Chapter 2 - Subbing Out
*****
Wanna beer?' Tyler asked as he dropped his gym bag onto the floor of his apartment and strolled into the kitchen.
'Uh ... sure, thanks,' Dan stammered, his mind was a million miles away. He had been in Tyler's apartment many times before for house parties or casual drinks with Tyler and his teammates from the rugby team, but now the sleek modern apartment felt like unknown territory to him. He couldn't relax, feeling uncomfortable in his own skin.
The two men had chatted after Tyler had caught Dan sniffing his underwear. Clearly frazzled, Dan was unsure of what to do and, seeing his teammate spiralling, Tyler had suggested he come back to his place for a drink to calm his nerves.
'Here you go,' Tyler handed Dan a can of beer. It was cold to touch - or maybe his hands were just hot from sweat.
Dan dropped his bag in a corner and followed Tyler into the living room.
Tyler sat down on the couch and switched on some music in the background. He took a swig of his beer and draped an arm on the back of the couch - he oozed confidence, owning the room and commanding attention without having to explicitly state it.
'Jeez, you look like a deer in headlights, sit down. What's up with you? You're not acting like yourself.'
'Sorry,' Dan scooted over to the couch and sat some distance away from Tyler, keeping an arm's length between them. 'Just a bit worried about ... what happened,' Dan blushed, avoiding eye contact. Damn, I really am acting off, he thought to himself as he noticed his own coy behaviour. He wasn't himself at all, more like a coquettish teenage girl.
'You mean the underwear sniffing thing?' Tyler laughed. 'Are you still thinking about that?'
'Yeah ... I'm just anxious you'll tell the team and they'll think I'm some perv and kick me out of the club. You guys are a big part of my life; there's not much else going on in my life that's good,' Dan's heart was beating fast. He took a gulp of beer to calm himself, thankful for the cold tangy taste as it went down his throat.
'Dude, relax, I told you I'm not going to tell anyone. I wouldn't do that to you. Why does it worry you so much?'
'Just ... don't want it getting out is all, man,' Dan looked at his teammate finally, searching his face for signs of sincerity or deception, but he was keeping his expression pretty neutral.
'I've seen worse, believe me,' Tyler threw his hands up in nonchalance. 'Your kink is what ... smells? Scents?'
'Yeah ... kinda,' Dan blushed and chuckled lightly.
'So you enjoyed how I smell?' Tyler smiled, a look of curiosity on his face bordering on humour.
'Don't make fun of me, man,' Dan said, but was relaxing into the beer and Tyler's little jabs at lightening the mood.
'Hey, I'm not kink-shaming. I'm genuinely curious. You liked how my crotch smelled,' Tyler said matter-of-factly so Dan knew he was being serious. 'What about my pits? Are you into that?'
Dan stared at his teammate, looking to see if he would break out in a laugh but it seemed that Tyler was opening it up to an honest conversation.
Dan took a glance at Tyler's arm where it lay across the back of the couch, the thick muscular form, his smooth skin all the way up to the sleeve of his t-shirt where it wound tightly around the bicep, and then passed his eyes further to the armpit. He subconsciously licked his lips.
