Knots, Book 1
by Elias Scott
Chapter 9
Matt
We went swimming with Gina and Emily at the swimming hole a couple times as the summer came to an end. We didn't dare do anything but swim and swing from the rope because who knew when someone would come. Andy and I double dated two more times. He and Emily went out alone once. I couldn't wait to hear what happened, but he didn't want to talk about it. It seems Emily must have thought over what happened that night in the park and decided to play it cool. I tried making-out with Gina when we went out by ourselves, but it didn't do anything for me. Maybe it would have if she'd have grabbed my dick or I copped a feel, neither of which we did.
Before we knew it, football practice started. Gina and Emily were put on hold because we were too exhausted after practice to do anything but eat, drink, and sleep. To Andy and my surprise, Ernie Bowline and Alan Hodges showed up.
Andy and I were on our way home after the first day of practice when Andy said, "Can you believe fat Ernie and skinny Alan came out for ball. "Skinny and fatty won't last the week."
"What makes you think we'll last the week?"
"We're athletes, my friend. Those guys are not."
But to our surprise, Ernie and Alan were still on the team after a week of two practices a day.
We were standing at our lockers getting dressed after our fifth day and tenth practice. Andy stood naked rubbing his towel over his head like he was going to rub the hair off.
I looked him up and down while he was distracted.
He stopped and looked at me. "Matt, I thought those two wimpy dudes, Ernie and Alan, would never make it. But they're still here. And so are we."
I shook my head at Andy. "You're right. Think they'll get any playing time?"
"Don't know. I said they wouldn't make it and they did. Alan's tall. He'd make a good receiver. Ernie could be a starting lineman. I think he's shed about 20 pounds already."
"I'd like to see them succeed. So what position are you going out for?"
He pulled his jockey shorts up over his beautiful ass cheeks and threw his shirt over his shoulder. "I'm a natural leader so thought I give QB a try. That way we won't have to fight for the same job."
He looked over at me as I put my pants and shirt on.
I looked him up and down. "Good idea. I'd have kicked your ass."
"Good, it'll be like I'm your boss," he said as he bent over to tie his shoes. "I get to tell you what to do. The girls'll think I'm the coolest and you the second coolest. Everybody loves the quarterback."
"Speaking of girls. Are you giving up on Emily?"
"There are many fish in the sea my friend." He closed his locker. "Emily's just one of them. I have the whole ocean before of me. After all, I'm going to be the starting quarterback."
Guys were filing past. Ernie stopped. "How's it going?. Bet you thought I'd never make it."
Andy, always the politician, said, "No, I always knew you'd make it. Never doubted it. Congratulations. By the way, I've decided to be quarterback. You better block for me."
Ernie patted Andy on the shoulder. "Right Andy. I'll do that, but you'd better treat me right."
"What do you mean Ernie? I always treat you right."
"You must think I'm stupid. Doesn't matter. I decided I'm going to make this team and I'm going to get playing time just like you." He turned to Matt. "What are you going to play, Matt?"
"Halfback."
"I'll definitely block for you." He turned and walked away.
Andy threw his backpack over his shoulder. "Who does that fat asshole think he is? He can't talk to the quarterback that way."
I laughed. "You're not quarterback yet, but I think he has a good chance of being a lineman. At least he'll be blocking for me. Just hand me the ball right over his butt and I'll score touchdowns all night."
"Don't count on it. He'll probably be lying on the ground and you'll trip over him."
We both laughed as we headed home.
As it turned out, the only four freshmen to make the starting lineup for the junior varsity were Andy, Ernie, Alan, and me. This changed the dynamic between us. We started hanging with Ernie and Allan at school. The sophomores welcomed us into their groups and we felt like the hottest guys in our freshman class.
Allan turned out to be an awesome receiver. He caught the ball when surrounded by defenders and held onto it with those long arms and fingers. He was taller than anyone when he raised his long skinny arms in the air to catch the ball. The only way to stop him was to either interfere with him or have Andy throw a bad pass. I guess desire makes up for a lot of physical disadvantages. I realized then that we just never know who has the potential to do great things. They showed me that believing in yourself can make a difference. Sports always came easy to me, so I hadn't given that stuff much thought until Allan and Ernie succeeded at something Andy and I thought they'd never be able to do.
