“He definitely thinks we were about to fuck. Which—to be fair—we will be later. But still. He looked very uncomfortable.” She’s trying not to laugh, but I can see that she’s a bit worried as well. I sigh.
“Get dressed—I’ll talk to him.” She hums and moves to dress herself in the clothes I laid out for her. Closing the door to my room, I move through the bathroom and open Felix’s. The room is empty aside from Benjamin who is ruffling through the top drawer of the dresser to my right. His eyes snap up to mine, his face once again heating immediately.
“Uh, hey.” He says, swallowing audibly and turning his eyes back to the clothes.
“Hey, Button.” I approach, leaning against the dresser and looking down at him, watching his eyes slowly raise to meet mine, snagging briefly on my bare chest. Right—no shirt. Dumbass. He stares at me like a deer in headlights. “Listen—that wasn’t what you think it was.” He shakes his head quickly.
“I wasn’t thinking about anything, don’t worry about it.” He returns to what he was doing, pulling out one of Felix’s track-meet shirts and moving to the drawer under it for boxers.
“Benjamin. Look at me.” He stops moving, snapping his eyes to mine once again. “Do you understand? She was just getting dressed.” He stares for a moment, his cheeks and neck flushing further. He seems to be battling internally. Like he has a question that he doesn’t know if he should ask. Eventually—one side wins over the other.
“So—” He gulps again, eyes shooting between me and the closed bathroom door. His hands shake slightly. “You… aren’t sleeping together?” I open my mouth to say no—we are not—when I realize that would be a lie. We are sleeping together—we just weren’t about to right then. I close my mouth. He looks away, grabbing whatever underwear is closest and shutting the drawer.
“Button—”
“No, no it’s really not a big deal. You have no reason to explain anything to me. You don’t owe me that. Plus, everyoneloves Amber—she’s nice.” He walks toward the bed and grabs his phone off of it, as well as a pair of basketball shorts. He scratches at his wrist—stops—and starts again. Odd.
“Would you please wait a second and listen to me?” He shakes his head.
“You have nothing you can say to me that your silence already hasn’t, and it’s really not my business anyway.” But he won’t look at me. His hand rests on the handle of Felix’s door, his back to me, face turned slightly so I can see his profile. He almost looks disappointed. “They’re starting the movie. I’ll just change downstairs. Have a good night, Aaron.” The door closes gently behind him, and some part of me wishes he’d slammed it.
I stand here for way longer than I should—staring at the spot he was standing—trying to make sense of this gross feeling that’s swirling inside of me. I keep seeing that disappointment in his eyes—the manic scratching at his wrist. Has he always done that? Is it a nervous tic? I wish I could have lied to him. Told him no, we aren’t having sex. But I can’t—not when he’s staring up at me with those big hazel eyes. I sigh and head back to my room.
When I open the door to the bathroom Amber is already standing there. She’s leaning against the sink, giving me a sympathetic smile. She pulls me into a hug, and I sigh and sag against her, resting my head on her shoulder.
“It’s okay. He’ll get over it. I’m sure he was just embarrassed.” I nod against her—his expression as he turned away from me—his refusal to look at me—repeating in my mind. “Should we? I mean—since they’re all downstairs for at least an hour.” Her hand moves between us to cup me through my sweats. Like the healthy seventeen-year-old boy I am—I thicken under her fingers. She giggles and pulls me into my room, locking the door behind her. I lay over her—running my hands over her soft skin—stripping her of her clothes. Her blue eyes stare up at me, lustful and trusting. They battle Benjamin’s look of betrayal for dominance in my mind. Amber wins, and she whimpers when I sink into her, her armstightening around me as I wrap an arm around her waist—the other used to prop myself up.
As I fuck into her with a slow, steady pace, I focus on sensation only. On the way she smells—the sound of her voice. The wet warmth inside of her that grips me. Her breasts rub against me, and I pull one into my mouth as she arches against me.
“God, Aaron. Yes.” Everything else leaves my mind and I lose myself to this moment—to her—to the pleasure.
???
Benjamin makes it a point to avoid me for most of the next day—giving me déjà vu to a nasty degree. It’s not much fun when you’re on the receiving end, that’s for sure. Though a part of me is relieved—as I’m not sure how to look him in the eyes knowing I turned around and fucked Amber as soon as he walked out.
I walk into the kitchen to see Mom making pancakes like she normally does on Saturdays—Felix and Benjamin sitting at the table and talking amongst themselves.
“Morning, Little Bird.” She kisses my cheek and I lean my hip against the counter next to her—mumbling a greeting in response. I don’t look in the boys’ direction, but I try my best to pick up parts of their hushed conversation.
“I asked her—she said she’s down. I gave her your number.” Felix says to Benjamin.
“...I don’t know.”
“Bear. She’s hot. She wants to hang out with you. What’s the matter? I thought you’d be stoked. You were just asking about her the other day.” I peek up from where I’m standing by the stove. I can only see the side of Benjamin’s face from where he sits, picking at the pancakes that Mom has already served. Felix is across from him—shoving another bite into his mouth.
“I just—” He starts, stabbing a piece of fruit on his plate. “Okay, yeah whatever. I’ll text her back if she messages.” Felix makes a congratulatory sound that makes Benjamin laugh awkwardly—a blush on his cheeks.
“Ah, young love. Benny Bear is growing up.” Mom says softly beside me, so as not to embarrass him.
“Guess so.” I respond. She looks up at me, raising a brow. “What?”
“What to you, Little Bird. Guess so?” I shrug, stealing a pancake from the stack and taking a dry bite.
“Whatever. Hey—I’m going out tonight—I’ll probably stay at Erick’s.” Unfortunately, Felix hears what I say and his nosy ass speaks up.
“Oh, another party?” I roll my eyes.
“Maybe.”
