8. Zachary
CHAPTER 8
ZACHARY
I knew I wasn’t in my bed. It was probably the couch, but I didn’t want to open my eyes and chance seeing that Teo was awake.
Then we’d have to get up.
I could feel his warmth next to me, and even if it wasn't a relationship, I wasn’t going to question the physicality of our friendship. It wasn’t sexual per se, but snuggling was a definite benefit and I was going to take all of it I could get.
While I laid there, I couldn’t stop thinking about Liam grabbing at Teo. What was he thinking? I’d be surprised if he were gay since he seemed awfully concerned with pussy, but then again, that could’ve been an act. Thankfully, I had never pretended and wasn’t going to start now.
Next to me, Teo moved, and there was a hand touching my dick .
My eyes flew open, and of course, Teo was completely under the blanket. I couldn’t see anything.
Fuck. For all I knew, I was going to get hard and poke him in the eye.
“ If you turn to the right, it’ll be right in front of his mouth. ”
“Jesus, Jake. Not right now. ”
“ You’re half naked. He’s wrapped around your body, hand on your dick. If not now, then when? ”
He had a fucking point, but I wasn’t going to let some horned up spirit fuck up my best friendship. I cleared my throat and shifted to the left.
“ Spoilsport. ”
I pretended to yawn and stretch, arching my back off the couch. I felt Teo’s hand slide down my leg, away from my cock, and was rewarded with a collection of noises as he woke up.
“Mmmm…morning.”
I knew the exact moment when he realized where he was.
“Wow! If I didn’t know any better, you tried to seduce me last night with your nightshirt. Sleep shorts would’ve been too obstructive. This way, you just hike your shirt up to your chin and shove it in my face, is that it?”
Teo sat up, allowing me to pull my shirt back down.
“Hey, I didn’t do anything. You’re the one who must’ve gone bobbing for wang.”
Teo shrugged. “I’m not a dick connoisseur, but it doesn’t look very big. You know, if you trim your pubes more, your dick will look bigger. I hear guys like that.”
“You ass!” I slammed him in the face with the pillow that moments before had been behind my head. “How do you know what guys like?”
Teo smiled and I willed my heart not to melt. “Just trying to make you feel less guilty for making a pass at me.”
I ignored that dig, knowing he was just trying to rile me up, and went back to his small dick comment. “Have you ever heard of growers versus showers?”
Teo shook his head.
“It’s a way to classify soft dicks. Some guys – like me – have really small soft dicks, but they grow , and get really big when hard. They’re called growers. Other guys have big, floppy soft dicks already showing and the change in size when hard isn’t as pronounced. Thus, the term showers.”
“That’s really a thing?” Teo asked.
“Yup.”
“I don’t believe you. You’re just trying to make yourself feel better.”
Was he challenging me?
“You want me to crank it right here and show you?”
“ Yes! ”
“Is there a webcam around that I'm not seeing? This seems like an OnlyFans thing.” Teo stood up, and my eyes did not check his crotch. Fucking grey sweatpants.
“How would you know?”
“Okay, okay. Enough about dicks. I’m totally cool with you being gay, but I’m not prepared for this percentage of my daily conversation to be about penises. We’re gonna have to ease into that.”
“ That's what he said. ”
“My dick is perfectly adequate.”
“I’m very sorry, Zachary. I shouldn’t have said anything. You have a beautiful dick. It should be in a museum.”
I knew he was still teasing, but I felt a little better so used the brief moment of silence to change the subject. “Plans for today?”
“Ugh, I’m sure the house is a mess. Wanna go get breakfast on campus? Ross?”
“Oooh, they do have a good breakfast spread.” My stomach rumbled at the thought of freshly-made french toast.
“Might want to change out of your nightshirt.”
I flipped him off before doing just that. I slipped on my tight look-at-my-ass jeans, an oversized hoodie and blue Chuck Taylors. All Teo did was add his team soccer jacket over the shirt and sweats he slept in. I was done with our morning of teasing, so I kept my mouth shut.
“Don’t you have a game this weekend?” I asked, stepping out into the cool mid-morning air. The leaves had all changed, and mostly fallen off, though a few dazzlers were still hanging on.
“Nope. It’s a weeknight game. Practice tomorrow though, and I’ll probably hit the gym later today.”
“Fuck!”
I looked up to watch the syrup mixed with powdered sugar drizzle down Teo’s chin and it did not remind me at all of a cum facial video I had watched two nights prior. Not even close.
“Mmmm.” He swiped at his chin and then sucked the syrup off his finger with a loud, erotic slurp.
My grower was trying to grow, but my look-at-my-ass jeans had turned into prevent-my-boner pants. I shifted my weight, trying to give it room to grow but to no avail, so I just reached down to pop the button open and slid the zipper down.
Much better.
The hoodie was big enough to cover my lap anyway. Plus, we were in one of the quiet corners, away from the entrance.
I toyed with opening Grindr and practically jumped when a text came through.
Aiden: You and Teo finally make it official last night?
Jayden: He was 98% naked already.
Aiden: That was your best chance.
I almost spit out my orange juice.
“What? Who is it?”
“It’s the twins, wondering if I hooked up with anyone last night.”
“You gonna tell ‘em or should I?”
