I Don't Wanna Feel a Thing Anymore.

540 Days Ago

It had been a week since I had met Vic in Whole Foods. He had never called me. It was a little heartbreaking, but I guess I was used to rejection. I felt defeated as I walked into work that day. It was Friday, another week wasted. At least there was another pick-up game today.

“Kellin!” Tony ran up to me, looking more excited than usual. I laughed, holding up my arms, avoiding a collision.

“What could you possibly be so excited about at ten in the morning?” I whined. It was probably some stupid drama, which Tony was always so interested in. He really could act more gay than me, and that was saying something. His shift started an hour before mine, even though he always greeted me in the back room, and so he already knew everything there was to hear.

“Rachel had a family emergency, so the department is shutting down at two!” he explained. Rachel was the head of the cheese department. I didn’t doubt that she actually had something going on, but she was also pretty nice, so she was probably just giving us a break. Fridays were always slow anyways, and San Diego could live without cheese for one afternoon. I smiled and gave Tony a high five.

Work seemed to drag by even more than usual today. I packed up five minutes early so that Tony and I would be on time for the soccer game, which had been pushed forward by two hours. We blasted the radio in the car, singing along to some pop shit. “Dude, you sing like a fucking woman!” Tony laughed. “Yeah, but at least I don’t sound like a dying animal, not mentioning any names!” We were so nice. I changed into my tennis shoes from my Toms as we pulled up to the dirty field. I got out of the car, scanning the group of people. Jaime, this funny ginger kid Alan, the tatted guy Mike, Tony’s British friend Josh, and a bunch of others. It was a good turnout today. I slammed the car door, turning around again to see another short guy added to the group, talking to Mike. Wait… was that Vic? My mouth went dry at the thought of facing the beautiful man who had neglected to call me. I clenched my jaw and walked up to the group anyways. Was it my imagination, or did Vic’s face light up when he saw me?

“Hey! Kellin!” He jogged over to me with a smile on his face. In the sun, he looked so much more perfect than I ever thought was possible. Whole Food’s dim lighting really washed people out. The light beat down on his smooth tan skin and reflected in his deep, chocolate coloured eyes. I smiled back, lost in his gaze. “I’m so sorry I didn’t call you! I lost your number, actually.” He said with a nervous laugh. “But Mike said I could find you here!”

“Mike?” I was still kind of in a dream like state on account of the beauty standing before me. Vic laughed, gesturing to the tall, tattooed man I had met a week ago.

“Yeah, Mike’s my little brother!” He explained. I looked back and forth between the two, not finding any similarities. Vic was much more attractive, in my opinion. I noticed Jaime motioning me over to the center of the field.

“Ah. Well, it’s my turn to be captain this week! I know who I’m picking.” I said with a wink. I tried to flash my best smile, but it seemed pale in comparison to Vic’s dazzling grin. I flounced away, shouting “YOU’RE GOIN’ DOWN, PRECIADO.” Jaime elbowed me jokingly. “We’ll see about that, Quinn!” We each picked our teams. I ended up with Vic, Tony, Eric, and a few others. It was even teams for the first time that I could remember. Vic was good, also. The whole match ended up practically being a game between the Fuentes brothers, considering they were amazing. We pulled out a win, 3 to 2. I ran up and hugged Vic, not minding the fact that we were dripping with sweat. I wanted to stay in those arms forever.

“What are you doing after this, Kell?” He asked. Kell. No one had called me that since my dad, who I hadn’t seen for heard from since my 12th birthday. I shook the thought and smiled, realizing Vic might be asking me out. I shrugged as casually as I could.

“Nothing really.” I answered. I was going back to the park. I had a nice little ditch behind some bushes where my stuff tended to stay safe while I was away.

“Do you maybe wanna come out with me and Mike?” He asked tentatively, biting his lip. Damn, those lips. I wanted to kiss them more than anything. Once again, I forced myself to snap out of it. I reminded myself that I barely even knew Vic; he could be crazy for all the knowledge I had of him. That thought grounded me for the moment. I nodded.

“I’d love to!” I said with an honest smile. “Let me grab my things from Tony’s car.” He nodded. I jogged past Tony, grabbing the keys from his back pocket. He turned to me with a confused look as I unlocked the car, and then shrugged, going back to his conversation with Josh. I grabbed my phone and beat up Toms from the passengers seat, locking the doors and hurrying back to Vic.

“So, where are we going?” I asked, falling into step next to him.

“It’s this open mic thing for musicians, me and my brother try to go every Friday.” He explained as he opened the back car door for me. I thanked him and slid into the seat. What a gentleman. Mike got shotgun and Vic drove.

“Do you play?” I asked. Vic laughed.

“I mess around on guitar, and I try to sing.” Mike scoffed at this statement.

“Mess around? Vic, stop being modest.” Mike said. He turned around to look right at me. “He sings like a girl, but then again, the ladies are pretty into it. Not that he’s into them, but hey, more for me!” Vic reached over and punched Mike in the arm. He then staged whispered to me, “Vic’s gay.” Those two words confirmed my hopeful suspicion. I felt a smile growing across my face, because this meant I had a chance at making this beautiful man mine.

“Do you play, Kellin?” Vic asked, changing the subject. We turned into a parking lot in front of a black glass building. He turned around to look at me after he’d stopped the car, the fading light dancing in his big brown eyes.

“A little…” I said slowly. “Maybe you’ll see tonight!” I laughed. We stared at each other for a few moments, forgetting Mike was there until he coughed loudly.

“C’mon, fags.” Mike laughed, getting out of the car. Vic ran around to the other side of the car, and they play fought for a second. “KELLIN AND VIC SITTIN IN A TREE, K I S S I N G!” Mike yelled, quickly getting his older brother into a headlock.

“Fine! I give up!” Vic laughed, reaching into the backseat and grabbing a guitar case that I hadn’t noticed before. I followed the brothers and walked through the door.