The Soldier and the Cleaner

I couldn't believe all the shit that I had just gone through in the last six months. My emotions were fried and I snapped. Sitting in the intensive care room watching someone that I loved deeply hang on to life by a thread might've been the last straw had he not come to life right in front of me.

That, was the last straw...

I can still here all the nurses and doctors shouting out to each other as Thomas started to come out of his coma. The emptiness of not being able to do anything as they rushed me out of the room. That feeling of insignificance as Thomas's mother ran by to be with her son. Right at that moment I knew that in the scheme of things I didn't matter.

Never mind that Thomas and I had lived together for almost all of the last six months. Never mind that Thomas had already told his mother that if anything ever happened to him that I was to be included in whatever was to become of him should he not be able to speak for himself.

No, at that moment I was a nobody...so I ran.

That was weeks ago and I haven't looked back since. I know Thomas is alive and recovering because he sent one of his friends to find me and to let me know that he would be coming home soon. I told his friend that I was really happy for Thomas, fighting to hold back the tears. But I also told him that I didn't want to know anything else and to please tell Thomas to give me some space. I would find him when the time was right.

Thanks to my lovely sister I had to explain everything to my parents. She was kind enough to tell them everything that had been going on in my life. The fact that I had been in a relationship with a man didn't faze them at all. My parents are loving caring people with no hang ups for such things. The only thing that matters to them is that their children are happy no matter who they choose to love.

What did concern them was the fact that I was on the cusp of hurting myself with the stupid choices that I was making. I had become rather submissive and had allowed myself to be dominated by certain fellow athletes at the university and that was not going well.

Being the affluent, liberal parents that they are I was immediately placed into counselling. That lasted all of two sessions.

No, the only place that I could find peace was on the pitch. I immersed myself into my training. This was my senior year and practices had started again. New team with a good group of freshmen joining us, I shut everything out and went to work.

Soccer is what we call it but the world calls it football. We don't play on a field, we run on a pitch and man I love to run. The beautiful thing about having a Navy SEAL as your own personal trainer for five months is that you become a bigger, faster, better physical specimen. Of course, at that time, I had no clue that Thomas was a SEAL. Hell, I thought he was Army!

"That's its number 13! That's it!! Show them how it's done, now put it in the back of the net!" I could hear my coach yelling at me during drills and almost right on cue I banged one into the back of the net. God, I love this game...

But you can't stay out on the pitch forever, eventually you find yourself alone. Alone in your room, in the dark looking out the window and thinking about that someone that made your whole life worth having...I missed Thomas.

On this night my thoughts would be interrupted by my phone letting me know that I had a text coming in. I had almost forgotten the name on the text.

Tyrod: Hey I finally got settled in, where are you?

I smiled, Tyrod is the basketball recruit that I met over the summer. I was his official host for the big recruiting event. I had almost forgotten that we had exchanged phone numbers.

Me: In bed

Tyrod: Nice

Tyrod: What are you wearing???

A soft laugh escaped my mouth. Wow, really? That was the first thing that came to my mind.

Me: Perv

Me: They got you in Morris??

Morris hall is the main athletic dorm that houses all the brand-new freshman. It's a really fun place to live. It's coed and depending on the status of your star you can just about do anything that you want.

Tyrod: Hellz yeah. This place is bad ass

Tyrod: I want to see you

Tyrod: Bad

Now not only was I smiling, I was also blushing. When a girl, a coed is asked to be the official hostess for a freshman recruit at this big summer recruiting event it means that she's expected to do everything that is necessary to convince this high school senior that he needs to go to our school and play for our team. Everything means anything.

I didn't know I was going to be Tyrod's official host because, well, I'm not a coed but then again, who knew?

I found out that I was going to be attending to his need the moment that I was told to introduce myself. After that I spent a bit over an hour doing anything and everything to convince this 18-year-old high school senior that he had to bring his basketball skills to our university even if it was only for one year before he went pro.

