Page 13 of Choke Up

"Speaking of slutting around…"

I snap my head up to meet Gabe's somber expression. "What?"

"A little birdie named Elliot told me you made a profile on Howler."

"You and your little birdie need to keep my name out of your mouths," I mumble.

He waggles his eyebrows. "Any bites?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Yes, I would."

"Why do you care?"

He shrugs, and it's quiet for the rest of the ride. "Just, you know, be careful. There are a lot of creeps out there," he says before we climb off the ride. If only he knew who the real creep was.

More of Gabe's team is waiting for him, all of them making wolf howling sounds in greeting. I look toward my own friends, who I'm thankful all waited for me, and roll my eyes at the dumb jocks. Ivy, Tyrell, Jamie, and Antoni all start howling, too. Sean shakes his head, but grins. I have to grin too, and cup my hands around my mouth to howl back. When I turn to look at the baseball team, who are quite a way down the fairgrounds by now, I catch Gabe's eye and feel my heart crack open at the smile he's giving me.

I'm so damn hopeless.

Many nausea-inducing rides and fifty dollars lost on fair games later, we're sitting around a picnic table watching Antoni prove he can deep-throat a giant corn dog. It's both terrifying and impressive, an opinion that seems to be shared by many passersby who also witness the display. I have probably too many questions, and I'm hyped up on the energy of these new friends and funnel cake sugar, so I just blurt them out as they come to me.

"Oh my God," Tyrell says excitedly before lowering his voice conspiratorially. "Please tell me the baby gay is a virgin."

"Baby gay?" I deadpan, unimpressed.

Tyrell gasps. "You are! It's so cute I could die," he says, fanning his face dramatically.

I roll my eyes, avoiding the question. But then I look up at all the eyes of my new friends on me.

"What?"

"Are you really?" Antoni asks, looking astonished, or maybe awed, like he's never met a virgin before.

"I wasn't… You know, out in high school. The pickings were thin."

"That hunk of man candy you stuffed yourself into that ride with didn't look so thin to me," Antoni says sarcastically.

"Gabe is very straight and very off limits. He's practically my brother."

"But you wish he wasn't," Tyrell finishes for me. My eyes widen, and I open my mouth to quickly deny, deny, deny. But my blush tells the truth before my weak denial makes it past my lips.

"Aww," Ivy coos, pressing her palm to her heart.

"Oh, my God, you guys. Stop looking at me like I'm some kind of tragic, doomed daytime drama gone wrong. It's not like that."

Ivy comes to my rescue and shifts the attention to my anonymous chat friend. That drives everyone wild. Even Sean begs to see the pictures. Tyrell jokes that maybe it's him, and then we get Sean to lift his shirt and show us his hard stomach. He’s cut, but he looks nothing like the pictures Johnny sent me. First of all, Sean's chest and stomach are covered in reddish brown hair, whereas Johnny’s chest and abs are glossy and smooth, with a darker brown happy trail. And Sean doesn't have those veins that make me thirsty.

“I’m not going to lie, baby gay,” Tyrell says, reaching forward to lay a hand on my shoulder. “I see myself getting very invested in all of this.”

“You just gestured to all of me.”

Tyrell nods sagely, and I huff out a laugh. It takes me promising that not only will I come to the party tonight, but I’ll let them dress me up for a night on the town in the near future, for them to move on to another topic.

The closer we get to the guy’s side of the athletic dorms, the louder and messier it gets. Ivy remarks that the guys have more perks in their dorm, like a larger gym on the first floor and more options in the student Quickstop, which is set up a lot like a convenience store where they can order food. When I point out that my dorm doesn’t have either of those things, or a laundry facility, and that I share a bathroom with over fifty other guys, she suggests I move in with her. Jamie corroborates Ivy’s claim that she’s an excellent big spoon. I roll my eyes, but I’m not going to lie, I’d probably consider it if I didn’t think she’d get in trouble having me there.

The men’s athletic dorm also has a large communal meeting area with a huge projector screen. This seems to be where most of the party is taking place. It’s dark apart from the giant screen, which cycles through different light shows that pulse to the beat of whatever music is playing.

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