2. Two
Two
Jude
M y arm tightens around the body in front of me. I’m only half-awake, but the feel of a naked body cuddled into me means I must have had better luck at the party last night than I thought possible. Girls rarely have much of an interest in me, especially when I’m with Tae, that lucky bastard. I doubt he has any clue how hard it is for the rest of us mere mortals. All he has to do is pick his bed partner for the night and flash a smile or waggle his eyebrows. I lean my head down to kiss the girl’s neck, and she sighs, backing her ass up into my morning wood.
I open my eyes at the familiar chuckle, then freeze as the person in my arms opens his mouth. “Someone’s excited this morning. Can I help you with that?” Tae turns around and his brown eyes widen in surprise. “Shit, um, sorry. I guess we got a little too drunk last night.”
That’s an understatement. How drunk did I have to get to think it was a good idea to crawl into bed with my best friend? Tae might be bi, but I’ve never even considered doing something like that with a guy. Which doesn’t explain why my dick is still achingly hard as Tae wiggles out of my arms. He stands up next to the bed, and I can’t stop myself from looking him over. I’m still in a state of disbelief, but if the crusty mess on his chest is anything to go off, we did something last night.
Tae snags a new pair of briefs from his dresser, pulling them up his long legs to cover his ass. I’m still lying in his bed, trying to process everything, when he turns around and bites his lip. “Are you okay?” he asks.
“Yeah.” I shake my head, but none of this makes sense. “Just a little foggy. Probably hungover from last night or something.” Except I don’t feel hungover, just horny and confused.
“Right, well, don’t overthink it. This doesn’t have to change anything. It doesn’t mean anything with how drunk we were, okay?” Tae doesn’t look at me as he digs through his things.
I was going to ask Tae what he remembers from last night, but he’s gone straight to let’s forget this ever happened. “Sure, uh, yeah, that’s probably for the best.” I sit up and look around the room for my clothes.
Tae walks over to where I’m sitting on the edge of the bed and pulls me in for a quick hug. Just when my dick was starting to go down, all it takes is one hug from him to confuse me all over again. “Thanks for not making this weird.” Tae’s phone chimes from somewhere, and he finally pulls away from me.
With how I’m still naked, there’s no hiding my reaction to the whole situation, but Tae isn’t even looking. He’s already absorbed in his phone and tapping away as he responds to whoever texted him. I grab my clothes off the floor, pulling on my underwear and jeans in a rush. The last thing I need is to confuse the matter further and have Tae notice how my body is reacting to him. It doesn’t even make sense. I’ve never found myself attracted to Tae before. Hell, I’ve never been attracted to any guy before.
“I hate to do this with everything that just happened, but I need to get ready. My mom is on her way to pick me up. You’re still going home for the summer too, right?” Tae is already grabbing more clothes and pulling them on before he grabs a suitcase from his closet. He grabs handfuls of clothes from the closet, emptying it out.
“I’m driving home tomorrow. I’ll see you during break?” I’m almost afraid to hear his answer. I don’t want whatever happened last night to get in the way of our friendship.
“I’ll text you. We can figure something out.” He keeps gathering up the last of his things and shoving it into his luggage, not bothering to look at me as he talks. I pull my shirt on and find my shoes but not my socks. It’ll have to do. I need to get out of here before I say anything stupid. I can’t think all of this through right now.
I leave without saying goodbye. Luckily, the main room of the dorm is empty, and I avoid any awkward run-ins with Tae’s dorm mates. From there, it’s a short walk down the hall to my dorm. I pull out my key and open the door, walking into the main room. Kevin looks up from the video game for a moment to glance at me. “Hey, Jude.” His eyes are already back on the screen, so I keep walking to my room.
“Uh, hey,” I mumble, almost under my breath before closing the door.
What the fuck? I don’t even bother walking to my bed. I just lean back into the door trying to think, but the first thing that pops into my head is how smooth Tae’s voice was, “Can I help you with that?” My dick twitches again, and I reach down to adjust myself. My jeans from last night aren’t great with my half chub. I’m tempted to change clothes, but I’m getting harder thinking about all the confusing possible things that could have happened last night.
I have vague memories of following Tae back to his room after we left the party. We were going to play video games, but he had a bottle of something. I remember the alcohol burning my throat, but we were already pretty buzzed by that point. I said something, asked him a question, I think, then we kissed. The rest of the night is a blur. My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I click the message open once I see who it’s from.
Tae
Are you freaking out?
No.
My response is instinctive. Tae doesn’t want to make this weird, and I’m gonna do my best to do the same.
Tae
Anything you want to talk about or ask?
I stare at my phone, but I don’t know what to say. What does he mean? He’s the one who said this doesn’t have to mean anything. That we can keep this from being weird. Minutes pass before another message pops up.
Tae
If you change your mind, let me know. I’m here if you want to talk.
I turn off the screen on my phone, ignoring the message for now. I need a chance to process all of this first. I open my closet and switch my button-down shirt for a T-shirt. I don’t bother changing out of my jeans. They’ll work for what I have in mind. I grab my hiking bag and water bottle, then I put in my earbuds. I check my phone again, but there’s no new messages as I start some music. Kevin is still playing his game in the main room, but he doesn’t say anything once he looks over at me, just gives a quick wave. I keep walking, leaving the dorms.
There are crowds of students in the hallways. A combination of hungover partygoers from last night doing the walk of shame back to their dorms and students loaded with luggage to head home for the summer. I fall weirdly into the first category, but I’ve already decided not to think about that. Luckily, our college is only a couple of miles away from a hiking trail. The benefits of living in a small mountain town—nature is within walking distance.