TOBIAS:I don’t think they meant… Ya know what? No. Congrats on the win. Let’s leave it at that. Enjoy the rest of your trip and don’t rush back. Class was nice and quiet without Cole there.
COLE:Blasphemy!
7
WHAT THE FUCK JUST happened?
Riley grabbed another beer from the fridge and used the door to hide so he could adjust the semi in his jeans.
He had gotten hard.
For Josh.
How did that happen?
He could admit that Josh was a good kisser, which wasn’t a surprise because he was good at most physical things. But this… this was something they’d never explored. Never even thought about.
Josh was his best friend, and he was straight. They both were.
Right?
He hoped the alcohol would calm his racing mind.
“Hey, you okay?”
Riley startled and spun to find Elena next to him, beernow streaming down his hand from jumping.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m good,” he said, rushing to grab some paper towels to clean the mess he made.
Thankfully, Elena didn’t continue to prod, but offered a lifeline instead, speaking slower than usual as if trying not to spook him.
“I’m making dinner tonight, and Cole is supposed to help, but he gets in the way. Do you want to help me?”
Riley glanced into the living room and noticed Cole pulling out a deck of cards, offering him a sympathetic smile as he distracted everyone with poker.
As interfering as his friends could be, they handled everyone’s freakouts with ease.
Not that he was freaking out. Because hewasn’t.
He was simply reassessing everything about his life and himself, that was all. No big deal.
Making a meal with Elena would be way easier to think about at the moment. The silver lining was at least this distracted him from CJ Rollins’ stalker-ish emails.
“Yes, I can help. What are we making?”
She smiled and gave him a pat on the shoulder, then opened the fridge to take out ingredients.
“We’re making myabuela’sceviche de camaron, or shrimp ceviche, along with tortilla soup since it’s freezing out.”
“Unnngggh, that sounds amazing,” he replied. “Tell mewhat to do, boss.”
Elena put him to work, slicing tortilla strips, cutting avocado and boiling tomatoes. He almost squealed in delight when she pulled out ingredients for margaritas and put him in charge of those while she finished preparing the meal.
Avery came over to help set the table, and eventually they were seated for dinner, ready to indulge in all things Mexican. Elena even put on some Mexican music and taught them all a bit about the types of music from the country.
Riley had fun piling tostadas with the shrimp ceviche and topping his soup with tortilla strips and avocado. The margaritas were also a big hit, since they tasted so fresh. He couldn’t help smiling when he saw Josh dancing in his seat as he enjoyed the meal.
Everyone was in good spirits as they got drunk on the liquor and the warmth of the group.
