a few upperclassmen taking physical chemistry, but usually if they went that far, they were chem majors and didn’t need the kind of remedial help the tutoring center offered.

He skimmed past the first three names, all unfamiliar, all needing help with Bio 101, but his gaze ground to a stop at the fourth name.

Lincoln Joyner.

Kit swallowed hard. Everyone at University of Kentucky knew that name. Not knowing it would be like not knowing Michael Jordan or… or… Queen Elizabeth or the President. The senior center basketball star everyone said was UK’s ticket to their next NCAA championship and a shoo-in for a number-one NBA draft pick. And he was on Kit’s tutoring schedule for intro to physics.

Oh, and he’d rocked the old-guard basketball world last spring when he came out. As if Kit needed another reason to like the guy. Every brother in his Delta Lambda Phi chapter already gave him shit over his celebrity crush. Finding out Lincoln was gay only made it worse because now, in theory, Kit might have a chance. Not in reality. Kit wasn’t delusional, no matter what Phillip and Ephah said, but just knowing Lincoln had the courage to stare down the people who’d tried to discredit him with accusations of being gay, and had instead come out looking like the bigger man, had earned him so much respect in Kit’s book.

And in little over an hour, Lincoln would walk in that door, looking at Kit for help.

Son of a sea cook, as Uncle Owen would say. Kit was so screwed.

Get it together, he ordered silently. No matter what else, you have a job to do.

With that admonition firmly in mind, he pulled out his Bio 101 materials and got ready for his first appointment.

BY the time Kit’s second appointment left, he had settled into the routine, lulled by the familiarity of basic biology and common misunderstandings. He’d helped enough students over the past three years that he could probably teach it in his sleep. He glanced at his watch and checked to see if his third appointment had arrived yet, but the reception area was empty. Normally he liked having a break between sessions, because three or four hours of tutoring without one was exhausting—there was a reason he didn’t want to be a teacher—but today he needed something to keep him from dwelling on Lincoln. He waited another five minutes, but no one came in, so he wrote the session off as a no-show and pulled out his P-chem textbook. He’d use the time to study for his own lab exam. He tried to lose himself in quantum mechanics, but it didn’t hold his interest the way it usually did, not surprisingly, given the combination of Lincoln’s presence looming and the breakthrough they’d had in the lab at Alltech that morning. If it panned out the way they hoped, they’d be able to increase the size of the algae ponds where they developed biofuel and more. Even better, his supervisor had assured him that his part in the process would almost guarantee him a job at Alltech, if he wanted one, when he graduated.

Like he’d turn it down. A job at a company he believed in, working to reduce the carbon footprint of numerous industries, while still letting him stay in town so he wouldn’t have to worry about losing touch with his friends like he had with so many who had moved away? It was all his dreams coming true at once.

He thought wistfully of his mother and wished she were here to see all her hard work in rearing him paying off, but cancer had stolen her away seven years ago. He liked to think she’d be proud of the man he was becoming.

“Hey, Kit.”

Kit looked up to see Rosalie Yeats, one of the English and writing tutors—no, being an English tutor doesn’t automatically make me related to William Butler Yeats—signing in for her shift. She’d be a much better distraction than P-chem since he couldn’t focus on it anyway.

“Hi, Rosalie. Busy shift?”

“You know it. First papers in all the English 101 and intro to lit classes. I’ve actually got a wait list of people to call if I have a no-show.”

“Wow, and I thought I was busy.”

“You don’t look busy to me,” she teased.

“No-show. But I have another appointment in about fifteen minutes,” Kit replied.

“Basic biology?”

“No, intro to physics this time.” Kit pushed down the butterflies in his stomach at the thought of who was coming in. Don’t make a fool of yourself. Don’t make a fool of yourself. Don’t make a fool of yourself.

“A change is as good as a rest,” Rosalie quipped with a grin. “If I have to read one more paper on Wuthering Heights, I’ll scream.”

