Chapter 5

FIVE

RORY

When I get home later that evening I change out of my sticky clothes as quickly as I can and shower for the second time that day. The coffee smell is all over me and has leaked through my pants, and I'm dying to get into fresh clothes.

When I come back out to the living room, I see Parker on the sofa in the sweats he bought earlier and no shirt. He's got his laptop out and is typing away, his legs splayed across the sofa and a bag of potato chips nearby on the coffee table. I stare at those gorgeous pecs and tight abs for far too long before I say, "I'm headed out. Be back soon."

"Oh, hey, you want me to come with you? It'll go faster." He sets his laptop aside and wipes his hands on his sweats.

"Sure," I say with a smile, happy for the company. It'll help distract me from the shit that happened earlier, and I have decided I like spending time with Parker.

He scurries to his room, and I can't help letting out a sigh when he returns with a T-shirt now covering his beautiful, smooth chest. "You good?" he asks.

"Yeah," I reply, and grab my keys. I have to laugh when we reach my car and he has to slide the passenger seat back several inches before he can even get in. His head nearly touches the top and he looks like a giant. "Sorry," I say, and he just grins at me.

"No worries, I'm used to it."

When we reach the store I grab a cart and Parker snatches a basket. We split up, agreeing to meet back at the registers in twenty minutes. I'm there first, and when I see him coming my way, my anxiety spikes. He's surrounded by three other well built guys similar in size to him, though not quite as bulky, and they're laughing like they're having the best time, and I'm all of the sudden feeling very out of place and awkward.

"There he is!" Parker calls when he sees me, and waves, then gestures for his friends to follow. I swallow as they get closer. "This is my awesome roomie, Rory," he tells them, beaming at me.

My anxiety fades in an instant at how excited he is to introduce me to his friends. Me. Nerdy, awkward, me. "Hi," I say, giving the three guys a wave.

"This is Preston, Blake, and Chris," Parker says, gesturing to each of the guys in turn and they wave at me. "They're in some of my phys ed classes with me."

Preston is a couple inches shorter than Parker, with striking blue eyes and a baseball cap on over his blond hair. Lots of muscle but more of a swimmer's build. He's gorgeous and has several tattoos decorating his arms.

Blake and Chris aren't bad looking either. Blake is the shortest but still significantly taller than me, with dark hair that's pulled back in a messy bun and tan skin. Chris is the tallest next to Parker. He's Black and his dark hair is even shorter than Parker's.

"Nice to meet you," I say.

"Same," the one named Chris replies. "You've got a good roommate here." He claps Parker on the shoulder and Parker blushes. "He was my roommate freshman year."

"We gotta get home," Parker tells them. "You guys coming over on Sunday to watch the game?"

They nod. "Sweet," Parker says, and then proceeds to give each one of them fist bumps before they say goodbye and then make their way back down the aisles.

"They're cool guys," he tells me and I nod. "You don't mind them coming over, do you?"

I'm not crazy about the idea because it will probably be pretty loud, but I'll just put my earplugs in and do my best to block out the noise. I don't want to tell him not to invite them when he's so excited, and I don't want to be the annoying roommate.

We make it home and unpack the groceries, and then Parker starts cooking. It smells decent once it's been in the oven for a bit, so hopefully it tastes okay too.

"What happened to the cupcakes?" I ask, realizing that they're all gone.

"Oh, uh, I gave them away to the neighbors. I couldn't eat twenty four cupcakes."

"Why did you make them, then?"

"I bake when I'm nervous," he tells me with a flush, and I blink.

"You were nervous yesterday? About meeting me?"

His flush deepens and he runs his large hand through his hair again. "Yeah, I mean, I really wanted you to like it here, and I wanted you to stay. I've always been pretty extroverted and I grew up with five brothers and sisters, so I really don't like being alone. I mean, just having another person in the apartment makes a difference even if we're not hanging out, and I hated the idea of having to find someone else. My old roommate had only been gone for two days and I was lonely." He glances away. "That probably sounds ridiculous."

"No, it doesn't. I mean, I like being alone, but not for days at a time, and I know not everyone is like me. It makes sense. I'm sorry if I made it worse for you by being a buttface."

He laughs. "Nah, I'm just glad you're here." He ruffles my hair and we sit down to eat. The lasagna isn't delicious but it's good, and I am thankful that I didn't have to make it, so I offer to do the cleanup instead. He sits at the bar while I do and after knowing how much he hates being alone, I don't mind.

"You're a phys ed major?" I ask, and he nods.

