Page 81 of Arctic Titans of Northwood U: Volume 2

But we were taking it slowly. In these nine days, neither had suggested anything more than what we had already done. Our lives were oddly unchanged. We hadn’t gone on a date yet and we hadn’t experimented with more than each other’s mouths and hands. It was hella fun, though.

Something about it was hard to swallow. So far, Tyler had done all the important things. He had initiated the first kiss, he had broken up with Courtney, and he had taken things to the next level. He had defined us as boyfriends. It was my turn to make a move, but I was too nervous to try it. I’d read up on it one morning while Tyler was at the library. I’d looked up some stuff about the anatomy and mechanics of gay sex and I had to admit that I walked away from it discouraged and intimidated. I feared bringing it up with Tyler, too, because he could misunderstand my intentions. And the clock was ticking.

I got my opportunity two days later. We were off that evening and I wanted to show him that I could contribute to this relationship. We had done ninety minutes at the campus gym and showered afterward. My muscles were sore as I wiped myself dry in the locker room. My heart leaped when Tyler leaned against his locker and scanned my whole body.

“I keep getting surprised by how hot you are,” he said.

I smiled at that as I pulled on my underwear. He was risking getting me hard in the middle of the locker room and we never knew when someone might catch us. “I’m surprised it took us this long to notice.” There was so much to learn about this new dynamic. There were countless new turn-ons for both of us and that was without thinking about the consequences of coming out. My chest tightened as that crossed my mind. I changed the topic. “Do you wanna do a movie date tonight?”

“Hell yeah. I’ll do anything with you,” Tyler said.

“Wait, I didn’t even tell you which movie,” I said, my heart melting at his words.

“Oh, right. Okay. Try again.” He forced on a serious expression.

I cleared my throat. “Do you wanna do a movie date tonight?”

He shrugged like it was all the same to him. “Eh, I gotta check my calendar.”

I stifled a laugh. Of course, he took it ten steps further. “Come on, it’ll be fun.”

Tyler scratched the back of his head, his pec tensing and his muscled arm shaping so nicely that I nearly salivated. “I’m really not sure. Maybe some other time.” Then, he cocked his head and raised his eyebrows. “What movie were you thinking?” Mischief glimmered in his eyes.

Fuck. This was hard work, selling him a date idea. “It’s the new Caleb Ellison film. Lovers’ Paradise. I’m seeing good reviews everywhere.”

That sparked his interest more than he was trying to show. Tyler’s lips trembled on the verge of a smile, but he forced stillness to his face. “Keep talking,” he said playfully. “I might find a couple of hours in my busy, busy schedule.”

“Um, well, apparently, it’s loosely inspired by the true events surrounding Jonathan Harris’ presidential bid a couple of years ago,” I said.

“The sex scandal?” Tyler asked.

“His son’s sex scandal,” I elaborated.

Tyler dropped his act and took a few steps toward me. “You know what? There’s nothing I’d love more than to watch a gay sex scandal movie with my boyfriend tonight.”

“I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic,” I teased.

He glanced around, but his right hand was moving already. “Does this feel sarcastic?” His hand found my cock and gave it a surprisingly firm squeeze.

Air drained from my lungs. I managed a little gasp. “Nope. Nothing sarcastic about that.”

He licked his lips and stepped back, then lifted his sweater. “I’d love to have a date night.” He pulled his sweater on and put his hands on my hips, then pressed our bodies against one another. “I want to do everything with you, Sebastian.”

It was how we had always been, but it meant more when he said it now. And so we put on some nice clothes and sprayed ourselves with cologne a bit more than was strictly necessary and headed out to see the spectacle. Lovers’ Paradise was surprisingly tragic and yet romantic. It was as though my subconscious mind had picked the movie that dealt with homophobia as our first outing as a couple. After seeing Ellison on the silver screen and agreeing that he was a total catch, Tyler and I decided to walk back to campus. The night was warmer than any other this year and the faint scent of spring was in the air. Snow was melting quickly these days and the sky was clear and full of stars tonight.

We stopped at a bar on our way back. It was a standard-looking joint, neither bad nor great, but it had a bottle of wine for us to share and a table for two. Nobody knew us in here and nobody cared. So when I dared put my hand over Tyler’s on the table between us, he looked up at me with a smile on his lips and in his eyes. “That’s nice,” he said.

I was silent for a little while, looking at him in the dim ambiance. “What if that’s all I can give?”

“Is it?” he asked, his tone not revealing what he thought.

I shrugged. “I don’t know yet.”

He pulled his hand away from mine, and my heart was about to sink, but then he covered mine with his so firmly that there was no mistaking his commitment to me. “I don’t care if we’re discreet. Or if we march at the head of the pride parade. Or if we’re selective about who knows what.” His words took away the anxiety that seemed to be returning no matter what. We both knew we couldn’t spend our lives like that, but his willingness to pretend that we could was endearing. “If it’s us against the world, Sebastian, I’ll always choose us.”

I blinked and forced the euphoria down. This was not the place to leap across the table and kiss him silly. “This is why we’re best friends. You always get it.”

He smiled. We enjoyed a few good sips of wine and talked about the crazy events of the movie and the surprisingly erotic scenes that had us both flustered. “Not sure if turned on is the right way to call it,” Tyler said. “But I didn’t dislike watching it.”