Ernie was true to his word. Whenever we ran the ball over him, his man was somewhere else other than where I was running. To be honest, I never thought Andy would be the starting JV quarterback. But his cockiness and cool self-confidence nailed the spot. There weren't any sophomores that had his leadership qualities and his passing ability. Only I knew, that despite his big mouth, Andy lacked confidence. But so what, it worked. I had size and speed over the sophomores and it earned me my starting position.
We won our first three games and suddenly we were football heroes.
Andy was right. All the girls who never paid attention to me started too. Before football, it seemed only Gina and Emily thought we were hot, but now the girls were always flirting with me, and with Andy even more, because he was the starting quarterback.
Gina came up to me in the hall after school started. "Haven't seen much of you and Andy."
"Sorry. Football. Takes everything out of us."
She frowned and touched my arm. "I hoped you'd call."
"Was tired. Just wanted to eat, drink, and sleep."
She looked up at me. "Seems like you're a big football hero now."
"Me? It's the varsity guys that are the football heroes. We're just lowly freshman."
She grabbed my hand. "Yes, but I'm a lowly freshman too, and I like you."
I felt trapped. It wasn't that I didn't like Gina, but school had started. We had new classes, new teachers, and new friends. Gina suddenly seemed clingy.
Andy walked up. "Hey Gina. How's things? Haven't seen much of you."
"Or Emily either," she said.
"Too tired with only time to eat, drink, and sleep."
She shook her head. "Did you two practice that line?"
Andy gave her a questioning look.
A serious look crossed her face. "Matt said the same thing."
He shrugged. "It's true."
"Seems like you have time for other girls. Emily's feelings are hurt."
I thought, Oh shit. He's in for it now.
Andy lowered his voice. "She hasn't said anything to me."
"After that night in the park, she seemed to think you were going to have a committed relationship."
I thought, Oh shit, again.
He began twisting on his feet. "Like I said. We've been busy with football. Haven't had time for extracurricular activities."
She nodded. "So Emily and I are extracurricular activities?" She paused and rolled her eyes as if she was thinking. "It so happens you guys aren't worth Emily's or my time."
"Hold it," I said. "School's just started. Everything's new, plus we have football. Give things a little more time."
"We see what's happening. You have all the girls after you, even some of the sophomore girls and you don't have time for us."
I threw up my hands. "We haven't had time for anyone. Yeah, the girls talk to us. And it does feel good to all of a sudden be 'so called' football heroes, but we've really been tired and just been eating, drinking, and sleeping. And now that school's started, it's even worse."
"Okay, if that's your story." She started to walk away and then turned back. "When you're not eating, drinking, or sleeping, give us a call."
"Hell, I thought she was the nice one," Andy said after she was out of earshot. "What's going to happen if we run into Emily?"
I shook my head. "Girls! You sometime have to wonder why they can't be more like guys."
"Yeah," Andy said. "We're cool. Things don't bother us. We're friends to the end, no matter what. But girls, they let everything little thing bother them. They want to own us like slaves. They want exclusive rights to us. Well, I don't want to be a kept man."
"Me neither. Like you said, 'there are many fish in the sea.'"
That was all good talk, but the truth was, we had been busy and too tired to do much of anything, and while a lot of the girls talked to us, we really liked Gina and Emily. But no matter what, Andy and I always had time for each other.
Andy
Emily and I went out a few more times before school started. She cooled off a little. She didn't seem interested in running her hands all over my body. I was disappointed. When I tried to touch her, she pushed me away with some excuse like "Not here or not now or wait till later."
It pissed me off a little. She'd started the whole thing that night in the park and now she was being cool toward me and it made me want her hands all over me all the more. She let me kiss her and nothing more, so I was a little cool to her. Football started and I was too tired to do anything.
Then of course, Matt and I became freshman football starters and the guys and girls in our class treated us like we were extra special. I figured, who needs Emily any?"
Ran into Gina in the hall when she had Matt cornered. She chewed me and Matt out. Didn't accept our excuses. Well, I guess girls can be okay sometimes, but I don't want them running my life or expecting me to be kissing their asses all the time.
Matt and I are friends to the end. Just wish I had enough courage to put some moves on him. It seemed easier with Emily, and I don't know why. Matt and I are together all the time anyway. No need to go out on a date. I'm just afraid he'll hate me. Maybe I'll do something next time he comes over.
Gina and Emily
Gina and Emily talked during lunch.
"I ran into Matt between classes this morning. Told him he was conceited now that he's a big football star and all the girls are giving him so much attention."
"What'd he say?"
"He said he and Andy were tired and all they did was go home, eat, drink, and sleep."
