The following day Mark headed to the locally owned sporting goods store. He needed to buy a couple of new jockstraps, especially since Pak had recently acquired one of his. That gave him the perfect opportunity to convince the owner to help him get Sam a new pair of shoes.

Mark found a couple of packages of his usual Wilson brand jockstraps. He headed to the counter and there was a familiar face at the register. There was an older gentleman at the checkout. Mark always assumed that he was either the manager, the owner, or both.

He was friendly, as always, and he checked out Mark quickly. He thanked Mark for his patronage and Mark started to doubt if he could actually work up the nerve to ask him for assistance. He started to walk toward the door, then he turned around and walked back to the counter.

“Is everything alright, young man?” the gentleman asked.

Mark told him that everything was fine. He apologized in advance for asking for a bit of a favor. He started to explain that he played for Central’s basketball team when he was interrupted by the shopkeeper.

“I would say that you are more than just a player for Central. You are the starting point guard and you have been since about halfway through your freshman year.”

Mark questioned, “How do you know who I am? Do you come to the games or something?”

The gentleman said, “I do try to attend a couple of games a year. I went to college there. But mostly, I really appreciate your coach and what he does.”

Mark wasn’t quite sure what the man had meant by that and he was a bit hesitant to push the issue.

Mark chimed in, “Yeah, Coach is a real inspiration to all of us. We all do our best to make him proud.”

Mark outstretched his hand and introduced himself properly. The gentleman said that his name was David. At that point, Mark decided to make his request. He told David about Sam and his financial situation. He mentioned the state of Sam’s shoes. He also noted that they looked like they were several years old and that they were held together with some sort of adhesive tape.

David was silent for a moment. Mark immediately felt like he had made an unreasonable request of a stranger.

Mark added that he could cover up to fifty dollars if David had any sort of good quality, size thirteen basketball shoes that he could spare.

David took a deep breath and he was clearly giving the situation a bit of thought. Finally, he broke the silence, “You know what? Last year I got a bunch of these Nike Kevin Durant’s. Before I could even sell them, I got a notice that they were recalled and that I would be issued replacement stock. I was supposed to dispose of them, but I kept them in the back. I was going to donate them to the local homeless shelter. Well, I haven’t got around to taking them over. They are still in the back somewhere. If you would help me sort through the mess back there, I could let you have a pair for free.”

Mark thanked David graciously. He assured David that it was for a good cause. He added that it wasn’t some sort of scam because clearly, he didn’t wear a size thirteen.

David led Mark toward the storeroom in the back. As they started walking to the back, David confessed, “When I said that I appreciate your coach and what he does, I didn’t mean the on-the-court stuff. I remember very well what had happened to him. It made me ashamed to have gone to college there.

“But I also know what he has done since then, and I know how many young men like yourself he has helped.”

David got a bit nervous. He added, “I was the victim of a gay-bashing incident as well. Mine wasn’t nearly as severe as your coach’s, but it left a few scars just the same.”

Mark was stunned. He asked nervously, “I am sorry to hear about that. Is it something that you want to talk about?”

David began to speak, “I was out by myself on a Saturday night. I was just out of college and there was a local bar that I would hang out at, hoping to pick up a guy for some quick fun. So, on one night in particular, I met this really cute guy that was roughly my age. We sat at the bar and talked for a couple of hours. Finally, he invited me to join him in his car for a bit of fun. Once we neared his car, several guys charged me and beat me to the ground.”

“It seems that my new friend had set the whole thing up. Apparently, they had seen me pick somebody up on a previous visit and they had decided to teach me a lesson. They all took turns kicking me. Several other patrons walked by. Most of them ignored what was going on. One group joined in on the fun. After they were all content that they had beaten me enough, they took turns pissing on me. Then they left me lying face-down on the gravel.”

“Eventually, I came to and crawled across the parking lot to my car. I had a couple of cracked ribs, a bloody lip, and a black eye. I drove myself home and patched myself up as well as I could. I never picked up a stranger again.”

