A/N: Things start heating up. Hope you enjoy :)
"Okay, relax, you've done well," Randy assured John as they finished the last of the stretching activities.
"Have I? I still can't lift," John griped.
"The mobility and strength won't come back overnight but improve at a gradual pace. "For instance, you don't take over five minutes to remove your shirt now."
"I guess," John said seeing Randy's point, the sessions were getting easier, but there was still a tremendous pain afterward which took hours to disappear after popping two painkillers.
The atmosphere between the two of them was easing. The more they saw one another, the more it improved and they were making conversation during the sessions.
John missed the conversations they used to have when they got coffee or went to the cinema but he wasn't sure he wanted it to get that comfortable again.
"How's your classes going?"
"Fine, somewhat boring," he admitted. "I've got a semester of courses I have to do for General Ed, but nothing in my chosen field."
"You said you were taking Biology this semester?"
"I am, but it's general, it doesn't relate to Exercise Science," John said. "It's my favourite this semester though. Beats English."
Randy chuckled at the memory of checking John's essay at the coffee shop, "You need to get over that. College Writing is important and will help you over the next few years."
"I'm sure," John turned his nose up at the notion. "Whatever. Besides, I'm just able to use the keyboard for long periods of time. Before that I was handwriting everything, my instructors were always commenting."
"They can be hard asses, but they mean well. When you get out there and get a job then people need to read your writing," Randy said. "The ones that commented on your handwriting were just trying to get you to write neater."
"Well, I'll change my chosen profession and become a doctor, nobody minds their handwriting," John scoffed.
"I'd test that theory, I could just manage to read your doctors," Randy laughed with a smile taking a seat at the desk and writing up notes from the day's session.
"So, will I be able to get back in the gym with the guys soon, even on light duties?" John asked.
"You've just got mobility back in your arm, do nothing that will set it back," Randy scolded him, sounding frustrated at his constant pushing to be further ahead.
John didn't mean to annoy Randy but he wanted to get back in and train with his teammates. If he stood a chance of getting his spot back next season, he needed to get back in the gym.
"Sorry," he mumbled as he slid on his shirt.
Randy sighed and hung his head, "John, listen, as soon as you can get back to training, I'll tell you," he promised. "The most you could complete right now is light cardio, and you hate the treadmill."
John smirked at the comment before sighing himself, "so not yet then."
"No, we'll review in a month."
John nodded, acknowledging Randy's suggestion, he thought to mention the pain afterward, even went as far as taking a breath before speaking the words, but stopped himself.
Randy closed his folder and stood, turning at the same time to head to the door.
"Ready for class?"
"I've still got half hour," John said looking at his watch.
Randy looked at his own watch before cocking his head to the door, "Come on, I'll buy you a coffee on your way and you can tell me what you were going to say."
Randy led John out from the room and John followed. His heart was racing as it always had with Randy. It was the first time since he had been attending the physical therapy sessions but he recognised it.
As they exited the training centre, John considered coming up with an excuse to head to his dorm room and get away from Randy. As rude as he had been to Randy before the holidays, John could so fall back into the close friendship he'd had with Randy, and that led to confusion.
"So, you going to tell me," Randy said slowing so he was walking alongside John.
John took a deep breath as he considered his actions, "My shoulder," he started, agreeing just to talk therapy, "It hurts for hours after our sessions, sometimes the painkillers I have won't stop the pain either."
"How many are you taking?"
"The prescribed dose."
"Do you ice it, does that help?"
"Yes," John said adjusting the bag on his good arm. "Not much though."
"Okay, after Thursday's session we'll try the opposite and put heat on it," Randy suggested, looking perplexed. "You should have told me before today."
"Yeah," John admitted. "It's just I..."
"What?" Randy asked stopping in his tracks.
"I still find it difficult," John shrugged and hung his head. "Every time we talk I remember how I spoke to you and treated you and you're just continuing on as before."
John watched as Randy closed his eyes and considered his words. John realised he looked tired and there was something else he couldn't put his finger on, but John was just noticing that Randy wasn't as laid back as he appeared.
"What do you want me to say?" Randy asked lost for words.
"What am I to you?" John heart was racing even faster than before, he couldn't believe he'd asked the question, he wasn't sure where it had even come from, but it was out there now. He tried his hardest to keep eye contact with Randy but he found it hard.
