Page 6

Joey

Four blissful days off.

I had four days where I could forget about my coursework and how much I hated it. Four days where I could escape the seemingly never-ending tedium of my college life. Four days to switch everything off.

God, I needed this.

Cruising down the freeway between college and home, I gripped the steering wheel with one hand and ran my fingers through my hair with the other. The window was down and the wind blowing into the car was making my hair fly everywhere.

A tiny pang of regret hit me at the fact that I hadn’t done something with my hair before I’d left the frat house. I’d let it grow out a lot since the wedding to experiment with a new look, but I felt like I’d finally reached the limit of my hair experimentation. It was now at a point where it was long enough to blow around and impede my vision but not long enough to get tied back. I needed to decide whether I wanted to keep letting it grow or get it cut. But that was a decision I could put off for another four days.

The nineties grunge I was listening to cut out, replaced by the sound of my phone ringing. I checked the display to see who was calling before I hit the power button for the window then the call button on the steering wheel to answer. “Hey, Jacob. What’s up?”

After the twentieth time of hearing him and Drew go at it in a single week, I’d taken a chance and confronted Jacob. While everyone in the house was happy for them now that they were together, their constant need to be loud—so very, very loud—had started to grate on us all. Although my frat brothers were happy to complain to each other about the racket, no-one wanted to step up and say anything to either of the culprits.

So I took the hit. No-one could ever say I wasn’t a team player.

I’d cornered Jacob one morning in the kitchen when it was just the two of us and gently and carefully brought the issue up with him.

He’d been mortified.

Even though he knew the walls were thin, I don’t think he realized just how loud he and Drew had been. Not that I could blame them. They sounded like they were having the time of their lives. I delicately explained that no one wanted to stop them from enjoying themselves, just that if they could be a little quieter, we’d all appreciate it.

I stopped short of offering to buy him a ball gag, but only barely.

Six months had passed quickly since then, and Jacob had happily continued to stay in Drew’s room, even after the contractors had finished fixing his room from the flood damage. Marshall had somehow convinced Lucas’s dad to pay Jacob’s accommodation costs for the coming school year, claiming that Jacob was still technically homeless because of what Lucas had done. Something to do with the overlap of one school year to the next while the renovations were carried out. I’d never seen anyone as skilled at negotiating as Marshall had been during that exchange.

When Marshall had told Jacob and Drew about it at one of the house meetings, Jacob had offered his tiny room as a study den for everyone who lived in the house, along with using it as emergency accommodations so no-one would encounter the same issues he’d had if something unexpected popped up.

Marshall had been thrilled with the idea but reminded Jacob that if he ever needed his room back to actually sleep in, he was welcome to it. Jacob had laughed when Drew had grumbled loudly at the idea and wrapped a possessive arm around Jacob’s middle.

Everyone in the frat knew right then and there that those two were end goals.

Jacob, Drew, and I had become dear friends after I’d approached Jacob about the noise issue, so much so that we now regularly drank, studied, and gamed together. Occasionally, it was even all three at the same time.

“What’s this I hear about you leaving us in the lurch on Friday? You know how much Drew wanted to go to that club down on Herbert.”

I started laughing. It wasn’t Drew who wanted to go clubbing; it was Jacob. He always tried to throw his boyfriend under the bus though. “In case you didn’t realize, this Friday is the day after Thanksgiving. There ain’t no way I’m going anywhere on Black Friday.”

“Eh, you’re such a worrywart.”

“No, I’m an introvert who prefers not getting pushed around by strangers in very dark and obnoxiously crowded warehouses that masquerade as temporary clubs.”

“That’s half the fun!”

“Yeah, for you. You love getting your ass groped.”

“Only by Drew. Isn’t that right, babe?” Jacob’s voice drifted away, no doubt directing his question to Drew. A wet smacking sound came through the speakers loud and clear soon after, confirming my suspicions.

