Chapter 7

HARRISON

Turns out Marshall and Felix were right. Benny wanted my dick. It's not the first time I've been hit on by a guy, and it won't be the last, so him thinking I'd freak out about it makes me sad. We established he wanted to hook up. We established that's off the table. Now, we move on.

That's what you do with misunderstandings.

I'm still down to hang out and cook him dinner and force him into watching more shows with me—those are all things I wanted to do before our conversation, so nothing has changed.

It's a tight squeeze through the house, and I have no idea where Felix and Marshall are, but Benny and I stop to grab a drink as we make our way outside. The party is stupidly fun, a real vibe, but it's hitting me that this isn't the kind of thing I'd want to do on a regular basis anymore.

We have to fight our way to the front of the crowd that's formed around the wrestling. And by "we," I mean Benny pushes his brothers out of the way while I duck in behind him.

The two women wrestling have their shirts off and are covered in Jell-O while the guys around us are acting like it's the greatest thing they've ever seen. It's not surprising to see Chase and his best friend, Tatertot, at the front, leading the cheer squad.

Welcome to college, lads.

I duck my mouth down near Benny's ear. "Should we have another wager?"

"You mean the last one didn't scar your ego?"

"My ego is big enough to take a beating. What do you say?"

"I'm always game. What are you thinking?"

That part is harder. Bets are fun; thinking of a prize is not. "Fifty bucks?"

"Money? Pfft."

"Fine, fine … Ah … okay. If I win, you come to work with me next weekend."

"Work?"

I nod. "I have some lawns to mow. Sweaty work. Takes me all day. It'd be way better if I had someone else I could palm it off to."

"Fine. Agreed. No risk since you won't win anyway."

"Okay, smart-ass. What are you getting?"

A teasing glint hits his eye, and he pumps his eyebrows at me.

"No." It's a real struggle not to laugh, but I don't want him to think he's cute. "No BJs."

"Oh, damn," he says, not trying to sound believably disappointed. "In that case, cleanup tomorrow. You can come help."

"That sounds easy enough."

He gives me a pitying look that tells me I don't know what I'm getting into. "Deal?"

"Deal."

I strip off my shirt and we both ditch our shorts. Then, I pause to finish draining my cup, before I step over the side of the little kiddie pool and into the calf-deep Jell-O.

"Ready?" a black-haired frat boy calls, smacking Benny's ass.

"Fuck yes."

"And you?" He leaves a stinging slap on my butt cheek too.

"Sure am."

"Okay, let's go! Make the DIKs proud, bro," he calls before waving his hand between us and jumping out of the pool.

Benny lunges for me, and I'm not expecting the impact. His compact, muscular body collides with mine in a way that forces the air from my lungs.

Okay, he wasn't lying about all that wrestling experience. I push Benny off me, but he comes for me again just as fast. We tussle for a moment, me trying to keep my footing on the slick surface, but then he hooks his foot behind my ankle and tugs. My feet slip out from under me, and I hit the pool base hard. He's like a feral little gremlin when he climbs on top of me and tries to get me in a headlock, body panting hard, thighs straddling my torso, skin soft and slick against mine.

Gah, wake up already!

I try to grab a hold of him, but the Jell-O makes it almost impossible. He's slippery and fast, and I have way underestimated him.

Now that I know he isn't holding back, neither will I. Using the Jell-O to my advantage, I slip to the side, throwing him off me, before taking him onto the ground. We fight and slip and shove and wrestle, trying to get the other out of the kiddie pool.

Benny's laugh rings out in my ears, oxygen struggling to fill my lungs.

"Give up," I grunt.

"No goddamn way."

"You are such a little shit."

He cackles and finally gets me into that headlock, but because I'm so much taller, it puts him in a vulnerable position. I get my arms around him, hooking one up between his legs and the other behind his back. Then, I pick him up and?—

Pop him over the side.

"What the fuck?" He releases my head and looks down at the grass he's standing on. His chest is working overtime, abs sticking out with each inhale and … huh. He's very, very obviously half-hard, and his briefs aren't doing much to hide it.

