Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2012 12:23:18 -0800
From: Charles Wolfe <c.sportswolfe@gmail.com>
Subject: The Ultimate Man- Redemption Chapter 20

Hey I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. Here is a belated present for
all of you/ a great way to start the New Year. I hope you enjoy and I look
forward to hearing what you think.

=====================================================================

	Sitting in the passenger seat of Kyle's car, I had no idea of where
he was taking me. I was flustered that he was `date-jacking' me but after
him driving around for about 30 minutes I calmed down... slightly. I could
tell from his random directions that he was slowly moving north, and from
the looks of what freeways he was taking, we were getting closer to the
beach. Even with him trying to make it as discrete as possible I could tell
that, in the end, we were ending up in Santa Monica, where though was going
to be his final surprise for me.

	I had tried peppering him for information but after 10 minutes of
hitting a brick wall it was clear that he was shut down tighter than a top
bottoming for the first time. It was getting late into the day and the sun
was nearing the ocean; its fiery flicker of light creating a glow off the
cresting waves. I was half intrigued by his coyness but with such a nice
scene going to waste I was also partly getting annoying.

      Kyle was weaving his way through the city streets now, hurrying past
cars left and right. I could tell that now he was rushing to get to a
location, as if a deadline had suddenly been moved forward. Parking into a
lot near Santa Monica Boulevard and 2nd Street, he quickly jumped out of
his seat and ran over to my side. I didn't wait up a second, opening my
door to see what the rush was. "Why are we here?"

      Not responding, he instead grabbed my hand and pulled me towards
Ocean Avenue, its bustling traffic making me feel suddenly overwhelmed. I
couldn't help but laugh as he weaved me in and out of the pockets of
people, dragging me into a bee-line right across the street to the grassy
park overlooking the Santa Monica Beach. I clearly had not dressed for
this, my street sneakers making my feet uncomfortable, my jeans restricting
the movement of my legs. "Kyle what's the rush?" I chuckle out as he loses
his grip on me.

      Moving a few steps ahead of me before realizing he's lost me, he
turns around and exasperatedly explains, "I'll tell you when we get
there. Now come on, follow me, please!" He takes off running again, this
time not holding my hand, instead creating a path for me to chase him
through. As he runs, he explains it cryptically, "There is something I want
to show you!"

      Running past the cannon right next to the pier, I watch as he bolts
down Colorado Avenue, his hurried swiftness almost making me forget that I
am chasing him across the beginning of the Santa Monica Pier. Reaching the
base, I merge in between a family and a group of fellow college students,
their mystified faces expressing the same confusion I am feeling at the
moment.

      The sun is setting deeper, getting nearer to the ocean's edge, the
radiation of its glow glimmering off the towers behind us, the slow shadow
of night starting to overpower the light. Kyle looks behind to me, then in
a way, beyond me as if someone was chasing us. "Come on, hurry!" We just
blew past the theme park area, the open stretch of the last bit of the pier
laid out before us. Kyle seems to take off into a harder sprint, gaining a
few steps away from me. It is a good thing that the pier isn't too crowded
tonight as I step plank over plank, the decade's old wood creaking under
the stress of my hasty pace.

      Reaching past the two buildings at the end, I see Kyle jump down, not
walk carefully down, the stairs to reach an overlook hanging just above the
waterline. Breaking away from my field of sight for just a second, I manage
to catch up to him, cornering him into the most northwest corner. "Ok, we
are here, but what is here? Should there be something special?" I huff all
that out as I try to catch my breath, the heavy breathing forcing me to
lean on the rail. Looking around for some surprise, I can't find anything.

      Kyle hangs with his back against the wheelchair walkway. "Close your
eyes." That's all he says as he moves towards me, his sexy sneer making me
warm and fuzzy inside. Closing my eyes, I wait for him to do whatever he is
going to do. With my hands by my sides, he around from behind me and wraps
his hands over my eyes, pressing his body against mine.

      The warmth of his chest transfers through to me, the tenderness of
his breath inflicting sex appeal to my senses. His Red Hot Chili Peppers
shirt doesn't do good enough justice on cloaking his body, his tense pecs
gently connecting to my back, his flat stomach matching the outline of my
body. Turning me around, he simply opens my eyes to the water, leaving me
mystified at what I was supposed to see.

      "What?" I say confused, wiggling around to face him. "There's nothing
here Kyle."