Tyrod was only the fifth guy that I had ever been with. I went 20yrs of my life living as a very happy, straight, female banging, heterosexual guy. Then I met Thomas and in five months, I was with five different guys. Four were onetime events and two of those were a fucking joke! But not Thomas, no sir, Thomas became my man. He had me almost every night for the past five months, multiple times on some nights.

Tyrod was the last guy that I had been with and for whatever reason, after we were finished, as I was saying goodnight. I couldn't help to think to myself how sweet he had been, especially at the end. So, I gave him my number and didn't think nothing of it until tonight.

Me: I have practices all day and I just come home and veg out at nights. Not really the going out kind

Me: Sorry

Tyrod: You got a man?

Wow, right to the point I thought to myself...

Tyrod: Let me guess, you still with that douche that introduced us?

Tyrod: Tell him I said he ain't shit

Holy shit, this kid...incoming freshman and he thinks he can square up on the most popular athlete on campus and oh by the way...the most vicious football player on campus.

Me: Calm down tuff guy. I'm not with anyone

Lalo Dixon is thought by all to be the baddest man on campus and for a short time he thought he had me on a leash. To be fair, I never gave him any reason to think that I wasn't on his leash. Like I said everything about dating men is new to me. I know how to date women but this, this is different.

It didn't take me long to figure out from my sample of men that some guys think that just because they have a big dick and can fuck you silly, it gives them the right to put a leash on you. Honestly? At that moment in time, I loved being told what to do but then that moment passed and just like that, I was over it.

Maybe it was sitting with Thomas in that intensive care room watching his life beep away on machines. Maybe it was the way I was pushed aside when he started to come back to life, that feeling of insignificance, whatever.

All I knew is that after that night with Tyrod and the day Thomas came back to life, I changed. I had decided that if I was going to continue to be the new person that I had become it would be on my terms and not anyone else's.

Oh, and Lalo Dixon?

I had just gotten on the elevator in the apartment building that Thomas and I lived in. Lalo lived in the same building one floor down. I was angry because of everything but mostly because I knew that I was pushed out just as Thomas was coming back. Or maybe it was just me ready to explode.

As the elevator doors started to close someone reached in and the doors opened. It was Lalo. "Hey babygurl! You here for some dick baby?" Hearing those words come out of his mouth and the shit feelings that I was going through did not sit well with me or with my emotions.

"No Lalo, I'm here to gather some of my shit from my man's apartment. I moving back home." By the odd look on his face I could tell that I had confused him.

"I know I'm your man baby gurl but you don't have any shit in my place?!" My mouth must've dropped open hearing his response. I know football players are a bit off, with all the hits to the head and all. But. Damn!

"Never mind Lalo, just never mind and no I'm not looking for dick and don't ever talk to me like that again you fucking asshole." No sooner had those words left my mouth...Lalo lunged at me.

I will say this for Thomas when he told me that it was important that I let him teach me self-defense he was right and I'm so glad that he did. When Lalo lunged at me in the small box of an elevator, I instantly made myself small, if that's at all possible since I'm only 5'6" to start with. Quickly I assumed a defensive posture, just like Thomas had taught me.

Lalo is bigger, 6' tall and stronger than me but remembering everything that I had learned in the past five months saved me. Lalo meant to grab me but I bunched up, I was too fast for him. He was left with his arms open and his face exposed. Just like when you line up for a header on a corner kick his head looked like an incoming soccer ball and I was lining it up.

My body, especially my lower body, is all muscle. I have a very hot sexy, very full, heart shaped ass attached to a very lovely pair of strong, muscle toned legs with thighs that can generate a lot of power.

I exploded from my bunched-up stance and the top of my head caught Lalo right on the bridge of his nose and forehead. The sound coming from the collision was brutal. I knew his nose was broken just from the sound alone but I also knew that he was still bigger and stronger.

"Don't fight! But if you fight, don't let it last long. The longer you let a fight last the bigger the chance that you are going to get your ass kicked or worse, killed." I could hear Thomas in my head and I knew I had to be quicker than Lalo.

Before he had a chance to take in what had just happened to him and before the full force of the pain hit him, I reached behind his neck and grabbed a hold of his shitty ass extensions on the back of his head. I jerked his head back and started turning him around. Knowing that the extensions would come off I reached over with my other hand and placed it on his face.