"An injured student who I'm administering Physical Therapy to," Randy said gulping before continuing. "A friend."
John nodded, as his heart slowed back to normal, slower than it had been around Randy at least. He had to admit, he was disappointed.
The next evening
"John, dude, I've been waiting for days; when are you going to spill; you and Torrie, have you done her yet?" Chris asked throwing a softball at his head.
John smirked as the ball bounced off his head toward their bookcase. He was lounging on his bed pretending to read his Biology book so he kept his head lowered looking at the page, now and then turning it in case Chris noticed.
"I admire the way you're ignoring me, you don't over share but it means you did something with her."
"No it doesn't," John said not rising to the bait and continuing to read.
"Okay, fine, but she and Barbie were meeting for coffee the next morning. Girls do that when they have something to discuss," Chris said. "What they did with their boyfriends for example."
"They have boyfriends?" John asked mocking Chris' so called relationship with Barbie.
"Ha-ha," Chris sneered. "Okay, listen, if nothing happened and will never happen with Torrie, I can help you get with a girl that interests you."
"Chris."
"Come on, dude, you haven't been with a girl since the year started," Chris pleaded. "Did you leave a girl behind in your hometown?"
"No," John said. None of the girls in West Newbury were of any interest, no girl, ever, had interested John and with the time he'd been spending with Randy toward the end of the first semester, and now with the therapy sessions, John wondered if he should take a hint.
"Okay, listen, we're heading out again in two weeks and I'll no doubt crash at Barbie's since her roommate dropped out," Chris explained. "Bring Torrie back, for the second time, and do... whatever."
"Whatever?"
"Yeah, whatever," he said with a mischievous grin.
The following week
Randy was pouring over his lesson plans for the next month, making sure he had everything he needed prepared. He liked to work two weeks ahead in case of emergencies, that way if someone were covering they had to pick it up and follow his lesson plans.
As he was making a note in his diary to copy an assignment brief, there was a knock at the treatment room door.
"Hey," John said as he entered and put his bag on the spare chair and took his shirt off as was now his habit upon entering.
"I figured you'd want coffee," Randy said without looking.
"Yeah, thanks," John murmured grabbing the cup and taking guzzling it.
"I swear you have iron guts," Randy shook his head as he put his diary to the side with his lesson plans.
"Whatever," John mumbled, rotating his shoulders.
"You in pain?"
"No, just don't want to do this today," John said heading to the table and pulling himself up onto it.
There sessions were becoming routine and John hated run of the mill. He needed to shake things up with the therapy sessions, but it was going to be hard considering John's strength wasn't yet back in his arm.
It was too late for this session but Randy made a mental note to come up with different exercises for the next session.
"Well, the quicker we get going, the quicker you'll be out of here and heading to class," Randy said trying not to let John become aware he sympathised with him. He took hold of John's arm and extended it out, raising it until he met resistance, he tentatively pushed it further before relaxing and repeating the movement, helping to warm the muscles up and loosen the tension. "Talk."
"I'm fine. You don't need to be worried," John said lead back with him eyes shut.
"John?"
"I'm fine," he stressed his eyes shooting open and making contact with Randy's. "I'm not going to break."
"Okay," Randy said giving up and shaking his head at John's mood. "Did you not get any sleep last night? Most people are only this cranky when they don't sleep."
"I slept, I'm fine," John huffed before closing his eyes again.
"John, you can't switch off from your therapy," Randy scolded. "It's two way. I need feedback from you."
"I'm-"
"Fine, yeah, I got that," Randy rolled his eyes. "If you open your eyes and take part in this session, for the remaining fifty minutes, I'll buy you dinner."
Randy hadn't meant to say that. He meant to say coffee; he could have coffee with John, not dinner. They could never go on a date. John wasn't there yet. Wasn't anywhere remotely near ready for a date. Hell, he wasn't even ready to acknowledge that he liked men yet, no matter that Randy could tell that was the case.
John still had said nothing to his comment, had he even heard it? Was he ignoring it on purpose?
"How's that?" Randy said moving on from his faux pas and changing exercises.
"Scale of one to ten, three or a four," John said opening his eyes. "Where are you taking me?"
Randy closed his eyes wishing John hadn't acknowledged him. He'd prefer to go back to ignoring each other. His face heated at his mistake, this time it was his turn to keep his eyes closed.