      Looking him over, I watch as he shifts his focus from the ocean to
me, the clarity in his eyes captivating me. "Look at the sunset." He
whispers soothingly, pressing me closer to the wooden railing at the same
time.

      Turning around for another look, I take another look at the
disappearing ball of gas. Its glowing heat falls over my face, the shadow
of night overtaking its place. As the warmth trails down my body, my heart
starts to increase in tempo as I become captivated at the moment. The sun
glimmers over the water, its flames reaching out as if to try and stay
around before getting snuffed out by the darkness.

      In one final cry of rebellion, the sun throws a mesmerizing shadow of
its own over the sky, the animated colors of salmon red, peachy yellow, and
an electric orange flow across the night. Kyle moves in closer, wrapping
his arms around me, the steady beating of his heart not only audible but
able to be felt as well. It slowly starts to increase its tempo as he rests
his head on my shoulders, looking over me at the start of a stunning
night. Murmuring to him, I coo, "It's beautiful."

Kyle turns me around and points at the buildings. "It gets better." He
informs softly as I take in the burning city. The smoldering of the night
sky reflects off the glass walls, furthering the intensity of the sunset,
its cry for an encore falling onto deaf ears. "Beauty is all around you."

      Looking from the beach to Kyle, I pull him close gently, soothingly
speaking, "I know." The night sky descends over the California coastline,
the moon replacing the sun with a steady gleam of light. Kyle moves away
from me and starts to lead me to the Mariasol Cocina. I had heard about
this place for the few times that I had been to Santa Monica but I had
never had the chance to visit.

      Moving inside the Mexican restaurant, I was overwhelmed by the Latin
flavor surrounding me. The smell of the Mexican burritos, enchiladas, and
tacos made my mouth water. Kyle checked us in, and much to my surprise had
a reservation in order for the two of us. "You had this all planned out?" I
was surprised at the moving gesture he had made for this night, his acts a
never ending shocker. The waiter escorted us to our table, sitting us down
to overlook our menus.

      As we scanned through the Chicken Flautas and Carne Asada, I also
took note of the bustling coastline; the slow flicker of evening nights
starting to turn on. Kyle broke our silence with a sobering reminder of
everything that was going on. "Soo... It's been one hell of a freshman
year. Are you ready for your last game tomorrow?" He had trouble at first
looking me in the eyes but after a few seconds he managed to lock on and
stay connected.

      Sighing heavily, I admit, "It'll be hard. It's kind of
bittersweet. You know what I mean? It's going to be hard to end the year."
Figuring on a seafood burrito for dinner, I place down my menu to focus
more on Kyle.

      Kyle moves his hands to the center of the table, allowing me the
opportunity to hold them. "It'll be hard but think of it; the first year is
down, only three more to go." His grip is warm as I take hold of him and
brush his hands with my thumbs, interlacing my fingers into each of his
own.

      "You're chipper. My classes haven't been going so well. I'm on the
verge of failing a few of them..." I veer off of his gaze, ashamed to admit
the fact.

      "Surely they can't be that bad?" he offers his condolence, gripping
my hands harder.

      Pulling away from him, I shrink into my chair a little, as if it
would help me escape any. "You know how most students fail their first
semester? Well for me it's looking to be this semester. I'll be happy with
just C's."

      Kyle regains my attention, pulling me in close with his firm yet
compassionate command. "Hey, listen to me.  Just forget about
school. Forget about Frisbee. Forget about everything. Tonight, right now,
this is just you and me. On a date."

      Raising my eyebrow, I play with him. "So this IS a date." I rub my
leg up against his playfully. Leaning up to the table, I rest my hands
under my chin as I widen my eyes humorously.

      Before Kyle could retaliate; our waitress steps up to our table to
take our orders, focusing first on Kyle then me. It wasn't too much longer
after that that our dinners came, the spices and flavors almost jumping off
the platters as soon as they were set down in front of us. Sharing some of
my burrito with his Carne Asada, it turns out to be a delectable meal.

      As fast as the night began to move, it felt like it was perfect. We
walked slowly back to the car after our meal, weaving slowly in between the
crowds here and there. During the walk, I began to brush, for the first
time that I could recollect, our hands together.

