Mark gave his mom and dad a hug. Afterward, he gave an extra-long hug to his little sister Katie, who seemed a little bit embarrassed but she also didn’t want to let go.

As the door shut behind them, he let out a sigh and flopped down on the bed. His new roommate, Mike said, ”You are free, my child.”

Mark chuckled, ”I remember when I loved summer break. Now, I just want to be here all year round.”

“Yeah,” said Mike. “I had to work for my dad’s construction company all summer. It sucked balls.”

Mark replied, ”Factory job here. They could surely train a monkey to do the job that they had me on.” Mark hopped up off of the bed and shook Mike’s hand. “Nice meeting you Mike. I need to check in with somebody.”

Mark grabbed his gym bag and headed to the athletic complex. He wasn’t even sure if he would be able to get in there. He went to the back entrance and found an unlocked door. Once he got in the building, he worked his way toward the locker room. He walked by Coach’s office and grabbed the handle of the locker room door. Surprisingly, it opened. Mark flipped on the lights and walked in slowly. As he walked by the lockers, the names of the players from last year’s teams were still on them.

Mark walked up to Zach’s locker and placed his hand flat against it. He leaned in until his forehead touched the cold, metal locker door. He stepped back and slowly opened the locker. It was empty. Mark wasn’t sure what he had hoped to find inside there, but it wasn’t there nonetheless.

He closed the locker door gently, walked slowly toward his locker, and sat down on the bench. Although Mark was smiling, he was also nearly in tears. He was so incredibly happy just to be back in the locker room.

The summer had been nearly unbearable for him. He had felt trapped wherever he went. Nobody back home knew the real person that he was and he knew that most wouldn’t accept it. Mark suspected that Katie knew something. She was a smart girl and pretty tech-savvy. He assumed that she would have stumbled on some evidence that he was gay at some point.

So, he had spent all summer living a lie and pretending to be another person. He hadn’t even so much as touched another guy since he went home. He had chatted and texted with several of his teammates over the summer, including Zach, but he hadn’t talked to any of them in the last few weeks.

He was considering getting changed and trying to get out to the court. Just then he heard a voice behind him,”Son, you aren’t due here for another two weeks.”

Mark turned around and charged at Coach. Mark greeted him with an aggressive hug that almost knocked both of them to the floor. As soon as he grabbed Coach, he couldn’t contain himself any longer. Mark began to cry, and as much as he tried to, he couldn’t stop.

Coach, trying to hold back his own tears, said, ”Oh, son, you have been hiding yourself all summer haven’t you?”

A sniffling Mark mumbled, ”Yeah.”

“Well, I am glad that you are here. We have a season to get ready for,” Coach said enthusiastically. “I need help with the playbook, I need to get an idea of our starting roster, and I have five new recruits to get ready. So, if you are available, I need you here after class every day to help me get my shit together.”

Mark immediately perked up. He told Coach that he wanted Luke to be his co-captain. Mark was amazed at Luke’s progress the past year and he felt like they needed to find a way to get him on the starting roster. He thought that the starting roster should be himself, Justin, Lee, Luke, and Jamar. Maxi would be the rotation big-man and Luke could slide back to the center position if Maxi was on the court. As far as Chris went, Mark knew that he could play if needed, but he probably didn’t care if he didn’t. He added that he didn’t know about any of the new guys or their skills, but he would be happy to include them in the rotation.

Coach responded, ”I think that you have already done half of my work for me. All of that sounds good. And, I couldn’t agree with you more about Luke. At the end of the year, last season, he was pushing Zach to his limits. That young man could set all kinds of season records this year, but he is going to need the right offense and the right players around him.”

Mark said confidently, ”Well, then… I guess that we need to find a way to make that happen then.”

“I have one thing that I need you to do before the others get here,” Coach challenged.

“Yeah, whatever you need me to do, Coach,” Mark answered.

Coach told Mark,”I want you to call one person that you knew before you came here and tell them about who you really are. You get to pick the person. It could be a close friend or relative, but it is something that you need to do. And son, it doesn’t matter how they react. This is about you.”

