Never Have I Ever: Had a Bromance with a Teammate

Knock knock knock.

“It’s open.”

“Quick question.” Alex peeked his head into my room. “If you’re here, who’s in the shower?”

“Jax.”

He smirked. “Another question. Does he have water at his place?”

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as he pushed the door to my room open and leaned against the doorjamb.

My roommates constantly made fun of how much Jax was at our house. In fairness, he was here almost as much as I was, but I knew it was all in good fun.

I’d lucked out when I’d applied to live in the house. I’d spent the last three years in the dorms. Mind you, I’d been in the jock house, so my accommodations had been better than those of the average student. Single room, private bathroom, and a double bed with extra floor space.

It was a sweet deal.

But I’d hated not having a break from my team and the whole sports culture on campus. I’d applied for shared housing last summer, and my roommates were awesome, especially considering the horror stories I’d heard about rooming with strangers.

“You going to that party at Kappa?” I asked.

“For a bit.” He brushed his dark hair back from his face.

“Are you going to be around this weekend?”

“Not until late Sunday.”

Alex’s boyfriend had an apartment across town. He lived alone, so Alex spent most of his weekends over there, and Kai was a regular fixture at the house in the evenings.

I liked both Alex and Kai, but it was weird having so many couples around.

Beck and Finn, two of our other roommates, started hooking up at the start of the year and had finally admitted they were dating a few months ago.

The funny thing was that I’d thought both Beck and Alex were straight, but it turned out they were bi.

I didn’t care who my roommates hooked up with—guy, girl, whatever—but the constant sex noises from Beck and Finn, and Alex when Kai came over, were a reminder I hadn’t gotten laid in months.

“Want to game for a bit when your better half stops using all our hot water?” Alex asked.

“Sure.”

“Cool. Meet you downstairs.”

Alex closed the door. I was picking up my phone when it swung open, and Jax walked in.

“Forgot your clothes again?” I asked.

“Shut up.”

“What the fuck is that?” I pointed to the tiny towel around his waist.

The two ends barely met around his hips, and a massive gap in the material showed off most of his cut thigh.

“The only towel you had in there.” He pulled it from his waist and rubbed it through his hair.

Jax and I had been teammates and best friends for the past three years, ever since we met during hell week. We’d spent so much time in locker rooms together that seeing each other naked was just another day ending in y.

“Someone stole the one I brought,” he added pointedly.

“Not my fault.” I grinned as he wiped off his chest and arms. “You bring a huge fluffy towel over and think I’m going to leave it for you?”

“It’s obvious you’re an only child.” He tossed the towel at me.

I caught it with one hand before the wet terrycloth could hit me in the face.

“What’s yours is mine, and what’s mine is mine.” I threw it back at him.

He caught it and tossed it onto the pile of clothes that served as my hamper. “You’re a spoiled brat. You know that, right?” He tugged on a pair of boxer briefs.

“Yup.” I blew him a kiss.

His answering smile was filled with affection.

Something in my chest fluttered. I turned my attention to my phone as Jax finished getting dressed.

I didn’t understand why, but every once in a while, Jax would look at me a certain way, and a pleasant flush or a little flutter would move through me.

Jax was my BFF, but he was also our team catcher. As the starting pitcher, I spent a fuckton of time with him on the field and during training. Our friendship outside of the team was the reason people called us the “dream team.” Well, the school press called us that, and our team did too because they thought it was hilarious. I would have preferred a less cliché nickname, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.

“Want to game with Alex for a bit before we head out?” I asked when Jax was dressed.

“I figured we’d pregame. Kappa is serving seltzer and light beer tonight.”

“Seriously?” I tucked my phone into my pocket and stood, lifting my arms above my head to stretch.

Jax poked me in the ribs.

“Asshole.” I rubbed my side. “Why the change? Kappa always serves top-shelf stuff.”

“They got in shit after their last party.”

“What happened?”

“No clue. But they’re on the dean’s radar, so it’s low alcohol options only for a while.”

“Grab the rum, and we’ll see if Alex wants to pregame with us.”

“He’s going to the party?”

“For a bit. Kai’s working tonight.”

“What does he do?” Jax followed me out of my room.

“I’m not sure. He works in the city and does super late shifts. I think he’s a bartender or maybe a bouncer.”

“He’d do well as a bouncer. Between his tats and how fucking ripped he is, he’s intimidating as hell. It’s crazy how he’s so jacked, considering he doesn’t play sports or anything.”

“He’s definitely a gym guy.”

“It works on him. That man is sex on legs.”

A little niggle of unease shot through me.

