The Night Four Men Made Me Forget Everything

Summer was dying away with that melancholy that slips into the days as they grow shorter and shorter. The sun set earlier over the Basque horizon, and the air brought a coolness that announced the return to routine. I, Unai, had my heart split in two: the exhilaration of the camp I had just returned from and the nostalgia of my days with Liam. I was seeing him off in the international departures area of Foronda Airport, unable to let go of his hand.

Liam was wearing my moss-green overalls, fitted to his slim body. Swapping clothes had become our symbol, a way of saying that a part of each of us stayed with the other. He held me tight, his blue eyes shining with tears he refused to shed.

—I don’t know when we’ll see each other again —he said, his voice breaking and his fingers laced through mine—. But we will. This isn’t over. I love you, Unai. You changed my life.

I was wearing the denim overalls he had given back to me, and I felt a lump in my throat, my chest squeezed between love and uncertainty.

—And I love you —I whispered, and kissed him deeply, slowly, a kiss that tasted of promise and farewell—. We’ll go back to the beaches, to our walks, to us. Wait for me.

Liam boarded the plane bound for Chicago. I returned to the village with the landscape flashing past the car window like a reminder of everything I was leaving behind. Excitement for what was ahead, sadness at the separation, and beneath it all, a stubborn certainty: we would meet again.

***

Back home, Eneko, Mikel and I went back to our custom of personalized training sessions at the municipal sports hall. Fresh mornings, intense drills. Eneko corrected tactics in a firm voice: “More space occupation, Unai, exploit the mismatch.” Mikel worked on the mental side, sitting with me on the bench after each session: “Visualize the success, feel the pressure and turn it into strength.”

I could feel my progress day after day. “I feel ready for whatever comes,” I told them, my chest puffed up with a confidence I hadn’t recognized in myself a few months earlier.

One morning, during a shooting drill under fatigue, Mikel’s phone vibrated on the bench. It was the scout who had opened the doors to the camp across the Atlantic for us.

—We need to meet as soon as possible. There are important updates —I heard him say.

Mikel hung up and looked at Eneko and me, heart in his mouth.

—He’s coming over this afternoon —he said, calm in voice but trembling with anticipation—. Get ready, Unai. This looks big.

I felt a knot in my stomach, nerves and excitement mixing into something hard to swallow. Already? Fuck, already.

***

The meeting was at Mikel and Eneko’s house, with coffee and pastries to break the ice. I couldn’t sit down; I paced the living room with sweaty hands, the light blue overalls clinging to me like a talisman against anxiety. The agent arrived on time: a man in his fifties, in casual tailoring and a smile far too self-assured. He settled onto the sofa with a folder in his hand.

—I’ll cut straight to the chase —he said, measuring me with his eyes—. A team in Chicago wants to sign you for its development affiliate. The idea is to prepare you for the next draft, with real chances of being picked in the second or third round. For now, an affiliate contract for one year, three hundred thousand. If you’re eventually selected, a rookie contract for two more years, league minimum salary, around a million a year. Much more than you’d make here in your first few years. The catch: you leave in a week. Preseason there, from scratch.

Panic hit me immediately. My face went pale, and my emotions overflowed: fear of change, loneliness, a pressure too big for me to bear.

—A week? On my own? No... I don’t see myself capable of facing this without you —I said, my voice trembling, and sank into a chair with my hands on my head, tears welling up from sheer vulnerability.

Mikel and Eneko surrounded me, soothing me with calm voices.

—Breathe, Unai —Mikel said, his hand firm on my back—. You’re not alone.

The agent smiled, as if he had saved the best for last.

—And there’s more. An offer for the two of you —he said, pointing to my coaches—. Join the franchise’s European talent detection program, right there. The three of you would go together: Unai as the face of the project, you as mentors and scouts.

I looked up, everything in me in turmoil: relief, excitement, and still, panic.

—I need time —I said, barely above a whisper.

The agent left and laid the offer on the table like a bomb about to explode. That night I stayed over at Mikel and Eneko’s, unable to close my eyes. I paced the living room with my head in chaos, going over the pros and cons until the words lost all meaning.

***

We had completely forgotten that that same night we had arranged to meet Asier and Ibai again, to repeat that encounter none of the five of us had stopped remembering. They arrived on time, after closing the shop, with a bottle of wine and eyes bright with desire. Mikel opened the door, saw them and remembered at once, but he and Eneko were absorbed with me, who was still pacing like a caged lion.

—Guys, come in... but this really isn’t the best time —Mikel said, tiredly—. Unai’s in the middle of a crisis. Better leave it for another day.

Asier and Ibai looked at each other, blushing but understanding.

