Page 3 of The Hookup Situation

When I arrive at the campus coffee shop about ten minutes later, Lucy is sitting at a booth with Rory’s head on her shoulder, and the poor guy looks utterly miserable. He’s sobbing when I take a seat across from them.

“What the hell?” I ask. I’ve never seen Rory like this before. He’s so upset.

“Zach is trash,” Lucy says, and my eyes widen as I realize the implication.

“Fuck,” I say, then look at Rory. “I’m really sorry, babe.” I hate that his boyfriend cheated on him. No one deserves that. Least of all Rory. I knew Zach was trash, but now I can’t help feeling a bit guilty that neither Lucy or I said something sooner. Maybe we could have spared him this. But he might not have listened, and maybe this is what it’s taking to get him to see the truth about the guy and how much better he deserves. I do wish I could ease his pain though, or help in some way. Those tears are killing me.

He nods and sniffles. “Thank you. I just can’t go back there. I mean, I have to eventually, to get my stuff, but not tonight. Not while he’s there. I have to find a place to stay.”

That I can help with. “You can crash on our couch,” I say, referring to the apartment I share with two other guys. I’mjust thankful I don’t have theater practice tonight because Rory needs us both right now.

TWO

PRESTON

“And I’m thinking about getting breast implants,” I hear my roommate and best friend say. “And I’m pretty sure I’m pregnant.”

His words bounce off of me at first and then I register them in my head. “Wait, what?” I turn to him, and he laughs, knocking on my forehead with his closed fist.

“Ow,” I retort, rubbing the spot. “What the fuck?”

“Dude, who are you staring at? You’ve been spaced out for the last five minutes.”

I flush and bite my lip. Chris follows my gaze when I can’t keep it from straying back to the booth across the coffee shop from where we’re sitting. I should be working on the homework for the Human Physiology class we’re in, but I haven’t been able to stop staring at the dark-haired guy, dressed in tight black pants and a vest, and covered in jewelry, from the moment he walked in. Which is a little strange since I’ve never noticed guys before. I mean, not like that anyway.

He’s sitting across from a gorgeous girl with light brown skin and dark curly hair, and a shorter guy with wavy hair and glasses that seems upset. My cock twitches as I watch him, and fuck, that’s new.

“She’s hot,” Chris says. “You should go say hi instead of ogling her from across the room.”

I flush even more and glance at him. Then slide my baseball cap off my head and run my fingers through my blond hair. I’m not terrified by the fact that I’m noticing another man. Just curious, I guess, and intrigued, maybe. And I know Chris won’t care. He’s gay himself. “What would you say if I told you it’s not the gorgeous girl I’m staring at?”

His eyes widen. “Oh, well, I would say you should go talk to him, then. He’s hot too.” He seems a little taken aback but I’m sure it’s just because he never expected his supposedly straight best friend to admit he was sexually attracted to another man.

“He is, isn’t he? I don’t think I’ve ever thought that about a guy before.” I’m grinning now as I place my ball cap back on my head.

“You gonna talk to him?”

“Nah, they seem busy. Besides, I have no idea what I would say.” God, I don’t get flustered, or nervous around other guys, but just the thought of approaching him is making my heart race and sweat break out on my neck and forehead.

Chris clears his throat and I look back at him. He seems…unsettled, maybe. “You okay?”

“Yeah, of course,” he replies. “I’m gonna head home and do my studying there. Too much going on here.” He smiles at me and packs up his things.

“See ya,” I say, and he waves as he walks away. My gaze returns to the striking guy in the other booth as I take a sip of my cappuccino and study him a bit more. His skin is incredibly fair and he’s super thin, but not in a way that makes him seemunhealthy. He looks like he’s in pretty good shape actually, with a runner’s physique and toned arms. I bite back a groan when he stands and my dick twitches again as I watch him walk away. God, that’s a tight ass.

Shit. Am I into dudes? I don’t know but I’m certainly willing to find out. This is definitely not the turn I expected my life to take during my junior year of college, but I’m rolling with it.

Part of me regrets not talking to him, because I have no idea if I’ll ever see him again on such a large campus. But I honestly don’t think I’m ready for that yet. Besides, he might not even be into guys, or if he is he might have a boyfriend. Damn, that would suck. The fact that that disappoints me so much tells me I’m definitely interested. But I think I have some more shit to figure out before I put myself out there.

Maybe once I understand my attraction to him a bit more I’ll run into him again. Here’s hoping, because I don’t think I’m gonna be getting him out of my head any time soon.

I’ve just gotten back to the apartment I share with Chris when my phone rings.

“Hey, Mom,” I say, holding the phone to my ear as I slide my shoes off. I drop my backpack on the floor as well and pad into the living room. I don’t see Chris so he must be in his bedroom.

“Hi sweetie,” she croons. She always sounds like she hasn’t talked to me in months even though she calls several times a week. Honestly it’s a bit much, and I feel smothered sometimes, but I can’t bring myself to ask her to stop because I know why she does it. “How are you?”

“I’m fine.”

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