“Hey! No smooching while you’re on the phone!” I said loudly, even as I laughed. “Need I remind you that you called me ? If you want to slobber all over each other’s faces, kindly do so after you get off the phone, please and thank you.”

There was a rustling sound before Jacob came back on the phone. “You’re so unreasonable, Joey.”

I heard Drew laughing in the background, so I suspected I was now on speaker.

“Excuse me, sir. I am perfectly reasonable. Just because you two have each other to lick each other’s tonsils, doesn’t mean the rest of us want to hear it happen.”

“I had my tonsils taken out when I was twelve.”

I rubbed my thumb along my forehead. I swear, talking to Jacob was an exercise in futility at times. “Oh my God, Jacob. Not the point I was going for.”

“Drew knows he can’t lick me there, anyway.” He paused to let Drew’s laughter carry through my speakers. “Not that he doesn’t give it a red-hot go. You like to lick me in lots of places, don’t you Drew?”

“You’re delicious. How can I resist?” Drew asked just before the smooching noises began again.

“Fuck my life,” I muttered, resigned to my fate of listening to these two horn-dogs going at it. “Guys?”

“Remember that night after I ate all that pineapple?”

Oh. My. GOD. “ Guys! ”

“What?”

“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 are for. 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 Jacob something , 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 on my terms, 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, not only for 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 an obvious 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.

That’s all the users of these apps wanted anyway, right? Torso pics with lots of skin?

I huffed at the thought and tapped on the submit button. This whole thing was ridiculous.

I sat back and shoved the last bite of burger into my mouth while I waited for the app to do its thing and thought about the next step.

If I wanted to do something while I was back home, I needed to set the location parameters to closer to my folk’s place, rather than near the frat house. I could always change the parameters when I got back if Jacob was being obnoxious about me not doing enough.

The app pinged at me, letting me know it was done, so I leaned over my phone and searched through the settings for the location constraints. It was easy enough to find, so I set it up before I revisited my bio.

It all looked fine, but I added a single line before I made my profile live:

Let’s get to know each other first.

I contemplated adding the obligatory No dick pics, but figured I wouldn’t mind looking at some nice-looking cocks if people were willing to send them to me. Looking at them didn’t mean I had to message them back.

Within minutes of my profile going live, I started getting messages.

Give me 5 minutes. I’ll get to know your ass real well.

Snd dik.

You wanna feel my massive cock wreck that tiny hole of yours? (image attached)

Your nipples look so delicate. I want to bite them off.

I rolled my eyes as I deleted message after message, although I did save a screenshot of the dick pic I’d received. It had a nice curve to the left with a prominent vein on the underside. I figured Jacob would probably be ecstatic to see proof that I’d received such a professional-looking dick pic.

Just as I was about to turn my phone off and head back to the car, another message popped up, and the preview of the text made me pause and open the full message.

I’ve just come back home after a few years away. Eager to test the dating pool to see what’s currently swimming. I’m free tonight, if you’d like to meet up? Dinner only, I swear. I have no expectations other than a friendly chat over a decent shared meal.

That actually sounded rather promising. If I got the required date out of the way tonight, I could relax for the rest of the weekend. And if the night went pear-shaped, like it probably would, I was only visiting for a few days. It wasn’t like I was ever going to see them again.

I clicked on the profile of the person who’d sent me the message.

He identified as male, which didn’t bother me. Although I’d been with both guys and girls before I’d started dating Amelia, it had obviously been a while since I’d been with anyone other than her.

His profile bio was as scant as mine, and just like me, he’d focused on photos showing lots of skin but no face. He was pale skinned with a smattering of freckles along his lean torso that looked to be free of hair. I couldn’t put an age to him, but I got the impression he was young, like me.

Of course, he could be catfishing me, but considering he was only after a meal, I figured it couldn’t hurt to message him back. What was the worst that could happen? We’d eat and discover we had nothing in common at all before going our separate ways. At least we’d both get a good meal.

I went back to his message and typed out a quick response as I walked back to my car.

Sure. When and where?