“Tell me about it. There are only so many times I can explain photosynthesis without starting to roll my eyes. I remind myself I’m explaining it to the person in front of me for the first time, but that only goes so far.”

The door to the tutoring center swung open on squeaky hinges. They both looked up to see who had arrived. To Kit’s relief, it was Rosalie’s appointment. Kit wasn’t sure what he’d have done if it was Lincoln. He wasn’t supposed to start a session early, although they usually did because not starting early meant making small talk with the other person. A full-body shiver racked Kit at the thought of making small talk with the object of his crush. He wasn’t usually at a loss for words, but he couldn’t guarantee his ability to form a coherent sentence in this case.

He went back to his P-chem textbook and his wandering thoughts until the squeak of the hinges announced another arrival. Given that he and Rosalie were the only two working today, it was either Lincoln or a walk-in. Was it wrong to hope for a walk-in?

He pasted on his best welcoming smile and looked up… and up… and up. He knew all Lincoln’s statistics. He’d just never been face-to-face with six feet eight, two hundred twenty pounds before. He stood quickly, because it hurt his neck to do otherwise, and tried not to look like a complete fool.

“Hello,” Lincoln said. “I have a tutoring session scheduled.”

Kit cleared his throat and tried to get his brain back in gear. “Ye—” His voice cracked, and he rolled his eyes at himself. “Yeah. I’m Kit. I’m the physics tutor.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Linc.”

Linc offered his hand. Kit silenced the squee that wanted to erupt at being invited to use Linc’s nickname as he shook Linc’s hand, surprised at his warmth despite the cold temperatures outside. Linc’s teammates used his nickname all the time when talking about him to the press, but Linc always corrected the reporters if they did. Professional, Kit reminded himself. He’s here because he needs your help. “Nice to meet you too. Have a seat and we can get started.”

Linc took the seat next to Kit and pulled out his physics textbook. Even seated, he towered over Kit, but not as badly. Kit set his hand on the book and turned to Linc with what he hoped was a friendly expression rather than obvious hero worship. “Before we open the book, tell me about what you’re studying and what you need from me. Because intro to physics is a pretty broad subject.”

Linc grimaced. “We’re studying vectors and force and mass, and it just all goes over my head. So far I’ve managed to get the regular assignments and the labs done, but I have my notes and the book for that. None of it sticks in my head, and if I fail this class, I’ll be ineligible for the NCAA tournament my senior year. Not exactly the way to get the attention of the NBA scouts.”

“Does it not make sense, or are you having trouble remembering the rules?” Kit asked, his hero worship giving way to his experience as a tutor. Linc had a problem, and Kit could help fix it. He hadn’t come in with an attitude like some athletes Kit had worked with in the past. Instead he’d come in admitting his problem and asking for help. If anything, it made him even more attractive in Kit’s eyes.

“Some of both,” Linc said. “I know the stereotypes about jocks, and yeah, I’m just a guy from the country, but I’m not stupid. I just… don’t get physics.”

“Is there a reason you took physics instead of biology?”

“Timing mostly,” Linc said. “The bio labs conflicted with practice and games too often. And since science was going to be a struggle no matter which one I chose, I picked the one where I’d have to miss the fewest classes.”

It made sense, in an athlete sort of way. Kit took a deep breath, catching a whiff of Linc’s cologne. He didn’t recognize the spicy scent, but he liked it.

Stop, he ordered himself. Physics, not flirting.

He refocused his attention on the textbook and the problem of helping Linc. He might wish Linc had come in sooner, but they still had a few weeks until midterms. “Let’s get started, then.”

LINC set down his pencil at the end of the half-hour tutoring session and leaned back in his chair, the low back hitting low enough to be uncomfortable. “I don’t know how to thank you. I think this is the first time physics has ever made sense to me.”

Kit’s smile lit up his entire face, making Linc smile in return. He knew better than to hope Kit was gay, and even if he was, he wouldn’t be interested in Linc. As brilliant as Kit was, he’d want someone as smart as him, someone he could talk science with, because after just half an hour, Linc could tell how passionate Kit was about it. It was a good look on him.