Letting go of the extensions and stepping into my next move, I pushed his face back generating momentum as I turned into him with all my 150 lbs of weight. Boom! Another brutal banging sound from slamming the back of his head against the elevator wall. Lalo dropped like a rock...

It all happened in a split second...

When the elevator doors opened on his floor, I rolled him out into the hallway and went on up to gather my things. I never heard anything about the incident and on ESPN it was reported that all-American Lalo Dixon had broken his nose on a boating accident while deep sea fishing with friends.

Gotta be careful out on the open seas, dick head...

It was soon after that I started hearing the rumors. I had nothing to say about it. I just wanted to be left alone.

I continued texting with Ty for the next hour or so. We let each other know what the other had been up to since the last time that we had spoken and we agreed to take it slow. We agreed that we should be friends, for now. He understood the need to keep things on the DL while we found our way and he agreed. We had already said goodnight but after five minutes or so I remembered.

Me: My favorite t-shirt

Tyrod: What???

Me: You wanted to know what I was wearing

Me: My favorite t-shirt and that's all

Tyrod: That's hot

I didn't reply after that and neither did he...

Being at a major university is the shit, I'm not gonna lie. Especially when the school starts coming to life with all the athletes that are in fall sports. They're the first on campus to start the check in process. In most sports freshman and sophomores that are on scholarship are required to live on campus. For those that aren't on scholarship, they can live wherever they want or can afford.

My days start bright and early getting up at 6 am and being on the pitch by 7. As I started making my way downstairs, I was surprised to see lights on. Usually it's dark until I start getting close to the breakfast room but today it was just a little brighter than usual. As I started getting close to my father's study, I could see that there was a light on and then my mother scared the hell out of me.

Coming around the corner carrying a coffee tray was odd in itself, usually it's one of the servants bringing in the tray. "Go upstairs and put on something nicer David." What? Why the hell did she want me to put on something nicer?

Then I heard that voice, I knew that voice. As my mother opened the door and walked in, it was clear to me. Thomas was in my fathers' study, talking with both my parents now.

"Yes sir, I've been in the military in one form or another since I graduated high school. I was accepted into the military academy at West Point on a football scholarship but some personal issues caused me to drop out." Thomas was explaining like he was some sort of long-lost family member.

I stepped into the doorway and I could see my father sitting in his big chair and my mother joining Thomas on the couch as she put down the coffee tray. My mother started pouring coffee, for both of them. I found it odd and strange that I couldn't remember when the last time my mother had been so...domestic.

"After a few months I enlisted in the Navy and that's where I've been all this time. I'll be retiring when my enlistment us up. I won't be reenlisting in October." Thomas finished speaking as he picked up his coffee cup for a drink.

My mother turns and looks at me with that, you didn't go change, look in her eye. "Come in David, look who stopped by." My mother's expression changing as she called out to me.

"Thomas? What are you doing here?" I asked in disbelief. "I don't understand?"

"Now David come on in and sit down. We asked Mary to invite Thomas over so we could meet him. After all he's important to you son so we want you to know that he's important to us as well." My mind, racing not believing the words coming out of my father's mouth.

"Are you serious!" My voice extremely agitated, looking right at Thomas. "Are you fucking serious?? Mary invites you and you come!?!?" Now my voice was elevating.

Knowing that I'm about to lose my shit my mother tries to jump in, "David, David honey, David calm down. We invited him; Mary just delivered the message. Calm down."

"Get out! Get out!!" Looking right at Thomas and into those big gorgeous eyes I was starting to lose it. How could he?? I kept thinking to myself. I tried for months to introduce him to my parents and he has to almost fucking die and then for my sister to ask him to come over for him to finally do it?? Fuck no!!

"Thomas Wayne Thibodaux get your big ass up and get the fuck out of my house!!" Yeah, I had lost it because now I was yelling.

"David!! This is my house and I invited him here now sit down and be quiet!" Now it was my father's turn to yell and that was enough for me.

