Page 17 of Sunflower

“For fuck’s sake, Jacob. I did not sign up to be the cheer squad for your newfound exhibitionist kink. That’s what kink clubs arefor. Take Drew to one of those instead of subjecting me to both of your over eager libidos. Are we done? Or is there something else you want?”

“Wow. I think you might be right, Drew.” More rustling sounded.

“Told you,” Drew said. He sounded a little too knowing for my liking.

I knew I was going to regret asking this, but, “Right about what?”

“I’m so happy that you asked, Joey!” Jacob said quickly and far too enthusiastically. “We have this friend—”

“No.”

“Aw, come on, man. You didn’t even give me a chance to sell him to you.”

“No, Jacob.”

“You’ll really like him. He’s totally your type. We could—”

“Jacob.” I filled all the limited strength of my backbone into saying his name. “No. I don’t need to be set up with anyone.”

There was a slight pause on the other side of the phone that was way too quiet after the rustling and squelching noises that had plagued the call until now.

“It’s been six months, Joey,” Drew said quietly.

I groaned. Not Drew too. I could take this from Jacob and had been for weeks, but not Drew. Drew was the stable one of the pair. I rubbed my thumb harder against my forehead, trying desperately to clear the frown lines forming between my eyes.

“We care about you,” Drew continued. “It’s clear to us both that you need to get out there again.”

“We’re not asking for you to settle down with the next person you go out with,” Jacob took up the conversational reins. “But a single date won’t kill you. Hell, a blowjob from some rando in a club you’re never going to see again would be perfect. Get you back on that horse, so to speak.”

I frowned. The very last thing I wanted to do was get back out there. Not that I was having trouble getting over the end of my relationship with Amelia. Far from it. I was enjoying not being beholden to anyone. But I also knew that if I didn’t give Jacobsomething, he’d badger me relentlessly until he got his way. Maybe it was better if I tried to head this off my way? “You both want me to get a blowjob at a club?”

“Or at least go on a date,” said Jacob, eagerness dripping from his words.

“Just one date? And then you’ll both let me be?”

“Well…” Jacob began.

“Just one date,” said Drew diplomatically.

I could almost hear Jacob glaring at his boyfriend. “Okay. One date. But onmyterms, Jacob. And in exchange, you both can stop calling me to subject me to your sex noises.”

“We don’t call you for that!” Jacob argued before he took it back seconds later with, “Well, notonlyfor that…”

“Oh, my God.” I swear this headache was growing to gigantic proportions and no amount of massaging my head was going to make it go away. “You’re both a pair of terrifying monsters.”

“Mm… Terrifying kink monsters.” The wet smacking sounds started again. “I love my kink-monster boyfriend…”

“Hanging up now!” I called out before doing exactly that. Good lord. I was friends with some very strange people.

Still rubbing at my forehead, I decided it was time to take a break from driving for a short while. The trip home wasn’t that long, but the conversation with Jacob and Drew had given me a headache, and I figured a quick meal at one of the fast-food restaurants lining any of the offramps of the freeway might combat it enough that I didn’t arrive home a raging monster.

It would also give me a chance to figure out how to fulfill Jacob and Drew’s request without their direct involvement. I knew that if I returned to the frat house on Sunday without proof of anobvious attempt at a date, they’d take over and I wouldn’t get a moment of peace until they got their way.

When I got into my car to head home, I thought I’d had four days of freedom ahead of me. Now, I had four days to find and go on a fucking date.

Not ten minutes later, I was sitting on a hard plastic stool with a burger in one hand and my phone in the other. I chewed as I flicked through all the different dating apps that were available. I hadn’t even looked at one in years, but I figured any messages that I sent and received through the app would show Jacob and Drew that I’d at least attempted to go on a date with someone, even if nothing came from said messages. They’d have to be happy that I’d at least tried, right?

Sighing, I downloaded a random app, figuring they’d all be pretty much the same. I ran through the sign-up process, filled out my bio with the least amount of information possible but making it clear I was pansexual and was open to meeting up with anyone regardless of gender, and uploaded a few photos I had stored in my phone from my time with Amelia, ensuring that I cropped out both her and my head.

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