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  www.ai-press.net

  Wrestling With Love

  eISBN: 978-0-9833747-0-1

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  Copyright © 2011 D.H. Starr

  Edited by Allison Jacobson

  Photography and cover art by Les Byerley

  Electronic book Publication Wrestling With Love February 2011

  This book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ai Press, 10435 Green Trail Drive N, Boynton Beach, FL 33436

  Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/)

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.

  Wrestling With Lo

  L ve

  D. .H

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  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to Jen for always being there and to Magaly and Tracey, my Bronx girls.

  Acknowledgements

  I’d like to thank Sedonia Guillone, editor and publisher of Ai Press, for continuing to see the merit of the stories I have to tell. Her vision, guidance, and support have helped to shape who I’m becoming as a writer and is freeing my mind so that my characters can live their lives on the pages of my books.

  Trademark Acknowledgement

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

  Acqua Di Gio: Giorgio Armani

  Adidas: Adidas AG

  All-Star: Converse Inc.

  Apple: Apple, Inc.

  Au Bon Pain: ABP Corporation

  Barney’s: Barney’s, Inc.

  Bed, Bath & Beyond: Bed Bath & Beyond Procurement Co. Inc. Big Brothers-Big Sisters: Big Brothers-Big Sisters of America Bisuteki: Fenway-North Motor Hotel, Inc.

  Boston University: Trustees of Boston University

  Bud Light: Anheuser-Busch, Inc.

  Coke: The Coca-Cola Company

  Dave & Busters: Dave & Buster’s, Inc.

  Ellis Island: Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc., The Fire and Ice: BDR Entertainment LLC

  H & M: H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB

  Hudson River, The: Hudson River Park Trust

  John Mayer: Portable John, Inc.

  Jose Cuervo: Tequila Cuervo La Rojena, S.A. de C.V.

  Legal Sea Foods: Legal Sea Foods, Inc.

  MacBook Air: Apple Computer, Inc.

  New York Times: New York Times Company, The

  Oreos: Nabisco Brands Company

  Pepsi: Pepsico, Inc.

  Polo: PRL USA Holdings, Inc.

  Ray-Ban: Luxottica Group S.P.A.

  Statue of Liberty: Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc., The Tasmanian Devil: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

  The Matrix: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

  Author Note

  This book has a standalone prequel, Wrestling With Desire, a young adult novel. Wrestling With Love, also standalone, is not young adult. Derek and Scott have moved on to college and are dealing with greater independence and issues of a more grown up nature.

  D.H. Starr

  Wrestling With Love

  Chapter One

  “Ouch, that hurts.” Derek Thompson winced as his muscles stretched beyond a comfortable limit. “I’m not in a good position. Here, let me move over, like this.” He shifted his body so that he was squatting.

  He could see the reaction his movement had on his boyfriend Scott Thayer’s face, which had taken on a pained expression as he adjusted himself to the new position.

  “Okay, is this better for you now?” He was sweating, and Derek could see the sun which was shining through the attic window in his parents’ house reflecting off the droplets of sweat gliding down the sides of Scott’s face.

  “Yeah, that feels better. Now go easy. I want to make sure I’m ready for this before we begin again.” Derek took a deep breath and prepared for the pressure that was coming.

  Scott only lifted his hips an inch at a time, watching Derek carefully to make sure he was okay.

  Pressure increased deep inside Derek, and then he felt a sharp pain. “Ouch! Son of a bitch!”

  Scott grimaced. “Did I hurt you again?”

  Derek gritted his teeth, taking measured breaths until the pain subsided. “Yes. I never knew I could feel pain like this. Maybe we should stop for a minute.”

  Scott sighed. “Dammit, Derek, you’ve said that the past three times we tried. Can’t we just do this and get it over with?”

  “I can’t help it if this fucking sofa is as heavy as an elephant.” Derek slumped to the floor, rubbing his side where the corner had jabbed him in the ribs. With eyes narrowed into slits, he turned to face Scott, a retort on the tip of his tongue. When he stared into those Caribbean blue-green eyes, his resolve melted. I can’t stay mad at someone who can make me all floppy inside just by gazing into his eyes.

  “Well, how the hell did you get the couch up here in the first place?” Scott released his hold and walked around to the front of the sofa, now positioned in the middle of the room. Grabbing his t-shirt which lay on the floor, he plopped down heavily and began to mop his face and shoulders.

  Derek, feeling the pain in his side ease, got up and sat next to Scott. “I guess I forgot how heavy it was when Dad and I brought it up here last year.” He smiled sheepishly, batting his eyes. “I really appreciate that you offered to help me, though. I guess I forgot how much I missed your help during those couple of months when we kind of split up last year.”