"Fuck you and your house. What do you think about that daddy?? I'm out of here!" And with that I was headed out. How the fuck could any of them think that this was alright. How the fuck could Mary not talk to me first before she did as she was told which, I might add, was a first since Mary never does what she's told to do by our parents!

"Stupid fucking bitch!!" I screamed as I finally made it out the back door.

But I didn't make it very far. Someone grabbed my arm and stopped me in my tracks. With one big tug of my arm I had been spun completely around and thrown into those big arms and into his chest.

Thomas had caught me and had me in his arms. Before I could protest, he kissed me. A soft, wet, passionate, long kiss...a kiss that seemed to last forever. My body betrayed me as my arms reached up and wrapped themselves around his neck. Our bodies pressing against each other. Soft moans escaping me as I could feel his large hand sliding inside the waist band of my sweats and cupping my bare ass.

When he finally stopped and lifted his face from mine all I could do was look at that handsome face and into those eyes. Then I lost my shit. I buried my face into his chest and just started crying, softly crying. Then I was finally able to put words together in between sobs.

"I'm so sorry Thomas, I'm so sorry. I don't deserve a man like you, you deserve better. Why did you come here? Why Thomas, why? I tried to introduce you to my family, I wanted to tell the whole world that I was with you and you kept saying no!! You kept pushing me back!! Why are you here!!" Pushing myself off of him with my last question, now I was mad again.

"No! No! Fuck no! You don't get to do this. I was treated like shit at the very moment that you were coming back to life. It was made very clear to me that I wasn't needed or wanted, so, no... leave Thomas, just leave."

"David there are so many things that I want to tell you, things that I couldn't bring myself to tell you before. The most important thing that I want to tell you is that I do love you." Hearing him say those words should've had a soothing and calming effect on me but they just made me angrier.

Facing Thomas, I had managed to regain control of myself, "Thomas go home. Stay in the Navy, right now I don't know what I want. A couple of months ago I wanted this, to introduce you to my family and declare my love for you to everyone in my world. But now, now I don't have a fucking clue and honestly I don't know that I give a two fucks."

I didn't need to say the last part but I wanted to hurt him...

I expected something different than what I got from him, from his response. "So, your dad wants to go golfing this morning and he's already called in for a tee time. Go to practice David and if it's ok with you, your parents invited me to dinner this weekend and I accepted."

I was speechless, then, he took my hand and pulled me into him and kissed me, again. A quick kiss, then he turned and walked right back inside my house. Right back inside my house. My fucking house...what the fuck? It's all I could think.

But wait, the shit cherries on top of my morning shit sundae, my younger siblings, fraternal twins, they had finally turned 18 and were about to start their senior year of high school. Out they came, right on cue.

Thing One, my brother... "Great, my big brothers a fag."

Thing Two, my sister, shaking her head... "That's just nasty."

Then Thing One and Thing Two jumped into Thing One's Hummer and they were off to gather the flying monkeys from the Wizard of Oz to terrorize the world. A motley pair and...wow, just wow.

My morning was complete.

Practice was shit. The entire time my head wasn't where it needed to be. I kept repeating the mornings events over and over in my head. Morning practice was a wash and I knew that I had to get my shit together. I needed to yell at someone, I needed to take my anger out on someone that deserved it.

"Hey bitch it's me." Talking to Mary over the phone I could hardly keep calm but I needed to if I wanted her to talk to me. "Yeah what the fuck ever cow. Listen meet me at Antone's for lunch." My sister trying to talk her way out of it but I wouldn't have it.

"Mary shut up. Shut up! I already called and they know better than to tell our mother that they didn't have a table for us. Be at Antone's in an hour or I swear to god Mary I will come to your office and embarrass the shit out of you. All fucking day!" And with that lunch was set.

Heading out to my car life had one more twist for me. "David! David!" I could hear someone calling me but couldn't see who. Then there he was. All 6'11" of him sitting under a tree. Tyrod Williams was supposed to be the savior of our basketball program he was my guest, if that's what we're calling it, for the recruiting event this summer, have I already mentioned that?