Chapter 1: Josiah
The engine of the car timidly echoed as I sat quietly on the passenger seat, scrolling through my phone while I waited for my brother. I pulled the sun visor down and looked at my reflection in the small mirror.
My pale face was coated by the golden sunlight. My grey eyes sported a ghostly tinge of green around its circumference which I haven't ever noticed before.
My name's Leo. I'm a freshman student from a university which my brother also attends. Ashton and I have always had a strong brotherly bond, especially since he was just short of a year older than I was. He finally emerged from the house and we began speeding through the road to school after he asked me if I forgot anything.
Both of us are student athletes. He played the power forward position for the university's basketball varsity team while I, on the other hand, am still a substitute tennis player, but I'm definitely getting there. The annual competition is just months away so most of the student athletes have already started training daily right after school hours.
The tennis lawn was situated directly beside the basketball gyms within a mini-compound in the university where most of the training was held. The basketball team's training usually stretched longer than any other sports as it's the biggest deal when it comes to sports in the university, especially since it's kind of what we're known for, so I usually headed to their gym to watch my brother's matches whenever I'm done with my own training to wait for him.
Ever since the first time I stepped into the basketball gym, I've had a major crush on one of Ash's teammates. His name is Josiah -- his friends call him Joss, and he played the center position for the team. He was the tallest among his teammates and he was unfairly handsome to the point that it's kind of offensive. I always loved his deep-set, almost almond-like hazelnut eyes, and the way that his dimples would boastfully show whenever he smiled even slightly. I would always find myself zoning out and just staring at him as he moved around the court, even if the ball wasn't with him. His defined arms would inadvertently flex whenever he dribbled the ball, and his muscular legs tensed as he ran in wide strides across the court.
We weren't friends, but my brother introduced me to him once. He was really friendly and nice, which probably explains why he was friends with almost everyone.
Ashton finally pulled over at the drop off area of my building before leaving for his class. I met with some of my friends and we headed to class together talking about nothing in particular. The day went by rather quickly, and I headed towards the tennis lawn right after we were dismissed from my last class.
I swiftly changed into more appropriate clothes before taking my tennis racket and heading into the common area beside the lawn where a couple of my training buddies were sitting. Heavy training was actually supposed to start next week, but our coach had other plans. We were worked to the bone today, being commanded to do drills after drills, and practice match after every practice match, and I felt like my arms were about to fall off by the end of the training. I took a brisk shower before slinging my duffel bag across my shoulder and heading towards the basketball gym to wait for my brother.
Fortunately, they were wrapping up the game when I sat on one of the benches by the stands. They collectively headed to the washroom after the shrill whistle of the coach was heard and I decided to just keep myself busy with social media as I was waiting for Ashton to come out.
I finally saw him approaching me in a half-run. I fixed my stuff and we were about to head outside when Joss materialized behind my brother's back.
"Hey." he tapped my brother's shoulder before turning to me.
"Hey Leo! How's it going?" He lifted his fist for a fist bump and I copied his movement.
"Everything's good, Joss! I just finished training too."
"That's cool, man. You going home already? We're having a small pool party at my place tonight, you're more than welcome to join us if you'd like.", he said.
I debated actually taking him up on his offer since I didn't have anything to do and I didn't want to spend my Friday night alone in my room but maybe he was just being polite. I also didn't want to embarrass myself.
"That's nice of you to offer but I don't want to be a bother to your friends.", I said with a smile.
"Why would you be a bother? Come on dude, it's Friday! It'll be fun, trust me.", he said.
"I mean, sure! If it's good with you, Ash?", I exclaimed before turning to Ashton.
"Of course. You can't drink though, mom would kill me.", he said. I rolled my eyes and we headed to the parking lot together.
Joss's house was humongous. He lived in an exclusive village, and we had to pass through a couple of guard houses before we were able to reach his street. The gate automatically opened and we were immediately greeted by the most beautiful garden I've seen in the world. His house was practically a mansion. Ashton followed Joss and they parked their cars in their outside garage.
"Wow Joss, your house is beautiful.", I exclaimed.
"Thanks man. Come on, let's go inside."
A foyer narrowly stretched from the door to the living room. It was sleekly designed with black and white furniture and an extremely expensive-looking crystal chandelier floated just above us. Ashton and I followed Joss to a glass sliding door at the other end of the living room where the pool was. Beside the pool was a mini wooden hut where we deposited our bags and hung out waiting for his other friends to arrive.
We talked for a while about random things, but I couldn't help but notice the way that Joss would give you his full attention when you were talking to him. He would stare at my eyes the whole time, and my knees would feel weak. I even stuttered quite a bit because of it.
Eventually, his other teammates arrived one after the other, and they were more than thrilled to find out that I was joining them tonight.
"Hey, the tennis star is here!", one of them said.
I laughed as I casually nodded at every one of them. Ashton introduced me to everyone, and sooner than later, we migrated back to the pool area where Joss was putting up food that was literally enough for 20 people. We were only 7, including me and Ashton, but basketball players like to eat, I guess.
As soon as the music started to blast, everybody took off their shirts, and I was basically forced to do the same as I was the only one with a top on. I was confident with my body, working out regularly with my brother, but damn, literally everybody was hot as hell. They were all physically active too, obviously, so it's going to give me and my boner hell tonight.
Joss definitely caught my attention yet again. His well-developed chest was perfectly proportionate to his chiseled abdomen. Just below his navel was a tuft of treasure trail that ended where the flap of his board shorts started. Damn...
I was talking to Tomas, and we immediately got along very well. He was very interested about how training for tennis was any different than theirs, and we talked more about sports before Joss came over and handed me a crisp cold beer.
"Hey! No drinks!", Ashton shouted from the hut.
I grabbed the bottle, albeit a bit embarrassed, before shouting, "I can handle a few, Ash, stop being such a mom!".
Everybody erupted in laughter. Joss's dimples showed as he was looking at me and I felt blood slightly rushing to my cheeks. I downed half the bottle in order to conceal it.
"Hey, slow down, man. We don't want you getting drunk early, eh?", he said.
We started going into the pool with a beer bottle in each of our hands. I was a bit apprehensive at first because I didn't bring any swimwear, so I was in nothing more than my boxers. The wet and gorgeous sight in front of me wasn't helping my situation at all too, and I thanked all the gods in the heavens that we were underwater.
Their attention was on me most of the time since I'm the new guy, and I just mostly talked about sports and school. I didn't have a particularly interesting life, but I could tell that they weren't faking their interest.
"You gotta teach us sometime, man.", Tomas said.
