Page 3 of Want Me
“You don’t need me to dumb it down for you. You’re not an idiot, frat boy.”
“I can’t tell if that was a compliment or an insult, or some weird combination of both.” I scooted over on the couch to make room for him. The two of us just fit, the cushions sagging in the middle when he added his weight to it. The thing was ancient, an old, cheesy faux-leather hand-me-down from my parents’ house.
“It was more a tease.” He cut a wry look aside at me, one corner of his mouth lifting again. How he did that effortlessly sexy thing was beyond me. Did he even know he was doing it? Was it some innate gift? Either way, I was responding to it like some hungry fucking animal to the promise of table scraps.
“So what’s tripping you up?”
Right now? You. I cleared my throat with a frown and centered my focus on my book again, explaining the problem I was stuck on.
Eric dived in, unraveling the complex equation with ease, but explaining it in a way that made so much sense I felt like a bonehead for not getting it in the first place. A half hour later, we’d worked through another set of study problems, and I felt more confident about the exam tomorrow.
He watched me work through the last set, nodding as I moved through it.
“Who are those people you were with earlier today?” I asked, penciling in a number, then pausing to erase it and correct.
“Couple of friends. Why?”
“You just never bring anyone around much.” I’d wondered before. Eric didn’t announce he was bi that I could remember. In fact, I didn’t think I’d even know if Jesse hadn’t told me, and I had no idea how Jesse knew. I’d only ever seen Eric bring home a few girls before, and not with any frequency—though thinking about some of those instances sent another sluice of heat running through me. But he’d never brought home a guy, so if he was getting it, he was getting it elsewhere. And…screen refresh on that sluice of heat; it poured through me all over again, imagining Eric tugging down a guy’s fly, lowering to his knees. God, I needed help.
“No offense, but there’s a strong jock theme running rampant through this house.” His words snapped me back to the present.
“Yeah, but none of us are really dicks. Shit, you’re probably the biggest dick of all of us.” Eric was snarky, no doubt.
“I like to think it’s a good size, yeah,” he quipped back, and I flipped him off to distract myself from thinking about the size of his dick. Man, I was really digging myself deeper into the hole here.
“I dunno,” he continued. “I could, I guess. We just always end up somewhere else.”
“Are you…?” I wasn’t sure how to ask what I wanted to know without being obvious, but apparently my expression was obvious enough.
“Hooking up with one of them? Chet and Amanda?” he laughed. “No, I mean I think Chet would be all over that…but no.” One eyebrow perked. “Why, you interested?” He gave me a cheeky smile, and I blew out a long breath, shaking my head.
“Nope, just asking. The girl was cute.”
“But not Chet?” He seemed very interested in my answer.
I tried for a casual shrug. “He was all right. I mean…yeah, sure.”
“I’d be happy to pass your number to him. Or Amanda. I don’t think either one of them would pass up a body like yours.” He was definitely fucking with me now.
“No, that’s not what I—” I gave an aggravated shake of my head, ignoring his smirk as I bent my head back over the table and glared at the math problem, working through it in silence that grew more awkward by the second.
When I finished, I dropped my pencil on the table and collapsed back into the couch with a long exhale. Eric checked my work, then gave me a nod. “Looks good. I think you’ve got it.”
“Thanks so much, dude, really. This is a huge load off.”
He started chuckling, and it took me a second to realize what was making him laugh, but when I did, that stupid flush started crawling up my cheeks again. I smeared my hands down my face like I could drag the color away. I’d worked myself up so much over the past few days I was about to explode just being near him. I was probably throwing off pheromones like a motherfucker. Was he really unaware? Something about the way he was looking at me made me think he knew exactly how much he’d been on my mind lately.
“It’s not a big deal, you know. I’ve been busted more times than I can count on both hands.”Why? Whydid my cock twitch at that?
“Though—” His head tipped to one side, his eyes going distant. “Can’t say I’ve ever actually busted in on a guy and then he shot his load in front of me. Killer timing on that one. Your face, man.” He made a whooshing sound effect. “Shock and awe.”
“Yep, no need to rehash. I was there.”
He grinned as I went redder.
“I’m just fucking with you.” His grin waned when I didn’t smile, and his expression sobered. “I’ll stop.”
“No it’s fine, just—” I shook my head. “I’m making things awkward. Let’s just stop talking about it.”