Page 42 of Out of My Mind

“A big one,” Mac said, pouring himself a drink, too. “You’re going to be an uncle! Uncle Gideon!”

Gideon thought about playing with a baby, holding his niece or nephew in his arms, big eyes staring up at him.

“You’re going to be a great uncle. Kids are going to love you!”

“I wish I was better prepared.”

“I’m sure your brother feels the same way. Cut him a little slack,” Mac said. But he didn’t understand. He wasn’t being thrown around in the tornado, just watching it safely with binoculars.

“I’ll try.” Gideon kept thinking about how his mom was reacting. He checked his phone, waiting to hear from her.

But he didn’t want to think about his family drama. He wanted to live his life. He joined Mac on the couch and kissed him with gusto. It was funny how easier that was getting. The less he thought about things, the easier they were.

“So, as I was saying…sex?” Gideon asked.

“Are you sure? I mean, it’s sex.”

“This isn’t a Very Special Episode. Neither of us are virgins.” Gideon lifted his eyebrows in an extra plea. Mac’s tight T-shirt made him more enticed. He shrugged off the guilt he felt about making such an observation.

If my brother can get his girlfriend knocked up, then I can ogle my roommate’s ripped chest.

Hesitation crossed Mac’s brown eyes. Gideon didn’t want to force him. He worried for a second that Mac didn’t want this. Maybe he had shared too much.

“You feel comfortable...having sex?” Mac asked.

“Well, I’d be on top, so there wouldn’t be much difference.”

“Right. Do you want to have sex because—” Mac stopped himself to take another bite of his bagel. And then his hesitation was gone, replaced with something Gideon couldn’t decipher. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Gideon felt his face light up. “Should we do your bed?”

“Yeah.”

They went into Mac’s bedroom, where clothes littered the floor. At least it wasn’t in the apartment common area. They lay on his bed.

Nerves hit Gideon. He was going to have sex. With a guy. This was real.

“Shit.” Mac shut his nightstand drawer. “I’m out of lube.”

“We used it up?” Gideon blushed. Those bottles weren’tthatbig.

Mac tossed the empty bottle onto the floor, which Gideon pretended not to notice. “Can you pick some up tomorrow?”

Gideon did a double take. “Me?”

“I have class and homework. You only have one class tomorrow.”

He was going to ask how Mac knew his schedule, but he knew that Thursdays were Mac’s busiest day, too. Just one of those subconscious things roommates picked up.

“I can’t pick up lube,” Gideon said, desperately.

“I can’t go tomorrow.”

“We can go tonight.”

“The stores are closed. They sell it in the student union.”

Gideon huffed out a laugh. Did Mac expect him to waltz into the student union and run into someone as he asked for a bottle of Astroglide? Mac had a dark sense of humor.