Mark told David that he was sorry to hear about his incident. Mark gave David a hug. It seemed to take David by surprise, but as soon as Mark hugged him, he could hear David begin to cry.

David pulled away, wiping his eyes. “I think that the shoes are back here,” he said as he pointed to a small mountain of shoe boxes.

“Hopefully there is one pair of size thirteens in there,” Mark exclaimed.

After a few minutes of searching, Mark found the correct size. David showed him the stitching defect that had caused the recall. He suggested that a small dot of superglue would probably prevent the defect from pulling apart with wear. Then David searched through a supply cabinet in the back, located a tube of superglue, and tacked down the seam.

Mark asked David if he was sure that it was okay to take them. David’s only request was that Mark never mentions that they were the recalled version of the shoe. Mark happily agreed to those terms. The two chatted for a while and Mark told David to make sure to give him a shout the next time that he attended a game.

Mark left the shop and he sent Sam a quick text message to ask him if he could show up to the locker room a bit early. Mark headed to the complex and stashed the shoes in his locker. He had a quick meeting with Coach and updated him with everything that was going on.

When Mark returned to the locker room, Sam was sitting on the bench near his locker. Mark gave Sam a fist bump and sat down next to him. Mark explained that he had just been at the sporting goods store and that he had asked the owner if he could help them out. He added that he offered to pitch in some money to make it happen but the owner wouldn’t have any of it.

Mark got up and headed to his locker. He pulled out a Nike shoebox and added that the owner just donated the shoes for free. Sam was visibly stunned as Mark walked toward him. Mark placed the box in Sam’s lap and Sam slowly opened the lid.

Sam stared at the shoes for a bit. Mark chimed in that they were last year’s Kevin Durant’s and that they were $150 shoes. Sam sat there stunned.

“Is this a joke? If it is, I don’t find it very funny,” Sam said.

Mark answered, “No, there is no joke. They are yours.”

Sam started to cry. Mark wrapped an arm around him and said, “It’s okay, man, they are just shoes.”

Sam pulled out a shoe and held it in his hand, “No, you don’t understand. These are the nicest, most expensive shoes that I have ever owned.”

Mark joked, “They are better than my shoes, honestly.”

Sam confessed, “I wasn’t really saving up for shoes. I just made that up. I didn’t have the money for new ones and I… just… couldn’t ask my mom for it.”

“That’s okay. I could sense that there was an issue there. I just want you to be able to play at your best,” Mark added.

Sam drew a long breath. “I grew up in a one-bedroom apartment with my mom and my five brothers. Mom had a pretty tough go of it; some of it was self-inflicted. The six of us have four different fathers; none of them play any role in our lives.

“Mom always worked several jobs, usually three or four. Then she would clean the neighbor’s apartments in whatever ‘free time’ that she had. They would pay her with whatever random groceries they didn’t want out of their cupboards.

“Mom slept on the couch. The six of us boys all slept in a small bedroom. There were no beds. We slept side-by-side on sleeping bags on the floor. All of our clothes were hung on random nails or hooks on the walls. Smaller items like socks and underwear were thrown in a laundry basket that was fastened to the wall. Coming here was the first time that I ever had my own clothing of any kind.”

Mark didn’t know what to say. He mumbled, “I’m sorry, Sam. That sounds like a tough upbringing. I hope that you aren’t offended that I got the shoes for you. I didn’t mean to insult you.”

Sam added, “I know that you didn’t. You are a good man, Mark.” Sam paused. “Is what I heard about you true? Are you gay?”

Mark smiled at Sam, “Yeah, I am. Is that okay with you?”

“I think that I am too,” Sam confessed. “Not that I have ever really acted on it.”

“Am I the first person that you have ever told?” Mark asked.

Sam answered, “Yeah. Can you keep my secret?”

“Sure, for as long as you want me to,” Mark chirped. “But, if you want me to help you explore your sexuality at some point, let me know. I know a couple of guys that could help you with that if you are ever interested.”

