Gladiators written by Harry

 

Gladiator

by Harry

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Ball Busting Boys Community,

 

Harry wrote a love letter to both Alex and I's characters. His story is amazing, and I am so happy to share it with all of you. I hope that you all enjoy it as much as I!

 

~J

 

 

 

 

“Alex, please don’t be angry.” 

 

The production assistant Erik winced and pulled his phone back a few centimeters from his ear. Some of the words coming through the line were incomprehensible to him, but Erik suspected he was getting cussed out. 

 

“I’m sure it wasn’t as expensive as you’re thinking,” Erik assured his agitated boss. While the writer / producer / director of BallBustingBoys.com was away on sabbatical, it had fallen to the 19 year old twink to keep the wheels turning and testicles churning at their niche video production company. He’d just signed off on a big purchase, and breaking the news to the boss was not going well. 

 

“Well, it’s been like thirty years since that dumb old show was on TV, but the set is in remarkably good shape. And Vince has already made a few improvements to some of the tech, so we will be good to shoot this week.” 

 

“…?”

 

“Yes, the costumes came with the rest, but they’re pretty ridiculous, so I was gonna just…” 

 

“…!” 

 

“Oh. Oh! You LIKE the costumes. Well perfect! Because I was just going to say that we should use them for the new series to make it more authentic.” Erik rolled his eyes behind his wire-rimmed glasses and sighed in relief. 

 

“Okay, okay, thank you, Alex! I promise our subscribers will go nuts for this one.” Erik hung up, leaned back in his chair and propped his sneakers up on Alex’s desk. The exuberant, twinky smile slowly drained from his face. He drummed his fingers on the polished wooden surface, waiting for inspiration to strike. 

---

 

But inspiration was lacking. When he’d agreed to buy the old studio gameshow set, Erik had assumed it would just be some retro scenery to engage their older audience. Other than some goofy stunt videos still circulating on TikTok, the Gen Z assistant had never heard of the show. 

 

“Who would watch that kind of old junk?” Erik mumbled to himself. Just then a familiar face peered around the entrance of Alex’s office. The flash of white teeth and twinkling blue eyes turned Erik’s ears pink, as they always did. Logan was not only the most popular model on the site for the past four months running, he was also Erik’s secret crush. 

 

“Hey bro,” Logan greeted the assistant as he entered the office. “Not still ogling my last video, are you?” The high school wrestler’s tone was friendly and joking, but when he caught the look in the skinny twink’ s eyes, he paused. “Or…if you are, then that’s no problem!” 

 

Maybe Erik’s crush was not a secret after all. And that made his answer to Logan’s next question a foregone conclusion.

 

“I can’t believe you scored all that old gear! I watched that show on re-runs all the time when I was a kid. Nitro was the man! Anyway, I’ve got a great idea for how to use it. You interested?” 

 

Erik tucked his wavy hair behind his ear and nodded rapidly. 

 

******

 

“You…are a winner.” 

 

Gino Gomez stared solemnly at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. His pecan brown eyes, flecked with gold, blinked back at him slowly, affirming his mantra. Although he was blessed with a loving family, Gino did not have a lot of friends or other support. He knew that his ritual with the mirror was corny, but some days it helped him to maintain his appearance of swagger. And today he needed all the swagger he could get.

 

Gino ran a hand over his head. He’d recently clipped his dark hair short and had not yet gotten used to the prickly feeling. He leaned close to the mirror and cocked his head at the slit in his eyebrow. Acting on impulse he’d done it himself and wondered if it was just a tiny bit crooked. Overall though he felt like it made him look badass.

 

“You are a winner.” 

 

Gino was not sure what exactly he might be winning today, and he had butterflies in his stomach. It was just his second call up as a model for BallBustingBoys.com, and the adrenaline had been pumping ever he got the text from Logan to come in to the studio. Hurrying toward the front door, Gino nearly stepped on his brother Jayden, who was stretched out on the floor, eating cereal while he flipped the channels on the remote. 

 

“Woah! Wha’cha doin’?” Jayden asked. 

 

“Nothing,” Gino answered quickly. “Gotta go to work.” 

 

“Work?” Jayden looked at him curiously. “Didn’t you get fired from the pizza place?” 

 

“Yep, sure did,” Gino called over his shoulder as he slammed the front door. Alone again in the living room, Jayden sighed. He loved his brother, but Gino needed to work on his social skills. 

 

*****

 

“Huh? How would I have heard of that?” Gino gave Logan the same look that he might have given a teacher who asked about a homework assignment.

 

“Well, 90’s nostalgia is kind of back, man. Retro, you know?” Logan nodded brightly. He was accustomed to filling in Gino’s rough spots with his own charisma and enthusiasm. 

 

“Retro,” Gino echoed slowly, nodding slightly along with Logan. “You mean like nerd shit.” 

 

Ever so slightly, Logan clenched his jaw. “No, not nerd shit. It’s cool. I mean, haven’t you seen them doing the Joust on TikTok?” 

 

Gino looked at Logan blankly. He didn’t have any friends on TikTok. If he wanted to watch something, he usually just stole Jayden’s phone.

 

Logan was getting frustrated. “What do you even like to watch anyway?”  

 

“Porn, sports…” Gino thought for a few seconds more. “Yeah, just porn and sports I guess.” 

 

A smile cracked Logan’s handsome face. “Okay, yeah, same. But ALSO this.” Logan held his phone between them as they sat backstage at BallBustingBoys studios. For a while the two wrestling teammates watched re-runs of the classic 90’s gameshow American Gladiators. The jocks marveled at the athleticism of the competition and hooted in awe at the dominating antics of the gladiators. Their impossibly shredded physiques and splashy costumes seemed to come out of a time capsule. After watching for a while, Gino had to agree with Logan that the games looked pretty fun. 

 

“I’m glad you think so, bro,” Logan enthused. “Because you’re the next competitor.” Logan pushed a bundle into Gino’s hands. “Go get changed. I’ll let the guys know we’ll be ready in five.” 

 

“You’re not competing too?” 

 

“Nah, I’m just moral support.” Logan looked around and lowered his voice. “Actually, it’s my three month anniversary with Ashley. We’ve got plans, but I try not to let the other models know.” Logan wiggled his eyebrows seductively and Gino punched him on the shoulder. 

 

*****

 

Gino emerged from the locker room after a couple minutes wearing a red singlet, sneakers and a mouth guard.

 

“Home-made?” he asked, snapping the familiar lycra straps over his shoulders. The singlet was clearly a Bartlett High wrestling one, except that it sported a new BallBustingBoys.com logo across the chest. 

 

“Yep. Pretty good, right?” Logan was beaming. “I helped Erik and Vince with some of the props for the show.” He glanced down at Gino’s athletic form and raised his eyebrows. “No jock?” 

