“Well, they’re right. I mean, not so much about eating a donut off a guy’s dick. There are so many reasons that’s a bad idea. But asking people what they like? Telling them what you like? Basically magic. Turns any hookup into mind-blowing sex.”
“You sound like you know a lot,” Scott said. The tips of his ears were still burning, but he desperately wanted to be as cool as Dylan was about this. If he gritted his teeth and dealt with it, maybe one day he would be.
“My other job is sex education for adults. The local college is even hiring me to talk to students.”
Up until this moment in his life, Scott hadn’t known that was an actual job. He was starting to realize that the list of things he didn’t know was practically infinite.
“That sounds like an awesome opportunity,” Scott said.
“It is. And while hammering nails into walls is what pays the bills, it’s more rewarding work.”
Scott got that part. He knew that this was a good, steady job, and that he was heading into a career that would be harder to break into, but he knew it’d make him feel better about what he’d accomplished at the end of the day.
“What made you think I was gay?” Scott asked. Now that he realized Dylan had thought he was, he wondered what he was doing that made him seem that way.
“Nothing in particular, everything in general? You flirted back. Or I thought you did, anyway. I guess you’re just a nice guy.” Dylan shrugged. “I usually drop it if I think someone isn’t interested. I just thought you were a little shy. Maybe a little closeted.”
Scott paused to consider that. He liked Dylan. He’d gotten along with him from the beginning. He wasn’t remotely attracted to him, but looking back, he could kind of see how they’d gotten their wires crossed.
“Thanks. I was starting to worry that I was putting out some kind of unconscious signal or something.”
“Would it matter if you were?” Dylan asked. “I mean, you seem cool. Do you really care if people think you’re gay?”
“No,” Scott said automatically, not even pausing.
Did he? He’d never really thought about it before. He’d just assumed everyone would somehow magically know he was straight.
Obviously not.
He still wasn’t about to start announcing it regularly. He always got uncomfortable when other guys did, like the idea of being gay was so unpalatable to them that they felt the need to push it away constantly.
Scott just wanted people to be happy. That included not making them feel like there was something wrong with them.
Dylan smiled at him, a soft, genuine smile he hadn’t seen on him before. It was nice to be on the receiving end of. So nice that it made a little swarm of butterflies explode in Scott’s stomach.
“You know, you’re all right,” Dylan said. “I believe you when you say you’re busy tonight, but we should hang out sometime. I could use a token straight friend.”
Scott chuckled at that. “I could be that,” he said, already liking the idea. Maybe he didn’t have to force himself to make friends. Maybe the friends he needed would come to him.
“Cool. Now get back to work.”
“Yes, Boss,” Scott said, though he was pretty sure Dylan was just another contractor like him. The way Dylan grinned at being called Boss meant Scott would keep doing it regardless.
Chapter Seven
Like he did every night, Charlie roamed the library putting chairs up on top of tables so that when the cleaning staff came in the next morning, they wouldn’t have to do it themselves. He wasn’t allowed to vacuum the floors or wipe down the tables, but he hated to leave all the work to someone else.
It created a job, but it still seemed like an unfair thing to ask.
He turned around the corner of a row of shelves that had a desk hidden away at the back to see someone still sitting there, hunched over a laptop.
The library had been officially closed for half an hour, and most of the lights were out.
On closer inspection, the person in question was Scott.
Charlie wet his lips, approaching cautiously. Scott had headphones on, which probably explained why he hadn’t realized the library was closing up. Whatever he was doing, he looked engrossed in it.
Not wanting to startle him, Charlie sat down on the chair opposite, waiting for Scott to realize he was there.