Sam went further, “Back home, there were six of us in that bedroom.” Sam explained. “I was the youngest of the bunch. In the summer we would all sleep on the floor of that tiny, third-story bedroom. We were all stacked up side by side on the floor. There was no air conditioning. That room had to get well over one hundred degrees, especially with six of us in there. All of us boys would sleep on the floor in just our underwear or less.”

“They were all pretty bold and we all lived in tight space, so there was no such thing as privacy. I knew that I was smaller than my brothers, but I really found out how much smaller after I turned sixteen.”

"My brother Miles invited me into the bedroom and shut the door. Apparently, it was pretty routine for my brothers to shut themselves in the room and rub one out together. I quickly found out that I was even more undersized while erect."

“Eventually it got to be a combination of a dick-measuring contest and a largest cumshot contest. I never won either of them as I was by far the smallest of all of us. All of my brothers were seven to ten inches long. By the time that everybody had finished, the room reeked of cum and sweat. Then they would pass a damp towel around to clean up before they all fell asleep.”

“I started to realize how turned on I was by the whole situation. The sounds, the sights, the smells, everything turned me on. Eventually, I gave in to the temptation and went at it as hard as any of them, even if I was usually the least impressive performer. I always wondered what they would think of me if they knew how different my inspiration was from theirs.”

Mark chimed in, “Honestly, I think that I would have gone crazy. So, I am assuming that you would consider yourself a bottom.”

Sam joked, “Well, all of my sexual fantasies involve penises and not asses, so I think that is pretty accurate.”

“Well, I know of a few available penises. So, if you ever want to be introduced to one, let me know. I can’t promise anything more than a good time, but who knows?” Mark boasted.

“Like Jamar… or Jackson… or Devonte?” Sam asked.

Mark smiled, “So I am assuming that I know what your type is. Are you sure that you don’t want to try out something a bit smaller for starters? That is going to be a rough first-time.”

“Yeah, I’m sure. That is all that I have ever wanted sexually. I will find a way to deal with it. Besides, just because I haven’t had sex before, that doesn’t mean that I haven’t ever taken anything anally.”

Sam put on the shoes and laced them up. He hopped around a bit before saying, “I’m going to head up to the gym and try to break these in a bit.” Then he gave Mark a pound hug followed by a misty, “Thank you, Mark.”

Mark hung out in the locker room. He felt quite proud of what he accomplished with Sam. He was also hoping to get a chance to talk with a couple of the guys as they got ready.

Lee was one of the first to arrive. Mark caught up with him a bit as he got ready. Lee had remained a couple with Trey for most of the summer. A few weeks before classes started back up, Trey got an offer to work for a large software company.

It was his dream job and something that he couldn’t refuse. Taking the job meant relocating to California. They agreed that it was something that he had to do. So they mutually agreed to break off the relationship. They were still talking and texting frequently, but Lee suspected that their contact would be short-lived.

As Lee was getting changed, Mark asked Lee if he had lost weight. Lee confirmed that he had lost about ten pounds since the end of last season. He told Mark that he was thinking about joining Zach’s workout group.

Mark told Lee, “Yeah, he has worked wonders with Luke and Maxi. They do get pretty intense, though. Plus, they sometimes just get totally worked up and fuck the hell out of each other.”

Lee’s eyes lit up. “Really, uh, I didn’t know about that.”

“You are way more interested in joining now, aren’t you?” Mark asked.

Lee answered, “Is it that obvious?”

By that time, Justin had arrived. Mark excused himself and headed over to talk to Justin. Justin looked exactly the same as last year except he had grown his hair out a bit.

It seemed like Justin was mostly just playing the field. He indicated that he was having an occasional fling with random guys. He also mentioned that he had hooked up with somebody on the team a couple of times. Mark assumed that it was Lee that he was referring to. They had been hanging out together a lot.

Justin asked about Pak and what was going on with him. Mark told Justin about the adventure that he had with Pak. He assumed that Justin had already heard about it, but he didn’t want to seem like he was hiding anything. Justin seemed to enjoy hearing the details of their escapade anyway.

Mark told Justin to keep things quiet and as private as could be. In response, Justin asked Mark if he could help set something up with Pak. Mark agreed to help get them together. He told Justin to head to the usual spot after practice.