 

“You didn’t tell me to bring one.” 

 

“Okay. I mean, I didn’t pack your lunch for you either. And also no underwear?” 

 

Gino snorted as if Logan was suggesting that he should have been wearing suspenders and a bow tie. The red lycra stretched over his tight pecs and stony abs, and the fat bulge down the left leg of the singlet left no doubt how Gino was hanging. Gino scratched around his pubes, making his heavy package shift. 

 

Logan shrugged. “Suit yourself. Now listen, you’re going up against the site’s most popular models. They’ll be the Gladiators. Bad news: they’re going to try to bust your balls.” 

 

“Obviously,” Gino snickered, drawing his finger across the site’s logo on his uniform. It was no accident that Gino had been selected as a model for the fetish website, but his enthusiasm for busting gonads (and having his busted) was something he didn’t feel super comfortable talking about. His tanned cheeks grew ever so slightly rosier as he reached down to brush his finger tips under his egg-sized testicles.

 

“Good news: the Gladiators’ nads are fair game too. Naturally our subscribers will be happy if all of the above are hurting before this show is over. You’ll get a point for every ball that you bust, so that’s two points for a pair. 

 

Any questions?” 

 

Gino’s eyes were like a kid on Christmas morning. “Who’s my first target?” 

 

*****

 

Logan and Gino walked into the studio, where Gino was amazed at how elaborately the set had been re-created. In fact it looked like a fair approximation of what he’d just watched on YouTube, all the way down to the fog machine and corny hair rock music. 

 

“Ok, so the first game is called Assault,” Logan explained. “Basically you just try to hit the target before sixty seconds are up. The Gladiator will be shooting at you, so keep covered up behind the obstacles as much as possible.”   

 

Logan was interrupted when a familiar voice cut in over the PA. “Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the newest season of American BallBusters! I’m your host Danny Gallagher. All week we’ve been live streaming as our site’s newest models flex their muscles and bet their balls against our Gladiators! The rookie who posts the highest score will win the grand prize of $2000. Let’s look at the current leaderboard.” 

 

A scoreboard on the wall flashed the scores. Gino’s ears perked up when he heard about the monetary prize. Logan hadn’t mentioned it before. The high score was 34.   

 

“There’s a week’s worth of blood, sweat, and spilt milk on this arena floor, ladies and gentlemen. And tonight we bring you our final BBB.com rookie. He’s eighteen years old, standing in at 5’10” and 165 pounds—Gino Gomez!!!”

 

Gino jogged in place and rolled his shoulders to loosen up, just as he would for a wrestling match. While Chad circled with the camera, Gino put on a smug look and flexed his sinewy arms. This competition was going to be live-streamed for subscribers, most of whom had not seen Gino before. The closeups of his tanned complexion, chocolatey eyes and athletic torso splashed across the webpage. 

 

“And our first Gladiator, the handsome devil that you all love to hate…the ballerino with the biggest ball-erinos—David Gallagher!” 

 

The spotlights spun to the center stage where David was already in position. He was seated in a swiveling chair with a long-barreled cannon in front of him, which was loaded with tennis balls. The black-haired dancer glared at Danny, apparently peeved by his corny introduction. Turning to look at Gino, David sniffed disdainfully, broadcasting how unimpressed he was with the new model. With a stone cold look in his eye, David squeezed the trigger before the game had even started, and a ball rocketed off the wall, inches from Gino’s hip. 

 

“Fuck!” Gino growled, ducking and scampering behind the first obstacle. He poked his head up to glare at David. “Cheater!” he shouted. But a ball whistled by his cheek at high speed, forcing Gino to duck back down again. 

 

From the corner of his eye, Gino could see that Vince had made one important modification to the original gameshow version of the Assault. Instead of a target high above the Gladiator, this target was directly between David’s legs. The dancer’s muscular quads were stretched apart and strapped into the swiveling chair, allowing Gino a tempting view of the mound between them. Something about seeing David’s elegant body strapped down made Gino a little hot, but he pushed the image from his mind in order to focus on the game. He pulled back on the mounted catapult and released, imagining neutering the arrogant dancer with a lucky shot. However the heavy rubber ball slipped out before firing and rolled anti-climactically across the floor. 

 

“Loser!” David taunted, returning fire as Gino scampered to avoid his tennis ball fire. “Let me guess. Another new model who’s all show and no go?” 

 

Eager to shut up the pretty boy with his next shot, Gino weaved and dodged his way to the next obstacle. Unfortunately the bazooka mounted to his current hiding place was nearly impossible to aim, and his shot sailed harmlessly over David’s head. 

 

“I can’t tell whether this cretin is actually such a pathetic shot, or if nobody bothered to teach him where the testicles are located?”  

 

Gino could hear the snickering from the other models, and his cheeks flushed. He took a running start toward his next position. By now he was closer to David, and the dancer was starting to predict his movements. Gino leapt to hurdle one shot that was perfectly in his path,  but as he stretched his leg out, another speedy projectile followed it, tagging his bouncing ball bag where it gathered against his leg. The speed of was such that at first Gino thought the shot had missed it’s targets, since it bounced so quickly off him. Then pain exploded from his middle and his jump ended in a graceless crash. 

 

“Yes!” David gloated from the Gladiator’s position. “No kids for that mouth-breather!” 

 

Gino huddled on the floor, cupping his bruised right nut. The firm orb throbbed under his touch, but he’d had worse. He winced as another shot stung his ass, with David apparently trying to sneak in a knockout blow between Gino’s fetal-positioned legs. 

 

“Mother fucker,” he whispered, crawling the last few feet to the next obstacle while trying not to give David any more openings. He was closer now, and the tool he had to return fire was more manageable, something like a pistol shape with a blunt rubber missile. Gino gave it a mean grin, imagining it piercing the cocky dancer’s ballsac. He peered cautiously around the corner. Another projectile whistled past his nose and David blew him a sarcastic kiss. But Gino’s eyes were only on the target between David’s legs.

 

“Just 45 seconds remaining in the Assault!” Danny announced. “Zero points so far for Gomez.” 

 

Wasting no further time, Gino fired his shot over the obstacle, right on the target. David observed it’s trajectory threatening his prized package, and he thrashed around to dodge. However Vince had engineered his seat so that David’s limbs were strapped in the splayed position. Gino watched with glee…but then disappointment when the blunt missile thudded against David’s inner thigh. 

 

A mean smirk spread slowly across David’s handsome face. “Was that your big moment, loser? Did you actually think you were going to hurt my testicles?” David punctuated his mockery by shooting more tennis balls at Gino, making the rookie dance around ridiculously. Then…

 

Click. Click.

