Page 41 of Oblivious Roommate

“You ever had this one?” I open the tiny bottle and recoil at the intense smell.

“Not yet,” Cass says and switches on a small flashlight so we can have a bit of illumination for this. He grins. “Should I be your highness’s royal tester?

I spread my arms. “It is my birthday. I love it, by the way. Feels like a sleepover.” And it’s different to what we do at home every night, where each of us locks himself in a separate room.

This is a real blast from the past.

Cass grabs the bottle from my hand and takes a small sample. He blinks before scowling. “Oh Jeez! That’s so herby and pungent. You think Absinthe tastes similar? If it’s even stronger, no wonder people used to have it with so much sugar!”

“Let me try!” I laugh but I have to wrestle him for it. Taking a big sip brings results in instant regret. “No! This is worse than that shitty beer Tim Lawson used to get us in high school, remember?”

I go for the eggnog next, because I need to wash the taste away with something sickly sweet. It’s almost too much in comparison, but we each have several swigs, and while the booze hasn’t kicked in yet, I am already relaxed in the old car, on hard seats, resting next to the guy I’m crushing on so hard I can’t make myself tell him.

“Tim was crazy. I wonder what he’s up to,” Cass mutters, resting his head on the heel of his hand.

I burst with laughter, already feeling the buzz of alcohol. “Oh, he’s in prison. My mom told me. His sister is doing well though. Did I ever tell you…” I stop myself, unsure if I should mention it. I take my time choosing a tiny gin bottle as my next victim.

“Tell me what?” Cass asks. His skin looks so golden in the glow of our little lamp.

“She was the first girl to ever go down on me.” I cover my face in embarrassment, but the gin helps ease my nerves. Its herby, bitter flavor is exactly what I need, and I find myself annoyed that we haven’t bought more of it.

“Oooh, so you also had secrets,” Cassian whispers.

I point to the bottle. “This one’s the winner so far. But back to her, I never told you because… it was bad.” I laugh, and pass Cass the gin, with my sights already set on whiskey. “You’d think it’s an easy thing to do, but we were both clueless.”

A raspy chuckle makes me glance Cassian’s way as he rubs his face against the pillow.

He’s always been a bit of a lightweight when it came to booze. Then again, maybe he already had more than me?

“Don’t laugh! I think she watched too much porn, wanted to really go for it, but then she started gagging, and I got worried that something’s wrong and went soft, so she tried again… Oh, man…” I giggle-snort at the memory, loosened up by the booze. “I shouldn’t have said anything!”

“Yeah, well, I hope no one ever reviews my first performance,” Cass whispers, rolling onto his back, as if he could see the sky through the roof. He looks so cozy in his fitted woolen sweater I just want to lie closer and cuddle.

“That bad? If I were gay, I’d be a natural,” I say before I can catch the words falling off my drunken tongue. I start laughing and have more whiskey to muffle my embarrassment. “You know what I mean! We have the same equipment as guys.”

He takes the little bottle and gulps down all that’s left in it. It’s hardly a sampling at this point, since both of us are more interested in the conversation than flavors of liquor. “You would think, but my gag reflex used to be so bad I puked,” Cass reveals, hiding his face with the sleeping bag.

“You did not!” I laugh so hard I start crying and I get a cramp in my stomach. I have to lie down to stretch it out, but it’s no use, as I keep chuckling.

“Yeah. I didn’t want to tell him it was my first time, and as we were flirting online, I might have suggested I’m into rough play. He looked so shocked when I—” he makes a gurgling sound before laughing again. “Dude made sure I was okay but ran away within the next five minutes. I felt like I’d never find a boyfriend.”

With my head spinning I teasingly stroke his face. “Aww, that’s so terribly sad. At least you have Logan now.” And for once, I’m not even angry to say his name, because the whole thing is too hilarious. A guy like Cass should be swimming in an abundance of dick.

“Oh, he is a lucky guy, my dude. After that fiasco, I got a dildo and practiced until my gag reflex was gone,” Cassian says and touches his throat with a smile so full of pride I feel a tickle in my balls. The vision of Cass sucking a dildo is both arousing and the most hilarious thing on the planet.

“Do you still have it?” I wink, then wipe a tear out of my eye. I feel as if I’m floating.

“Obviously. Those things can be useful sometimes. Why? Do you wanna give it a spin?” Cass chuckles, and in that moment I know his mind is pliable as butter. Watching me with dark eyes, he smiles as if he knows the secrets of the universe.

“You joke, but you never know when a skill can come in handy.” I try hard to keep a straight face, but I still crack and laugh again. “Like when I don’t pass my exams and have to service my professor for a good grade?”

I grab myself a tiny bottle of rum, because this conversation is getting out of hand.

Cassian laughs, his face rosy like a ripe apple. He reaches toward me and gives my nose a pinch. “You never know. But if that happens, let me know, I’ll step in and make the sacrifice for you.”

I push his arm. “Because you’d enjoy it!”

He rolls his eyes. “Oh please. I don’t suck just any dick. This gay has standards,” he says and makes a comically proud expression. “It would be purely for you, Mattie.”