Mark was staring at the floor. He was shaking his head 'no', but he answered, ”Yeah. You’ve got it, Coach. I can do that.”

~~~

The sound of a cell phone ringing away was interrupted by a groggy female voice, ”Yeah… hello?”

“Katie. It’s Marcus,” Mark said a bit timidly. “I woke you up, didn’t I?”

She responded, ”Yeah. Um, I had just fallen asleep. Are you okay?”

Mark chuckled, ”I’m good Kates. No worries. I need to tell you something important, though.”

“Okay, I am awake. Fire away,” she answered.

Mark said softly, but confidently,”Katie, I am gay.”

There was a bit of a pause. Mark could hear Katie chuckle softly.

“I already figured that out, Marcus!” She answered. “I did grow up with you. I have seen stuff left behind on the computer over the years. But I didn’t know for sure until I saw that picture of you and that hunk.”

“Zach?” Mark asked.

“Yeah, I saw that picture of you two in your basketball uniforms. The way that you two looked at each other, it was obvious that you two were together,” she responded.

Mark fired back, ”I wouldn’t say that we were together, but… yeah. He was my first. I don’t know, I haven’t heard from him in a while so…”

Katie quipped, ”You could send him my way if you are done with him…”

Mark retorted, ”I’ll send him your way when I am done with him.”

“I need to head back to bed,” Katie said sleepily.

“G’night Katie,” Mark said. “I love you.”

“Love you too,” she responded as the phone disconnected.

With tears streaming down his face, Mark stood up from the bench, closed his locker door, and headed out of the locker room. As he walked by Coach’s office, he hesitated. He made a fist and as he got ready to knock he heard a voice say, ”Don’t be a stalker, son. Come in.”

Mark walked into the office. Coach immediately noticed how red Mark’s eyes were. “Are you okay, son?” he asked.

Mark hesitated for a few seconds and answered, ”Yeah, I’m good. I called my sister a little bit ago. I told her about who I am… and… she was alright with it. She already knew. I know that it won’t always go that way, but the fact that she was… really gave me comfort.”

Coach was a bit stunned. “Son, when told you that you need to tell somebody who you were, I didn’t mean that you had to do it right this minute. The way that you take on every challenge in your life is… truly inspiring to me. I wish that I had such strength and conviction at your age.

“I’m glad that you are still here, though. Our trainer, Dillon, had to leave the team. His partner got a really good job offer out of state, so he had to move away. I just hired his replacement and he should be here shortly.”

Mark was a bit disappointed. He and Dillon had always gotten along well and he was the person that treated him when he had taken that nasty fall last year. “Okay, yeah, I can hang around a bit,” he answered a bit apprehensively.

Mark and Coach chatted for about fifteen minutes. There was a knock on the door. Coach invited them in. As Mark turned toward the door, he saw a very large and familiar figure.

A very happy Coach said, ”Mark, this is Zach Wilson. He is going to be our new athletic trainer.”

Mark just sat there smiling. He slowly stood up and gave Zach a hug.

“Do you two know each other from somewhere?” Coach asked them with a wry smile on his face.

Zach answered, ”He looks kind of looks like the guy who does my mom’s hair.”

Mark fired back, ”Yeah, aren’t you the guy who works out in the park trying unsuccessfully to get attention?”

Coach chimed in, ”So, as you men probably know, the interaction between students and staff is expected to be purely professional. So any sort of personal contact should be conducted well outside of the public eye. Are we clear?”

Both of them indicated that they understood what Coach was saying.

“So, I think that you two should get to know each other a bit better. I need to get to work on my security system. All of my cameras are on the fritz right now, so the entire locker room is completely dark,” Coach added.

As the two boys headed toward the door, Zach turned toward Coach and said, ”Thanks for giving me this opportunity, Coach.”

Coach answered, ”I don’t give anybody anything that isn’t deserved, son.”

As they exited the office, Mark mumbled, ”Kiss-ass.”

Mark and Zach headed into the locker room and took a seat at one of the benches. They chatted for a while and caught up a bit. The mood was jovial until Mark challenged Zach on why he went quiet. When Zach said that wanted to surprise Mark, things got a bit tense.

“I didn’t think that I was going to see you again,” Mark said, clearly getting a bit emotional.

Zach answered, ”Yeah, I know the feeling. So, where do we go from here?”

Mark hesitated a while, ”Zach, you know what I have to do here. Plus, I am not done having fun. Isn’t that what college is about? But, I would be alright with us starting out with an open relationship if that is okay with you?”

Zach seemed disappointed by that answer.

