Page 31 of Shots on Net

“G’night, Carter.” He smiles up at me, soft and sleepy and tempting.

“Goodnight.” I try to smile back, but can’t seem to get my facial muscles to work.

Watching until he’s across the hall and his door is closed behind him, I lean back and thunk my head against the doorframe. I think it might be time to admit I might be more than a little bit interested in Zeke. I wish I knew what the hell to do about it.

The next morning, I’m awake and out the door before Zeke. I have early classes today, followed by a late practice, which means I won’t have to see him until later. Unfortunately, as it often does when you are wanting to avoid something—time seems to speed up, and soon enough I’m walking out of practice and dreading going home. I need to figure out how to act normally around Zeke, and today was not enough time to do so. I’m so in my head I barely even register somebody calling my name.

“What?” I snap, turning around and taking a quick step backward to stop Vasel from running into me. “Oh, sorry Vas. I didn’t hear you.”

He eyes me, frowning slightly. “Are you alright? You have seemed off all of today and you did not pay attention in class. Are you ill, perhaps?”

Yes, Vas, I have developed a crush on a skinny little nerd and it is making me physically ill. Thank you for noticing. “Uhm, no, I’m fine. Just distracted.”

“I shall give you my notes, so that you do not fall behind in economics.” He smiles at me and nods, as though the matter is settled.

“That would be great. Thanks.”

He stares at me, not appearing to be mollified by this. He’s cleverer than most people give him credit for. He’s quiet, which people assume means that he’s stupid and doesn’t understand English well enough to join conversations; really, it just means he’s a good listener, and is a skilled observer.

“Are things well with your roommate? Zeke?” He asks.

“Things are well,” I confirm. Vas waits, and I sigh, looking around the parking lot in agitation. He’s a patient bastard, which means that if I don’t come out with it, he’ll only keep pestering me until I do. “If you must know, I’ve got a bit of a thing for him and I don’t know what to do about it.”

“Oh.” Vasel’s expression clears, eyes brightening. “This is simple. Ask him out on a date, yes?”

“Not yes. I can’t just ask him out, he’s not…he wouldn’t…” I huff, frowning impatiently at my feet as I scuff a rock against the asphalt. How the hell do I explain this to him? “He’s demi, so he’s not attracted to me like that.”

Vas cocks his head, puzzled. “Maybe I am not understanding. Why does this mean he is not attracted to you?”

“Because he’s not going to form a sexual attraction to anyone unless he’s already emotionally attached to them. I’ve only known him a few months, Vas. It’s too quick.” I think about the way Zeke was completely unaffected when he woke up in my bed last night. Unlike me, who was so worked up afterward that I couldn’t fall back asleep until hours later.

“I think perhaps you are wrong, in this,” Vas says, kindly. “There is no timeframe for emotional attachment, right? You are assuming it must take a long time, but this is not true. It is different, I think, for all.”

Scowling, I think through what he said. He’s right—I had been correlating emotional attachment with a long period of time. “So…what? You think I should just ask him out?”

“Well, yes. This is what one does.”

“I don’t,” I say, baldly. Vas sighs, expansively.

“You prefer picking people up on dating apps because then you do not have to worry about being rejected,” he tells me, and then shrugs when I raise my eyebrows at him.

“Jesus, whatever you say, Doctor.”

One of our teammates calls out for Vas from across the parking lot and he raises a friendly hand in greeting. There is a nervous anticipation churning in my gut; could it really be so easy as to just go home and ask Zeke out? I’m not familiar with this sort of dating, much preferring, as Vas pointed out, the shadowy and altogether safer world of internet hook-ups. There is a lot less on the line when you’re dealing with a random stranger.

“So,” Vas turns back to me and we start walking toward where our cars are parked side-by-side, “what have we decided? Are we going to do it?”

“I guess…so, what? I just ask him to go on a date with me?”

“Yes.” He nods, encouragingly and declares: “New experiences are good for us.”

Snorting, I toss my bag into the back of my car and slam the trunk shut. My heart is beating a staccato rhythm in my chest and my fingers are tingling with eagerness. I’m going to do it. I’m going to go home and ask Zeke out on a date.

Zeke

The door slams so loudly, the walls shake. In dismay, I look down at the math homework I’ve just mutilated when I startled. Sighing, I set about trying to fix it with an eraser when I hear my name being shouted from down below.

“Zeke!” Carter calls, evidently trying to ascertain whether or not I am home.

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