LGBT

Chapter 2: Learning the Ropes-1

Chapter 2: Learning the Ropes

My parents were super excited about my admission to the university. I think my mom was more relieved that I would be living with my brother and that he would keep a close eye on me. Fortunately for me, Travis cared about me but gave me my space.

Several weeks after I’d come out to my brother and best friend, I lay on my bed thumbing through the course guide the university sent me. I had a couple months before I had to choose my classes, and though Travis told me I was being neurotic, I still wanted to get a head start.

But after a while, the course lists start running together. I needed a break. I tossed the book aside and lay back on my bed and closed my eyes. I was tired. I’d gotten a job this summer so that I could have some money set aside for school in the fall. Fortunately, our folks were going to help us pay the rent. But we needed money for the important stuff, light bill, pizza, chips. Important stuff.

I thought about going to the gym and pounding the heavy bag for a while. Travis and I had been boxing since he was 10 and I was 8. I was always the skinny kid in the class. Always the one that was picked last for sports. While Trav was always the athletic one, going out for football, being captain of this or that, I was always in the background. So Daddy got us both into boxing. At first, I didn’t want to do it. But then I got into it and even won several competitions.

My cell phone vibrated, bringing me back to reality. I picked it up and opened the message folder. It was Drew.

What are you up to?

Nothing. Looking at the course guide. Debating about going to the gym. You? I replied.

After a moment, his response came through. Nothing. Bored. Do you need a sparring partner?

I couldn’t help smiling. Drew was as uncoordinated as they come. But working out would definitely be more fun with a buddy. So I typed, Sure. Come on over.

While I waited for him to get here, I packed my bag. I had just stuffed my gloves into the bag when Drew rang the doorbell. I slung the bag over my shoulder and hurried downstairs. I opened the door to find Drew standing there grinning with that silly smile of his. He was cute with his light brown hair and dancing brown eyes. I found myself drawn to him but after I kissed him that time in front of my brother, I was afraid to make another move. Besides, he was always surrounded by a lot of girls. Guys too. He was hard to read.

“Hey,” he greeted me. “I’m ready to kick some butt.” He lifted his hands and punched at the air.

I shook my head, smiling at his antics. “That’s not bad form, man. There might be hope for you yet. Come on. Let’s go.”

Drew drove us to FitBox. I liked that gym because they had plenty of weights and cardio equipment. But they also had two rings and two cages for MMA and plenty of bags to hit and kick. I led Drew back to the locker room. He looked around him and gave a low whistle.

“Dude, I see why you come here to train. There’s plenty of man flesh around here.”

I nodded. “Yeah there is. There are a lot of people here who just train for the exercise benefits. But then there are some serious guys here too who can kick both our asses without looking.”

Drew pulled his tank top over his head. “I’m not worried. I got you to protect me.”

I grabbed my water bottle and gloves. “Yeah right. Come on. Let’s get at it.”

We headed out towards one of the boxing rooms. I was almost at the door before I realized that Drew had stopped. I jogged back to see what he was so interested in. He was watching two guys work in the cage. They were circling each other, passing jabs back and forth. Suddenly, the guy in the black shorts shot forward, grabbing the other man around the knees and pushed him down. Beside me, Drew cheered quietly.

“That was awesome,” he said. “Have you done this?” he asked gesturing to the cage.

I nodded. “Yeah. I kind of like it. But you gotta have all the skills, stand-up, kicks, ground skills.”

He was watching the guys roll around, fighting for position. He kept mumbling about how cool it was.

“You want to try it?” I asked.

“Would they let me?”

I shrugged. “I don’t see why not.” I went into the room and signaled the coach.

He jogged over. “Hey Ty. I thought you’d never get back in here.”

I shook hands with the older man. “I’ve been around. Just boxing a lot.” I gestured at the cage. “This isn’t really my bag, you know.”

“But you’re pretty good at it.”

I waved him on. “I brought someone who is interested.” I turned gesturing to Drew. “This is my friend Andrew McGee.”

Drew and the coach shook hands. “Nice to meet you, Andrew. I’m Coach Curtis.”

“Drew.”

The man nodded. “Drew. Have you done any type of martial art of combat sport before?”

Drew gave the man that winning smile he gave to almost everyone. “Yes sir. I wrestled in high school.”

Curtis smiled back as most people do. “Were you any good?”

I slung an arm around Drew’s shoulders. “He is like number 5 in the state.”

Curtis raised an eyebrow. “Ever give a thought to MMA?”

Drew shook his head. “Nah. I just mess around with Ty. Boxing and stuff.”

“Wanna try it out?”

Drew glanced at me and I shrugged. “It’s up to you,” I said.

“You’ll try with me?”

“Sure.”

Drew turned back to Curtis. “Cool. I’d like to give it a try.”

He told us to come back in an hour. I headed back towards the boxing area with Drew beside me. No one was in the room this time and I was glad to have the ring and the bags to myself for a change. I knelt and pulled my gloves and wraps from my bag. Sitting on the edge of the ring, I began to wrap my hands in the long yellow cloth hand wraps.

Drew watched impressed that I did it so neatly. “Dude, how did you learn to get them on like that?”

I glanced up at him as he finished wrapping my other hand. “Lots of practice.” I stood, circling my arms and wrists, loosening up. I pulled my gloves on and went over to the heavy bags.