"Woo!" One of his frat brothers slaps me on the back. "Who's versing the winner?"

"Nope." I hold up my hands and climb out too. "That's me done. Finished."

"He'll only fight people smaller than him."

"Exactly." Whatever I have to say to get out of another round. Not that it wasn't fun, because it absolutely was, but I'm here to spend the night with Benny. And also, the guy is savage. I'm pretty sure I'll have bruises tomorrow.

He glances up at me, curls plastered to the side of his face and neck with sticky Jell-O, and laughs. "Your whole face is bright red."

I point at my hair. "The smallest amount of blood flow will do that. Good genes." Being a redhead hasn't exactly been easy—especially since it's red-red—but I've learned to love it about myself. It's a talking point. Makes me different. It also helps me sort the trash out of my life pretty fast.

"I love getting a guy's blood pumping."

I gesture toward where his dick is still trying to escape his briefs. "I can tell."

He reaches down, kinda cupping himself to cover up. "I made no secret I'm attracted to you, and you wanted to roll around all lubed up and half-naked. Surely you know a little chub isn't something you have control over."

"True." Still weird to think that I made another guy hard. "You got towels inside for us to clean up?"

"If I say no, will you stay naked for the night?"

Ballsy guy. "If you say no, I'll have to leave."

"Damn …" His gaze flicks away and then back to me. "So, like, you still want to hang out?"

"I said I did, and I meant it. My two roommates are boyfriends. I don't give a shit, really."

His smile is hesitant. "In that case, we better get you cleaned up."

We pick up our clothes, and Benny leads us back inside. We get to what I'm assuming is his room, and he cracks open the door to peer around before letting me inside. Cute of him to try and protect me from a potential orgy.

He opens an old set of drawers and tosses me a towel. "You can shower down the hall, but I'd recommend against it."

"Yeah, I'll just towel off and get dressed."

His eyes immediately drop to my damn briefs and away again. "I don't think my underwear will fit you, dude."

"I'll figure it out." And to figure it out, I turn my back on him and drop trou. He's moving behind me, I assume getting changed as well, so I focus on drying myself down as best I can before tugging my clothes back on. The cotton of my shirt catches against my sticky skin, and I'm definitely going to need a shower once I'm home.

I glance over, expecting to find him dressed too, but he's still in his briefs, back to me, hand firmly covering his eyes.

"You're not getting changed?"

"Dude, I just saw your ass. You're going to have to give me a minute."

I choke, not sure if I'm going to laugh or … "Fuck. Sorry." Getting changed in front of other guys isn't something I've stopped and thought about before.

"Goddamn, you have so many freckles." His voice is husky.

"Are you hard?"

He snickers, head dropping forward. "Please get the fuck out of my room."

I hurry for the door, still a bit thrown over my ass getting him horny. It's not an uncomfortable feeling, just … different. "I'm gonna get us drinks. Meet in the kitchen?"

"I'll be there."

He doesn't meet my eye as I slip out of the room, but I do peek back at him.

My gaze skims down his tan, muscular back and lands right on his ass.

I've never noticed before, but hot damn, Benny has some cake on him. If that ass was on a chick, I'd probably pop wood too.

Right. Drinks.

Leaving now.

I've just finished pouring out our drinks in the kitchen when Benny walks in. That was fucking fast. He's fully dressed, and even his hair is out and dry. He's clutching a red Solo cup in one hand and is wearing an unnervingly happy smile.

"Bowser!" He throws his arms around me. "Fancy seeing you here."

I chuckle and pat his back before he pulls away. "Real coincidence."

"Love these parties," he says, a slight slur to his words.

Wow. Not only is he a fast dresser, but he's a fast drinker too. I nod to his cup. "What was in that drink?"

"Something delicious." He grabs the beer I've poured for him and takes a gulp. "Gah. That tastes like shit in comparison."

"Cheap beer tastes like shit? No …" I spot Marshall and Felix passing by the door. "Ohhh. Wait here a sec. I'm gonna grab my friends for you to meet."