"Yeah, I want to be a P.E. teacher, or maybe a coach someday, or both. I really like working with kids and I like sports and fitness, so…" He shrugs.

"Yeah, I can tell," I say, then flush when he grins at me.

"What about you? What's your major?"

"Illustration. I would love to illustrate children's books at some point."

"That's awesome." His eyes light up. "Do you have a specialty?"

I can't help smiling. Zach never really gave a shit about my major, or asked me questions about it. In fact he tried to talk me out of it. "I really enjoy watercolors. Acrylic paint is nice, too."

"Do you have anything I can see?" he asks, and I smile wider at how eager he is.

"Yeah, just a second." I finish loading the dishes in the dishwasher and wash my hands, then grab my phone out of my pocket and find some of the pictures I took of my recent work and show him the screen. "These are pictures of ballerinas I painted for my little sisters for their birthday, and then if you swipe you'll see the one I did of my parents for their anniversary a few months back."

"Wow, these are amazing," he tells me. "Damn, little rabbit, you got skills."

I beam. "Thank you. I enjoy it, too. It helps me unwind." Zach always thought I was decent at art, but he was constantly trying to convince me to switch majors, saying being an illustrator wasn't very practical and you had to be really good at it to succeed. Well, I knew I had room for improvement, but I also knew I was good. They wouldn't have let me in the program here if I wasn't, and hearing it from Parker means a lot.

He nods and hands the phone back. "You have twin sisters?"

"Yeah, Ava and Addison. They were my parents' "oops" babies, but I love them."

"How old are they?"

"Seven. So much energy."

He laughs. "You said you had five brothers and sisters?" I ask, unable to keep the shock out of my voice. Parker grins.

"Yeah, I'm the middle child. Two older brothers and three younger sisters. My brothers, Aaron and Archer are twins. They graduated college last year and live together now, near my parents. My sisters, Amy, Jessica, and Hope are ten, fourteen, and eighteen. It's a full house when we're all home."

He's smiling widely and I can tell how much he loves his family. "It sounds like you're all really close."

"Yeah, we are. They're out in California so I don't see them a lot, just holidays and summer break, but I love going home."

"And they know you're gay?" I ask, my face flushing when I realize maybe I shouldn't have asked that, but he just grins wider.

"Practically threw me a parade when I told them," he says with a laugh, and I smile. "And both my parents are bi."

"Really? They just told you that?"

He shrugs. "We grew up knowing, yeah. They wanted to make it clear that even though they were in a relationship with each other, there were other ways for love and families to exist, so they told us from the get go about both of them being attracted to men and women, but finding each other and falling in love. And they didn't want us to ever be afraid of who we were attracted to."

"I really like that. And your siblings? Are they straight?"

"Archer is pan, Aaron is straight. Hope is bi. I'm not sure about the other two. I think they're still figuring it out."

I finish wiping down the counters and putting away the leftover food, and then I join Parker in the living room, him on the couch and me on the chair as we do homework.

I can't remember a time where I felt this content.

PARKER

Gosh, I can't believe Freckles is my roommate. How lucky could a guy get? I never even thought he would give me a second look that night at the club, and when he did, damn, I was on cloud nine. He's so stinking pretty, and he doesn't even realize what he does to me. Those curls, the freckles scattered over his nose and cheeks, his blue framed glasses, his goddamn bowties, everything about him is just adorable. Especially the way his nose twitches when he's nervous or agitated, and the way it scrunches up when he's concentrating on something, like right now while he works on his homework.

He reminds me of a bunny rabbit, hence the nickname. I can't seem to stop using them with him, and he doesn't seem to mind.

I was so scared when I thought I had upset him, but knowing what I know now, about his jerk of an ex, God I just want to throw a cupcake at the fart face for upsetting Rory. And I want to make sure that whatever he dealt with with him, he knows he's safe here, with me. And that I will always respect him, because he deserves it. He deserves to be treated like the amazing dude he is.

Would I love to get another chance at having him suck my dick? Absolutely. Up until he bolted and I freaked the fuck out it was incredible. He's got a mouth like a fucking hoover. But I'm also realizing just how much I want to be his friend, and how much I'm enjoying getting to know him. So if he wants more at some point, I definitely won't say no, but I won't bring it up, either.

I glance at him as he sits with his legs crossed on the chair. He's so small he fits perfectly just like that. My dick twitches when I remember how amazing it felt to kiss him, and have my hands in his soft curls.

He looks up at me and gives me a soft smile. "Everything okay?" he asks.

I smile and nod, and go back to my homework.