Audible Read online

  Audible

  By Sam Couste

  Published by JMS Books LLC

  Visit jms-books.com for more information.

  Copyright 2019 Sam Couste

  ISBN 9781646560431

  Cover Design: Aisha Akeju

  Image(s) used under a Standard Royalty-Free License.

  All rights reserved.

  WARNING: This book is not transferable. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold, shared, or given away, it is an infringement of the copyright of this work and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

  No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts used for the purposes of review.

  This book is for ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It may contain sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which might be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Published in the United States of America.

  * * * *

  For Ed, Emmie, and our shared love of hot band geeks and sporty shirtless nerds. All thanks to AP and JP for not locking me out of the house during edits.

  * * * *

  Audible

  By Sam Couste

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Epilogue

  Chapter 1

  People don’t generally get excited about moving to New Jersey, but then again, Marcus Williams is coming from Boston, so that might explain why he’s adjusting so well.

  There’s a lot of reasons why Marcus prefers New Jersey to Boston. Better pizza is the top reason, obviously. The accents are less grating, comparatively. There’s a lot more diversity and a little less racism. There are four queer bars in his new university’s downtown, compared to the zero at his old school. Marcus has not heard one person use the word “wicked” since he moved.

  And he’s not here.

  As Marcus exits the science building, struggling to fasten his messenger bag and scroll through his Spotify at the same time, he notices another of his favorite things. Blair Bennett is leaning against the building, waving at him. Her red hair is buzzed short on the right side, and falls in messy waves over her left shoulder. Marcus smiles as he takes off his headphones and makes his way over to her.

  Blair’s been a godsend since he transferred, always ready to lend a hand, letting him know about the best place to get falafel at four in the morning, or where the replacement drumsticks are kept in the music room, or emailing him the marching band practice schedule for the sixth time when he can’t find it in his archives.

  Blair answers all of his questions, but asks very few in return, which suits Marcus just fine. He doesn’t want to talk about Boston. Everything that happened there is over and done with. There’s nothing left to discuss.

  Blair pulls him into a brief hug. “Hey, glad I caught you. You’re done with classes until lab tonight, right? Want to grab some ice cream? We can eat it over by the park and watch people hit each other in the head with Frisbees.”

  “Sounds good.” Marcus adjusts his bag over his shoulder and starts walking alongside Blair, who is complaining about some changes that the band director is looking to make to their formations.

  “And I’ve told him a million times, we are a marching band, not a synchronized swimming group, and concentric circles are gonna look ridiculous on the field.” She sighs, tucking a few of the unruliest locks of hair behind her ear. “Anyway, that’s enough whining for now. What about you? How are your classes so far?”

  Marcus shrugs in what he hopes passes as a careless manner. “They’re alright. The psych stuff lines up pretty well with what I was studying before, so at least my major-specific classes should be fine. I’ve got a bunch of core classes to make up, though. Transfer student problems, I guess. Chem’s gonna be a bitch, but I’ll be fine.”

  Blair rolls her eyes. “Yeah, no you won’t be. My boyfriend’s a chem major, and I’ve met most of the faculty. They’re a bunch of flakey asshats, especially the TAs who teach the intro classes. You’re going to need help.”

  Marcus shakes his head, but before he can protest, Blair grabs his hand and starts dragging him across the quad. “Ice cream can wait. Come on, I’ll introduce you to Ajay, my boyfriend. He and his loser best friend are chem nerds. He’ll tutor you, make sure you know what the TA is looking for.”

  Maybe Blair’s positivity is infectious, or maybe Marcus is still high from lack of sleep after his first fitful night in his shitty apartment, but whatever the reason, he finds that he doesn’t mind being pulled along through campus. He’s surprised, however, when he realizes where they’re headed.

  Marcus tugs at Blair’s hand, trying to get her to slow down. “Um, why are we going towards the football stadium? Is that where all the chem nerds hang out?”

  “You know it,” Blair laughs. “Ajay and Seb are both on the team. They’re a couple of assholes, but they’re also some of the sweetest people I know.”

