“Though, of course, the competition at the Olympics will be much higher,” Damien said.
With everything on, Adonis didn’t have the time he wanted to see Bash. They were bothverybusy either studying, practicing, or competing. When they could, they went to see each other’s games, and when they weren’t practicing or training, they tried to sync up their study times. More than once, Adonis had wanted to skip an LSAT study session so that they could hook up instead, but Bash proved to be a draconian tutor.
He made it his duty to quiz Adonis on his LSAT flashcards, going through them again and again. When Adonis grew tired, Bash would translate the terms and definitions into Dutch and read them in a deep, silly voice, until Adonis was giggling and ready to study again.
When he finally took the LSAT (and felt very confident on it), he heard Bash’s voice in his head, reading to him in Dutch.
The sex had become less pre-planned. Several times now, they would do their homework at one of their apartments, and once Bash was sure they had both done enough, the homework would devolve into hooking up.
By now, they knew their way around each other’s bodies and desires. Adonis knew just how to make Bash ache with desire for him, and Bash knew just how to fuck Adonis so that he’d be gripping the pillows and screaming for more. Adonis had always known he liked it rough, but “rough” meant something different with Bash. He could be rough, dominant, even aggressive, but he was always tender. He constantly checked in with Adonis. If there was something new he wanted to try, he always got Adonis’s explicit consent first. So far, nothing they’d tried had been too much for Adonis. He loved trying new things and loved pleasing Bash.
He loved—
There were certain things he wasn’t ready to think about or talk about. Things had changed with him and Bash. He knew it, and he was pretty sure Bash knew it, too.
They’d started hanging out with Robbie and Clarisse, who were officially (and adorably) a couple. None of them mentioned the oddity of their “double dates” (which none of them referred to as double dates), especially considering that Adonis and Bash had never even whispered the word “dating” to each other.
“Do you want to?” Clarisse asked as they rode the team’s bus from Bellford to MIT for the Northeast Intercollegiate Competition.
“Want to what?” Adonis asked, taking his earbuds out and turning away from the window to look at her.
“Date Bash,” she said, as if the question was obvious.
“Oh. Um. I don’t know.”
“I don’t buy it.”
“Doesn’t sound very ‘supportive best friend’ of you.”
Clarisse wagged a finger. “That’s where you’re wrong. It’s actuallyverysupportive best friend of me.”
“How’s that?”
“Do you like him?”
“I…”
She leaned closer, her dark eyes intense. “Adonis. It’s a simple question. Do you like him?”
“Yes,” Adonis said, because sometimes it’s easier just to say the truth. “I think I do.”
“See, that wasn’t too hard, was it?”
“I guess not.”
“And he obviously likes you, so—”
Adonis held up a hand. “Hang on. Obviously?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, obviously. Next question.”
“Why is it obvious?”
“Have you seen the way he looks at you, babe? It’s obvious.”
“Maybe to you, but not to me.”
“Maybe you’re not seeing it because you don’t want to see it,” Clarisse countered. “You like him, and he likes you.”
