Wrestling With Desire Read Free

in the seat she had reserved for him. "Beck, I need to run something by you, and I need to get it out before you start one of your stories."
    Beck flashed an indignant look of pure offense. Then her mouth curved up at the sides. "Sure babe. No need to get 16

    Wrestling With Desire
    by D.H. Starr
    prissy. I know I love to be the center of attention, but every once in a while I am capable of listening to someone else."
    She paused, as if she were waiting for Derek to confirm the statement. When Derek said nothing, she huffed and settled into her seat so she was facing him. "The way you were staring at that new kid today, I bet I only need one guess to know what this will be about."
    Derek let out a chuckle. "You see, Beck, that's what I love about you. You always know what I need to talk about."
    Already, Derek felt more like himself. "Ok, so I just walked him to class and I couldn't shut up. I mean, I was babbling on and on and barely let him get a word in edgewise."
    "Hang on, I want to hear which part of him you are obsessing about right now. Is it those amazing eyes, his crazy sexy hair, his...?"
    "Beck, I said I needed to talk without your interruptions."
    "Right, sorry. Do go on." She flashed him a sheepish grin.
    Derek sighed and rolled his eyes. "Ok, so it was none of those things. We actually talked about wrestling." Beck shook her head. Derek didn't need her to speak to know that she was getting ready to suffer through a sports oriented-conversation, which she occasionally tolerated, but never enjoyed. "So anyway, he wrestled in Iowa and was apparently pretty good. His team elected him captain for his senior year.
    But what got me was the way he was talking about wrestling."
    "What do you mean the way he talked about wrestling?
    You guys all talk about it the same way."
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    Wrestling With Desire
    by D.H. Starr
    "Beck! No interruptions." Derek gave her a half-serious look which told her that he wasn't annoyed but wanted to finish. Beck's face took on a brief look of offense, and then softened as she meaningfully closed her mouth, using her fingers to lock her lips and throw away the key. Derek placed his hand on her arm. "I mean, he gets that wrestling is more than learning new moves and showing everyone how tough you are. He gets that it's also about drawing from within yourself and facing an adversary with courage, head-on."
    Beck never quite understood Derek's passion about the sport, but she did admire his perspective on what it meant to him. Sure, sports helped boys to blow off energy. It made them popular and defined their bodies, something she enjoyed as an effect of athletics for men. But none of the boys talked about sports the way Derek did. She thought it was interesting that this new kid would. "So, what exactly are you asking me, Derek?"
    "Well, let's look at the facts. I just met him, yet immediately felt comfortable telling him things about myself.
    He shares my passion for wrestling and in the same way I do." As he was speaking, Beck noticed that he was becoming more animated and a sparkle was beginning to dance in his eyes.
    "Hey, slow down a minute. What I think is that you need to be careful. You're out to me, but you have been careful to ensure that no one else even suspects that you're gay here at school. You haven't even kissed another boy..."
    "That's not true. I kissed..."
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    Wrestling With Desire
    by D.H. Starr
    Beck cut him off. "Billy Fullan doesn't count. That was in kindergarten and you only kissed him on the cheek because he gave you that retarded transformer you had been dying to get in your McDonald's happy meal box."
    "Hey!" Derek retorted, giggling a bit and realizing she was right, "That transformer rounded out my collection and I would have done anything to have it."
    Rebecca rolled her eyes and stared at him. "May I continue?" Derek remained silent and gave her a demure look through his eyelashes. "Thank you. All I am saying is that you should be careful. You don't know