 

“Vince, you incompetent idiot! My weapon is out of balls. Refill it now,” David demanded. He was enjoying making Gino look like a fool, and he continued pulling the trigger. 

 

Click. Click. 

 

Gino noticed the last obstacle, nearest to David’s position. In place of a weapon, there were just three baseballs gathered, possibly as a last resort. While David raved at the production assistants, Gino ambled forward and picked up the first ball. It felt firm and heavy in his palm. He had 20 seconds remaining in which to hit the target. David spotted him to and his dark eyes narrowed on the ball Gino was tossing. 

 

“Don’t even think about it, cretin. I’m out of balls.” His voice was cold and took obedience for granted. 

 

Gino watched the lumpy bulge shift between David’s splayed legs. “Not quite yet,” he answered, “But you will be soon.” 

 

Finally Gino’s aim was right on target. The ball impacted David’s pouch with a plop, visibly rearranging his bulge and causing a vein to stand out on David’s forehead. Every instinct in David’s body wanted to curl over, draw his legs together, and protect his manhood, but as he was strapped in, David had no choice but to take it. His dented bulge still open for business. 

 

Over the speakers, the sound of an old-school Super Mario Brothers coin chime acknowledged Gino’s point, and a “1” flashed up on the scoreboard. 

 

Gino squinted. “Did I only hit lefty,” he asked. David snarled but did not answer. 

 

“Well, since you’re not going anywhere, and I have a bit more time to kill…” Gino picked up a second softball.  

 

“You will regret this, you pathetic…aaaaghghghg!!!” The impact of the second throw was harder than the first, and it brought a scream to David’s lips. His pale cheeks were flushed with scarlet, whether from pain or from the humiliation of being at Gino’s mercy, it was hard to tell. Two more chimes tallied, and the scoreboard showed “3.”

 

Gino picked up the final ball and sized up his antagonist. He had just a few seconds left, and he wanted to make an impression. 

 

“Ask me not to throw it,” Gino said simply. “And I won’t.” 

 

David’s stared at him in a haze of pain and anger. His sore gonads were begging him to acquiesce to Gino’s offer, but his pride was too great to swallow. “Loser,” he spat.

 

SMUSH. Less than a second later the final ball impacted David’s junk, just as the game time expired. His nuts were crunched audibly into his pelvis, making him wretch. Still unable to comfort his pouch, the bully Gladiator’s head drooped down in defeat. 

 

*****

 

After helping himself to another bowl of cereal, Jayden was once again on the living room floor. He’d recently taken an interest in MMA, and he was scrolling through the highlights. 

 

“Want some?” Jayden asked his boyfriend, shaking the cereal box. 

 

“Nah, I’m good,” Chase answered, taking a bite from his apple. The blonde swim captain was proud of his physique, and he worked hard to keep as cut as possible. He was amazed that Jayden could eat so much junk food and remain such a strong athlete, but there was a lot about Jayden that amazed Chase. 

 

“Do we actually have the place to ourselves tonight?” Chase asked. He peered around the quiet house, half expecting Jayden’s brother Gino to pop out as part of some prank. And Chase knew too well that Gino’s pranks were always bad news for his prized “big balls.”

 

“Weird, right?” Jayden answered. “He said he had to go to work. But I thought he’d gotten fired from that pizza place after his truck kept breaking down on deliveries.” 

 

“Yeah, same at my place. Logan’s at work, too.” Chase’s teenage brain was soon imagining what he and Jayden might get up to now that they had a little space to themselves. He scooted over and put his hand on Jayden’s back. 

 

“Did Logan get a job too? I thought he just modeled for…” Jayden’s mouth fell open. “Shit! Do you think Gino got called in to film for the website? Maybe they’re both ‘working’ there!” Jayden knew that his brother was technically a model for BallBustingBoys.com, but so far he’d not been especially popular. 

 

“Uh, no idea,” Chase answered. “Who cares?” Chase was annoyed that they were talking about Gino on the one night that he was finally out of their hair.

 

“C’mon Chase! If Logan and Gino are streaming, don’t you want to see it?” Jayden had already bolted up and was heading down the hallway to Gino’s room. 

 

Chase’s sapphire eyes followed him darkly. “Not really,” he muttered. He didn’t quite get the same charge out of the fetish site that the Gomez brothers did, and he certainly did not want his nemesis to distract his boyfriend during their private time. Nevertheless, Chase followed Jayden down the hall. 

 

*****

 

“Man, you were awesome! The look on David’s face was priceless.” Logan was congratulating Gino after finishing the first event. “My gorgeous testicles, you cretin,” Logan mimicked the raven-haired dancer, cupping his own groin and crossing his eyes. 

 

Gino was smiling ear to ear, pleased to be off to a winning start. But he knew more challenges were on the way. “What’s next, coach?” 

 

“The next game is called Joust. The concept is pretty easy, the first guy to knock the other off the platform wins.”

 

“No problem,” Gino stated, confident after his first win. “Who am I facing?” 

 

“I think you might have met him before. He’s another one of the more popular models on the site, although he’s not the brightest bulb…” 

 

“Ben?” Gino asked. His pecan brown eyes were wide with excitement. “Oh hell yeah!” 

 

“For real? He’s pretty built, dude. But there’s a couple things you should know…” Logan leaned in to Gino’s ear and whispered something that made the rookie model laugh. Then from behind, a pair of heavy arms draped over both teens’ shoulders.

 

“Party foul, bros! Gossiping is for chicks,” the handsome college jock Ben thrust his head between theirs so closely that the stubble on his square jaw scratched their cheeks. “Unless you are chicks?” he continued, his brown eyes twinkling merrily. “I don’t want to resume.” 

 

“Uh, you mean ‘presume,’ right bro?” Logan corrected gently. 

 

“Exactly, bro,” Ben nodded. “My man!” He went to give Logan knuckles but also went in for a clearly telegraphed nut-check. Logan twisted his hip to avoid Ben’s slap, while simultaneously rapping his own knuckles into Ben’s crotch. Logan rolled his eyes as Ben coughed and tried to keep up his macho demeanor while the pain set in.  

 

“Woah man!” Logan whistled, shaking out his hand. “I just had to check if that was all beef. I figured you had to be stuffing your singlet.” When he wanted to, the blond wrestler could have such a wholesome appearance that Ben took his compliment as genuine. 

 

“Ha! Might be something you would need to do bro, but not me. 100% American beef here.” Ben stood straight and grasped his basket through his singlet, making his ample nuts bulge out under the lycra. “Biggest nuts in the room.” 

 

Ben took their silence as admiration and treated Gino and Logan to a show, making his pecs bounce under his singlet straps. Gino hated himself for it, but he could not tear his eyes away. Ben’s physique was indeed a work of art, with muscles earned by putting in the work in the gym. Gino was proud of his own jock-built body, but he had to acknowledge the superior specimen. 