Practice was pretty routine. The team seemed like they were starting to come together.

Sam, in particular, had a great practice. He seemed like he was really motivated to prove that he deserved to be there.

As the team was dispersing after practice, Mark chased down Pak and sent him to the treatment room. Then he grabbed Devonte and asked him to stay on the court for a bit.

Once the court cleared out, Mark said, “Devonte, I have to ask a favor of you.”

Devonte asked, “Yeah, what’s that?”

Mark asked a bit sheepishly, “I know that this might not be really what you are into, but would you be willing to hook up with Sam?”

“Sam? Really? I didn’t think that he would be into that,” Devonte commented.

“You always said that you were really into little white guys. I know that he is just the opposite on both counts, but you are exactly his type. You are the only big, black cock that I can send his way.” Mark added.

Devonte hesitated, “I don’t know, Mark. It really isn’t my thing. What about Jamar or Jackson? They fit the description, too. Maybe they would be down for that sort of thing.”

Mark retorted, “Well, I haven’t had a chance to really get to know Jackson very well. Plus, I don’t know if you have discovered this, but Jamar is gay. He is also a total bottom. Chris is his boyfriend.”

Devonte chuckled, “No, way. That seems like a waste. That man has the biggest cock I have ever seen in person.”

“No kidding. It’s heavy too,” Mark joked.

“Mark, you are all over this shit, aren’t you?” Devonte asked.

Mark responded, “Yeah, kinda. So, I don’t know when this would happen, but would you be willing to hook up with Sam? You would be his first experience of any kind. It wouldn’t have to be romantic or anything, but I would have to ask you to be respectful of his situation. I tried to talk him down to a smaller partner, but all that he is interested in is big and black.”

Devonte finally conceded, “Yeah. I will do it for you, and I promise to be gentle.”

“Thanks, man. I’ll find a way to return the favor. Oh, one more thing… no more stalling around in the locker room. You are going to get in there with the guys and whatever happens, we will deal with it,” Mark challenged.

“I can’t do that, Mark!” Devonte shouted. “I can’t control myself. Especially if Pak, Justin, or you are in there.”

Mark smiled, “Devonte, everybody on the team is gay. All of the veterans are comfortable with their sexuality. We are all just holding back until all of the freshmen come to terms with themselves. Jackson, Sam, and Brandon are the only ones that we are waiting on. Today is the day that you become part of the team. Worst case scenario is that you get hard and we all drool in your direction.”

Devonte was in disbelief. “Everybody? My gaydar is totally busted. In that case, I guess I don’t really need to hide anything anymore.”

Mark responded, “Just don’t to be too forward around the other three. I have been hurrying you guys along as much as I can. Sam has already revealed himself to me, so he is well underway. Brandon and Jackson are still going to need a bit of prodding.”

“Okay, I am convinced. Let’s get down there! I haven’t even had an opportunity to check out most of the guys,” Devonte chirped.

Mark and Devonte headed to the locker room and the two quickly disrobed. Mark signaled Devonte and the two hit the showers at nearly the same time.

As they entered the shower, Sam was the only person on the left side. Luke and Maxi were at the back wall and Lee and Brandon were on the right. Mark quickly grabbed the open shower on the right, leaving Devonte to join Sam on the left.

Brandon exited the shower quickly thereafter. That left Sam as the only “outsider” left in the shower. At that point, it was easy enough for Mark to taunt Devonte without Sam noticing. Sam was clearly already distracted by Devonte’s presence anyway.

Mark continued to bend over and expose his ass to Devonte. Lee seemed to catch on to what Mark was up to and joined in on tormenting Devonte.

It didn’t take very long for Devonte’s cock to be at full mast. To his credit, he didn’t make an effort to hide it. As Devonte turned toward Sam, his cock was sticking straight out.

It came just short of touching Sam’s hip as Sam had a considerable height advantage.

Sam stared straight at it for what seemed like several minutes, but it was probably more like twenty seconds. Sam’s cock was now rock hard and sticking upward at a considerable angle. As the two locked eyes, Sam panicked. He covered himself and scurried out of the shower room.