I dart out into the hall to chase them down, hoping to grab them before they disappear again. Felix's bright auburn curls should be easy enough to spot, and Marshall isn't exactly small. I catch sight of them as they turn a corner, heading down the hall toward where Benny's bedroom is. Thankfully, I manage to reach them before they've taken a few steps because I don't want to know what they're doing sneaking off toward the bedrooms.

"Where have you guys been all night?"

"Enjoying the party." Felix looks me over. "Where have you been?"

"Narrowly avoided a house fire, got the view from the roof, and then Jell-O wrestled. Oh. And found out my new friend wanted to fuck me."

Marshall and Felix high-five. "Called it."

"Shut up. Anyway, he's a cool guy, and we're friends, so I want to introduce you. He's?—"

Approaching us from down the hall. His hair is back up, that same curl stuck to his neck as earlier, and he's in different clothes again.

I tug his tank top. "You changed."

"Well, I wasn't going to give everyone a show all night."

It's definitely a relief to be introducing a fully dressed Benny to my friends. I plant a hand on his shoulder and turn him to them. "Guys, this is Benny. Benny, Felix and Marshall."

"'Sup." He eyes them both. "I take it you're the boyfriend roommates."

"And you're the?—"

I shoot Felix a look to be careful of his next words.

"New friend."

The sly eyes Benny sends my way makes it clear he knows something else was going to come from Felix's mouth. "That's me. The new friend with the hots for the straight dude. Tale as old as time, am I right?"

Marshall and Felix laugh as I look between them all.

"What?"

"It's a joke that's not really a joke that all queer guys have to have at least one tragic straight friend crush. Actually, that's probably true for all queer people, but hey!" Benny gestures to me like a magician revealing his secret. "You're mine!"

"Crush?"

"Okay, that's overexaggerating, but you know what I mean."

I throw an arm around his neck. "If I could be gay for anyone, I'd want it to be you."

"And now you're just making things worse."

Felix plants his hands on his hips. "Hey, I thought you said it would be for me."

"Wait." Benny shakes me off him. "You just go around telling all the boys that?"

"Can't help it that I'm in high demand."

"Am I the only one in this hallway who hasn't wanted to sleep with you?" Marshall asks, and Benny and Felix answer "yes" in unison.

Gotta say, it feels good to be wanted.

"I think we need another drink," Marshall tells Fe, and just as they're about to walk off, Felix tugs me down to reach my ear.

"It's my duty to inform you that your new friend is a total ten, and all your straightness is going to waste."

I roll my eyes as they leave, and Benny leans against the wall, folding his arms over his chest.

"What did he say?" His cocky tone makes me pretty sure he heard.

I fake a confused look. "Dunno. Something about barely a four. Run away. Stage-five clinger?—"

Benny thumps my arm. "He said I'm a ten. I'm glad you know that you're missing out on all this."

"I have so much regret," I say, leaning against the wall beside him.

"I can live with that." His puffy lips curl into a grin. "For the rest of your life, you'll always think back on the DIK you never had."

"The memory will keep me company on my deathbed."

"Hot. Think by that point you'll be too old to even get it up over me?"

I glance down at my pants. "Apparently, I'm already suffering from that issue."

"Hey, maybe you're not straight, just impotent."

I slap my hand down over his mouth. "Don't put that into the universe."

His pretty bluey-hazel eyes shine teasingly up at me.

I only remove my hand when I trust he's done talking about it. "What time tomorrow?"

Benny tilts his head. "Huh?"

"For cleanup. What time do you want me here?"

"I know I got some good hits on you, but none of them were to the head. You won, remember?"

"Oh, I remember. Kicking your ass won't be forgotten in a while."

He gives me a flat look.

"But I'm going to help you anyway."

"Well, now you've said it, I'm going to hold you to it." He grips my shoulder and leans in close. So close. Close enough that for one second, I actually think he might kiss me. He doesn't, but I also didn't pull back from him either. "You are going to regret every minute of your life tomorrow. And you'll only have yourself to blame."