They went two blocks to a corner place that did soup in paper cups and bread that cracked just right. The cashier had her hands full, and as they waited to be served, they made small talk. Midterms. A stupid meme Ben had sent. Dan’s playlist ban. Nothing heavy.
They found a table by the window and sat close enough that their knees brushed under the table. Sage let it stay. He could feel eyes sometimes—real or imagined—and tried to tune for it. He felt fine, so decided to ignore it.
Halfway through the soup, a voice hit their table like a pebble. “Hey, Everest.”
Sage looked up to see two guys from one of his classes. They weren’t real friends. Just a couple of guys he talked to occasionally. One of them smirked in a way that asked for a reaction, which Sage refused to give.
“Spin the bottle, huh?” the smirker said. “Classic.”
Sage held his spoon and shrugged. “Classic. You need something?”
“Nah,” the other guy said, looking embarrassed. He nudged his friend, and they moved on.
Bryce watched them leave. “Is that going to be a thing?”
“Not if we don’t allow it,” Sage muttered. He met Bryce’s eyes over his soup and found the question there anyway. “You okay?”
“I’m okay if you’re okay,” Bryce said.
“I’m okay.” It was true, and he smiled at Bryce, who returned it.
The rest of the lunch went easily. They split the last slice of bread and left when they’d finished. Outside on the sidewalk, Bryce said, “I’ve got a recitation. You?”
“Classes, then lab work again.”
Bryce hesitated, then caught Sage’s wrist, and pulled him into an alcove by the cafe door, out of the foot traffic. He gave Sage a quick kiss, then asked, “Text me later?”
“Yeah,” Sage said.
***
Back in the lab, Gage raised an eyebrow and didn’t ask. The board behaved. The TA nodded. Sage went home early to shower off the smell of solder. He put his bag down, checked the place, the put water on to boil. He didn’t plan dinner. They could sort that out when Bryce came home.
The door opened twenty minutes later. Bryce came in with the quiet kind of tired that meant he’d been focusing all day. He kicked his sneakers off and leaned his shoulder on the doorframe, watching Sage move around the kitchen.
“Hey,” Bryce murmured.
“Hey,” Sage said. “Soup round two?”
“Whatever you’re having,” Bryce said. He crossed the room and pressed his mouth to Sage’s cheek. “You okay?”
“Yeah, actually I am.”
They ate at the table and talked about their day. Dan apparently thought they should crowdsource playlists now, which sounded like a bad idea. Lizzie had text a brownie photo with the caption protein and six laughing emojis. Sage sent back a picture of celery.
After the dishes, they drifted to the couch and sat. Sage stilled, then looked at Bryce and leaned closer to him. “Okay?” he asked softly.
Bryce grinned. “Come here.”
The kiss started soft and slow and then gradually deepened. Sage whimpered when Bryce’s hand slid into his hair, tugging on the ends as he pulled him closer. Sage sucked on Bryce’s tongue, feeling his body jerk, then kissed along his jawline before sucking a patch of skin on Bryce’s neck.
“My turn,” Sage whispered. He swallowed as he lifted his head and let his hand drift over Bryce’s chest.
“You don’t have to,” Bryce murmured. “I did it because I wanted to.”
“I want to.” Sage licked his lips. “I want to taste you too.”
Bryce’s eyes flickered between his and then he nodded. “Don’t try to take too much at once.”
