“Hey.”
I slid into the seat across from Anna at the pottery studio we’d agreed to meet at.
“Hey.” She didn’t look up from the plate she was working on. “I got you a little dude to paint.”
A small alien figurine sat on the placemat in front of me.
“Been here a while?” I asked as she used a needle to move some paint over the plate in front of her.
“They let me go early. I figured I’d get a head start.”
“Doing art projects with an actual artist is going to give me a complex. You know that, right?”
“Not my fault you’re competitive and can’t admit defeat.” She looked up at me, her brown eyes sparkling with laughter.
Anna was a fine arts major, and her passion was drawing comic books. She was incredibly talented and always made me feel like I was back in first grade, trying to color in the lines whenever we met up and did something artistic.
I poured some green paint into the tray in front of me and selected a paintbrush.
“How was last night?” she asked, looking back at her plate.
“Fun.”
“Really? Your first time at a club night, and that’s all I get?”
As much as I loved Anna and trusted her, I couldn’t tell her about Beck. It wasn’t my secret to spill.
“I danced with two guys.”
That I could tell her about.
“Like danced or danced with them?”
“Danced with them. At the same time.”
Her hand dragged the paint needle across the plate as she looked up at me, her jaw hanging open.
I put my hand over my mouth to muffle my laughter. “You should see your face right now.”
“I need you to spill the tea. Now.”
“It’s not as scandalous as you think. We danced in a trio for a few songs.”
“I got that much. I want to hear about the good stuff.”
“They were hot and sweaty.”
She wrinkled her nose.
“Yeah, I know you don’t get it. But sweaty guys are sexy.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
“They kept me between them, and we danced.”
Her jaw dropped.
I shrugged and looked back down at my little alien figure. “I think they were a couple. Or maybe friends who share because they knew what they were doing.”
“Wow.”
“And I met some people.”
“We need to circle back to the whole ‘couple looking for a third or friends who share’ thing. Do you think they do threesomes?” She dropped her voice and whispered the last word.
“I can’t be sure, but I think so. Unless dancing is enough for them. Maybe that’s all they do together.”
“Wow. I can’t believe that kind of thing happens in real life. How come I never meet couples like that?”
“I thought you were straight?”
“I am. I meant a bi dude couple. I’d love to be the filling in one of those sandwiches.”
“You and me both.”
She giggled and turned her attention back to her painting. “You met some people?”
“Yeah. This girl Cora and her friend Mina. They were nice.”
“That’s great.” She shot me a quick smile. “I’m happy for you. Beck’s turning out to be a great friend.”
“He is.”
My chest tightened as I focused on painting my alien.
I hadn’t seen Beck yet today, and I wasn’t sure how to act when I did. How did one greet a friend the day after sucking his dick and coming all over his shirt?
“—and she just won’t listen.”
Anna’s voice broke through my thoughts. “She won’t?” Hopefully, that was the right answer because I hadn’t been listening.
“No. Even though I keep telling her he’s just using her.”
“That sucks. But maybe she needs to figure that out on her own?”
I had no idea who we were talking about, but the underlying message was clear.
Anna was loyal and fiercely protective. Because of this, she tended to nag and try to make decisions for the people she cared about. It came from a good place, but it could be annoying and overbearing.
“Maybe. Or she could just listen to me.”
I made a sound that could have meant anything, and Anna launched into a speech about dating dynamics and how predictable they were.
I listened with half an ear and focused on my painting. She didn’t really need or want my input anyway. I loved Anna, but she could easily take over a conversation and rant for hours if someone didn’t rein her in.
We finished our projects and glazed them, then handed them in to be fired in the kiln.
“Want me to pick them up next week?” she asked.
“Please. That would be great.” I’d likely forget.
The cashier handed her our receipt, and we walked back to her car.
“You have dinner plans?” she asked.
“Does the single packet of ramen in my cupboard count?”
She rolled her eyes. “Get your ass in the car. We’ll grab you some groceries. Then you can come to my place for dinner.”
“What about my groceries?”
“We’ll drop them off before we go to my place.”
She unlocked the doors with her key fob, and I slid into the passenger’s side. She pulled out of the parking lot.
I’d planned on doing some shopping tomorrow, but it would be easier to do it now, especially since I was getting a ride.
And other than putting my stuff in the kitchen, I’d get to avoid the house for a few more hours.
Win-win.
Ping.
I glanced at my phone where it lay next to me on the bed, then sat up straight as soon as I saw the name in the notification bar.
Beck had texted me.
I hastily grabbed the phone and unlocked it, my fingers fumbling as I hurried to read his text.