Mark added, “How many times did you, Luke, and Maxi have a romp late last year? You can still have that. What if Justin or one of the new recruits wants to hook up sometime? You can still have that option.”

Zach smirked, ”Yeah, Luke is a good time. I have a feeling that the two of us are going to wear him out this year. You haven’t seen him for a while, have you? Maxi looks great, too. We have been working out together all summer.”

Mark said reluctantly, ”I haven’t had any fun since the year ended. As soon as I went home, I went right back into my shell. As soon as I got back here, I snuck into the locker room. I don’t know what I was looking for, but it wasn’t here… until now.”

Mark climbed on Zach’s lap facing him. He started to kiss Zach, at first softly, and then more aggressively. They each pulled off each other's shirts, not wanting to break contact for any longer than they had to. Zach cupped Mark’s ass with his giant hands. Mark retaliated by grinding his tiny cock against Zach’s.

Mark quickly ran to his locker and grabbed a partial bottle of lube that he had kept from last year. He slammed it down on the bench and quickly started removing his remaining clothing. Zach got the hint and followed suit. The sounds of shoes and belts clanging off of the lockers echoed through the entire locker room.

Zach stood up with the bottle of lube in his hand. He grabbed a generous amount and slathered it clumsily all over his cock and balls. Mark approached Zach and wrapped his arms around his neck. Zach quickly grabbed Mark’s ass and lifted him into the air like he was a plaything.

Mark squeezed Zach tightly and whispered, ”Fuck me,” in his ear. Zach positioned Mark appropriately and directed his cock to Mark’s eagerly-awaiting hole. Zach let go of Mark and let his weight slowly lower himself onto his cock. He could feel Mark shiver and his legs were trembling. Mark wrapped his legs around Zach’s body and he was instinctively thrusting his cock deeper inside.

With Mark still impaled on his massive manhood, Zach backed Mark up into the lockers. Zach wanted this to be as loud and as animalistic as their first time. Zach gave it a “tester” and gave Mark a long, firm thrust. Mark’s back and arms crashed against the lockers giving a loud, rattle. Zach was sufficiently satisfied.

As Zach started up, it became clear that Mark was very eager to get his own satisfaction. Mark had his left arm hooked around Zach’s neck while he stroked his cock feverishly. The orchestra of rattling, clanging, grunts, and groans played on for several minutes. Then, Mark screamed out in what seemed to be equal parts orgasm and crying.

It caught Zach’s attention, and he stopped just briefly before continuing. Zach felt a considerable spray of cum splash against his rather chiseled abs. It trickled down his body in a ticklish fashion until it began to wet both of their lower abdominal areas. Zach could feel the wetness of Mark’s cum as it dripped down onto his cock. The thought of fucking Mark with his own cum sent him over the edge.

As Zach started to cum, his body locked up pinning Mark tightly to the lockers. They each had their heads on each other's shoulders and they were each squeezing each other so tightly that they could feel one another's heartbeat pounding away. Zach gasped deeply as his cock throbbed and coated Mark’s insides with his hot, thick cum. As his orgasm was fading, Zach slowly resumed a slow, stroking motion. By the time that he completely ran out of steam, his cum was dripping off of his large, saggy balls.

Zach slowly lowered Mark to the floor in a seated position. He then collapsed flat on his ass on the cold, tile floor.

Mark’s face was bright red. He leaned his cheek against the cool locker and mumbled, ”God, I needed that. I haven’t done that since the last day of school last year.”

Zach’s face went pale. He muttered, ”The last day of school? When you and I snuck down here?”

Suddenly, Zach got a surge of energy. He jumped to his feet and started pacing around with his hands on his head. Tears started to drip down Zach’s face.

Mark asked, ”Zach are you alright?”

Zach mumbled, ”All along I blamed you. I blamed you because I told you that I loved you. I blamed you because you didn’t give me what I wanted in return. But the only guys that you ever slept with were on the team… our team. Last summer… I was with a dozen guys, not just Luke and Maxi. But, the last guy that you were with was me.”

Zach started to break down and cry.

Mark slid over toward Zach, “It’s okay Zach. I understand. This isn’t easy.” Mark reached out and caressed Zach’s face as he wiped away a tear. “You mean a lot to me too.”

“I’m sorry,” Zach confessed. “I really fucked up this whole thing. I just hope that you will give me another chance to make this work.”

Mark smirked at Zach, ”Well, I really need a shower now… maybe you could make it up to me in there.”

The two slowly got up. Mark gave Zach a firm slap on his beefy ass and they headed into the shower together.