Chill, man. Don’t scare him off. You still need his help.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Kit said. “Our professors are brilliant, but that doesn’t always make them good teachers.”

“There’s still a lot to cover, though. If I sign up for another session, can I request you as my tutor?”

To Linc’s surprise, Kit colored slightly at the question, but his smile widened as he replied, “You can do that, or we can schedule another session now. I have office hours, for lack of a better word, at set times during the week for people who want to come in for a quick review, but I can also schedule extra hours with people who need regular help. We can meet any time we’re both free, and as long as we log the hours, we don’t even have to meet here. We can meet at the library or the student union or a bar off campus. We just have to get the work done.”

“A bar probably isn’t the best place to study,” Linc said with a laugh, although the idea of going out to a bar with Kit held quite a lot of appeal. “For one thing, I get a lot of attention when I go out places, and I wouldn’t want our study session interrupted.”

“It was more an example than a suggestion.” Kit flushed again and squirmed a bit in his seat. “I tend to get carried away.”

I wonder if that carries over into everything. The thought caught him by surprise. He’d been focusing so hard on physics that he’d pushed everything else aside, but his subconscious wasn’t as biddable as his conscious mind. He’d have to keep that in check or he’d end up back in academic trouble. “I’m fine with meeting here. It’s quiet and reasonably comfortable. We can always move somewhere else later if we want. Do you have any time tomorrow?”

Linc didn’t want to seem desperate, but he really was.

“You’re that worried about your exam?”

“Yeah. Coach is pretty strict about our grades, and I need this class to graduate. Gentlemen first, scholars second, athletes third. That’s his mantra. Momma took care of the gentleman part, but until today I was about to give up on the scholar part.”

Kit pulled his backpack onto his lap and rummaged in it for a minute. The fraternity logo embroidered on it caught Linc’s eye. Delta Lambda Phi. Linc hadn’t had the time to consider joining a fraternity, with all the hours he spent on the basketball court, but after he came out, the Delta Lambda Phi brothers had taken to painting their letters on one cheek and Linc’s jersey number on the other during games. Appreciative of their support, he’d donated signed game balls and other memorabilia to their charity auctions for Lexington Fairness and Pride Community Services Organization. Kit hadn’t pinged on Linc’s gaydar as they were going over his physics, but by reputation, at least, all the members of Delta Lambda Phi were gay or bi. Now that he knew, Linc took advantage of Kit’s focus on his bag to look at him more closely. A little over average height, brown hair, laughing green eyes, a smile that invited collusion, muscular without being bulky—a runner, not a football player—and enough brains and compassion to pound physics through Linc’s uncooperative skull. Of course none of that made him single or interested, but it made for damn good eye candy.

“Found it,” Kit said, punching at his cell phone. “Okay, I have class tomorrow morning and a fraternity function starting at six, but I’m free all afternoon if you are.”

“I have physics until two. Would two fifteen work for you?”

Kit tapped on his phone for a minute. “I have it on my calendar. I’ll meet you here at two fifteen, and we can work as long as you can stand since I won’t have another appointment after you. Or we can just say half an hour if you think more will be overwhelming.”

Not if you explain things as well tomorrow as you did today.Assuming I can keep my dick in check and focus on physics. “How ’bout we start with an hour and see how things are going? I have practice tomorrow morning early, but a group of us usually get together around four to lift. I can miss it if I have to—it’s not a requirement—but after that much time thinking about physics, I’ll need to blow off steam.”

Kit laughed, a warm, understanding sound that made Linc want to hear it again. “That works for me. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He stood and offered Linc his hand. Linc rose as well and shook Kit’s hand, noticing automatically that Kit came to just a little above his shoulder. He pushed the thought away. He needed to learn from Kit, not fantasize about him. Nothing could get in the way of being eligible for the NCAA tournament and the NBA draft. “See you tomorrow.”

