Page 21 of Level Up (Franklin U 2 #4)

Chapter Twenty-One

Jay

I rested my head on Ryan’s shoulder as we rode our Uber back to campus. The smell of his spearmint gum drifted in my direction, my hand on his thigh.

The night at Passions went better than I could have even dreamed. Hanging with Ryan was a blast, and it was more fun when I wasn’t worrying about who was looking our way or who was ready to talk shit about us being together. I didn’t even blame it on the alcohol because I’d stopped drinking after two vodka pineapples, so I had a buzz, but I wasn’t really all that drunk.

I just didn’t care anymore.

Fuck it. Let people think whatever they wanted. I was still going to fight for the causes I believed in while getting some really great dick on the side. Dick that belonged to my boyfriend.

We’d hung out with Maliboob for most of the night until Ryan pulled me downstairs to the dance floor. There, he had revealed his hidden talent for dancing like he was Channing Tatum under a rainstorm. He’d been so sensual with his movements, grinding up on me and spinning me and kissing me.

It was incredible, and I couldn’t wait to keep the night going.

“You can drop us off here,” Ryan said, right at the edge of campus. We were still a decent ten-minute walk away from our dorm.

I gave him a curious glance as we hopped out of the car.

“I wanted to walk with you,” Ryan explained. “You don’t mind, do you?”

“No, not at all,” I said, my cheeks hurting from how much smiling I’d been doing. We started down the palm tree-lined sidewalk, past the smooth white sign for Franklin University. There was a tiled design of the sun above it that glittered with the two lights shining up from the bed of succulents.

I felt a swell of pride at being an FU student. Getting kicked out of my last school had been a life-changing nightmare that somehow turned into a dream I didn’t want to wake up from.

Life was good. Glancing over at a grinning Ryan only proved that.

“What are you smiling so much about?” I asked, bumping him with my shoulder.

“It’s from being around you all night.”

“Oh, really?”

“Mhmm,” he said and reached for my hand. We weren’t at Passions anymore. We didn’t have the veil of distance and fog from a janky smoke machine shielding us. I could have slid my hand in my pocket. Ryan might have understood, but I knew that would still hurt him .

And it would hurt me too. So instead of pulling away, I twined my fingers through his and squeezed. We continued our walk with our hands gently swinging between us.

“Have you made any games yet?” I asked him, wanting to learn more about this side of the hunky jock. I knew he loved to play video games, but I hadn’t known how passionate he was about creating them. That was new to me, and it was also really hot. I loved how his face lit up when he talked about it.

“Not really,” he said, shaking his head but still beaming. “I’ve toyed around with some concepts and worked on coding a few simple ones for the phone. But I’m aiming for a big AAA game on one of the main consoles. I want the most reach. I want to make a video game that isn’t just fun but taps into something beyond that.”

“Sounds like a huge goal to hit.”

“It is. And you know, if you’d asked me before tonight if I’d ever hit it, I’d probably have said, ‘Yeah fucking right.’ But now? I believe it. I believe I can even win Game of the Year someday.”

“Well… I believe it too. I believe in you.”

My words floated in the air, like butterflies on silent wings. Ryan looked at me and his smile softened. But not in a bad way. There was a deep well of emotion inside him.

“And if it’s not Game of the Year, it’s an Oscar when you’re cast in some harrowing movie about a row star who rows his boat up the wrong stream.”

Ryan laughed at that. “Sounds like you’ve thought of this.”

“Thought about this? I have an entire script drawn up and ready to go.” I scoffed. “You think you’re getting famous without me? Nah, especially since I made me your co-star. ”

“Isn’t that like nepotism or something?”

“No, that’s playing favorites with myself, which I think is allowed.”

“Do we get to kiss?”

“I wrote it. Of course we get to kiss. Also I hope you’re ok with full frontal nudity.”

More laughter rose to the night sky.

“Oh and they’re called shells. Our boats.”

Jay pursed his lips and nodded. “Hmm, ya learn something new every day. I’m gonna have to go back in and make a few edits.”

“Let me help.”

“No,” he said with a wink. “I want the scene with the honey and tapioca in a shell to be a surprise.”

“Honey and… You’re wild.” Ryan leaned in with a laugh and kissed me.

I squeezed his hand, shifting things back to him. “So what changed, huh? About you believing in yourself? What’s broken down your inner-saboteur?” I asked as we stood at a crosswalk. The streets were mostly empty, with a few late-night study sessions going on, judging by the few cars that headed toward the library.

