Chapter 2
Now it’s Troy’s turn to look at me weirdly. He sets his controller down on the coffee table with a soft click. For a few seconds, the only sound is the idle music from the game menu.
“You’re fucking with me,” he says.
“I’m not. You just spent ten minutes telling me it’s no big deal. And you made a pretty compelling case.”
“Yeah, but I was talking in general. Like, as a concept.”
“Well, I’m open to the concept.”
He stares at me. I stare back. His green eyes are narrowed, and I realize how intense they get when he’s not laughing or goofing around. I can’t tell if he’s pissed, surprised, or what.
“But you’re not some random dude at a party, Connor. We’re friends. Roommates.” He gestures around our small living room, littered with empty pizza boxes and beer cans. “This is our place.”
“Yeah.” I swallow. “So? Doesn’t that make it easier? Nobody has to find out.”
“Jesus Christ, Con.” Troy runs a hand through his hair, messing it up even more. “It’s different.”
“How?”
“It just is, man. That’s… don’t you think that’s a little weird?”
Fuck. I completely misread the situation, didn’t I?
I was so busy picturing him with that other guy, so busy noticing the outline in his sweats, that it all got tangled up in my head.
I’ve overstepped. I’ve made it awkward. This is the guy I have to see every single day, the guy whose smelly socks I have to pick up off the floor. I need to backtrack, fast.
“Right, yeah. Of course.” I force a laugh that sounds hollow even to my own ears. “I was just messing with you, man. Seeing how you’d react. Totally kidding.” I grab my controller. “You’re getting way too easy to rile up. Now let me get my revenge.”
But Troy doesn’t pick up his controller. He’s still looking at me with that weird expression.
“You sure you were kidding?”
“Dude, obviously.”
“Because for a second there—”
“Come on, Troy. You know me. Always giving you shit.” I’m talking too fast, the words tripping over each other. “Got you good, though. You looked freaked.” I shove his shoulder. “Payback for springing all that gay shit on me out of nowhere.”
I’m pushing it. I know I’m pushing it. I keep my eyes glued to the TV screen, my thumbs hovering over the buttons, ready to start another match and pretend this never happened. My heart is beating against my ribs like a trapped bird. Please just let it go. Please just let it go.
But Troy doesn’t let it go. He’s seen me talk my way out of too many things to fall for a half-assed recovery attempt like this.
“You’re a shitty liar, Con. You always get a little twitch in your eye when you’re full of shit.”
My eye twitches. I feel it. “Whatever, man. Are you gonna play or not?”
He reaches out, not for his controller, but for mine. He gently pries it from my fingers and sets it next to his on the table.
“We’re not playing right now.”
“Troy, seriously. Just drop it. You were right, okay? It was a stupid idea.” I can feel a hot flush creeping up my neck. I want to disappear. I want to rewind the last five minutes and just play the fucking game.
“Hang on. Let’s be real for a second.” He leans forward again, forearms on his knees. “You were actually thinking about us doing what I did with that guy in the bathroom.”
I wipe a sweaty palm on my thigh. “Got caught up in what you were saying. You made it sound… I don’t know. Logical or whatever. It was just talk.”
“And who would be doing the sucking in this scenario?”
“What?”
“Who would be on his knees? Me or you? Hypothetically.”
“I don’t know, man. We could take turns. Or… I don’t know, rock-paper-scissors or something.”
“Rock-paper-scissors?” Troy laughs. “Damn, you really didn’t think this through, did you?”
“Like I said, stupid idea.”
“No. What I mean is, I’m way too big for a first-timer. I’d choke you out. You can’t seriously be thinking of starting with a dick like mine. No offense.”
I stare at his crotch again, at the bulge pushing against the gray fabric.
“You’re not that big, man. Save the bravado for the girls you’re trying to impress. I’ve seen you naked. Yeah, you’re a little bigger than me, but you’re not a fucking porn star.”
“You been measuring up, bro?” There’s a glint in his eye now, the cocky Troy I know creeping back in.
“Don’t flatter yourself. You’re my roommate. I’ve seen your dick a hundred times. It’s not like I’ve been checking you out.”
“But you’ve never seen me hard, have you?” He gives my shoulder a squeeze, and I tense up. “You don’t have the full picture.” He reaches into the front of his sweatpants, shifting himself around. “There’s a difference. Trust me.”
“I know how erections work, Troy. I’ve got one of my own.”
“But not like this, I bet.” He pats the front of his pants. “Want a sneak peek?”
His fingers are already hooked under the waistband, right by the drawstring tie. My eyes follow the movement.
“Dude…”
“Just giving you the intel you need to make an informed decision. Because if you’re serious about this, which, let’s be honest, you were, then you need to know what you’re getting into.
” He tugs the waistband down a couple of inches.
Dark brown pubes spill over the top. He stops and looks at me.
“Well? You want to see? Or we go back to me kicking your ass. Your call.”
It’s weird. Half an hour ago, if Troy had pulled this shit, I would’ve told him to fuck off. Or laughed it off. But now, after everything he said, after picturing him in that bathroom… I’m genuinely curious. I want to see it.
“Yeah, whatever,” I say as casually as I can manage, even though my heart is trying to punch its way out of my chest.
Troy grins, the smug bastard. “Thought so.” He takes his time tugging his sweatpants down, dragging it out like he’s enjoying the suspense.
The base comes into view, and I can see the vein on top pulsing.
He’s already half-hard. It’s thicker than I expected.
He pulls the fabric down a little more. More cock reveals itself.
Then more. And more. Jesus Christ, it just keeps coming.
I had no idea. I really thought he was bullshitting.
But he wasn’t.
Finally, the head pops free, the foreskin pulling back to reveal a glistening, purplish tip.
The whole thing rests against his thigh, bigger half-hard than I am fully erect.
Troy lets the elastic waistband sit under his balls, pushing the whole package up.
He grips it at the base and gives it a little shake, letting it swing back and forth.
“Still think you can take it?”
I stare at it. At the veins snaking up the shaft, the curve of it, the way it looks soft and hard at the same time. At the full, heavy balls underneath. I’ve never been this close to another dude’s cock before. Never studied one like this.
I’m surprised at the feeling stirring deep in my gut. The sudden, overwhelming urge to touch it. To taste it. To see how much of it I can fit in my mouth.
“I, uh…” I clear my throat.
“Speechless, huh?” He runs a thumb over the head, smearing the bead of liquid that’s gathered there. “I get that a lot. Some girls even squeal a little. And that guy in the bathroom…” He chuckles. “He basically started drooling.”
“You’re really loving this, aren’t you? Showing it off.”
“Just letting you see why I can’t be your training wheels, bro. And yeah, it’s pretty fun watching your face right now.”
He’s holding it, pointing it toward me like a weapon.
My brain is doing backflips. One part of me is screaming that this is insane, that I need to grab my controller and pretend none of this ever happened.
That’s Troy. My bud. My roommate. The guy who leaves wet towels on the floor and thinks pizza three times a week counts as a balanced diet.
But a bigger, louder part is telling me to go for it.
We’re already in weird territory. What’s a little more weirdness?
I’m not gay. But looking at Troy’s cock right now, I can understand why some guys are. And I can definitely understand why that guy got on his knees in a dirty bathroom for him.
The words tumble out of my mouth before I can stop them.
“Fuck it. I’m not backing down from a challenge, Troy.” I push myself off the couch and onto the floor, kneeling on the rug between his legs. “Let’s see what all the fuss is about.”