  Marcus nods, furrowing his brow as he realizes who Blair is talking about. He’s not much of a sports fan, but everyone on campus knows Ajay Kumar and Sebastian Lockwood, the quarterback and wide receiver who are being hailed as the keys to assured victory in the upcoming season. Marcus has seen girls walking around in football jerseys with KUMAR and LOCKWOOD scrawled across the shoulders, and Sebastian (or Bash, as the campus gossip sites refer to him) is widely considered to be one of the hottest players in the Big Ten conference.

  He looks over at Blair questioningly. “So, the band geek dating the quarterback. How very romcom of you guys. You been together long?”

  Blair rolls her eyes, smiling. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Cliché, but you can’t argue with what works, I guess. We got together at the end of freshman year after, um…some clashing.”

  Marcus, you’ve shown tremendous growth this past semester, far more than your peers. You’re so much more mature than the others, you know. It’s hard to remember that you’re only a freshman. You seem older.

  Marcus blinks, working hard to keep his memories locked away in the recesses of his brain, where they belong. This isn’t Boston. This is a fresh start. This will be different. “That’s cool, though. That you made it work.”

  “Yeah,” Blair agrees, “we do make it work, I guess. I mean don’t get me wrong, Ajay is still a shithead a lot of the time, but like…the good kind of shithead.”

  Marcus laughs softly. “I get it. Most people are shitheads, I guess. Nice job snagging one of the decent ones.”

  Blair looks over at him, one eyebrow raised. “What about you? You have a shithead of your own stashed somewhere?”

  I’m sorry, Marcus. Fuck, I’m so sorry. I panicked, I…but I’ll fix it, just don’t say anything, don’t answer their questions, okay? Just give me some time, okay? Don’t…just keep quiet for now. I’ll take care of everything. Don’t worry.

  “Marcus?”

  Marcus lets out a breath that he didn’t know he’d been holding, the air rushing from his lungs shakily. He realizes that they’ve stopped walking, and Blair is staring at him with pursed lips and a furrowed brow.

  He takes a deep breath, forces a chuckle, and shakes his head. “Sorry
, I’m…I was…no. I’m not seeing anyone. I had a…someone back in Mass, but it’s over.”

  Blair reaches out and gives his arm a squeeze. “Look I don’t mean to pry, but if you’re trying to avoid saying the word boyfriend, don’t bother. We’re a pretty diverse community here. I’m actually a member of the GSA, and I’m head of the Pride committee this year.”

  She grins as she holds up her wrist, which is adorned with a braided pink, lavender, and blue yarn bracelet. “I’m surprised you didn’t notice, I never shut up about it usually. It’s like I’m professionally bisexual, or something.”

  Marcus grins back, shifting his messenger bag so that his own bi pride pins are visible. “Sames. The pay’s shitty, but the perks aren’t bad.” He wriggles his eyebrows suggestively, relaxing as Blair laughs and starts walking again. If Blair wants to assume that his freak-out was because of the queer thing, then he’s more than happy to roll with that.

  As they enter the stadium and head over towards the end zone where the team is practicing, Marcus watches the players on the field doing some sort of exercises, running around a series of cones, crouching and standing and jumping with more energy than should be humanly possible. Marcus feels tired just watching them. It’s such a humid day out, and Marcus is already overly warm in his t-shirt. The thought of exercising in this heat is completely unappealing, though he does appreciate the fact that several of the players have taken off their shirts, so maybe the heat’s not so bad, all things considered.

  Blair holds a hand up to her eyes to shield them from the sun as she starts to scan the field, but before she can so much as turn her head, Marcus spots a tall guy with tan skin and messy hair waving as he runs over to them.

  “Hey, babe!” The guy wraps an arm around Blair’s shoulders, kissing the top of her head and grinning widely. “What’s up? Come to check up on us, make sure we aren’t slacking off?”