He grabbed his bag and left the tutoring center, believing for the first time all semester that he might actually pass physics. For that alone, he’d never be able to thank Kit enough.

Chapter Two

KIT let himself into the apartment he shared with his brother, Phillip, and their sort-of cousin, Ephah, hoping neither of their girlfriends had come over for the evening. It was Ephah’s turn to cook, not Kit’s, so his chances were good. If Marisol and Zoe knew Kit was cooking, they almost always stayed for dinner. He liked both women, but tonight he just wanted a beer, a bite of whatever Ephah had thrown together after work, and the comfortable familiarity of Phillip’s and Ephah’s presence. They’d give him hell when he told them about his tutoring session, but even that wouldn’t require anything of him. He could give as good as he got without thought, as long as he didn’t have to watch his mouth. Uncle Blake would have his head if he let go in front of their girlfriends that way. He toed off his shoes and left them on the rack next to Phillip’s and Ephah’s work boots, a habit that lingered from living with Uncle Blake.

No women’s shoes. Good.

“I’m home,” he called toward the kitchen as he traipsed through the living room on his way to his bedroom. He tossed his backpack on the bed and stripped out of his clothes. Sweats were the order of the evening for sure.

“Hey, Kit.” Phillip stuck his head in the door. “How was your day?”

“Work was great, and tutoring was even better,” Kit replied, not hiding his grin at the memory of Linc. Phillip would listen if Kit talked about work, but the details would leave him with glazed eyes, so Kit would keep that part to himself for now. Maybe he’d tell Uncle Blake about it on Sunday.

“That’s not your usual answer.” Phillip flopped down on Kit’s bed. “Spill.”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

Phillip rolled his eyes. “Only if you’re going to tell me you ended up tutoring Lincoln Joyner.”

Kit spluttered with laughter. “Actually….”

Phillip’s eyes narrowed as he tried to bore through Kit with his gaze. “You’re shitting me.”

“Nope. He was on my schedule when I got there, so I tutored him in physics today. Oh, and he prefers to be called Linc.”

“You… met Lincoln Joyner… at the tutoring center today. On a scale of one to Phil ‘I watched you while you were sleeping’ Coulson, how big of a fool did you make of yourself?” Phillip demanded.

“Zero,” Kit replied. “I was perfectly professional.”

Phillip snorted. “Yeah, right.”

“Are you two coming to eat?” Ephah called from the other room.

“We’re not done,” Phillip warned as he stood up, poked Kit in the chest, and headed toward the kitchen.

“Of course we’re not.” Kit rolled his eyes and followed as Phillip grabbed a plate and served himself. Kit got one as well.

“Kit claims he tutored Lincoln—call me Linc—Joyner today and didn’t make a fool of himself,” Phillip told Ephah as he sat.

“Oh for Chrissake, Phillip, it’s not a big deal,” Kit exclaimed. “He came in for tutoring, and I helped him.”

“Uh-huh,” Ephah said. He fluttered his eyelashes and continued in a falsetto, “He’s so dreamy. And he’s gay. He came out on national television. He’s my hero.”

“Fuck you. I’m not that bad.”

Ephah laughed. “Not quite, but you’re pretty ridiculous when you get going about him. Did he live up to your expectations?”

Kit took a bite of the meatloaf Ephah had prepared and considered the question.

“Is the sky blue?” Phillip asked before Kit could respond. He grunted, making Kit grin. Ephah had kicked him under the table.

“I don’t think it’s a question of living up to my expectations,” Kit said slowly, going back to Ephah’s question. He’d been asking himself the same thing since Linc left. “Or maybe it’s that my only expectations were that he was a nice guy. I mean, he’s attractive, but that’s not going to change from seeing him on TV to seeing him in real life, so that wasn’t an expectation. He’s always been humble in interviews, insisting everything the Cats do is a team effort and he’s just playing his part, so I wasn’t surprised he’d ask for help when he needed it. And I do know how to help people with science. It’s kind of my thing, so that part was easy. And it’s not like I ever expected to get to know him beyond maybe getting his autograph, so I didn’t have real expectations of what he’d be like beyond that.”