 

Logan was accustomed to Ben’s antics and was less enthralled. “Gee, Ben, I forgot who had the biggest nuts in the room, thanks for reminding me. Do you happen to remember who has the biggest dick?” Logan’s blue eyes blinked slowly, waiting for an answer. 

 

Ben cocked his head, thinking for a moment. “Actually bro,” he glanced down at both Logan’s and Gino’s bulges sorrowfully. “I’m sorry to tell you…that’s me also!” the frat boy roared happily. The other two jocks—who both filled out their singlets quite adequately—did not share Ben’s amusement. 

 

“Hmmm,” Logan mused darkly. “Did Zach quit the team? Or did several inches of Cal’s dick fall off overnight? ‘Cause last time I checked they were WAY bigger than you, Ben.”

 

Ben looked uncomfortable, so he chose to ignore Logan and give Gino his full attention. “Rookie, don’t listen to Logan. All that wrestling, not good for his brain. Tell me, is this not the most massive dick you’ve seen here today?” With that Ben pulled back the leg of his singlet so that his junk dropped out in plain view. He looked lovingly at his fat nuts and gave his cock a couple sensuous tugs to make it show it’s best. 

 

Gino’s throat was dry, so he just nodded agreement to Ben’s claim, which was technically true. Since Ben’s was the only naked dick Gino had seen at the studio so far, his automatically qualified as most massive. 

 

Before Logan could object to the rigged reasoning, Danny’s voice came over the speaker: “Next up for our competitors is the Joust! Rookie Gino Gomez was victorious in the last event with a bull’s eye on David’s bull nuts. But in the Joust he is facing Ben—known to all as the Gladiator…The Eliminator!” 

 

Ben hopped up to the top of of the jousting platform and raised his jousting stick over his head, mugging for the camera. His retro red, white, and blue singlet was cut low to show off his chest, and the short legs showed off his rippling quads. 

 

“I don’t think some of those muscles even have names,” Gino muttered. 

 

“Don’t worry about it, man. Just remember what I told you,” Logan advised confidently. He slapped Gino’s ass as he climbed up to the platform. “Go get him!” 

 

The jousting stick consisted of a single bar around six feet long, with a cylindrical pad wrapped around either end. Like the rest of the set, the pads bore an old school stars & stripes motif and looked like they’d been through some shit. Gino took a couple practice swings. Holding the stick like a paddle was awkward, and hard to see how he could generate enough force to tip over an immovable object like Ben. 

 

“So basically we just hit each other in the nuts with these pads until somebody falls over?” Gino asked. He was beginning to understand that the sketches for the site were not too heavy on plot. 

 

“Scared?” Ben asked with a cocky smile. “Because these babies are gonna take you down.” He wiggled his hips, making his balls jiggle inside his singlet. Ben’s cock was at least semi-erect and was pointing up and toward his hip, stretching the flimsy lycra. 

 

“Wow,” breathed Gino. He raised one end of his jousting stick and ran the pad gently along the outline of Ben’s piece. The college stud purred and grew even harder, so that the fabric around his flared head was moist.

 

“Biggest in the room,” Ben confirmed, admiring the tent in his gear. But his moment was interrupted when Gino snapped the stick back and whacked the tender underside of Ben’s erection with a sneaky slap. 

 

“Oooofff!” Ben yelped, bending over automatically so that his ass stuck out. Gino listened for his score to register, but there was no chime. 

 

“Not cool man, we never go for the dick around here.” Ben looked offended and warier than before.  

 

Actually Gino had been aiming lower, but he was happy enough with the result. And with Ben bending over and sticking his ass out, Gino turned to give him a slap on the back to match. Unfortunately he underestimated Ben’s speed, so it was Gino’s turn to curl up when Ben’s paddle swung into his groin at high speed. The wide pad only landed a glancing blow, but it was enough to take the wind out of Gino’s sails. When Ben gripped his paddle like a baseball bat and cracked it into Gino’s ass, he very nearly knocked his opponent off the platform in one stroke. 

 

“Home run!” Ben cheered and swung again to tip Gino over. Gino was not able to dodge the blow, but he parried it with his own stick and fired back at Ben, aiming a little lower than his first strike. Gino scored a hit, but the geometry of the game was not on his side. The pads on the ends of the paddle were thick and cylindrical, leaving almost no angle to drive it up between Ben’s tree trunk legs for a knockout blow. At this rate, their match was just going to be a sac-tapping war of attrition. 

 

Ben realized the same, and he easily trapped Gino’s next attempt between his thighs, trapping his opponent’s weapon. He pivoted and brought his own paddle across the side of Gino’s head, leveling his lighter opponent as if he’d thrown a punch. With Gino staggering, Ben gripped one side of his paddle and reared back. 

 

“Four!” he called, driving the stick up between Gino’s legs and scoring a direct hit. Gino’s brown eyes popped open as electric pain sizzled down the insides of his legs. Ben kept his paddle between Gino’s legs, jostling and thrumming the rookie’s nads on rough pad and enjoying the sight of Gino’s junk being smooshed inside his singlet. 

 

“See bro, this is what happens to your teeny-weeny when you go against the biggest balls in the room!!!” 

 

*****

 

“Damn it! I hate that guy!” Jayden growled as the camera panned from Gino’s stricken crotch to Ben’s smiling face.

 

Jayden and Chase were both huddled around Gino’s old laptop, but only one of them was very excited about it. Chase was indifferent to the outcome of the competition, but he didn’t make much attempt to hide his pleasure whenever Gino took a particularly painful hit. He just needed to keep his disloyalty quiet—he knew how Jayden could get when it came to protecting Gino. 

 

“Are you sure Gino would be okay with us using his account like this?” Chase asked. He distinctly remembered Gino telling Jayden to keep his nose out of his computer. “Did he give you his password?” 

 

Jayden glanced at his boyfriend sidelong from under long lashes. “I wouldn’t have it unless he wanted me to have it,” Jayden answered. Jayden looked so sincere that Chase decided not to call him out on his circular reasoning. “Anyway this is an emergency.” 

 

“My big blue balls are an emergency,” Chase mumbled to himself.

 

“What, babe?” Jayden said, cocking his ear. 

 

“Nothing.” 

 

*****  

 

Still pinioned on the end of Ben’s paddle, Gino was in a predicament. Ben was enjoying vibrating the pole, rolling Gino’s softening nuts as he brought the pad forward and back. The orbs danced at Ben’s mercy, and each time he pulled back, the pad grated along the side of Gino’s droopy cock.