“Talking with you is what changed. I’ve been holding myself back from even considering a future in game design. But being with you, talking with you, it’s opened up my eyes.”

“Really?”

“Really. You have a way with words that somehow makes everything click into place for me.” He smiled at me and squeezed my hand. “No wonder you’re so good at making people listen to your causes. ”

I huffed out a breath and shook my head. Ryan had me blushing, even though I didn’t fully believe him. “If I were so great with words, maybe I’d have made a bigger change by now.”

“Are you kidding me? You’ve already made an impact, and you haven’t even graduated college yet.” Ryan stopped on the sidewalk. He grabbed my other hand in his. “I’m so proud of you, and I legit look up to you. My grandma used to say that change always happens most through ripple effects from the first initial splash. You’ve already thrown the pebble into the water; you made the splash. Who knows what kind of changes you put into effect.”

A warmth bloomed in my chest. “And I’m the one that’s good with words?” I asked, moving a little closer to him. “You just fully gave me a philosophical statement. And it made sense, too. Your grandma must have been a really smart woman.”

“One of the smartest. But I will say I’m not all that far behind. I’ve read a book or two.” He shrugged and dusted off some invisible dirt from his shoulder.

I crossed my arms and smirked at him. “How many pictures did they have?”

“None!” He narrowed his eyes, his handsome face cracked into a big smile. “Alright, a few.”

I laughed as I leaned forward. I rested my head gently against his chest. He was warm, solid. Both his hands in mine.

This felt so peaceful. I closed my eyes and pictured us floating along in an impenetrable bubble. I had resisted this connection from the jump, and for what? So I could potentially miss the love of my life? I had wrongly assumed that Ryan was like his father, and that assumption almost fucked shit up for me in a massive way.

I picked my head back up and looked into Ryan’s eyes. They lit up under the streetlamp’s orange glow. A breeze from the ocean drifted toward us, and—for once in my life—it didn’t make my stomach flip.

Before I knew it, our lips locked again. This time, we were out in public, and I couldn’t give three fucks. I grabbed Ryan’s face in my hands and kissed him like the world was ending. I pushed my body against his, feeling how solid he was.

It only took a few seconds and a couple of tongue swirls to get me fully hard. I had to get him back to the dorm. I needed to get him naked and on a bed immediately, or I was scared I’d self-combust from how horny I was.

“Let’s go,” I said. “I need to have you.” He had mentioned wanting to talk with me about something, but whatever it was could wait.

I had only one thing on my mind.

“Mhmm,” he said, kissing me again. “You can have all of me.”

God, I didn’t want to separate from him. If we could teleport ourselves to bed, that’d be great. I wanted Ryan’s balls in my mouth and his full body weight on my face. If my tombstone read “death by suffocation from big, meaty thighs,” then everyone would know I died a happy boy.

A noise caught my attention. I froze. Like an opossum tipping over at the approaching headlights of a racing car. I looked to the left and involuntarily rolled my eyes.

Tim walked toward us.

Seriously ?

I could feel Ryan tense up next to me. I could jump back and pretend like nothing was happening, or…

“You two are out late,” Tim said suspiciously as he approached. He cradled a textbook and iPad in his arms. “Jay, shouldn’t you be rehearsing for tomorrow’s show?”

“I’ve already got my lines down,” I said. Ryan’s hand almost dropped from mine, but I squeezed and held him a little tighter.

“So I decided to have a date night with my boyfriend. Is that an issue?” Tim’s brows shot up. “Boyfriend?” His gaze dropped to our hands before coming back to my eyes. Ryan looked at me, surprised. I smiled even wider.

“Yup, is that problematic or something?”

Tim cocked his head, beady brown eyes jumping between Ryan and me. “It’s weird to me. The person championing the environment is dating the person destroying it.”

Ryan started to defend himself, but I jumped in. “No, you aren’t doing that. Ryan isn’t a walking representation of his father’s company, and he shouldn’t be treated like he is. So go and talk whatever shit you want. It’s not going to bother me.”

He blinked a couple of times and was about to say something else, but I really didn’t care to listen. I gave Ryan’s hand a pump and turned us around, starting down the sidewalk and toward our dorm. “That was hot,” Ryan said as we got out of hearing distance. “Like, I’m so fucking turned on right now.”

“Good,” I said, giving him a smirk. “Because I want you to rearrange my guts when we get back to the dorm.”

His smile widened, eyes lighting up. “Really?”

I nodded. Before I could even blink, Ryan started to run, laughter following behind him. “I’ll race you!” he said, already leaving me in his dust.