Linc had been so grateful, which made Kit feel really good, but he wasn’t about to tell them that. Linc wasn’t just a celebrity anymore. He was a person now, in Kit’s mind, not some unreachable hero who would never know Kit existed.

“What is he like?” Ephah asked. He might not be enrolled at UK, but he was every bit as much of a Cats fan as any student on campus.

“Genuine,” Kit said. “He’s the real deal, you know? He introduced himself like I might not already know who he was, and he didn’t make any big deal of his stardom beyond saying he had to pass in order to play, but that’s true for any athlete. You’ve heard me complain about the athletes acting like they’re doing us a favor by being there, even though they’re the ones who need our help, but Linc wasn’t like that at all.” And that made him even more attractive, but he kept that observation to himself. Ephah and Phillip might not care Kit was bi, but they didn’t share his interest in men, so he tried not to rhapsodize over men’s bodies in their hearing too often.

“I can see it now. We’ll all be in the nursing home, and Kit will still be telling the story of how he once tutored the great Linc Joyner. It’ll be his claim to fame,” Phillip said.

“Not just once,” Kit replied without thinking.

“What?” Ephah asked.

“He made another appointment for tomorrow.” Him and his big mouth. “He said what we went over today finally made sense, so could I go over the rest of it with him too.”

“Kit’s got a date with the hottest guy on the basketball team,” Phillip crowed.

“It’s not a date. It’s a tutoring session, asshole.”

“To-may-to, to-mah-to,” Phillip retorted.

Kit flipped Phillip the bird and focused on his meatloaf. See if I tell him anything else. Asshole.

LINC sat on the locker room bench to pull off his shoes after morning practice when a basketball bounced off the back of his head.

“Hey!” He twisted around to see who had hit him. His best friend was leaning against the row of lockers. “What the hell, Pete?”

“What the hell me? What the hell you? I ain’t seen you that distracted in practice since we were freshmen.” Pete crossed the room to join Linc on the bench. “You got something on your mind?”

“Just my physics exam,” Linc said.

“How’s that going?” Pete asked with a sympathetic wince. He’d gotten his science requirement out of the way as a freshman, the bastard.

“Not as bad as I thought it would. The tutor yesterday was actually helpful. I’m meeting him after class to see what else he can beat into my head.”

“Is he cute?” Pete bumped their shoulders together with a wicked grin.

Linc had never been so grateful that his darker skin hid a blush the way Pete’s paler complexion couldn’t. “It wouldn’t matter if he was Cardinal red, had two heads and a tail. He can explain physics.” If Kit hit all Linc’s buttons, well, that really was a side issue.

“I don’t know, if he were Cardinal red, he’d never make it onto campus.”

Linc laughed, as Pete had intended, because if Kit had skin the color of their archrival University of Louisville, Pete was right, he wouldn’t have made it far on campus. Since he didn’t, though…. “Not the point and you know it.”

“Yeah, but I also know you’re more distracted than you were yesterday, after your successful tutoring session. What gives?”

Linc debated what to say, but Pete had been the first person on campus he’d come out to and the one who’d convinced him the rest of the team wouldn’t care. He’d stood at Linc’s shoulder when Linc came out to the team and when he came out to the public a year later. If he could tell anyone about Kit, it was Pete.

“The tutor—Kit—really was helpful with physics, and that’s the most important thing right now, but….”

“But?” Pete prompted.

“Gimme a minute, will ya? This ain’t the easiest thing to talk about.” He took a deep breath and tried to put some order to his thoughts. “Guys like us, we’re all flash and show, you know? Sure, we bring visibility to the school and people like us for it, but nobody expects us to be deep. Kit’s smart. He might never get the name recognition we will, but he’ll do something worthwhile with his life. He’ll make a difference.”