      First the backsides of our hands connected, an almost dance going
on. First it was me moving in slowly, and then pulling away right as the
skin touched. He made his move towards me but right as I was going to
connect, he pulled back. Moving back in for a second go, I made sure to
connect, slowly but gently moving from the front to slide right into his
cusp. The interlacing of our fingers out in public felt so nice, a sense
that I could slowly start to trust him again.

      The drive back was more direct this time, our time cut in half as
there was no traffic and the freeways were more open. Kyle managed to get
me back to Long Beach at around 10 at night, impressive time by my
standards. Pulling in front of my dorm, he stops the car and just sits
there for a few seconds. "Well here we go. I hope you enjoyed tonight."

      Looking up at my dorm, the lights still illuminating the students'
rooms, I smile happily. "I did. Thank you." I look over to him and just
smile, not a goofy toothy smile or some mischievous smile, I just
smile. Then as go to unbuckle my seatbelt, I lean in, making the gesture as
if I am having trouble getting out, then swoop in for a peck on his
cheek. Quickly unlinking the belt, I move from my seat out onto the
sidewalk before he could react but oh, his reaction was priceless.

      His face was stunned, his eyes wide from my surprise. Now smiling
mischievously, I say my last goodbye and close the door, turning to head
inside. As I enter into the warm lobby, I turn to watch Kyle shift into
drive, rubbing his tender cheek to accept the fact that I had kissed him.

      *****

      This is it. This will last game of my freshman year. It felt weird
yet exciting at the same time. Riding with Bryan and Zach over to CSU Los
Angeles, we were a melancholy mix of enthusiasm and depression. We were
pumped, as Bryan worded it so well, to be playing the game but the fact
that the season was over after this and that summer was right around the
corner was a sobering reminder that it was coming to an end.

      Unlike them, I was silent the entire ride, thinking over not only the
game but how things are going to change between Kyle and I. The thought of
summer arriving was worrisome in itself: could I trust him, does he feel he
can trust me, are we going to be able to hang out? All of these feelings
placed me into a thought process that was so deep that it took Bryan a few
times of asking, "Hey you ok Chris?" to break my spell.

      Blinking my eyes a few times, I broke a weak smile and tossed out a
simple, "Yea I'm alright." Arriving at the university at around 8'oclock,
we all hustled inside to prep for our upcoming games. It didn't take long
for the others to arrive shortly after, Pike showing up in the middle to
receive the tournament times.

      Our first tournament was at 9 and it felt all off. Not only was our
team playing on a different cord than normal, so was CSU Los Angeles. There
were so many dropped disks and turn over's that both teams were getting
frustrated, not at each other like normal but at themselves. Pulling us
aside for halftime Pike spoke in the most captaining voice he could muster.

      "Guys I know this is our last tournament but I expected better out of
you. We still have one more half to go but we are barely leading by two
points. We should have a higher lead by now and I know we can get it. Let's
make this tournament a blast and go out with a bang." He was slightly
fuming but kept it under control as he called out the starting seven for
the second half. Both him and I sat out to watch over the game.

      Across from our field I see Kyle standing there, his arms crossed,
his eyes focused sharply on my team then moving onto me. A gentle smile
breaks the hardened face as he walks around the end zone to come to my
side. His team and San Dominguez are not playing yet; they're up next on
our field. While I really wanted to talk with him, I knew it wasn't a good
time: I needed to stay focused on the game. Kyle noticed that as well,
hanging just far enough away to give me space but close enough to talk if I
want.

      Moving in at our game point, I relieve Terry of his spot, the guy
almost wheezing as he lumbers off the field. His mark looked to be a runner
and after watching him play, I knew it would be a fun battle. In the end
though, he managed to make me work more than I had intended.

      Our game against CSU Los Angeles was a bitter win, a sour taste in
our mouths on what we need to improve upon. Granted it was early in the
morning but that was almost no excuse for how poorly we had played. The
final score was 6 to 4, a win but not enough to show our dominancy.

      Kyle moves over after our win, though he apparently knew well enough
not to stick his hand out to shake. He could clearly tell from the team
moral that we were all uncoordinated. "You guys ok?"

      Grumbling to him, I try to smile and make the feeble attempt. "Yea we
are just a little off. Looking forward to playing?" I rub my sore shoulder
from all the backhand and forehand throws that had been executed.