 

“Ooooowwwwww…” A low moan came from the back of Gino’s throat, and his pretty brown eyes blinked dizzily. The nausea was spreading in his stomach, and he wanted nothing more than to cup his poor jewels. But Gino knew that if he dropped his weapon to comfort himself, he would be truly done for. 

 

Gino dropped to his knees on the jousting platform. The camera zoomed in for Ben to administer the finishing blow. 

 

“Ok dude, so we’ve played baseball and golf so far,” Ben mused, testing the paddle in his hands. “Who’s up for a game of hockey?” Ben brought the stick back and wound up for an epic slap-shot that no doubt get Gino right in his pucks. 

 

But the shot did not come. From his kneeling position, Gino brought his own paddle up in a stabbing motion, with the butt end ramming up between Ben’s legs. Ben froze. Both Ben and Gino noticed at the same time that this blow seemed different from the others. The butt end of the paddle was not wrapped in the same padding as the rest. As it connected, it sounded more like a crack than the whump of a pad. Ben made a gurgling noise as his barely-covered nads were decimated, driven up into his pelvis with merciless force. 

 

“Bro…” Ben mouthed in silent horror, as his knees snapped together and he keeled over. 

 

Gino rose gingerly to his feet. Finally he had time to cup himself, and his nuts felt blazing hot and tender under the lycra. He remembered Logan’s warning about free-balling with annoyance. “Fucking know-it-all Logan,” he thought as he repositioned his junk. 

 

Gino looked over at the fallen Gladiator on the opposite platform. Ben had turned face down with both hands underneath his body. The shiny singlet stretched over his firm glutes like a pair of patriotic beach balls. Gino just stared, marveling at the bunching of Ben’s muscles where he sweated under his uniform. 

 

Eventually the sound of Logan clearing his throat brought Gino back to the task at hand. Although he had the advantage, the college jock was still on his platform. He spotted the fat nuggets bulging out from between Ben’s legs, resting heavily on the platform. 

 

“This is going to hurt me as much as it hurts you, big guy,” Gino stated. He gripped his paddle by like a spear, aiming the un-padded butt end at Ben’s undefended jewels. 

 

“They were once the biggest balls in the room,” Gino said solemnly. Then he drove the knob of his paddle down into Ben’s nuts, crushing them into the platform. The shaft of the paddle shifted as the firm nuts squished, and it actually made Gino feel a little sick, but also fascinated. Ben’s baritone voice dissolved into a soprano shriek as his manhood was pinned so cruelly. As soon as Gino removed the pole, Ben tumbled off his platform in a ball of misery. Tears splashed down his handsome face. He pawed between his legs, desperate for relief from the stabbing pain. On the platform, Gino stood alone under the spotlight and raised his arm in victory. 

 

*****

 

Logan looked as amazed as Gino by the unlikely upset. He offered Gino some ice, but the brunette waved him off. He had taken some painful shots, but the jolt of adrenaline he got from dishing it out soothed him more than the ice would. 

 

“Man that was clutch! I thought you were done for sure!” Logan enthused. “And then to finish him off like that. Damn dude, that was cold!” Logan covered his own groin in exaggerated sympathy. 

 

Coming down from his competitive high, Gino grinned sheepishly. He wasn’t used to being praised. The words from the charismatic wrestling captain meant a lot. 

 

“But we’re gonna need to make a plan for this next event. The other guys are friends with Ben. I know they were watching that, so they’re gonna be coming in hot.” 

 

“Next…event?” Gino was already sweaty and bruised. He had not counted on more competition. 

 

“Hey guy, you can do it! Just remember what Erik said about the prize money if you bust the most balls.” Logan cocked his head at his wrestling teammate. “Out of curiosity, what would you want to spend the money on?” 

 

Gino scratched his sweaty head as images came to mind of his busted phone screen and his perpetually broken-down truck. But he dismissed those quickly. 

 

“A tattoo,” Gino answered eagerly. “From here to here.” He traced a line across his muscular chest from shoulder to shoulder. “Maybe a lion. Or something else badass.” 

 

Logan pursed his lips in a silent whistle. “Sure. Badass,” Logan agreed half-heartedly. 

 

“What?” Gino asked, offended. “Ok, what would you do that would be so cool?” The latino teen put on his best devil-may-care demeanor, but underneath he was wanting approval from his popular captain. 

 

“Uhm,” Logan bit his lip and looked around in case anybody was listening. “Well, if I had a chance to win the prize money, I guess I’d get something nice for Ashley. She had mentioned this one pendant that would look nice on the chain I gave her last month, so…”

 

Gino stared at Logan incredulously. “Pussy,” he said shaking his head and starting to walk away. “Why did I even ask…” 

 

*****

 

Back home in the living room, Chase casually draped his arm around his boyfriend’s shoulders. 

 

“Well, that was fun, Jay. I’m glad we got to spend so much of Saturday night watching your lame brother. But now what do you say we…” 

 

“Ssshh.” 

 

Offended did not begin to describe the look in Chase’s ice-blue eyes. “Did you just…” 

 

“Ssshh,” Jayden repeated, staring worriedly at the screen. “This next part looks dangerous.” 

 

That got Chase’s attention. “Dangerous, huh? What’s the worst that could happen?” He sounded like he wouldn’t mind finding out. 

 

*****

 

In the studio, the props designer Vince was giving a demo to the viewing audience of some of the modifications he’d made to the Atmosphere event. An iconic event from the old 90’s game show, the contestants and Gladiators were in spherical cages, with the goal being to roll onto targets in the floor. But in Vince’s version, the targets had been replaced with traps. The goal of the new Atmosphere event was to make it to the opposite side of the arena, while avoiding the traps at all costs. The Gladiators’ goal—naturally—was to prevent the contestant’s progress and to wreak havoc in the process.  

 

Vince demonstrated with an empty cage. As soon as he rolled it onto a trap, a button clicked, releasing a sharp jet of flame directly up the middle of the cage. The excited tech nerd eagerly explained that the arena contained many different traps, but that each of them would torture any competitor (or Gladiator) unlucky enough to roll over them. 

 

Logan watched the demonstration from over Gino’s shoulder. He looked horrified. 

 

“What?” Gino asked, turning around to see for himself. But the flame had already died down. 

 

“Uhm, nothing. Nothing to worry about,” Logan said confidently. “Just stick to the plan, k? 

 

“Sure,” Gino shrugged. He hadn’t really been paying attention to Logan’s strategy session. “Whatever.”

 

****

 

Once he was locked into his spherical cage, Gino looked over at his opponents. His visibility through the bars was not great, but being a long-time fan, he knew the website’s models already. The hunky blonde in the middle was sporting a perfect bronzed tan and was practically oozing with sexy muscles. 

 

“Definitely Zach,” Gino decided. 