“You made a damn big difference when you came out last year,” Pete said.

Linc shrugged. “Maybe, but it’s still the celebrity thing.”

“You aren’t a dumb jock, no matter what your physics grade ends up being. You know that, right?”

“How many people care about that, though? They care about how many shots I make on the court, not whether I can do physics. Kit cares about the physics. He mighta been kind of flustered when I first came in, but once we got to work, I was just another guy who needed his help. It was… nice.”

“Nice?”

“To be me for a few minutes instead of being Number 13, Senior Lincoln Joyner, Center Forward, six eight, two hundred twenty pounds.” He pitched his voice in imitation of the announcers at Rupp Arena. “I don’t get to do that much these days. It feels like someone is always watching, like any little slip in my public persona is going to be captured by someone’s cell phone and broadcast all over the internet. So I have to make sure whatever goes out is something I don’t mind people knowing about. I didn’t feel that way while we were working on physics.”

“Sounds like he’s a pretty awesome guy.”

“I think so. He agreed to meet me again this afternoon to help some more. Maybe this ain’t gonna lead nowhere besides me passing physics, but I want the chance to see where else it might could go.”

“Anywhere you want it to,” Pete said. “Ain’t that what Coach always tells us? We can go anywhere we want if we’re willing to work hard enough for it.”

For one moment, Linc allowed himself the imagined luxury of a life that wasn’t centered around basketball, but he had commitments, not just to UK, but to his family back home. If he gave in to that dream, he would disappoint his whole family, and his brothers and sisters might never have the chance to pursue their own dreams. No, no matter how tempting it was, he had to stay focused.

Chapter Three

LINC tossed his pencil down and leaned back in his chair, tipping it up onto the two back legs. Kit set his own pencil down and took a mental step back. Every line of Linc’s body betrayed the frustration he was feeling, and that didn’t help anyone. “Let’s take a break. We’ve been at this for a good forty-five minutes. We’ve got vending machines in our staff room. Do you want a Coke or something? It’s nothing fancy, but it’s a change of scenery and a break for our brains.”

“My brain, you mean,” Linc said with a grimace.

“No, I really meant our brains,” Kit said as he stood up and rotated left, then right, stretching his back. “I took enough physics to do this with you, but I’m a biochem major. I’m having to remember all this stuff to be able to explain it to you. Seriously, come on. Take a break. It’ll help.”

Linc huffed like he didn’t believe a word Kit said, but he stood up, their proximity driving home to Kit just how much taller Linc was. If he didn’t look up, his gaze landed squarely on the collar of Linc’s blue-and-white henley, right below the hollow at the base of his throat. Kit swallowed hard and forced his attention back to their tutoring session, specifically to their break.

“Where’s this break room?” The question helped draw Kit back even more.

Kit led Linc deeper into the tutoring center and through the plain door into the break room. It was nothing special, a threadbare couch still covered in horrendous ’70s floral fabric against one wall, a plain white refrigerator that had seen better days next to the vending machines, and a table and hard plastic chairs in the middle of the room. “What do you want to drink? My treat.”

“Oh, um, a Powerade or something, if they got it.”

“No caffeine for you?” Kit asked as he fed money into the machine.

“Not during basketball season. Coach has our diet all laid out for us. During the off-season, I’ll get a Coke or coffee sometimes, but I’m not really used to it, so it leaves me jittery,” Linc replied.

Kit handed Linc his drink, paid for his own, and flopped onto the couch. “As awful as this thing looks, it’s pretty comfortable. Sometimes I take naps in here if I had a late night and my break is too short to get home and back between classes.”

“You don’t live on campus?” Linc asked, sitting beside Kit and cracking open his drink.

“No, I have an apartment over on Maxwell Street. My brother, my cousin, and I snatched it up when I was a freshman. It’s great, but it isn’t close enough to run home for a quick nap.” Kit took another sip of his Coke. “That’s why I still had on my business casual last time. No time to get home from my internship to change and still make it here for my shift.”