"I meant-"
"You said dinner," John reminded him.
"John... can you-"
"No. Ow, seven," John winced.
"Sorry; I meant coffee," Randy repeated. "Sit up please."
"Yeah, but you said dinner," John repeated as Randy lowered the back of the table.
"Lie back and bring your arms up in front of you," Randy said ignoring him.
"I hate this part," John grumbled knowing which exercise Randy was making him do. Randy handed him a balance stick and John held it up above him with Randy stood at the head of the board supporting John's arm, ready to take the bar when necessary.
"This should get me dessert," John said with a smirk.
"John, stop," Randy said causing John to lower the bar and Randy stopped him. "No, I mean your comments."
"Why? It's fun, it made my morning enjoyable," John taunted.
"Yeah well, mine just got worse," Randy said grimacing.
"If it makes you that uncomfortable then I'll let you buy me a sandwich from the canteen," John said smiling up at Randy getting Randy to smile back.
"Or at the weekend we get coffee and something to eat," Randy suggested, hoping to put the matter to rest.
"Fine, usual place?"
"That's fine," Randy said. "Besides, you still need to get through the session first."
That weekend
John stretched his arm as the muscles tightened. He'd had a relaxed day in the park with Randy but the discomfort from his shoulder was never far from his mind.
"You okay?" Randy lifted his head from the ground as he spoke.
"Yeah, just tightened up," John admitted. "Nothing that's bothering me much."
"Tell me if you want food or a drink," Randy said crooking his arm under his head.
After meeting just before lunch they grabbed food in the coffee shop and then walked over to the park. They didn't plan to end up over here, they were just walking and talking, and the next thing it was an hour later and they were in the second biggest park in the town. They found a spot by the lake and collapsed to the ground and there they stayed for the rest of the day, getting up to move when they were hungry or if Randy wanted to chase the sun as it moved round.
John tried his hardest to hold in the gulp as Randy took his shirt off revealing a nice six pack but he took a minute to look away from the sight. In fact, he was fighting the urge to run his hand over the muscles, just to have him under his touch.
Randy broke his concentration by asking him how his day had been though John dodged the questions surrounding his classes not able to lie that he hadn't bothered to go to his English class. He was in the wrong not to go but he had the outline of work and Chris was good enough to share his notes since he was taking the class.
During the day John had bombarded Randy with questions on his home life as a child. He found out he was the eldest of three children with a younger sister, Becky, and a brother, Nathan.
He asked him to describe Missouri, since he'd never visited, and Randy told him of the places he spent his time growing up but his relaxed state meant he didn't go into detail. Randy decided he was hungry again and pulled John to his feet leading him around the park until they found a burger stand and they walked back to where they'd spent hours sunbathing.
Randy convinced John to remove his top this time and they stretched out on their sides as they talked. John loved this part of the day as Randy relaxed enough he forgot who he was with and it was nothing for him to take John's hand in his or push against his arm or stomach as they joked around, never once did the day get awkward between the two of them and John enjoyed every second.
"Is it me or is the sun fading?" John asked looking over the lake they sat by.
"Sun will set in an hour," Randy said sitting up and checking his watch. "I guess we should get back to the car."
"Can we bus it back?"
"What, are you bored with my company you want it over?" Randy joked dragging himself over to sit next to John.
"No," John said poking him in the side. "Just can't be bothered to walk that distance again."
"Come on then, I'll even pay for the fare," Randy said helping him to his feet. As they walked along the path, Randy kept his arm slung around John's shoulder. When they made it to the bus, and it arrived to take them back to the coffee shop where they left the car John was so relaxed he was twisting in his seat and leaning back to rest his head on Randy's shoulder.
That evening
John bounded up the stairs after his day with Randy, he wanted to suggest they extend the day and do something in the evening but just as he went to bring it up, he lost his nerve, but even with that, it was the best day he'd had in a long time, one of the best days of his life.
As he exited the stairwell and rounded the corner, he spotted Barbie at the far end, at least he thought it was Barbie. A blonde pressed against the door to her dorm room and hadn't Chris told him her roommate had dropped out over Christmas?
He stayed back out the way so she couldn't see him and waited for them to disappear into her room; five minutes later he was still waiting. The pair weren't ones for privacy.