 

Next to Zach an equally tall, muscular black guy was stretching out. His broad shoulders and traps made the college swimmer Cal a formidable athlete and opponent. Both Zach and Cal wore retro patriotic singlets that showed off their impressive physiques. The shiny spandex looked painted over their muscles and their almost ridiculously endowed manhoods. Zach noticed Gino staring. He smirked and started to flex for Gino’s benefit, elbowing Cal to do the same. The frat boys laughed and mimed how they planned to break Gino in the event. They disappeared into their spherical cages, still guffawing. 

 

Gino felt his cheeks get hot. He had watched these two on the site, but in person they looked even more like…”Fucking sex gods,” Gino whispered. He scanned down at his own body. He was proud of his six pack, and he’d worked hard with weights recently, but suddenly he felt scrawny. 

 

Behind Cal and Zach was one more sphere, but Gino couldn’t make out who was inside.  

 

“This math does not add up,” Gino mused. 

 

Then the starting bell rang, and he pushed his sphere slowly forward. Gino was so distracted by Zach and Cal that he nearly rolled into the first trap all on his own. But he twisted at the last moment and his sphere rolled harmlessly across the rim. He did not have time to feel relief however, since up ahead he could see two of the Gladiators’ spheres split up, veering off in separate directions to get him from different angles. 

 

Gino pivoted in the direction of the one that he thought contained Cal, but he was careful to keep one of the floor traps between them. Now that he was closer, he could see Cal’s eyes watching him, and the handsome swimmer was enjoying the game. 

 

“Come to daddy, little rookie,” Cal sang in a deep voice. 

 

Gino tried to distract the frat boy as long as possible. “Ooh, Daddy, huh? Is that your Gladiator name?” 

 

“Nope,” Cal answered, sounding pleased that somebody asked. “Actually my Gladiator name is Orca.” 

 

“Badass,” Gino said, genuinely impressed.  

 

“Because I’m a swimmer,” Cal continued, bragging. “And Orcas are killer whales, and so…” 

 

“Brooooo!” A shout came from behind Gino. “Don’t talk about lame shit in front of the rookie!” 

 

Zach was not a master of stealth, and when the frat boy tried to ram Gino from behind, he was able to dodge with time to spare. He saw the bewildered expression on Zach’s face as the blonde rolled harmlessly past him and landed directly on a trap.

 

No sooner did the trap click underneath Zach’s cage than a powerful jet of water burst up from under his feet. It looked like a firehose was aimed directly between Zach’s legs, and his baseball-sized nuts were not only drenched, but buffeted wildly under his singlet. 

 

It did not take long before his over-sized junk escaped the leg of Zach’s skimpy costume so that his bouncing balls were hit full force. “Broooooooo!” he mouthed silently. The stinging on his soft skin was matched with searing pain that emanated from his gifted gonads. Zach tried to escape the jet, but he only managed to put his mammoth cock in the line of fire. His penis pinwheeled around wildly, almost making Gino dizzy. 

 

Eventually the geyser subsided and Zach rolled over onto his side. His bangs dripped down over his eyes and his huge bare balls looked puffy and red in their sac. Gino savored the sight right up until he was rammed from behind. His sphere rolled sideways wildly. He tried to make his escape, but he was rammed again and lost his sense of direction. Gino’s sphere hit a bump and stopped spinning, much to his relief. 

 

Then he heard a click. 

 

Now Gino was atop a trap. He heaved against the cage wall, but it was too late. He looked down between his parted legs as if in slow motion, his eyes wide. 

 

What followed made everyone in the studio erupt in laughter. Everyone except Gino. An over-stuffed boxing glove sprung up like a jack-in-the-box, punching Gino right between the legs. The whaaap of shiny red leather against his soft, hanging targets made Gino instantly nauseous. His knees buckled, but he couldn’t drop. 

 

“Low…blow…” Gino gasped, bring more chuckles from the audience. Cal appeared next to him, preventing Gino from rolling off of the trap and giving it time to reset for another punch. The second blow was equally devastating, an uppercut into Gino’s already tenderized manhood that made him see stars. 

 

“Yeah! Sac tap his sac!” Zach whooped, appearing opposite Cal. He’d somewhat collected himself, but he was dripping like a wet cat and his bronzed complexion appeared slightly green. 

 

Cal snorted. “That’s redundant, man,” he told his fraternity brother.

 

Zach squinted at Cal with suspicion. He was not entirely sure what the word meant. 

 

Cal rolled his eyes. “Of course you sac tap his sac. What the fuck other part of him can you sac tap?” 

 

Zach considered for a moment, then his eyes lit up. “I might tap my sac right on his forehead after we knock him out of this game!” he roared. 

 

“Touché,” Cal replied, giving knuckles through the cage. 

 

But the frat boys didn’t connect. Cal slipped forward, rolling slowly. He hadn’t noticed when Gino had rolled off of the trap and now it was Cal’s turn atop the menacing mechanical boxing glove. His dark eyes locked with Zach’s for a split second before his nads were rocked by a powerful uppercut. The swimmer’s meaty testicles rocketed up off the glove and bounced off his firm abdominals before sagging back down to sit on the comically sized red glove. 

 

CHING! CHING!

 

“Oh shit!” Zach looked horrified for his buddy. “He sac tapped your sac!” 

 

Cal swallowed and corrected him hoarsely. “Bro…that’s redun…” BAAAMM. The giant boxing glove flattened Cal’s basket a second time. His eyes crossed and he forgot what he was going to say.

 

CHING! CHING!

 

As much as he wanted to, Gino didn’t linger to watch the wreckage. He was halfway across the arena to the goal, but he was moving cautiously. He didn’t want to find out what other surprises Vince had hidden in the floor. He was also keeping his eyes out for the third Gladiator. He hadn’t seen him since the game started, so he assumed he was guarding the goal. 

 

“Our rookie competitor Gino Gomez is closing in on the goal,” Danny’s voice came over the announce microphone. “He’s on pace to top the leaderboard, with the chance to win the grand prize!” Gino’s brown eyes brightened, and he rolled forward faster, imagining how he would look with his new tattoo. 

 

But his reverie was cut short when Zach appeared alongside him, rolling at full sprint. Cal soon appeared on the other side. Both jocks were wincing as their sore nuts bangs against their pumping thighs, and judging by the looks on their faces, they blamed Gino for their discomfort. 

 

“Here come our Gladiators!” Danny cheered.

 

The three spheres clanged back and forth recklessly like bumper cars. Gino narrowly avoided landing on a trap, and he spotted the goal not far beyond. Then he was rammed from the other side and had a sinking feeling when he heard the familiar click. He’d landed on another trap. 

