Chapter Four
“Okay, I’ve got one!”Cam said, swaying forward to put his hand on Cort’sforearm.
Cort, who sat on the stool next to his at the little bar, while the fundraiser was in full swing behindthem.
Cort, who was actuallyKendrick Cortland,even though nobody had used his first name since elementary school, and who’d gotten pissed off in a really cute way when Cam hadtried.
Cort, who liked drinking Jameson, which showed excellent taste, and pineapple on his pizza, which was totallydisgusting.
Cort, who agreedFireflyshould never have been canceled, but who had never in his life seenStranger Things, which was atravesty.
Cort, who was sexy as fuck and looked at Cam with a combination of amusement and lust which scrambled Cam’s wits faster than the whiskey they’d been drinking in copiousamounts.
Cort, who was now his bestfriend.
“You ready? Never have I ever had sex with two people atonce.”
He and Cort stared at each other, smiling, then Cort grabbed his drink andsipped.
“Ha! I knew it!” Cam laughed. “Deviant.”
Cort grinned.“Prude. It’s not even that unusual. First time was with these identical twins, Claire and Beth Knight, senior year of high school after we won our homecoming game. I was so fucked up, I hardly remember most of it, but I became a schoollegend.”
Cam laughed out loud. “So, what you’re really saying is there might have been only one girl, and you had doublevision?”
Cort pushed his arm so hard, Cam would have fallen off his barstool if Cort hadn’t also grabbed him around his bicep and pulled him back onto the seat as though he weighed nothingwhatsoever.
“No, seriously!” Cam laughed as Cort wrapped an arm around the back of his neck to hold him steady. “I knew a guy on one of the humanitarian trips I took who had double vision all the time, not just from drinking. The trick is to cover one side.” He demonstrated, clapping his palm over his right eye. “Now your brain can’t get confused by any mixedsignals.”
“You know the weirdest stuff. You learned that on a humanitarian trip?” Cort’s thumb brushed the side of Cam’s neck in a casual way, which nevertheless made Cam’s pulse pickup.
Cam shrugged and lowered his hand from his eye. His face was inches away from Cort’s now, and he felt heat climb his cheeks at the proximity.When was the last time he’d been this turnedon?
“Yep. They don’t always have the access to surgeries or other interventions, so they go old-school and low-tech. But it works.” He moved back slightly and took a sip of his drink, trying valiantly to cover his arousal. “Also handy when you’re playing video games after a couple of beers and need to shoot atarget.”
Cort threw back his head and laughed out loud, his hands dropping to his sides. “You are… not like I thought you’dbe.”
For just a second, Cam tilted his head, trying to figure out whether there was a thread of disappointment in Cort’s voice, whether he was just another person who preferred the image of Cam Seaver they saw in the newspaper, but the grin on Cort’s face said he was pretty pleased by whatever he’ddiscovered.
Cam laughed again. The champagne he’d guzzled earlier was fizzing and popping, inflating an invisible balloon inside him, filling all his empty places and lifting him away from the tethers of gravity. A voice in his head which sounded like Drew’s suggested he should be suspicious of the feeling, but he couldn’t quite bring himself tocare.
“Fuck you.Myturn,” Cort said, his evil, teasing glare making Cam’s pulse thrum wildly. “Never have I ever dated anyone on the Hundred Richest People in America list, or whatever they callit.”
Cam rolled his eyes and obligingly took adrink.
“Yeah, somehow I figured,” Cort smirked. “Bet that’s how you picked your dates in highschool.”
“Notme!”Cam elbowed Cort. “Other people. Or theirparentsanyway. My parents grew up normal, middle-class all the way. Seaver Tech didn’t take off until after Bas was born, so they were really chill. But other people’s parents, not so much.” He winced. “One time in college, before I decided I wanted to work with non-profits, I was interning with one of my dad’s best friends. He tells me I’m doing such an amazing job, showing so much potential, all that good stuff. He wants to take me out to lunch, right? And I’m down with that because I think it’s gonna buy me a seriousinwith my dad, you know? Like he’s gonna be genuinely happy with me for once because I pleased thisguy.”
Cam laughed softly as Cort’s forehead creased inthought.
“So anyway, I get to the restaurant, and he’s got his whole family there - wife, son, and hisbeautiful snowflakeof a daughter,Arcadia.”
“Arcadia?” Cort repeated. “For real? Only a millionaire could name their kidthat.”
“Oh, shut up. People all up and down the socioeconomic spectrum name their kids unfortunate things,Kendrick. We haven’t cornered the market on thisshit.”
Cort rolled his eyes, making Camlaugh.