  “Ugh, you’re sweating like a pig,” Blair says, though she tilts her face upwards for another quick kiss. “Besides, you’ve never slacked off in your life. You don’t have enough chill to slack off.”

  “It’s not a lack of chill, it’s an excess of awesomeness.” The tall guy winks at Blair, his grin widening as she rolls her eyes with a smile.

  “Sure, that’s definitely it,” Blair says teasingly. “Marcus, I’d like you to meet my excessively awesome boyfriend, Ajay. Ajay, this is Marcus, my excessively awesome snare drummer.”

  “Marcus! Nice to finally meet you, man!” Ajay reaches out to clap Marcus on the shoulder with one hand, and shake Marcus’ hand enthusiastically with the other. “Blair’s told me all about you. Raved about your skills. Drumming’s fucking hard; I tried it in middle school but I can’t follow a beat for shit. Blair says you’re the best though, and she really knows her shit. You ever play outside of school? Like in a regular band or something? You’ve got that nerdy rocker look going on, I bet you’d kill it.”

  “Well I hear you’re the resident expert on nerds, so I guess you’d know.” Marcus is starting to feel a little overwhelmed with how fast Ajay is firing comments at him, but Ajay looks so earnest that Marcus can’t help but like him.

  “Fair enough.” Ajay laughs. “I’m just saying, you look like if Drake went through a hipster phase, but like, in a good way. You’re new in town, right? Have you been downtown at all yet? Do you drink? Even if you don’t, you’ve gotta come to the team parties. We’re a fun group, I swear. You’re from Boston, right? Why don’t you have an accent? I mean, I’m not complaining, Bahston accents ah the fahken wahrst, right?”

  The anxiety that Marcus feels building in his chest drains away as he bursts into laughter at Ajay’s cringeworthy-yet-accurate imitation. “Shit man, don’t do that! My ears have still got PTSD from the two years I spent up there. I’m from upstate New York originally. Right outside of Buffalo.”

  Ajay snickers. “Ah, nice! Great wings, I assume.”

  “Wow, never heard that one before,” Marcus says in a deadpan tone. “I can see why Blair fell for you. Your sparkling wit.”

  “Ha! Nice one!” Ajay pats Marcus’ shoulder again before resting his arm around Blair’s shoulders. Marcus notices that she leans her head against his sweat-soaked shirt without complaint. “I like him, B. He’s good people.”

  “Obviously. I have excellent taste,” Blair says, smiling. “And since Marcus is good people, I’m sure you won’t mind using some of your excessive awesomeness to make sure he doesn’t fail Intro to Chem.”

  “What? You’re in chem? Nice!” Ajay holds out his hand for a fist bump, which Marcus cautiously reciprocates. “Aw, man, do you have Dr. Mitchell? He’s a fucking mess, but he’s cool if you know how to get on his good side.”

  “Mitchie doesn’t have a good side. He’s a stuck-up fossil who’s too busy ass-kissing for grant money to teach anyone anything.”

  Startled by the unfamiliar voice, Marcus turns quickly towards its source. When his eyes meet the newcomer’s, however, he inhales sharply, cursing himself as he struggles to keep his jaw from dropping.

  The boy standing in front of him is tall and lean, with wiry muscle tone that Marcus can note in detail, seeing as he’s one of the players who has forgone his shirt in the heat. His short black hair and stormy grey eyes are set against a smooth complexion, and he’s got sweat running in rivulets down the curve of his neck, across his sharp collar bones and firm chest, all the way down to his abs that are too defined to be anything other than spray-painted on, gathering in the cut lines of his hips and working their way down.

  Shit. Marcus tears his gaze away from the newcomer, looking at Blair and Ajay expectantly, praying that no one has noticed his temporary lapse in brain function. Blair narrows her eyes at him suspiciously, but Ajay seems oblivious as he punches the newcomer on the arm playfully.

  “Shut the fuck up. Just because you can’t charm anyone for shit.” Ajay is grinning as he moves to ruffle the newcomer’s hair. The hot dude ducks, shoving Ajay in retaliation.