 

“Fuck me,” Gino whispered. His pecan brown eyes darted around, and he dropped into a defensive stance. But to Gino’s relief, no oversized boxing glove sprung out at him. Instead a small white glove appeared at his feet, tapping around at the end of a mechanical arm. Gino nudged the robotic hand away with his toe, and it curled up timidly next to his foot. Another white glove rose up next to it, but it just ran it’s fingers along Gino’s muscular calf. 

 

“Aww, aren’t these little guys cute,” Gino cooed, smirking at Zach and Cal. The frat boys looked outraged by Gino getting off so easily. 

 

“What the hell, Vince? I got a freaking firehose right to the boys,” Zach complained, massaging his still smarting pair. “But the rookie just gets a…a massage?” Zach peered into Gino’s sphere, not sure what he was seeing. 

 

Indeed, Gino appeared to be receiving some kind of futuristic massage. A half dozen small mechanical hands had risen up from the trap, and they were slowly, shyly exploring Gino’s muscular legs. One of the arms was especially curious and brushed it’s fingers up over Gino’s tight abs, massaging his belly button. 

 

“Hahaha, that tickles,” the brunette wrestler giggled. His initially defensive posture had completely dissolved, and he watched with fascination as the mechanical hands explored his well-trained muscles and smooth, sweat-slicked skin. 

 

“Oh!” Gino yelped suddenly. “Careful there, buddy,” he scolded when one of the gloved hands cupped his ass and gave a little pinch. 

 

Out of the view of the camera, the Props Designer Vince was taking notes in his clipboard. Then he put down his pencil and leaned closer toward the monitor. 

 

*****

 

“No, Gino, you be careful!” Jayden was leaning into the computer screen just like Vince. His smooth, mocha brow was creased with worry. 

 

“Doesn’t look so dangerous to me,” Chase observed. He scooted around behind Jayden and began to massage his neck and shoulders. He could feel the tension in the younger Gomez as he watched his brother. “Gino’s relaxed. What are you so worried about?” 

 

Just then Gino’s voice rasped from the video stream: “Hey! Not so tight!” The camera zoomed  in on Gino’s handsome face, which now wore a worried expression that matched Jayden’s. A bead of sweat glistened on his temple and trickled down the faint stubble on his jaw. Panning lower, the camera revealed the source of Gino’s discomfort: two of the mechanical hands had taken the initiative to wrap around his testicles. They’d pulled his nuts out from his body, his loose sac and stretchy lycra uniform showing the rounded organs in high definition. 

 

“Get off of my…” Heedless of Gino’s protests, the gloved hands clamped down on his fat nuggets, making him forget what he was saying. The orbs visibly flattened and his body began to shudder. As if to soothe Gino’s pain, the other arms continued to stroke the insides of his legs and to massage his abs and glutes. The teen jock was utterly immobilized in their grasp. 

 

By now Chase was tuned in again to the livestream. His Cheshire cat grin curled his thin pink lips. Gino was the swim team captain’s long time nemesis, and he relished the sight of the macho wrestler squirming. Chase just needed to be careful not to let on to Jayden how much he was rooting against his brother. 

 

“No worries, babe,” Chase cooed in Jayden’s ear. “Gino’s tough. He can take a little swat in the junk like a man.” 

 

Jayden’s brown eyes watched the screen intently. “Not like that though, not back there…” He seemed to be talking more to the screen than to Chase. 

 

Gino stared vacantly, practically drooling on himself. The rhythmic, pulsing throb of his nuts had moved upward from his guts all the way into his skull. But somewhere underneath the ugly pain was also pleasure. His cock gradually thickened and lengthened until it tented his singlet. The thin fabric clung to the ridges of Gino’s flared cockhead, even showing the pulsing vein that ran along the underside of his shaft. 

 

“Not the nut-claw,” Gino mouthed, and Jayden echoed his words at the same time. 

 

The blonde swimmer cocked his head. “What do you mean, J?” He looked closer at the screen. The closeup of Gino’s suffering showed that the mechanical trap had him fully in it’s grasp, its fingers pinching the back and undersides of his testicles with varied and unpredictable force. “Is that his weak spot?”

 

“It’s everybody’s weak spot,” Jayden answered, only paying half attention. 

 

Chase’s eyes flashed with interest. He’d busted his boyfriend’s gonads lots of times, but Jayden had never confessed this particular weakness. Chase knew too well that his own personal weakness was knee strikes, but that other guys were built differently. Naturally, he was curious to explore more. 

 

Snuggling in to Jayden as a pretext, Chase reached his hand around the unsuspecting teen’s hip. His fingers ran down the underside of Jayden’s hamstring, just like the mechanical hands were caressing Gino on the screen. Holding his breath, Chase’s fingers dipped under the legs of Jayden’s shorts, feeling the warm, moist skin of his smooth scrotum. 

 

“Chase, cut it out,” Jayden warned, “I’m worried about Gino-ooo-ooo…” Jayden’s scolding was interrupted when Chase’s fingers pinched the undersides of his soft testicles, mimicking the ball claw that was wrecking Gino. Jayden’s breath hitched in his throat as he realized the predicament. 

 

“You don’t need to worry about Gino,” Chase’s minty breath ticked Jayden’s ear. “It looks like he has a grip on things.” Chase emphasized the word grip with a pointed squeeze. 

 

Across some distance, two pairs of Gomez brothers’ nuts convulsed in exactly the same shudder. 

 

*****

 

“Damn Zach. If those crazy robots keep pumping up his nads like that, they’ll be bigger than yours by the end of this game.” Cal was watching with amusement as their rookie model was emasculated by the ingenious robot. 

 

Cal’s blonde teammate looked back and forth between Gino and his own gargantuan gonads. “Might be right, bro.” Zach looked over from Gino to Cal, and a sly look came over his face. “But his cock is already bigger than yours!” 

 

“Ha. Ha.” Cal rolled his eyes. Gino had every reason to be proud of his size, but the college swimmer’s storied schlong clearly outranked him, despite Gino being rock hard. “Aww, poor little Cal,” Cal said sarcastically. 

 

Zach was enjoying his own sense of humor, and did not let the joke go. “Yeah bro, don’t make the mistake of measuring against him like you did against me!” Zach slapped the inside of his spherical cage in amusement. 

 

Cal scowled. He was far bigger than every other guy in their frat…except for Zach. And somehow Zach always insisted that they measure against each other. Not like Cal cared. He knew he was a big boy. But having Zach throw it in his face endlessly was grating on him. 

 

Cal opened his mouth to retort, but both guys were interrupted when Gino gave a strangled moan. One of the mechanical hands was shamelessly polishing his knob through his singlet, while the others kept his jewels locked in a nutclaw. Gino’s endurance was worn down, and it was obvious that he was about to nut himself. 

 

“Alright rookie!” Cal hyped. “Let’s see what you got!” 

