Page 5 of Best Friends

What happens now?

Will this get awkward?

Jesse searched his roommate’s profile, looking for hints about how they handled what they’d just done. He’d never jerked off while another dude watched, so he wasn’t completely sure what they were supposed to do.

Forget it and move on?

Hayden didn’t look at Jesse as he walked to the door. “Let go,” Hayden said over his shoulder.

They checked in on the girls, who said they were okay, but didn’t open the door. Jesse could hear Olivia still throwing up and felt his own stomach lurch.

“I’ll call you,” Mandy said through the door to Hayden.

“I didn’t give you my number,” Hayden responded. “Or get yours.”

Nothing was said back. The only thing that came was another round of puking.

“I guess we go,” Hayden said, looking half sick himself.

They walked downstairs, and Hayden made a beeline for the front door. Jesse was all too glad to get out of there. After a few minutes, they were midway to their dorm and out in a quiet quad.

“I can’t believe she blew me off,” Hayden said abruptly.

“At least the girl you were with didn’t start puking in the middle of a blowjob.”

Hayden laughed. “True.”

Jesse had a lot of thoughts running through his mind and feared he might blurt any one of them. Staying quiet seemed a better choice.

“You realize that had nothing to do with you, right?” Hayden said. “Don’t take it that she didn’t like you or anything. She just drank too much.”

“She didn’t know me well enough to like me one way or another,” Jesse said.

“You know what I mean,” Hayden said. “I can tell you’re one of those guys who overthinks things. Don’t.”

Hayden tilted his head and pinned Jesse with a look.

That look seemed to insinuate something.

Is he talking about what just happened between us?

I wasn’t overthinking things… was I?

Jesse looked away, confused.

He spent the rest of the trip home feeling just as confused. They reached their dorm and raced up the stairs to their rooms. They had a quad flat—one of the few freshmen to score one. They, along with two other freshmen, shared one living space and bathroom, and they had their own tiny bedrooms. Each of the four bedrooms were just large enough for a desk bed. It was like a bunk, but it had a desk and dresser where the bottom bunk would’ve gone.

It was small, but ultimately all they needed. And their quad mates seemed okay. When they got back into their space, Clay and Adam were playing a video game, sitting on the couch. There was a third guy between them.

“You two are back early,” Clay said. “Lame party?”

“It was okay,” Hayden said. “A bit wild.”

“A bit?” Jesse asked.

Clay grinned. “Damn, maybe I should’ve gone.”

“And miss all the nerding out over this game?” Adam asked. He turned to Jesse. “By the way, this is Benji. He’s tutoring me in Pre-Calc.”

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