Page 2 of The Step Dare

“What? They have an exhibitionism kink. Really, we’re helping them out.” I nudge his arm as we head into the humid weather. “And we both know you’ve been…curious lately.”

As more of our friends paired off or realized they’re queer, Taylor’s occasional questions and comments have made me wonder if he’s interested in exploring.

“Just because your brain is made up of sex, video games, and coffee doesn’t mean the rest of ours are,” he says playfully. Tay and I always rib each other good-naturedly. There’s not a sex-negative bone in his body, but what kind of best friends would we be if we didn’t tease each other?

“That sounds like a dream brain. Everyone should want it,” I reply, then add, “We can go back to your dorm and play some COD. My place is a mess.”

“Your place is bigger though.”

We’d applied to be roommates in a suite-style dorm, but we’d been rejected. I’d ended up in a suite with another guy and Taylor got stuck in a standard. “Yeah, but do you want to deal with stuff everywhere?”

“Good point. We’re going to have to figure out how to deal with that when we get an apartment together next year.”

We’re in the dorms now, but we’re planning to get a place in Atlas’s apartment complex. It’ll be nice to be close to a friend and have more freedom than the dorms allow.

“I’m too scatterbrained to stay organized.” It’s not a flex; it’s true.

Taylor must hear something in my voice because he adds, “You do fine, Bren. You do good in school.”

But I work hard on having some kind of schedule when it comes to classes or homework. It doesn’t come naturally to me,and it’s a struggle. Plus, “Yeah, but I like architecture, so it’s easier to keep on track. I hate cleaning.”

We chuckle as we walk to campus, heading straight for Taylor’s room. Our dorms are adjacent—two boring redbrick structures. The campus has gorgeous architecture, but they clearly went with dreary for the dorms.

Taylor is on the third floor. He unlocks the door, and I immediately plop down on the love seat. The space is small, with the love seat, a bed, a desk, and a TV on the wall, with a shelf beneath it.

“Thirsty?”

“Sure.” I turn his system on while Taylor grabs us each a Coke from his mini fridge, then sits down beside me. My leg bounces, but when Taylor pushes his knee against mine, it slows.

We put on headsets and load the game. We play online with other people and like to talk shit. I’m basically the world’s bestCall of Dutyplayer, but Taylor is a close second—okay, maybe heisa whole lot better than me, but we don’t talk about that.

Partway through our second match, one of the guys playing elsewhere says to another, “What? Did you take a break for a circle jerk with your buddies?”

“That’s what we’re doing over here,” I lie. It’s really a thing that happens sometimes—not between me and Taylor, obviously, but guys jerking off together on games is for sure a reality.

“And you’re still not a match for us,” Taylor adds, playing along. “I can make Bren come and still have time to kick all your asses.”

His choice of words sends a shock through me. I turn off my mic and say, “Makeme come? You do realize the point is that everyone jerks themselves off at the same time, not people jerking each other off.” I mean, I’m sure that happens sometimes, but that’s not what we’re talking about here.

Taylor’s head twists in my direction, pupils blown wide as if he didn’t realize what he said. He recovers quickly, flipping his mic off too and saying, “Whatever. I could get you off and still win the game.”

Okay, two things: First, I love that Taylor will say shit like this to me when he wouldn’t with others. And second, these are the types of comments from him that have my head spinning. I’ve known him a long time, and before the past year he wouldn’t have been joking about jacking me off. Him saying this stuff is coming from somewhere.

“Feel free to try,” I play along to see what happens.

He swallows noticeably and says, “Shut up,” trying to shake it off like I’m joking. Maybe I kinda am, but I’m also not. If Taylor is curious, who better to experiment with than me?

“Fine. Whatever,” I say, then turn the mic back on. We continue playing, but I can feel Taylor’s gaze on me, feel him watching me in this way he doesn’t typically. I must admit my dick is feeling more interested than it probably should when this is simply a joke between two friends. But it’s been a while since I’ve hooked up, and Taylorishot, so it makes sense.

A little while later, I lean back on the couch and say, “I’m done,” before tossing the remote to the table. Once the headset is off, I adjust my cock, which still isn’t playing nice with me—I guess it’s mad I’m not playing with it.

“You ever done that?” Taylor puts his equipment aside too.

“Done what?”

“Jerked off with guys while playing.”

I shrug. “Yeah. It’s not a big deal. It’s what helped me come to terms with being bi. Remember Ricky from high school? We used to get together and game. It went from watching each other jerk off, to jerking each other off, and then I’d always end up blowing him.” I’ve never shared that with him before. It simplynever came up. “Hey, you should give it a try. Everyone around you is queer, so why not join in on the fun?”

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