 

“Yeah!” Zach echoed. So often on the receiving end of humiliation, Zach was jubilant just not to be in Gino’s place. “Cream one for the team!” 

 

Gino’s uniform was soaked with sweat, and his head sagged on his neck. The camera zoomed in too, so that the livestream could enjoy as his weakened body gave up his last resistance and humiliated him in front of the live audience. 

 

Then a blur of white flashed in front of the camera. 

 

CLANG. 

 

“What the…” 

 

CLANG. 

 

“Hey, who…”

 

CLANG. 

 

After the first two impacts knocked Zach and Cal out of the way, the third crash pushed Gino’s spherical cage up and off the trap. The mechanical arms were yanked roughly off Gino’s most sensitive parts, causing the weary competitor to gray out momentarily. When he came to, he heard a familiar voice: 

 

“Get up, dude. I’ll keep Doofus #1 and Doofus #2 busy. You get over to the goal!” 

 

There in the white sphere was Logan. The third Gladiator. Gino was amazed. His body was still wrecked, but the unexpected arrival of his wrestling teammate gave him strength to get back to his feet and sprint toward the goal. As he hit the goal, his win was celebrated with a fanfare of music and lights to accompany Danny’s jubilant play by play. There was genuine cheering from the guys in the studio, since clearly nobody had expected Gino to do so well. 

 

As the lights came up, Vince hit a button and the rest of the traps rose up out of the arena floor. He retrieved his clipboard and took notes on each. The firehouse slumped and trickled to a stop. The heavy red boxing glove wobbled on its spring. And other undiscovered traps revealed perils barely missed. Gino saw a pair of gardening shears attached to one trap and shuddered a little. 

 

“These people are crazy,” Gino muttered. Then he looked at the scoreboard and a smile broke over his face. He’d racked up a lot of points while Zach and Cal were stuck in the traps. and he was just three points off of the lead. 

 

“Think you can bring home the win?” Logan asked, jogging over. He was still dressed like a Gladiator after his surprise cameo in the last event. His red and blue singlet was accented with gold; it was the same color as his hair, and the effect was dazzling. 

 

“Bring on the Gladiators,” Gino stated, making a come-at-me gesture. 

 

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Logan leaned in and put his lips close to Gino’s ear. “In the final sprint, there are three lanes. Lanes 1 and 3 are guarded by other Gladiators. Run down the middle and this will be a memorable win.” 

 

*****

 

The final race was pure chaos. First Gino had to scale a climbing wall with the twins Will and Michael chasing him. He narrowly avoided disaster on the rope swing, but the trained acrobats had caught up by time he attempted to cross the monkey bars. With skill and precision, the twins swung in from either side, planning to take him down with a flying scissor. He dodged and the twins scissored into each other, bulge to bulge. Gino resisted the urge to gloat over their mangled man-bits, but he heard the points chime over the studio speakers. He was up 35-34. 

 

“Yes!” Gino panted. The four points had put him in the lead. Nothing was left except the final sprint. Straight ahead were the three lanes Logan had tipped him off about, and he cruised into the middle one. With arms outstretched in victory, Gino burst through the curtain…and smacked into something. He reeled back and landed on his ass.  

 

Someone was blocking Gino’s path. 

 

He looked around, dumbfounded. To the left Kev was glowering at him from Lane 1. And to the right the skater boy Leo was tugging awkwardly at his patriotic uniform in Lane 3. In front of Gino stood one more Gladiator. 

 

“What the actual fuck, man?” Gino rubbed his sore shoulder. 

 

Logan stood in front of him with hands on his hips. The wrestler looked magnificent in his red and gold singlet. Even his blonde hair seemed to wave on the breeze. Which Gino knew was ridiculous, since they were indoors. He ground his teeth, not wanting to be lulled by his friend’s charisma. Logan reached a hand down and helped Gino rise to his feet. 

 

“Don’t be mad, buddy,” Logan began, patting Gino’s shoulder. The brunette looked at him warily. 

 

“I’m not mad.” Gino pointed up at the scoreboard. “I’m winning. But you’re blocking my way.”

 

“Great, great! I knew you’d understand.” Logan smiled brightly so that his brows circled his sky blue eyes. “It’s nothing personal. Really! It’s just that I already sort of promised Ashely something. And that prize money will really make her birthday special.”  

 

“Huh?” Gino sensed that there was some important fact that he’d been in the dark about. He hated riddles. 

 

Logan sighed. Gino always needed to have things spelled out. He pointed at the scoreboard. “Us rookies are in it together, no lie. But I can’t let you beat my score.” 

 

“Your score?” Realization washed over Gino. “You’re the other rookie?”

 

“Of course,” Logan shrugged. “I’m eighteen. Just a few months older than you.” The wrestling captain’s smile was dazzling white. “What? Did you think I’ve been on this site for years or something?” Logan chuckled at the outlandish idea. 

 

“Why didn’t you just say so?” Gino asked. “I wouldn’t be too shy to take you on, Captain.” 

 

Logan ruffled Gino’s spiky clipped hair. His hand landed on the back of Gino’s neck. “That’s my guy. I knew you wouldn’t take it personally.” 

 

“Take what pers…UUUGGGHHHH!” 

 

Without breaking eye contact, Logan lifted his knee into the dead center of Gino’s crotch. The latino teen’s pecan brown eyes widened in shock. His poor sex had taken so much abuse up to this point, that this final blow to his defenseless nuts crushed the last of his strength and stamina. With his fingers grasping vainly at his vanquished pride and joy, Gino sank to his knees. 

 

CHING! CHING!

 

Logan’s words echoed in Gino’s ears as two new points added to the total. “Run down the middle and this will be a memorable win.” 

 

*****

 

The silence in the Gomez family living room was complete. 

 

Jayden stared at the computer screen in disbelief, where the scoreboard flashed Logan’s stunning 36-35 victory over Gino. Jayden had already been celebrating Gino’s victory, and he was still processing how the tables had been turned. 

 

Oh shit! Seated behind Jayden, Chase’s mouth was wide with shock. And glee. He’d just witnessed his longtime frenemy get completely owned and poetically dropped to his knees. It had been the lowest of low blows. Chase could not have scripted it more perfectly. Not that he’d be caught complimenting Logan anytime soon, but Chase could acknowledge a well-played match when he saw one. 

 

“Logan?” From eyes so similar to Gino’s, Jayden watched the wrestling captain celebrate his win. Gino was no longer even in the camera shot. But Jayden knew he was curled up somewhere nearby, watching. 

 

“Well, that was even more fun than I expected,” Chase said nonchalantly. He flipped the laptop closed, then stood and began to stretch his stiff muscles. 

 

“So what do you want to do now?” 

 

 

 

~End