  “I’m plenty charming when I need to be. Just never need to be, is all.” The hot dude turns to look back at Marcus, a slow smirk spreading across his face. “Who’re you? A new recruit?” His eyes flicker up and down Marcus’ frame briefly.

  Marcus raises his eyebrow skeptically. “Yeah, that’s right. I’m the new wide receiver. I heard your current one can’t catch for shit.”

  The hot dude’s eyes widen as he barks out a burst of laughter. “Where’d you find this one, Blair? He’s an asshole. I like it.”

  “You would.” Blair rolls her eyes. “Marcus, this is Sebastian Lockwood, the team’s wide receiver, Ajay’s best friend, and the worst Call of Duty player in the state.” Blair pays no mind to Sebastian flipping her off as she continues the introductions. “Seb, this is Marcus Williams, Boston escapee, snare drummer extraordinaire, and seeker of chem assistance.”

  “Oh, right. You mentioned him. Nice to meet you.” Sebastian nods at Marcus briefly before turning back to Ajay. “Let’s run some plays now before it gets any hotter. I don’t feel like hearing Anderson bitch about his pit stains again.”

  Sebastian doesn’t wait for Ajay to reply, instead heading over towards the other players, shouting out some sort of commands that Marcus doesn’t bother trying to understand. He does, however, allow himself to surreptitiously watch Sebastian’s ass out of the corner of his eye.

  “Alright, I’ve gotta go before Seb stages a mutiny, but it was nice meeting you.” Ajay holds out his fist so Marcus can reluctantly bump it again. “Text me so I have your info and we’ll set up some tutoring sessions. Blair’s got my number. Obviously.”

  “What?” Marcus blinks in confusion. “I don’t think I need tutoring, I just…”

  “Yeah, you do.” Ajay says bluntly. “Seb is right, Mitchell doesn’t do much teaching. Leaves it all to the TAs who don’t know what the fuck they’re doing. I’ve got you though, no worries.”

  “I…thanks.” Marcus isn’t sure what to say as Ajay drops a quick
kiss on Blair’s cheek and runs off. He’s a little overwhelmed from all the questions and enthusiasm and abs, but as Blair leads him out of the stadium, chatting about which combination of ice cream flavors she’s going to order and snickering at the picture Sebastian just texted her of Ajay getting Gatorade poured down the back of his shirt, Marcus can’t help but think that maybe his bravado isn’t all an act.

  Maybe things could be different here. Better.

  Without him.

  Chapter 2

  It’s seventeen minutes past ten o’clock, the agreed upon time for the first meeting of Chem And Get It (Ajay’s choice of name, obviously, his third choice after Chem on Eileen and Intro to Jizz) and Marcus is struggling to keep his nausea under control.

  He hates being late. He’s trying to keep his mind calm and clear like his therapists are always advising, but he can’t stop thinking about what Ajay will say when Marcus finally makes it to the library. Maybe he’ll be angry and drag Marcus for wasting his time. Maybe he’ll flash a pitying smile and tell Marcus he’s not mad when he actually is. Maybe he figured Marcus was blowing him off so he bailed already.

  Maybe he never even bothered to show up in the first place. Surely he has better things to do.

  Marcus can feel his stomach twisting itself into knots as he pushes through the library door and makes his way to the study room that Ajay allegedly reserved for them. He knocks softly, half hoping that there will be no response.

  “Marcus? If that’s Marcus, come on in, if not, then don’t come in unless you’ve got cheese fries or something.”

  Marcus takes a deep breath before opening the door. Ajay is leaning back in his chair, feet propped up on the table, music blaring from his phone as he types furiously on his laptop, which is balanced precariously on his legs. Ajay looks up from his laptop, smiling brightly as he pushes thick, black-framed glasses up on his nose with one finger.

  “Marcus! You made it!” Ajay’s smile is blindingly bright as he closes his laptop and tosses it casually onto the desk with a loud clatter that makes Marcus cringe.