  Scott glared at Derek and he immediately regretted bringing up the painful memory from their past. Still, he wouldn’t hold back from saying what was on his mind. Once they’d gotten back together, Derek made a promise to both of them that he would communicate his feelings rather than allowing them to build up inside. Neither 8

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  of them had handled the stress created by Scott’s father well, and they had almost lost each other as a result. Part of the problem had been Derek’s difficulty with opening up. He still wasn’t great at it, but he was working on it every day. Scott’s expression softened and his crooked grin appeared on his face. Without fail, that grin turned Derek on and decimated his ability to think coherently. “Shut up and come over here.”

  Derek sat next to him, sinking into Scott’s embrace. As Scott cradled him, Derek was pulled close so their faces were a mere inch apart. “You’re lucky I love you so much,” Scott said, white teeth gleaming behind full lips. “Otherwise, I would have quit this thankless job after our first try.” He closed the gap between their mouths, locking Derek in a rugged kiss. Melting into Scott’s strong arms, Derek reveled in the way warm hands gently stroked up and down his back, lingering at the base of his spine, fingers dipping inside the waistband of his pants before he began the slow journey back up Derek’s back. Their tongues wrestled and a mild taste of salt entered his mouth as sweat mixed with saliva. That, and the hint of Scott’s musky scent which surrounded the two of them, caused his cock to become rigid.

  The heat in the attic was pronounced, even with the window open. As they kissed, their bodies slipped against each other. Derek used the slickness to glide his hands along Scott’s hairless chest which had broadened over the course of the summer due to his incessant workouts. He hadn’t complained about all the time
Scott spent in the gym because the effect was not only visually pleasing, but gave him new mounds of muscle to grab onto during their make-out sessions. He hoped Scott would be able to make the varsity wrestling team at his new weight class, since he would never weigh in at his high school weight of one hundred sixty seven. If he watched his diet, he might be able to make the one hundred seventy nine pound weight class. Jesus, I didn’t realize he’s gained twelve pounds of muscle in the past six months since we won the division championship.

  “Hmm,” Derek sighed. “This is nice. Why did you establish the rule that we can’t do more than kissing and beating off until we get to college? I’d be happy to just leave the couch right here, get down on my knees in front of you and—”

  Scott laughed. “As nice as that sounds, don’t you remember the last time we decided to spend quality time up here? Your mom almost caught us in this position. She pops up here unannounced all the time. I don’t want to worry about who’s going to walk in on us as we finally start to experience that level of intimacy together. It’s only two weeks. We agreed to this months ago. Besides, you’re the one who said you had to move the couch to the other side of the room so you could set up your mixing equipment and all of your music by the window. Now that this piece of shit is in the middle of the room, we’re gonna to finish the job.” He released Derek and pulled out of the embrace, glancing toward the door.

  Derek reflexively followed his gaze and listened to hear if his mother was coming. His thoughts were interrupted by Scott’s question. “Explain to me one more time why we can’t just slide it across the room.”

  Derek looked at Scott in horror. “Do you see this floor? Look at it.”

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  Scott complied. “Yes, it is made of wood. It’s shiny. Very nice.”

  Derek shoved him, a smile spreading across his face. “Don’t be a wise ass. If we slide the couch it will scrape deep grooves across the room with its metal legs. My dad told me he intends to turn the attic into an office once I go to college so he can do taxes from home, instead of spending the ridiculous hours he does at work. If he finds the floor all scratched up, he’s not going to be happy with me.”

  “Okay, fine. We’ll do it your way. But you realize you owe me after this, right?”

  Scott gave Derek’s shoulder a squeeze then looked at him with a wickedly seductive gleam in his eyes.

  Derek flushed. “Oh, I’ll reward you. Don’t worry about that. Remember, my parents are going out to dinner tonight. How often has mom actually left us alone in the house since she found out we’re together?”

  Scott leaned back, stretching his arms, a dreamy look crossing his face. “That’s right. I forgot. They’re going to be gone all night. I can’t wait to get my hands on you.”

  Derek became quiet and Scott turned to face him. “What’s the matter?”

  “Nothing. It’s just hard to want you the way I do and have to control myself. I know it’s only a couple of weeks until college, but then you say things like that and it makes it so much harder for me.”

  Scott’s expression became serious. After a few seconds, the corners of his mouth began to tremble and pull up into a smile. After another moment, he burst out laughing.

  “What the hell are you laughing at?”

  Scott became serious once again. “Just your choice of words. I’m sure that I make things hard for you several times a day.”

  Derek stared at him, unsure of what Scott was talking about, then his meaning registered. Giving him a playful shove that wasn’t entirely playful, Derek stood.

  “You’re right. You do make me hard several times a day and taking care of that is the last thing I want Mom to catch us doing.”

