The story is actually pretty wholesome. I won't spoil anything (I read the novels) but in my interpretation (this is not mentioned anywhere in the novel), Wyatt knows deep down that DeMarcus is never going to Harvard, but he always grabbed his attention and he might've been curious about him from the beginning, at least since he learnt he was gay and very innocent, contrary to what people expect given his legendary persona. Like, I think he found his lack of experience cute, and the "keeping him in Palm Springs" thing was just an excuse.
Yeah, I'm like the worst person with that, lol; I try not to headcanon things. I just go by what they tell me. I figured DeMarcus wouldn't go to Harvard, but it's really hard to get a good understanding of their relationship pre-confession. Wyatt was just so focused on getting a girl and seeing Wyatt as a fellow athlete rather than a full-on friend, so it's hard for me to not see him as selfish, tbh.
And PLEASE tell me they both stay in football by the end of the novels.
They do stay in football, dw!
waIT THATS SO CUTE STOOOP
I mean, I'm glad they didn't backtrack and Wyatt realizes DeMarcus' feelings...but now we're going into "huh?" territory. He now wants to keep DeMarcus' affections so DeMarcus doesn't go to Harvard and end up facing him in a football game. It seems there's some type of backstory here, and I don't know much about football, but this seems kinda convoluted--and messed up. Didn't DeMarcus say he came to Palm Beach because his crush (Wyatt) was there? Wyatt is 100% willing to string along DeMarcus just so they won't have to possibly face each other on the field? Even worse that he's thinking about himself instead of at least being worried about the team. But regardless, it's insane to me that his knee-jerk reaction is "lemme play with this guy's feelings because otherwise my career is screwed." That's not even true, is it? Even if they lost against Harvard, it's not like they'd go up against them all the time, and it wouldn't ruin Wyatt's specific status as a player. Also kinda sucks how this is so one-sided, that DeMarcus is just that good to the point where Wyatt can't even be considered a rival. This happens a lot in BLs; the uke is strong, but the seme is stronger.