Devonte stood there shaking his head and smiling. He mumbled, “Damn. Homeboy really wants some of this dick. Now, I have to fuck him.”

Mark chuckled, “Are you serious?”

“Yeah, after seeing the reaction that he had to me, I have to do it. I want to do it,” Devonte responded.

“Such an alpha!” Mark muttered. “If you guys hadn’t noticed, Devonte is officially a member of the team. Maybe we should all give him a proper welcome. Devonte, have you ever fantasized about four white guys all over you in the shower?”

Devonte said nothing, but the look in his eyes said, “Hell yes, I have!” Mark was the first to arrive with Lee right behind him. Mark grabbed Devonte’s cock and started stroking it slowly. Lee went exploring all over Devonte’s body with both his hands and mouth. Luke and Maxi waited for a second, but they quickly joined the party. Before Devonte knew it, he had four mouths and eight hands all over him.

It was obvious by Devonte’s writhing and moaning that he was not going to last very long. Mark asked for a volunteer to have a taste of what the alpha had to offer. Lee was quick to drop to his knees and offer his eager mouth to Devonte’s cock. Soon thereafter, Devonte was groaning as he emptied his load down Lee’s throat.

Devonte grabbed Lee and pulled him up to his feet. Lee still had a ribbon of cum and saliva dripping off of his chin.

Devonte said, “Your name is Lee, right?”

Lee shook his head and said, “Yeah.”

Devonte licked the cum off of Lee’s chin and gave him a brief kiss. “If you want any more of this, just let me know.”

Lee stuttered, “I… uh… yeah. More sounds good.”

Everybody headed back to their showers for a minute or two. Then, they all exited at the same time.

Mark headed over to Luke’s locker. Mark expressed to Luke that he was very motivated to bring the last couple of rookies around.

Pak seemed to be good, Sam and Devonte were coming around, but Jackson and Brandon were still at square one.

Luke agreed that they needed to move forward and promised that he would have a talk with Jackson the following day.

As Mark was heading back to his locker, he was rushed by Pak, who was freaking out considerably. Pak was rambling about how embarrassed he was and that he was upset at Mark for setting him up.

Mark asked Pak why he was upset. He knew that Pak liked Justin.

Apparently, Pak had to decline the offer for sex because he had eaten something that hadn’t agreed with him and was experiencing some stomach issues. Pak offered to service Justin with his mouth and Justin accepted that offer, but Pak was upset about the situation anyway.

After they were done, Pak offered Justin a raincheck for a future encounter and Justin accepted.

Mark took Pak off to the side and calmed him down. He reassured him that there was no need to be embarrassed. Justin would certainly be back for more especially since he hadn’t yet experienced everything that he wanted to.

The two shared a hug. Mark pointed out that Justin was obviously waiting for Pak to head into the shower. They were going to have the room to themselves and clearly, there was more fun to be had.

Pak went to his locker and he and Justin headed into the shower shortly thereafter.

Devonte and Lee disappeared into the treatment room as soon as it cleared out. Clearly, the escapade in the shower was not enough to satiate Devonte’s sexual hunger.

Mark smiled as he thought about both of the situations. Both circumstances seemed like they would be pretty hot in their own way.

Mark got dressed and sat on the bench for a bit. He texted Sam and told him that he needed to be ready for an experience with Devonte. He let Sam know that Devonte had picked up on Sam’s interest in him and that his alpha nature required him to give Sam what he wanted.

Sam tried to play it coy, but it was clear that he was very interested.

The locker room had emptied out by the time that Mark was heading out. At least fifteen minutes had passed, and Justin and Pak were still in the shower. As Mark walked by the treatment room, he could hear Lee yelping as Devonte was clearly giving it to him hard and deep.

Even though Lee was looking a lot more fit and muscular this year, his body type, personality, and cock made him more appealing as a bottom. Mark hoped that an experience with a true alpha, such as Devonte, would help Lee to understand where he would best fit in.