“Maybe because he likes us,” I teased, unable to bring myself to flat out lie to my best friend.
“He's good shit,” Zach mused as he hopped out of his bed and pulled a t-shirt out of the dirty clothes hamper.
“You’re seriously going to wear that today?”
Zach lifted the fabric to his nose and took a quick sniff. He shrugged. “Yeah. Why the hell not? Not like I’m going to wear my Sunday best to go get dirty. Why, you know something I don't?”
I turned away from him so he couldn't see the guilt in my eyes. “No man, nothing like that.”
“Do you know how thin walls are here?” A pit formed in my stomach as the meaning of his observation hit me.
He knew. He’d heard.I held my breath, waiting for him to lash out and remind me for the millionth time that he wasn’t queer. It was his default, and now that Colin pointed it out, I realized hedidhammer that point home a bit too often for there to not at least be some curiosity.
“So, you want to try again without feeding me a line of shit?” Zach tugged on his shirt and flopped onto the futon beneath his loft bed. “Why is Colin buying breakfast? More importantly, what in the hell kind of plans do the two of you have that you thought you would spring on me?”
I worried my bottom lip between my fingers, observing him for any sign that he was pissed. He doubled over, fisting his hair between his fingers.
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,” I promised. Now that the spell I felt like I’d been under, when Colin was basically offering me everything I’d never dared to hope for was wearing off, I felt like shit for thinking about Zach as anything other than a buddy. “Colin has it in his head that there’s some sort of sexual tension between us.”
“Do you like him?” Zach asked, carefully ignoring the comment about him and me.
I shrugged. “I don’t know him that well, but yeah.”
“Maybe it would be better if just the two of you go. No reason to keep a third wheel around.” The change in Zack's expression was slightly impossible to miss when you knew him as well as I did.
Fuck. Maybe Colin was onto something here. Now, I had no clue what I was supposed to do. I still wasn't sure how I felt about Colin’s offer to play matchmaker and the go-between for the two of us. Even if I was finally able to see something that I had never thought possible right in front of me, I didn’t want to lead Colin on. What I felt for the two of them wasn’t anywhere close to the same level. Colin was hot and I’d love to see how far he’d push me out of my comfort zone, but I’d been infatuated with Zach since the moment we’d met.
“If you were in here eavesdropping, then you know that's not what we were talking about,” I argued. “I think he likes you, too. We both do.”
Admitting that was terrifying. I held my breath while I waited for him to tell me to fuck off.
“How in the hell is that supposed to work?” Zach tipped his head to the side and furrowed his brow. Oh, how I’d love to know what he was imagining. “It works when it’s us with a chick, but there are too many dicks if it’s three dudes. And what if the two of you fall stupidly in love like everyone else around this fucking place?”
That was the second time he had an opportunity to remind me he wasn't into men, and the second time he deflected instead.
“No one's proposing marriage here, Zach,” I reminded him. “But you don't have to think about that or do anything right now.”
I dug through the bottom of my closet, tossing my work boots into the center of the room. I didn't bother hiding as I changed into my work clothes. If Zach had an issue with me getting dressed, he could leave the room.
But he didn't. As I hitched my thumbs into the waistband of my shorts, I felt Zack's gaze on my ass. And maybe I did strip just a bit slower than I usually would have, putting on a show for him. Zach groaned when I glanced over my shoulder and caught him staring at my ass. Just to be a tease, I flexed, knowing the thin material of my underwear wouldn’t hide what he was drooling over.
Our eyes met, and it was like neither of us were willing to be the first to look away.
I took a step closer. “Why did you freak out when I accidentally touched you that one time?”
Now that we were here, I needed him to clear up my confusion. Zach shook his head. Following the lead Colin had taken earlier with me, I took another step toward Zach.
“Tell me,” I insisted. And another step. I was all too aware of the growing erection tenting my underwear. “Were you freaked out?”
Zach glared at me, his nostrils flaring, and his lips pursed tightly.
“That's it, isn't it?” I took the final step across the room, so my chest was pressed against the front of Zack's bed. I leaned back and ducked down so I could see him. His cheeks burned bright red when our eyes met again. He realized I'd caught him staring at the barely concealed bulge in my drawers. “You're turned on right now, aren't you?”
At this rate, I was going to miss out on build day for the first time since sophomore year when I was down with the flu. It'd be worth it.
“Don't lie to me, Zach,” I warned him.
“Yes,” Zach whispered. He twisted his hair in his fist hard enough he winced. “I lost my shit that night because no one’s ever made me feel as good as you did with just a touch. I wanted to beg you to do it again, but I couldn’t because you’re the only person I trust around here. And ever since then, I can barely get it up without thinking about you. Jesus, are you fucking happy now?”
