“That makes no sense,” Riley said.
“Yeah, that doesn’t typically happen with people and their stalkers, but I guess you never know,” Garret said, rolling his eyes at Cole. “I wouldn’t be worried about your safety, though. I think the guy is harmless and probably insanely weak, and likely an idiot.”
Cole scoffed. “Geez, tell us what you really think.”
Garrett gave Cole a pointed look and said, “I just did.”
All Cole did was smile.
“You know what you should do? Tell him about Elena and say that you’ll sic her on him if he causes any more trouble,” he said. “That would get me in line.”
“I really don’t want to know about your mating habits, bro,” Riley said.
A loud voice from inside Tobias’ office made them all flinch.
“Take Cole and his mating habits out of my gym.”
“Aye-aye, coach!” Cole called back, and they all walked outside to face the freezing January morning.
————————
Josh finished getting dressed, checking himself out in the long mirror in his room. He deemed his look good enough, but he’d let Riley have the final approval.
It wasn’t that he didn’t know how to dress himself, but sometimes he misunderstood the assignment. When their group planned a night at an escape room, that didn’t require him to dress in black from head to toe while wearing a balaclava to cover his face. Then there was the time they went horseback riding. He didn’t need to wear chaps like the cowboys in the movies did.
They’d only planned on going to PJ Shanahan’s tonight, an Irish bar that turned into a decent spot for dancing the later it got.
In the past, Josh and Riley had always prepared for possible hookups, which meant he didn’t realize what he was saying when he popped into Riley’s bedroom doorway and asked his usual question.
“Hey, Ri, would you do me in this outfit?”
It was something he started asking in college, wondering if he looked good enough to attract members of the opposite sex. He totally forgot that he didn’t need to do that anymore because he had Riley, which made his reaction make a little more sense.
He stared at Josh, mouth gaping open as he appraised him fromhead to toe.
“Um, well…” he said, clearing his throat a couple times as his face reddened. “Y-yeah, you look great. Of course, you look great.”
Josh peered down at his outfit, a somewhat tight henley top with jeans, and brought his gaze to Riley’s.
“You think so?” he asked, the smile on his face growing as he walked slowly toward Riley.
His best friend composed himself as Josh approached him where he sat at his desk.
“I know so,” he said with certainty, spinning in his desk chair until he was facing Josh.
The lust in Riley’s gaze became apparent, and Josh took advantage of it by sliding onto his lap, causing Riley’s breath to hitch.
Riley’s hands flew to Josh’s hips, steadying him as he straddled his lap.
“Is this okay?” Josh asked, drawing closer to Riley’s lips.
“It’s better than okay,” Riley whispered as he sat up straighter and pulled Josh against him, softly meeting his lips in short and sweet kisses that left Josh wanting more. Riley pulled away before he could take it further.
“If we keep kissing, we’ll never make it out of here, and our friends are expecting us.”
Josh whined as he climbed off Riley’s lap. “Can’t we skip it and keep experimenting with all the new gay things we haven’t tried yet?”
Riley grunted, adjusting himself in his jeans. “You’re killing me.”