They fumbled for the door handle and as the door slammed closed he reverberated with a second slam and John presumed one of them pinned the other to the back of the door.
"What does Chris see in her?" he wondered as he climbed the final set of stairs to his floor.
The next night
The last couple of weeks for John had improved since he and Randy had been talking again. Since his chat with Randy, John found his resolve to get better renewed. Randy helped him with his physical therapy, and he hoped they hung out again in their free time.
What John still needed to sort out was his lack of enthusiasm for his school work. Since returning from the holidays and still battling with his injury, he had no motivation for the work. Before Christmas his second priority had been his school work. Now it was low on his list. He got most of his assignments in on time but missed the deadline on a couple which meant his score was capped.
"John, are you here with me?" Torrie asked, interrupting his thoughts.
"Yeah I am," John said, wrapping his arm around her. Torrie wasn't a complete replica of Barbie, she had better morals and was interested in making conversation, but John still found it difficult to get interested. The only reason he had her in his room tonight was because Chris and Barbie had been making comments throughout the evening, he was just doing it to keep them quiet.
"He says going off into his own thoughts," she said laughing off his lack of interest. "Who are you thinking of while we're kissing?"
"You. I promise," John said pecking her on the lips. He was betraying himself by inviting her in and kissing her. Not to mention the guilt for leading her on when nothing was going to change.
Torrie leaned in and kissed John, an adorable smile on her face from John's words. She pushed him onto the mattress and being the gentleman John let her take the lead, letting her control how far things progress. The kiss was sweet and soft and John brushed her hair back from her face as she continued the kiss. When her tongue pressed against his lips, John opened for Torrie, causing her to moan into his mouth. John liked kissing; he liked the kiss, so why wasn't his body reacting.
"Because you want someone with more strength behind their kiss," a deep voice said in his ear. He turned his head finding Randy laying out beside him. The older man gripped the back of his neck and pushed his lips against John's. Randy kissed him with so much force John moaned his approval as his body reacted.
"Mm, now you're getting into this," Torrie breathed in his ear, snapping him from his guilty thoughts. What the hell just happened?
He took deep breaths trying to hide his reaction. Guilty over being caught, he shook the thoughts from his head, his eyes falling on the alarm clock on his bedside table so he didn't have to focus on Torrie's face.
"Torrie, I'm sorry, but I can't do this," John said not looking at her. "I don't think of you how everyone tells you I do. I'm sorry for leading you on but it's not right to take things further."
"What? But you..."
"I'm a guy I will react to a woman," he lied. "Doesn't mean I should do something."
"Wow... You think you're being noble don't you," she said sitting up on the edge of the bed. She stood and grabbed her coat, when you're just an asshole, the same as every other man on this planet."
She stormed out of the room, slamming the door on her way out and John fell back on the bed screwing his eyes shut.
"Well, now she's gone," Randy's voice popped back in his head. "Why don't we continue this?"
John tried to imagine how a kiss with Randy turned into three or four. Randy's tongue sliding into his mouth. His making the return journey. Randy holding him steady with his firm hands.
Randy kissing him stronger as John responded. His hands brushing along his thighs and hooking under his knees, wrapping his legs around his waist, pulling him in closer as he did.
John moaned at how much Randy enjoyed the kiss, the evidence pressing hard against him. Damn John wanted even more. His hands wandered the contours of Randy's muscular arms and his fingers trailed along Randy's spine.
He imagined his reaction to Randy sliding his hands under John's top and pushing it up, removing it. And what if those same hands opened his pants and pulled them off along with his boxers. And what if his hands helped Randy out of his clothes, revealing his body. Every muscular inch.
John groaned as he pictured everything his mind didn't allow him to admit. He opened the front of his jeans to ease the pressure and without a second's hesitation his hand wrapped around his straining member.
John stroked himself as though his life was on the line, his orgasm rising fast through his body. He never reacted this way. John, a typical guy, had done this plenty of times, used magazines and web images as kindling but he took an age to get off from it. He wondered if he'd be able to keep it going.
John pictured himself with Randy, straddling Randy's legs as they kissed, Randy's hands grabbing his hips, holding him still as he thrust into him. John realized they weren't kissing in his imagination; realised they were further on than kissing.
"Oh fuck," John yelled as cum erupted from his cock at the mere thought.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed. Keep the reviews coming :)