I began to hit the bag, easy at first, with slow controlled jabs. I steadily picked up intensity as I added my power shots, my hook and uppercut. Then combinations. Jab, cross. Hook, uppercut. Then three, then four, then five punches.

I was breathing hard and sweating when I finished. Drew handed me the bottle of sports drink. I nodded thanks and took a long swallow.

“You’re pretty good,” he commented.

“Thanks,” I said in return.

“No man. I’m serious. You should be like a professional or something.”

I grinned at him and wiped the sweat from my face with my arm. “My dad thought it would toughen me up. He said I was puny and let other kids push me around. He got Travis into it. Of course he loved it. He likes anything physical. At first, I hated boxing. I didn’t want to get hit. But after a while, it became fun. Then I started to box competitively and winning. So here I am.”

“Well it worked,” Drew said looking me up and down. “It got you into shape and taught you how to defend yourself. This day and age, you’d better know something. Especially people like us.”

I frowned. “People like us?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Us. Gay.”

I started to deny it but stopped. I’d already exposed myself when I kissed him in my bedroom those weeks ago. So he’d blow off any lie or excuse that I could give. “Yeah,” I finally answered. “I guess you’re right.”

“I am.”

“But only you and Travis know,” I said.

He shrugged. “So? How long are you going to try to hide it? Do you honestly think that no one else is ever going to find out?”

“They don’t have to.”

“But they will. Eventually they will. But so what? That doesn’t mean that you can’t box or be anything you want to be.”

Drew was right. I folded my arms on the top of a freestanding bag. “I guess you’re right,” I said for the second time. “I reckon I thought that maybe the boxing would make me straight. Or maybe if I were tough and strong, no one would question me about who I liked.”

“How’s that working for you?”

I grinned ruefully. “It’s not.” I paused chewing on my lip. “I don’t know many gay boxers.”

“I’m sure there are some. Dude, you ain’t gotta be straight to punch someone in the face. All you need is a bad ass cross.”

I smiled in earnest this time. “I got that.” I jerked my chin in the direction of the rack with spare gloves hanging on it. “You want to give it a try?”

Drew flashed that perfect smile. “Sure. Why not? We still have a while before I get tossed around by Coach Curtis.”

Grabbing my extra pair of wraps, I quickly wrapped his hands and helped him slide into the gloves. He dropped into a fighting stance and raised his fists, fixing me with what was supposed to be a tough look. It was funny and I laughed at him.

“Try again dude,” I said, still laughing. “Come on. Get in the ring.”

He climbed into the ring and we faced each other. I began teaching him a few moves. Drew proved to be a quick learner. We danced around the ring, exchanging punches until I accidentally caught him with an overhand right to the jaw that snapped his head back.

“Drew! I’m sorry,” I said quickly moving towards him. “Are you okay?”

He nodded, working and flexing his jaw. “I’m fine. That was a good shot.”

“I didn’t mean to clip you so hard.”

He waved dismissively with one gloved hand. “Don’t worry. It was just a lucky shot.”

I pulled my gloves off and dropped them on the mat. I grabbed his chin and turned his face to the light so I could inspect the damage I’d inadvertently caused. I didn’t see a bruise or anything and he seemed fine so I relaxed a bit.

That’s when I noticed how his skin was rough against my fingertips from his five o’clock shadow. This close to him, I realized that his eyes were actually more gray than green with brown flecks in them. His lips were full and I remembered that they’d been soft when I’d kissed him that day.

With a start, I realized that he was staring at me, a smile curving his lips.

“Sorry,” I mumbled again. I started to pull away but Drew grasped my wrist.

“You can kiss it and make it better,” he said softly.

My gaze dropped to his mouth. It was so tempting and I suddenly wanted to kiss him again. But for real this time. And just to add fuel to the fire, he ran his tongue over his bottom lip. Slowly, I leaned forward and pressed my mouth to his. After a moment, he parted his lips, an invitation for me to explore his mouth, which I took.

Heat instantly suffused my entire body when our tongues touched. The kiss lasted for only a few seconds but I could still feel his lips as we backed away from each other. I watched him unravel the wraps from his hands and then roll them neatly. The scent of his cologne wafted to my nostrils as he passed me to drop the sweaty rolls in my gym bag. He turned to look back at me.

“Are you going to go with me to see Curtis or are you going to practice some more?”

I honestly couldn’t form an answer for him. That brief kiss had me that shaken up. Finally, I shook the fuzz from my brain. “I’ll go with you,” I said. At least I think I said it. I must have said it because he grinned.

“Then you might want to lose the gloves and wraps.”

Almost robotically, I unwrapped my hands and wadded the sweaty cloth instead of rolling it as I knew I should. I dropped it into my bag and tossed my gloves in on top of them. Grabbing my bag, I turned back to find him bent over, zipping his bag. I thought I would bust a hole in the front of my shorts. I’d never felt like this before, not even for the girls that I’d dated before I finally realized that it wasn’t girls I liked.

Drew straightened and noticed my ‘problem’. He grinned suddenly and I knew he was about to rib me. Teasing a man, gay or straight about his sudden erection was too good to pass up. He gestured at my crotch. “You might want to put that away before you poke someone with it,” he quipped, snickering.