  Claire Thompson, Derek’s mother, had asked him if he was gay during his senior year. When they talked, she’d been wonderful, affirming her love for him and letting him know they would work through their feelings as a family. As supportive as she had been, from that moment on, she became the guard of Derek’s chastity, never allowing him to be in a room alone with Scott without the door being open. She constantly popped in wherever they were, keeping them on their toes and making it difficult to do anything more intimate than some serious kissing and some light petting. Her presence had been the primary excuse that Scott had given for holding off on sexual exploration, and it took a number of serious discussions for Derek to finally get out of him that he just wasn’t ready to take that step yet. Something in him needed to feel that they had moved onto the next phase of their lives together before he let down his guard enough to explore the physical side of his sexuality. 10

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  He pushed the thought from his mind, not wanting anything to spoil his good mood. At least his mother knew who he really was and what Scott was to him. That in itself was a comfort. He still hadn’t come out to his father, and Scott hadn’t told his mother either. In fact, if anything good resulted from his break with Scott during senior year, it was that he had come out to his mother. Otherwise, Derek would have probably kept his identity to himself and would still be hiding.

  One of the things he most looked forward to in college, was exploring life living as an openly gay man. He wanted to come out and shout from the rooftops that he and Scott were together. If he had to wait two more weeks before Scott would be ready to explore the physical side of their love for one another, he could find plenty of other satisfying ways to pleasure himself and Scott until then. Turning his thoughts to Scott, the same niggling concern crept into his mind. It was one thing to want to hold off on oral sex and making love. At least Derek knew when they would get to that level of intimacy. It was Scott’s private nature that concerned him. He wasn’t ready to live openly as a gay man the way Derek wanted to. He understood Derek’s needs and was incredibly affectionate, but never in public. The closest he ever came to showing public displays of affection was holding Derek’s hand or leaning against him whenever they were hanging out with Beck Stoltz, Derek’s best friend since childhood. Thinking about what life would be like for the two of them once they got to college, the possible problems their different needs might create, caused his stomach to churn uncomfortably.

  Shaking his head, Derek pulled himself from his thoughts. Scott made a good point. While his mom was incredibly accepting and had made tremendous efforts to talk with him about his feelings for Scott, she wasn’t going to turn a blind eye to her teenage son’s raging hormones. “And don’t you play the gay card either, young man,” she had said when he had accused her of treating him differently than she would if he were straight. “At least I allow you and Scott to spend time in your room. If you had a girlfriend, I wouldn’t allow that, even with the door open.” Derek couldn’t come up with a suitable counterargument, so he let it go. Round one…mom. Derek glanced towards the door to make sure his mother wasn’t coming, turned to Scott and kissed him once more, then stood up. “Ok, let’s get this done.”

  After another half hour of straining and creative expletives, they finally got the sofa to the corner of the attic. Setting up Derek’s sound system and his new mixing board, which Scott and Beck had bought him as a graduation present, was much easier work. While Derek set up his equipment, Scott walked over to the window and looked out at the back yard. “What time did Beck say she wanted us to come over?”

  Derek, still dripping from the exertion and the sweltering heat in the room, decided to make the most of his discomfort. Walking over to Scott by the window, he tossed the shirt he had been using to wipe himself down on the ground next to them. Standing in the light coming through the window, he stretched, flexing so each ridge of his abdominal muscles and his mounded pectorals created shadows along his body, accentuating his well-formed physique. “I’m going to be dehydrated soon if I don’t 11

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  drink some water.” He turned to face Scott and was rewarded b
y a slight dropping of his mouth and a bulge appearing in his pants which hadn’t been there a moment earlier. He felt a smile creep across his face. “Beck wanted us to come over at three. What time is it?”

  Scott looked at his watch, shifting back and forth from one foot to the other, gabbing at his pants. It’s one-thirty. We have an hour and a half to kill. You have any ideas?” He lifted his eyebrow suggestively, making his intentions perfectly clear.

  “I thought you were the one who said we need to be careful with my mom around.”

  Scott ignored his comment and walked over to the music collection. He grabbed Derek’s favorite, John Mayer’s Continuum, and placed it into the CD player. “Let’s see if we set this up correctly.” After a few seconds, the sound of John’s folk-rock style music filled the room, the base reverberating through the floor boards. Scott walked over to the couch and sat down, placing his hands behind his head and leaning back. Derek surveyed the room. It looked good. By pushing the sofa to the corner and lining his equipment along one wall, his father had full use of the attic and wouldn’t have to remove any of Derek’s things. The result was pleasing, even if the process had been painful. With Scott sitting on the couch and still noticeably aroused, the attic became much more appealing than it would have been otherwise. Standing in the middle of the room, dancing to the music, Derek seductively gyrated his hips, making sure his muscles bulged and flexed with each movement. Every few seconds he glanced at Scott and was pleased to find two dazzling eyes following his every move.

  Scott’s eyes bugged out suddenly. He crossed his legs and stared over Derek’s shoulder.

  Derek turned around and was shocked to find his mother standing next to him.

  “Derek, I’ve been calling your name for the past three minutes. It’s no surprise you couldn’t hear me with all this racket coming from your stereo.”