Emily turned toward Gina and crossed her legs. "Yeah, probably tired from flirting with all those other girls."
Gina leaned in closer to Emily. "Then Andy came along and said the same thing Matt said. Sounded like they'd rehearsed it."
"Guys are so insensitive. And if you don't give them what they want, they get all upset."
"What do you mean?"
Emily lowered her voice. "I've been keeping something from you. You know that night in the park. I started rubbing Andy's chest on the top of his shirt. You know how he likes to wear them a little tight to show off his hot body? Well, he pulled up his shirt and let me rub my hand on his chest and stomach. It was the greatest feeling, all the ripples and smooth skin. I never thought of a guy's skin as being smooth."
"And?"
"I liked it, and while it felt good, I was afraid he'd get the wrong idea. In fact, he said that since I'd touched his chest, I should let him touch mine."
"What'd you say?"
Emily gave Gina a slightly hurt look. "No, of course. What'd you think I said?"
"I wasn't sure."
Emily took a bite of her sandwich and a sip of her drink. "The last couple times we went out, he wanted me to touch him again and I wouldn't. We made out a little and that didn't seem enough for him."
"I guess not, after you rubbed your hands all over him. What'd you expect?"
"You're right," Emily said as she set her sandwich down. "So now he's been real cool toward me. Plus all these girls are after him. Maybe he's looking for someone who'll sleep with him. As much as I'd like that, I'm not ready. We're only freshman."
Gina gave Emily a serious look. "So, are you willing to sleep with Andy in order to hold onto him?"
Emily shook her head. "I don't know. I really like him. He's hot. I loved the feel of those muscles, but I think it might lead to other things if I let him touch me. He's going to expect more. Like he said, 'I let you touch me, now you have to let me touch you.' Then what? What if he talks about me and how he got to feel my breasts, or rub my leg, or whatever?"
Gina grabbed Emily's hand. "Well, Matt and I didn't do any of that stuff. He kissed me a few times while we waited for you and Andy at the park. We made out some when we went to the show last time, but he seemed hesitant or something. It was like he didn't enjoy it. Maybe he just thinks of me as a friend. There didn't seem to be any excitement in it for either of us."
"There was nothing keeping you from rubbing his leg, his chest, or that thing between his legs."
"I'd never do that. Anyway, I didn't want to lead him on and have it be like it is for you and Andy. Now he expects more and you don't want to give more."
Emily threw her sandwich in the garbage. "It's all mixed up. I loved touching him and I would have liked him to touch me. But I can't help thinking that if I'd never touched him in the first place, I wouldn't have this desire to do it again. It'd probably be the same for him. He'd want to do it again and who knows what might happen."
Gina pursed her lips. "I'm mixed up too. I wish I had your problem and at the same time am glad I don't. But what difference does it make? Neither of them are paying attention to us. In Matt's case, I'm not sure he even likes girls. Have you ever seen the way he looks at Andy?"
"I understand why he eyes Andy. Andy's hot. But I doubt if they'd ever do anything with each other. They're just friends. Guys love their guy friends, not in a sexual way, but because they're guys and have a lot in common. They love doing things together. We're kind of a new thing in their lives."
"I'm afraid we may soon be old things in their lives."
Emily folded her lunch bag. "If you want more from Matt, then maybe you need to be a little more aggressive. Rub your hands on his chest, blow in his ear, stick your tongue in his ear, or rub his leg, but not too far up."
Gina laughed. "That'd probably do it. Maybe he'd show some life. But then I'd be in the same boat as you. That is unless none of that turns Matt on."
Emily smiled and shook her head. "They always talk about how aggressive guys are, but I think they're shier than us. They don't get aggressive until we turn their switches on, and then there's no stopping them. That's sure the way it's been with Andy. I've dug myself into a corner."
"Well, I haven't. I'd done about as much as I'm willing too to get Matt's attention, so I guess the next move is up to him."
Emily frowned. "Unfortunately, I think you're right. Either they like us or they don't. They can have those other girls if they want, but we were their first dates. They can never take that away from us."
Gina nodded as the bell rang. "Let's go out and watch football practice this afternoon. That will show we're interested and not be too aggressive. What do you think?
"That's a great idea. Let's see what happens after that."
They walked together down the hall until they got to the intersection of two hallways. Gina stopped. "I think you need to talk to Andy about what happened. Tell him what you told me. That might help. If he's a nice guy, he'll understand. If not, then move on."
"I'll think about it," Emily said as he walked to class.
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