Chapter Eight
Zach spent the first few moments after he woke up staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling, wondering where the hell he was.
A wave of contentment washed over him as he remembered the night before, laughing and talking with Flynn, being provided with blankets and pillows and a couch that folded out into a genuinely comfortable bed. Drifting off to sleep feeling surprisingly safe and loved.
Flynn had a way of doing that. Zach was just barely scratching the surface of what he was like, but every time he learned something new, it just made him seem even more wonderful. He wasn’t sure how much more of that his heart could take.
Movement made him sit up, and his eyes widened as they landed on the source.
Flynn was just closing the bathroom door behind him, nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist, dark hair still damp and clinging to his forehead, droplets of water rolling down his very naked skin.
He looked incredible naked. Sculpted and toned, but not overly muscular. Like a man who went to the effort of taking care of himself, but wasn’t obsessed with his own body. Broad-shouldered, which Zach hadknown, but hadn’t seen the full impact of until now.
The firm V of his hip muscles disappeared teasingly into the folds of the towel, and Zach’s eyes followed them with interest, his lips parting just a fraction as the towel shifted, threatening to fall off.
Zach couldn’t quite stop himself from staring in time before Flynn looked over at him.
“Morning,” Flynn said, his voice soft and sleep-rough, like he really didn’t care that he was just… standing around in a towel.
Of course he didn’t. He had no reason to care whether or not Zach was interested in him.Hewasn’t interested in Zach, so it didn’t matter.
At least he wasn’t panicking over it. If only all straight men were as confident in their own sexuality, so that they didn’t get flustered the moment a not-straight one looked at them.
“Good morning,” Zach responded absently, trying hard not to follow the rivulets of water trailing over Flynn’s body with his gaze.
“Sleep well?” Flynn asked, so obviously he wasn’t about to run away and cover up.
Zach was torn between being thrilled and horrified by that. On the one hand, Flynn was beautiful, and he liked beautiful things. He hadn’t gone into art—sculpture, especially—for nothing, and a well-formed man was one of his few true weaknesses.
If he’d thought Aiden was pretty, he hadnothingon Flynn, who was just that little bit older, more solid around his chest and shoulders, more effortlessly confident in the way he held himself.
Aiden… swaggered, and that had a certain kind of appeal to it, but Zach hadn’t realized how shallow it was until he’d seen Flynn. Flynn, who didn’tneedto. Who just radiated confidence and comfort with himself.
He was stunning.
On the other hand, heat was pooling in the pit of Zach’s stomach, the first uncomfortable tightness of arousal, and he really didn’t want to ruin the friendship that was blossoming between them. Flynn was a good friend to have, and the last thing Zach wanted was to make things awkward.
“Uh.” Zach blinked at him, knowing he’d been asked a question but struggling to remember what it had been. Something about… sleeping?
How well he slept? That seemed logical.
“Uh, yeah,” he finished. “Sorry, I’m kinda… slow to wake up in the mornings.”
Flynn smiled a warm, kind smile at him. “I like to get up early, knock out a chunk of what I need to get done for the day before the world wakes up. Then the rest of the day seems a lot more manageable.”
“You’re probably wiser than I am,” Zach said, and he was sure it was true.
Flynn was a real grown-up. Mature, and settled, and with his shit well and truly together.
That wasn’t helping Zach’s increasingly serious crush on him atall, but it was so nice to be around that he wasn’t about to stop appreciating it. There weren’t a lot of real adults in his life. Art people tended to mature slowly.
That had been part of what Zach liked about them, right up until now.
“Doubt it,” Flynn said. “I left a fresh towel on the rail for you. It’s heated,” he added, clearly excited about that.
Zach bit his lip unconsciously. On top of being grown up, Flynn was also adorable and so sweet it made Zach’s teeth hurt.
“Oh, uh… thanks. I could go for a shower,” he said. He hadn’t really thought about whether or not he’d get the chance, but he’d found a few bathrooms with showers in them on campus, and while that wasn’t hisfavoritebathing solution, sometimes he was just… covered in clay dust, and it was better not to breathe that in.
