Keegan laughs uncomfortably, though he doesn’t take his eyes off the show, kind of making me wonder if we might need to revisit the whiteboard idea.
“Oh my God,” Jaxon tells him. “You’re acting like that’s the first time you’ve ever seen them do that.”
Keegan’s brows knit together. “That seemed longer than usual.”
“It did seem a little long,” Lance chimes in, all smiles, sneaking a look to Ty, who grabs his boyfriend’s ass, giving it a good squeeze, but then doesn’t let go.
Fuck, everyone is little horndogs tonight, but I must admit I’m wishing my guy were around so I could get some action too. I search the yard, finding Ry over at the table for beer pong.
Ry and I helped on the builds until early July, when we both headed home to our parents, though we’ve been swapping whose parents’ place we stayed at. His mom officially moved out, and his dad’s been doing better since he started dating again, which has helped Ryan feel less like shit about the whole situation. It hasn’t been easy, but he’s adjusting, and this kind of thing takes time. I’m here for him, however long that may take.
Ryan’s beer-pong team includes some of his old teammates and Angie. As he loses a round, he downs a beer, some of it dripping onto his chest, sliding under his toga. And now I’m realizing it might be better not to watch him if I don’t want to have a raging boner in front of everyone.
“What was I saying?” Lance asks me. “Before we were interrupted by shots?”
“Your internship.”
“Oh yeah. I’ll be interning at Peachstar Biomed, and Ty’s got a job with a tech startup not far from there, so we were thinking we’ll get our own place.”
“Like moving in together?” I ask, genuinely surprised. “I mean, maybe that’s not weird. You’ve been sleeping in the same bed since the fire.”
“Kind of since before then,” Ty says, and they exchange a knowing look.
“Okay, whatever. It does seem like the next logical step. But you guys will have to make time to come out here and see us.”
“We’ll have to,” Lance says. “You, Ash, and Payton are in grad programs for the next few years. Troy and Ryan work at the shop. A lot of guys have graduated but are still floating around Peachtree Springs.”
“Um, Ty,” Keegan pipes up, “don’t forget you still have friends here too.”
“Nah, these losers can take care of themselves,” Ty insists.
“Fuck you!” Jaxon says with a smile, nudging his shoulder against Ty’s.
I continue catching up with my guys, and at some point, Ash and Colin sneak off.
Eventually, boos and shouting alert me to the end of the beer-pong game, so I excuse myself from the gang. While heading across the yard, I admire the way the white cloth drapes across Ry’s body, exposing his sculpted pec and that perfect nipple. It’s difficult to imagine having ever seen anything other than perfection when I started getting to know this guy.
As he notices me, his eyes light up in a way I’ve learned is just for me, and he approaches. He leans close, his hot breath tickling my ear as he whispers, “Now that I kicked their asses, you mind if I abduct you?”
“You can do anything you want to me in that,” I admit, and he practically glows.
He takes my hand, interlocking our fingers, and guides me through our half-dressed peers. He takes me through the livingarea, where plenty of people are gathered, and I see Aiden chatting with a group of Alpha Theta Mus.
“Looks like he’s not gonna have any issues adjusting to frat life,” Ryan notes, and I never had a doubt.
Since our chat, Aiden’s made sure to spend more time with me this summer, but I’ve been giving him his space tonight so he could make connections with the guys he’ll be spending time with next year, when he hopefully earns his place at the frat.
“Hey, you two,” a voice comes from nearby, and we turn to see Dax. Along with his toga, he sports a chaplet of leaves. “I think the place looks even better than before the fire.”
“It does,” Ryan agrees. “Some Omega Psi prick can light the place up, but we’ll build it right back up, huh? Sucks that you’ll still have to see that guy around campus.”
Dax’s lip twists into his dimple, like he’s thinking about something, maybe their confrontation. Although, I remember that weird moment when we were talking about Miles after. Dax seemed to have something on his mind then too, as if the subject confused him for some reason. And confusion isn’t really Dax’s thing.
“Uh…yeah, you know it,” he finally says. “Anyway, you two looked like you were up to no good, so I’ll let you get back to it. I’ll be grabbing a refill.”
We hug it out, and then Ryan guides me upstairs.
“Where are we going?”
