“Please don’t say moist. I hate that word,” Anna said. She tucked her napkin into her T-shirt, which had “Not Everything in Kansas is Flat” written over her boobs.
“Moist!” Blake yelled, and Preston looked away in embarrassment. He covered it up with a smile at his boyfriend, but Ethan sensed that Preston was slightly annoyed with his not-so-better half.
“Eat!” Jessica prodded Ethan. He held the food inches from his face.
Ethan counted to three and shoved the food into his mouth. A warm, savory flavor flooded his mouth. He scooped up some more in his spongy bread and gobbled it down.
“Good, right?”
He nodded. By his count, this was the fourth new cuisine Jessica had introduced him to over their friendship. First had been sushi, then Mediterranean, then Cuban. Her taste buds were fearless, and Ethan was glad he could be along for the ride.
“I loved going out for Ethiopian with my aunt and uncle. There’s so many different flavors on one plate. It’s like your mouth can’t get enough,” she said.
Ethan laughed. Or more like giggled. The same giggle he broke into whenever he thought about Greg around his friends. It was his extremely secret inside joke.It’s like your mouth just can’t get enough.He liked it better when Greg said it to him.
Am I really blowing some frat guy in buildings across campus? What happens when we run out?Ethan shook it off. Yes, Greg was hot and sexy and funny, but he was also straight. Although he had been with a guy… Not to mention that he only wanted Ethan as a willing participant for his public sex hobby. Ethan was basically picked at random. Greg could’ve used any guy. He just knew Ethan would be so mortified he wouldn’t tell anyone. Ethan wondered if he was the only person Greg was doing this with, and the thought made his stomach churn. For safety, STD-related reasons only.
He would have talked to Jessica about it, but he knew instantly what she would say:Disgusting.
“What’s so funny?” Jessica asked in her scrunched-up face.
“Nothing.”
“Why were you hysterically laughing then?” Her clipped tone stung Ethan.Was she offended?
“No, no. I wasn’t laughing at you. Just…” He searched for the right answer—well, an appropriate answer. Not the truth. Not here. That would bring dinner to a screeching halt. He could feel his eyes squinting with a thought. “I don’t know. I’m stupid. I can’t believe I was such a baby about eating this food. It’s delicious!”
Was that enough of an answer or too much?He tried to gauge her reaction. She pulled her lips into a smile that didn’t make Ethan feel much better.
“I’m glad you like it.”
Φ
Greg seeped further into Ethan’s thoughts. He couldn’t go anywhere or do anything without connecting the experience to Greg. And he hated himself each time. Doing laundry? Greg’s clothes always had a fresh smell of detergent mixed in with his natural boy scent. (Ethan was impressed that Greg’s clothes were kept clean.) Walking around campus? Ethan passed by a trio of guys wearing the Greek letters of Greg’s frat. Doing reading for Constitutional Law? That one was a given. Ethan heard Greg’s snarky commentary throughout the entire chapter. Greg had probably never cracked open the textbook.
“This has to be one-sided,” Ethan said to himself in his empty dorm room on Sunday night. That only made it worse. There was no way Greg was into him at all, which made Ethan seem pathetic for having what amounted to a schoolgirl crush. With a lot of sex included. But still, a schoolgirl crush.
How did this happen?Ethan asked himself while he reviewed his schedule for the week. It was just hooking up in public. Greg was still the obnoxious kid from class, only now Ethan had seen all sides of him. But he was still Greg. His friends would hate him.
Thankfully, classes brought Ethan back into the swing of things on Monday. His attention was now distracted by learning and schoolwork and grades and getting into law school and all of the wonderful things that Ethan focused on pre-Greg. Maybe he just needed to keep this side of his brain stimulated at all times in order to avoid being stimulated by Greg.
Ten minutes before his world literature class ended, Ethan received a text message. He’d forgotten to silence his phone, but then again, he never received texts on Monday mornings.
What are you up to this afternoon?
It was from Greg!Ethan meant,Oh, it was from Greg.
“Please put cell phones away until the end of class,” his professor said. Ethan sat in the front row. This was unavoidable.
There were only eight minutes left, but they went by staggeringly slow. Ethan literally watched the secondhand tick away on the classroom clock as his mind scrambled with excitement. He felt that familiar buzz circulating in his system, and of course, he had an erection not too long after.
Once class was over, Ethan stayed seated until, ahem, everything was under control. Then he dashed out and responded to Greg.
Nothing. I’m wide open.
Are you now ;)
That one was too easy.