Jax was gay and had been out since high school. It was one of the first things he’d said to me when we’d met during hell week. I’d heard him go on about the guys he thought were hot and all about his hookups over the years, and it had never bothered me.

Lately, things felt different, though. I didn’t understand why, but hearing Jax talk about a hot guy or even just random comments like he’d made about Kai set off a primal part of me that wanted him all to myself. It was fucking weird.

“Who’s sex on legs?” Alex asked. He sat on the loveseat, a controller in his hand.

“Your man.” Jax plopped down on one end of the couch.

“He is.” Alex smirked. “Jealous?”

“Fuck, yeah.” Jax put the rum on the table. “Never hooked up with a bad boy. It’s on my list, but all the hot ones are either taken or straight.”

“Never say never. Every bi boy is straight until they aren’t.” Alex nodded at the bottle. “Pregaming?”

“Yeah, Kappa’s in shit, so they’re serving light crap.” I sat next to Jax. “You in?”

He shook his head. “I have to drive later. I’m taking it easy on the drinking.”

“Smart man.” Jax glanced at me. “Want to hit it now, or sneak it into the party?”

“How the fuck are you going to sneak a bottle in when your pants are painted on?”

“You and your dumbass cargo pants to the rescue.”

“I’ll have you know that chicks dig cargo pants.”

Alex snorted. “Pretty sure they dig you and put up with the cargo pants.”

“What he said.” Jax grinned and pointed at Alex.

“Whatever. You’re just jealous that every chick hits on me.”

“Because they know there’s no point hitting on me.” Jax turned to Alex. “Objectively, which one of us is hotter?”

Alex smirked. “Yeah, not getting between you two on this one.”

“Beck!” Jax called out as Beck and Finn came out of the kitchen together. “And you too, Finn. You guys like guys.”

Beck and Finn glanced at each other.

“We do.” Beck shot Jax a puzzled look.

“Which one of us is hotter? Me or Matt?”

Finn rolled his lips inward like he was trying to cover up a smile. Beck looked between us. “I feel like this is a trap somehow.”

“We’re trying to settle an argument.”

“A discussion,” I cut in.

“Right, a discussion. Which one of us would get more ladies?”

“Or guys.”

“Or guys,” Jax said.

“Yeah, this is definitely a trap.”

“You suck.” Jax glanced over at the stairs. “Eli!”

“You’d get more.” Eli didn’t pause as he came down the steps.

How the guy always managed to look graceful and poised was beyond me. He floated down the stairs like some ethereal specter while I sounded like an elephant, even when I tried to be stealthy.

“Burn,” Alex crowed.

“No way.” I shook my head.

“You’re hot too, but I think Jax would appeal to more guys.”

“Fuck, yeah, I do.” Jax punched me in the shoulder.

“Whatever.” I ignored Jax, who did a stupid victory dance next to me. “I bet I could get just as many numbers from dudes as you do.”

“You really want to bet on that?” Jax raised his eyebrow.

“How hard could it be? Flirting is flirting, right? Guy, girl. It’s all the same.”

Jax glanced at Alex, and they both snickered.

“Back me up on this one.” I turned to Beck and Finn.

“Nope. Not getting involved in any of this.” Finn waved his hand at us.

“Eli? Come on, man.”

He just smiled, his too-pretty face serene, and headed into the kitchen.

Was Eli into guys? It was hard to get a read on him.

“You all suck,” I grumbled.

“We do,” everyone said in unison.

I laughed along with them.

“I still say I could pick up any guy I wanted,” I said when we’d quieted down.

“Newsflash. Not all guys are into the pretty boy look,” Alex said. “You’re definitely not my type.”

“You guys think I’m hot, right?” I asked Beck and Finn, who still stood near the kitchen door.

“Thinking you’re hot and being attracted to you are two different things,” Finn said.

“Obviously.”

“So yeah, you’re hot. But you’re not my type.” Finn clutched Beck’s hand tighter.

“Sorry, dude. Not mine either.” Beck shrugged.

“You guys are hell on my self-esteem. You know that, right?”

“Poor baby didn’t get the compliments he was fishing for.” Jax rubbed my head in the same manner one would pat a toddler on the head when they did something cute.

I slapped his hand away and glared at him.

“Put this in your stupid pants, and let’s head over to Kappa house.” Jax shoved the bottle at me.

“Not even my pockets are big enough for this monster.” I grabbed the bottle and stood. “I have a few flasks I can fill. Those I can sneak in.”

“We’ll head out when you’re done?” Jax asked.

“Sounds good.”

Beck and Finn gave us a little wave and headed upstairs.

Something told me they’d be enjoying the nearly empty house tonight, loudly, multiple times.