—We get it —Asier said—. But... can we help? If what he needs is to get his mind off things...

Mikel hesitated and looked at me. I lifted my gaze, curiosity tinted with nerves and lust. Eneko, who guessed the potential of this to pull me out of the loop, nodded slowly.

—Maybe it’s not such a bad idea —he said—. A game, the five of us. So you can switch off, Unai.

Half-mad but intrigued, I felt excitement grow like an escape route.

—Okay —I murmured—. Let’s try it.

***

The encounter started in the living room with an intensity that wiped out every rational thought in an instant. Asier and Ibai undressed slowly and, beneath their clothes, revealed fine lingerie they had chosen to match for the occasion. Asier wore a red lace thong that barely contained his small, round bulge and disappeared between his narrow ass cheeks. Ibai wore one of satin in the same color, snug between the firm buttocks of a guy used to the gym.

They came toward me with absolute devotion and kissed me hungrily, tongues battling while their hands unfastened the straps of my overalls. The bib dropped and left my hairless torso bare, my nipples hardened by anticipation. Mikel and Eneko joined in right away, and the kisses became a whirlwind of mouths and hands.

Eneko was sucking my neck while Mikel bit one of my nipples. Asier knelt, finished pulling my overalls down, and took my hard cock into his mouth with deep, rhythmic suction, his throat tightening as he swallowed me to the base. Ibai, beside him, licked my testicles one by one, his worked body trembling with a docile desire.

I moaned loudly, my hips thrusting on their own. “Fuck, yes... don’t stop... make me forget everything.” The pleasure was overwhelming, and every caress pulled me out of my head: Asier’s delicate mouth, moving with almost feline grace; Ibai’s silent surrender; Mikel and Eneko’s kisses anchoring me to the present. Anxiety was turning into something clean, urgent, pure.

Eneko, submissive and expectant, knelt beside Asier and they alternated their mouths on me, tongues colliding at the tip, sharing the salty taste. Mikel, meanwhile, was fucking Ibai’s mouth with deep thrusts that made him gasp.

—Deeper, baby —I ordered Eneko between gasps, a hand on the back of his neck—. And you, Ibai, wait your turn.

***

We moved to the attic, to a bed with dark sheets that glimmered under the dim light. I lay on my back, legs open, and Asier climbed on top of me with a delicate fury, his hips rolling to find the exact angle. The others pampered my whole body: Mikel’s and Eneko’s hands tracing my torso, pinching, their lips seeking my neck with a tenderness that contrasted with everything else.

Ibai, docile, took Mikel from behind with thrusts that drove him against Eneko, whom Ibai in turn was penetrating with the force of his youth. Eneko moaned, surrendered: “Yes... so good, give me more,” waiting for the instructions Mikel and I were only half giving him.

—Harder, Ibai —I ordered through clenched teeth—. Make Eneko scream.

It was a chain of synchronized pleasure: Mikel on Ibai, Ibai on a submissive Eneko, me inside Asier, who rocked himself, pampered by all those hands. And then the shifts came. Eneko ended up at the center of everything, and Mikel and I took him at the same time, stretching him to the limit with alternating thrusts that made him scream from pure ecstasy, while Asier jerked him off fast and Ibai licked his testicles.

The orgasms arrived in waves. Eneko came first, without anyone touching him, hot semen splattering his abdomen. Asier trembled in my arms and spilled over his own chest. Ibai growled like an animal when he finished. Mikel and I closed it together, filling Eneko between the two of us, the fluids mixing in a sticky heat.

***

We ended up in the jacuzzi, the water bubbling hot, steam wrapping around our sweaty, exhausted bodies. I sat on the edge, legs open in the water, and Asier and Ibai took turns with their mouths on my still-sensitive cock, sucking deeply, tongues swirling, while Mikel and Eneko kissed and massaged me.

—Don’t stop —I moaned, head thrown back—. This is... perfect.

I felt like I was at the center of the world. I stroked one and then another, sharing out the pleasure I was getting, until the climax rushed through me again. I came into Asier’s and Ibai’s mouths, and they swallowed eagerly, and Mikel and Eneko let themselves go in the water while I helped them with my hands. Moans bounced off the bathroom tiles and the five of us ended up trembling in a collective embrace, not quite knowing where one began and the others ended.

Exhausted and at peace, I forgot my problems for hours. I fell asleep curled up between the four of them, relief and gratitude spilling through me.

—Thank you —I whispered before giving in to sleep—. You saved me again.

Tomorrow I would decide about Chicago, about the draft, about Liam waiting for me on the other side of the ocean. That night, though, there was nothing to decide. Only bodies, heat, and the strange certainty that, whatever my path was, none of them would let me walk it alone.