      Kyle beams with excitement about his upcoming game, the thoughts of
how he is going to be playing pumping him up. "Yea this will be great to
play a full tourney with the team. You guys had better get your acts
together or else there will be an epic beat down by Fullerton." His taunt
is humorous as he tries to put a more genuine smile on my face.

      Jeering at him, I retort, "You're the last game so bring it. We, I,
will be ready. Well good luck. We are going to have our team talk." I stick
out my hand to shake his, a better mood slowly overtaking me.

      The rest of the day goes a whole lot better, each game seemingly
improved over the last. As we also improved each of our games, so did we
improve our moral. The team began to flow more smoothly, our tosses flying
flatter and our pivots stretching further. Pike began to relax as well,
coming down on us a little less hard and, instead, congratulating us on how
well we were starting to do. There was now one more game to go- Fullerton.

*****

      Fullerton had been doing well the entire day as well, their meshing
coming back together in a way that hadn't been seen in a long by any of the
other teams. What had originally been expected to be an instant win for
other teams turned out to be a battle of strength and skill as Kyle seemed
to have brought back the team from death.

      Our final showdown was set for 5 at night, the overhead lights coming
on to shine over us as the dew starts to moisten up the field. There was
bound to be slipping and sliding as we all practiced for the game. Pulling
us all in for one last time Pike started his speech to get us riled up. I
tried to focus on him but to my right I couldn't help but notice Kyle
practicing with his team, him occasionally looking my way to see if I was
looking at him. It was embarrassing when we caught each other's gaze; both
of us looking away blushed.

      When we first started our game, it was so comical to see us charge at
each other, Long Beach screaming out "For NARNIA!" and Fullerton screaming
out "For SPARTA!" It wasn't planned at all but when it happened we both had
to pause for a second and realize what had just happened. Cracking up at
the occurrence, we all moved into position.

	It felt great to finally have Kyle by my side, even if he was on
the opposing team. Looking at him, I gave a small wink as I cut off,
rushing towards Rachel as she looked for someone to toss the disk off. Pike
went against Victoria, which in a way, was expected. The two of them almost
read each other like books, very similar to how Kyle and I worked. It was a
fight for the disk, each team seemingly either smacking it down or
intercepting it midair.

      Right before half time Fullerton had managed to pull ahead by two
points. This upset had caught us completely off guard. Kyle had managed to
break away from me a few times and Victoria from Pike but for the others to
lose their marks as well it was clear that we had a competition on our
hands.

      The second half we knew we needed to up our game, Bryan and I working
against Kyle and Ellie, Rachel and Pike against Victoria and Ian. We knew
we needed to match our fastest players to theirs and this seemed to be our
only option. It caught Kyle off guard when Bryan took over my position, the
same with Ellie when I went up to mark her. With a sly grin on our faces,
we both managed to work in sync to throw off Ellie and Kyle, their baffled
faces bringing amusement.

      Bringing it back to a tie in the last two minutes, Pike called a time
out to bring us all in for the last point. This was literally a make or
break for us, and given how Fullerton had played since the beginning of the
year, we knew we could take them. Just because Kyle was back was no excuse
to lose to them. Breaking to go back into the game, our game faces were on.

      While normally everything was a play by play, this seemed to flow so
perfectly that there was no time to analyze what we were doing right or
wrong, just to go with it and make it work. Pike threw to Bryan, Bryan to
Terry, Terry to Rachel only to be intercepted by Victoria. Victoria threw
it back to Ellie, Ellie to Ian only to be smacked down by me. I picked it
up and hammed it down field to Zach, him open and alone in the end zone. It
was a luck shot but I had to go for it.

      Shouting happily, we just had to hold the last minute. It was hard
work as Fullerton brought all they had. We thankfully managed to hold them
off, just barely though as they managed to hold last possession of the disk
when the timer ran out. Running into a huge crowd to hug each other, we
jumped back and forth and high fived each other ecstatically.

      Kyle moves over to our group and extends his hand, getting several
shakes from my team and congratulating him on how well they played. It was
sincere as they expressed the surprise of actually having to work. Me being
last, I instead move up and hug him. "It's good to have you back on the
field. I've missed you."

=====================================================================

Even though this was the last game, the semester is not quite over. Stay
tuned for a few more chapters coming and then I will be taking a short
break to edit previous chapters/ plan out the following year. I hope that
all your holidays went well and that your New Year starts off with a
spectacular bang.