It was Wednesday night, and I hadn’t seen him since we’d fooled around in his room after club night.
Beck: never have I ever touched a guys dick
Nerves of trepidation and anticipation fluttered in my stomach.
Was this just a random confession, or was he trying to tell me something? I already knew he’d never touched a dick before.
Biting my lip, I typed my answer.
Finn: never have I ever had a roommate touch my dick
I hit Send, then immediately regretted it.
Fuck, what had I done? Someone needed to invent a way to delete texts.
My phone pinged again, another text coming through before I could get too far into my panic.
Beck: my door is unlocked
Well, that wasn’t ambiguous at all.
I shoved my phone into my hoodie pocket and shut down my laptop.
Beck’s door was indeed unlocked, and I pushed it open slowly, peeking inside. Hopefully, I hadn’t messed up.
He was sitting on his bed in nothing but a pair of low-slung gray sweats.
“You did that on purpose.” I motioned to his pants and closed the door behind me.
“Maybe.” He grinned. “I totally see the appeal now.”
“Yeah?”
I’d been curious about whether Beck would start seeing things differently now that he’d admitted the truth to himself.
“Yeah. I never let myself look before, but there are a hell of a lot of hot guys around. Like, a lot.” I hovered near the door. “Are you going to come in or stay over there?”
Cautiously, I moved into the room and perched on the edge of the bed.
He gave me a long, studious look. “I don’t want to mess with your head.”
“I know.”
“I can’t promise you anything.”
“I know that too.”
He let out a sigh. “I spent all day trying to figure out how to tell you we should just be friends. That mixing sex into our friendship would harpoon it. And that you mean too much to me to risk it.”
My heart both constricted and dropped.
It felt good to hear him say I was important to him, but it sucked that he wanted to keep things in the friend zone.
He was right. I knew that.
Adding physical stuff into our friendship would just complicate things, and he was important to me too. I didn’t want to risk losing him either.
“But then I stared at my phone for ten minutes and texted you the equivalent of a booty call.”
“You can take it back. Just because you said it doesn’t mean we have to do anything about it. Here’s one of mine. Never have I ever done a sixty-nine.”
“Ugh, so not helping.” He tossed his pillow at me. “Now I have that image in my head.”
I grinned. “Payback.”
His smile faded. “I’m sorry I haven’t been around.”
“You don’t owe me any explanations.” I tried to keep the hurt out of my voice as I picked at the bedspread.
“Maybe not. But I still want to. I’ve been really busy with school. I had a big test today and spent the last few days cramming.”
“How do you think you did?”
He made a face. “I’d rather not think about it.”
“That bad?”
“That bad.” He leaned back against the wall, his eyes raking up and down my body as they filled with heat.
“Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?” I looked him right in the eye, my meaning clear.
He groaned and shook his head. “You’re full of surprises, Finn Donovan.”
“I can say the same about you.” I tilted my head playfully. “What, you thought I was some shy, blushing little virgin?”
“Kinda, yeah.”
“The virgin part might be true, but I’m only shy around people I don’t know. Once I’m comfortable with you, you get the full Finn experience. Weirdness and quirks included.”
He gave me one of his lazy smirk-smiles. “I like the full Finn experience.”
“You haven’t seen anything yet.”
I toed off my shoes and flipped over so I was kneeling on the mattress.
Beck watched with hungry eyes as I knee-walked over to him and straddled his legs, landing in his lap as I dropped down.
He caught me by the hips, his fingers digging into my skin.
“I really like this,” he whispered, his gaze tracing over my face and pausing on my lips.
“I do too.”
“I’m a mess, Finn.” He met my eyes, serious and all traces of playfulness gone. “I’m still twisted up over everything. I don’t want to fuck with your head.”
“The only way you could do that is if you lie to me.” I ran my fingers through his soft hair, smiling as he leaned into the touch. His eyes fluttered closed, and he let out a soft sigh.
“I can promise you I’ll never do that. Not ever. I value your friendship way too much.”
“Then we’re fine. Just tell me what’s going on with you, what you need, and I’ll do the same.”
“I need you to touch me again,” he breathed. “But this time, I want to touch you too.”
“Yeah?” I rasped.
I scraped my nails over his scalp. I loved his hair. The strands were thick and glossy and soft between my fingers.
He shuddered, and his breathing hitched.
“Yeah.” He opened his eyes and licked his bottom lip.
My eyes traced the movement, and my dick chubbed up.
He did it again, moving slowly, deliberately.
Needing to feel his kiss, I leaned in and pressed my lips to his.