I rolled my eyes at his joke, but I was extremely happy to see him so comfortable with me. After all, I only told him a few days ago but it was like nothing had changed.
Zach: No.
Zach: He does know I’m gay though.
Aiden: Awesome!
Jayden: That’s progress.
Zach: What about you guys?
Aiden: Yup.
Jayden: Kind of hoping it’s a long-term thing. He’s cute.
Zach: Wait, you hooked up together?!
Aiden: Sharing is caring.
“What happened? Your face is practically shining.”
“Just their latest conquest. I’ll let them tell you.”
He put down his fork and folded his arms in front of his chest. “That can’t be all. Nothing they did would’ve made you this happy.”
“Fine, Mr. Perceptive.” I kept my voice low. “I’m just happy you’re so chill with me being gay .”
He looked at me for a second before saying, “One, I don’t know why you’re almost whispering, this is Vermont. This campus is like alphabet soup. And two, did you really think I was going to have a problem with it? I almost feel like I should be upset that you might’ve thought I would treat you any differently.” He paused before adding, “I’m guessing it’s still a lot to process.”
I sighed. It was refreshing having such a level-headed best friend. Even still, I felt the need to explain. “There was always this tiny part of me that was nervous to tell you, that’s nervous to tell my parents. ”
“If I’m being honest with you, Zach”–his hand found my knee under the table–“I kind of had my suspicions in high school when you still had your Captain America posters up in your bedroom.”
“Yeah, I guess that was a little obvious,” I admitted.
“Nothing wrong with Chris Evans. He’s incredibly handsome.” Teo gave my knee a final squeeze and leaned back to stretch.
I tried to think what posters Teo had in his bedroom, but I couldn’t remember. I pretty much stared at him whenever we hung out, like I was doing now. His treasure trail was exposed and I was committing the intricate curves of his abdomen to memory.
After the feast ended, my eyes traveled up his clothed torso to his face. The moment our eyes met I knew he knew what I had been looking at, though he didn’t say anything. We just held eye contact, waiting for the other to break first.
“Hey guys, mind if I sit with you?”
It was Malik. He was dressed as if he just ran a few miles.
“Early morning workout?” I asked.
“Yeah, I had to clear my head.”
Despite the gear, I could still see some of last night’s make-up on his face.
“Pretty ballsy to dress like that last night. You looked good, by the way,” Teo added.
From what I remembered, it was kind of a half-drag, half-femboy outfit. I thought it was a pink camisole, but it was definitely denim cutoffs. I remembered his ass, for sure.
Malik scoffed. “Thanks, but it didn’t do the trick. He’ll never see me as more than a toy.”
I wasn’t sure who he was talking about, but I couldn’t help but feel a little protective of him. He was a first year, after all.
“Hey, I don’t know exactly what you’re dealing with, but I want you to know, if you need someone to talk to, or support or anything – and I hope I’m not off-base here,” I paused, before continuing, “but I’m gay.”
“Wow, thanks for that.” Malik smiled. “I had a feeling at the beginning of the year. But I think I just need to stop falling for straight boys.”
“I might as well just wear a sign. Does everyone know?” I couldn’t help but feel a little flustered.
“My gaydar is on point, babe. Don’t worry about it. Plus, you’re cute, so I was definitely a tad more invested.” He winked at me.
“Is it someone at the frat?” Teo asked. “Do you need us to intervene?”
“I’m not here to dox anyone but it is someone at the frat. He’ll figure himself out in the end, and it won’t be with me waiting in the wings, that’s for damn sure.”
I was fairly certain it wasn’t the twins, which meant it was someone else there.
In just a few days my jock frat had blossomed into a miniature hotbed of rainbow love. I’d have to keep my eyes open a little more.
Well, my eyes were open. They were just looking at Teo Decker most of the time.
“Do you know who Malik is talking about?” Teo asked me.
We were walking back to the frat.
I shrugged. “Not really. I’m still processing that there’s another gay dude in the house.”
“Who? Malik?” Teo laughed. “I could tell as soon as we met him. He was practically drooling on you.”
“I guess I remember that, a little. You hitting the gym now?”
Teo scoffed. “After that meal, I feel so stuffed. I’m gonna take a nap first, then I’ll go.”
The house wasn’t in too bad of shape when we arrived. There were still a few first years dealing with the party’s aftermath. Since Teo was planning on napping, I told him I’d see him after the gym and stayed downstairs to help finish cleaning .
To be honest, I hadn’t spent much time getting to know most of the other guys, but I hated a dirty house. A condition that anyone living in a frat could’ve told me was the norm on a regular basis, but once Teo secured a room for the both of us, that settled it. If the house were dirty the entire year, I told myself I could deal with it because Teo would be my roommate. I also knew it would make my dad happy too, but it was mostly Teo.
I made small talk with the first years. They seemed excited that an upperclassman was helping them, which made me laugh considering I was likely the same age as half of them. I was only a second year, for fuck’s sake. Although after a while, based on the number of questions I got about Teo, it was clear that my connection to the vice president of the frat had not gone unnoticed.
It only took just over an hour to get everything back to normal. Considering how much damage had been done, the guys must’ve busted their asses before my arrival. Shortly after we finished, the incredibly awkward – for me anyway – round of bro hugs before my departure began.