“Where are you doing your internship?” Linc asked, with every indication of true interest. Kit didn’t squee like a fanboy at the thought of Linc liking him enough to want to know. Really, he didn’t. Okay, maybe just a little. On the inside.

“Alltech. They’ve been my dream job since I moved to Lexington. Well, other than the one year I was going to be a stage manager at the Opera House.”

“Theater?”

“A legacy of my misspent youth,” Kit joked, not wanting to go into how he’d ended up working in Henry Clay’s drama department.

“Now I know that’s not true.” Linc leaned back against the arm of the couch and looked at Kit appraisingly, the slightest gleam in his eyes. “You ain’t a troublemaker.”

Kit blinked. Was Linc flirting with him? No, he had to be reading the situation wrong. “Okay, maybe not misspent, but don’t make me into something I’m not.” He winked at Linc, hoping he wasn’t overstepping. “I enjoy a little fun as much as the next boy.”

“Oh, really?” Linc drawled, then took a long swallow of his drink without ever breaking eye contact with Kit.

Holy shit, Linc was flirting with him. Well, two could play that game.

“Oh, you know, a DLP party, lots of gay boys in tank tops or shirtless, a good basketball game, all those fit bodies in silky shorts.”

“If I look at the coverage of last week’s game, will I find you with my number on your cheek?” Linc leaned forward into Kit’s space.

“I missed Saturday’s game,” Kit admitted. “Family thing. But if you look up in the stands at the next game, you’ll see me for sure.” Painting Linc’s number on everyone’s cheek hadn’t been Kit’s idea, but he’d been the first on the bandwagon after last year’s frat president suggested it.

“And would that be a new development?”

Kit silently cursed the heat in his cheeks, but he met Linc’s gaze boldly. In for a penny, in for a pound. “No, but it will mean more now.”

“Now?”

“Now that I know you, not just your image,” Kit explained. “You have to know you’re a hero to every queer person on campus, out or not, because you said fuck you to all the haters, came out, and then proceeded to trounce them all on the basketball court.”

“I ain’t the only out athlete,” Linc demurred.

“No, but you’re by far the most visible one at UK, and that makes you our hero. But now I actually know you a bit.” He’d like to know Linc a lot better, but he’d take what he could get. “So when I cheer for you now, I’m not just cheering for a gay icon. I’m also cheering for the guy I’m helping with physics.” And flirting with. “Maybe that doesn’t seem like much difference to you, but it makes you a real person to me.”

Linc nodded. “That makes sense. When I first came to UK, Luke Bishop was still playing, and I felt the same way. I was so in awe of him when we first started practicing, but after a few weeks, he was a teammate—a really talented, amazing teammate—but the awe had given way to respect and camaraderie.”

God, but what Kit would give to be able to claim respect and camaraderie from Linc. “Exactly like that. You ready to give physics another go?”

As much as he wanted to keep talking, they had a purpose and Kit was on the clock.

“It’s worth a shot.”

“And if it still doesn’t work, we’ll call it a session and pick back up in a day or two,” Kit replied with an easy smile. He didn’t want Linc to feel like a failure if he’d absorbed all he could for one day. Everyone had their limits.

LINC grunted as he finished the final set of bicep curls. Coach had added five pounds this week, and he was still struggling to finish all the reps of the last set. Still, it kept his mind off Kit and physics and his frustration at not being able to stay focused through the whole session. Part of it was information overload, like Kit said, but part of it, Linc could admit to himself, was Kit. He might have messed up, flirting with Kit like he had.

“You okay there, Linc?” Pete asked when Linc didn’t immediately move on to the next set of exercises.

“Yeah, my mind’s just elsewhere, I guess.”

“Uh-huh. Are you dwelling on physics again? You gotta get past that and get your head back in the game, man. We got the Duke game in two weeks, not to mention the three games between now and then.”