Chapter 16
Marty
It’s been a great week.
Part of being roommates with Ryan means I haven’t had any alone time to jerk off, but since we started fucking around, Ryan and I have gotten off every day—twice yesterday.
Now that he’s shown a side of himself that’s more than an oblivious, broey jock, he doesn’t get on my nerves as much.
Probably in no small part due to what I’ve learned his mouth can do to me—something that’s hard to take my mind off as we work through a little tango coaching from one of the least qualified instructors in the dance world.
Both of us are dressed for tonight’s TaskFrat challenge, in gladiator outfits we put together with the guys earlier in the week. I wear a chest plate, but unsurprisingly, Ryan’s shirtless, with just a harness like he’s He-Man, which is about as distracting as his mouth.
That might be why I fuck up the ocho.
“That was me,” he says.
“No, that one was definitely me.”
He tilts his head. “You sure? I was supposed to step back when you stepped forward.”
“Oh yeah. That’s right. I guess it was you. My mind’s all over the place right now.”
“Maybe we take a break for some of those smooches.”
I laugh—a full, uninhibited laugh at something Ryan said to me. Wow. Things have changed over the past week.
“Don’t laugh at me too much, or you won’t get any smooches.”
“You can only get away with saying smooches so many times.”
“Just trying to gauge where the line is.”
“That’s what you do, like, all the time, isn’t it?”
He surely knows I’m referring to his mischievous behavior because he arches his eyebrows. “I’ve been good this week.”
He’s not wrong.
“Since we started messing around, you have been,” I observe. “Maybe you just need to make sure to get off a couple of times a day, and then you’re not so bad.”
“Not so bad supposed to be a compliment?”
“I didn’t think a guy like you needed any of those.”
“Guess you don’t know me as well as you think because I love a compliment. And I think I know how to get one from you.”
He leans in, moving slowly, and as much as I want another kiss, I sneak a look at the clock on my nightstand. “We’ve got ten minutes before we have to be out of here.” Ryan groans before I add, “We need to get through this routine once more before TaskFrat. Then we’ll call it for the night.”
He leans back, his gaze wandering before he turns a mischievous glance my way. “Or we could sneak in a quick jerk-off session?”
“Is that all you ever think about?” I ask, though his inquiry makes my dick a little twitchy. “If we only ever fuck around, then you won’t learn any tango moves and I won’t get any practice.”
He sighs. “No fun, but sure.” He offers a quick peck before we get back up, finding our rhythm and completing the half-turn, two ochos, before we stop again.
“There we go,” I say. “We actually made it through a tiny circle around my room.”
“I think I deserve a smooch for that.”
I laugh and offer a quick kiss, which apparently isn’t enough for him, since he grabs the back of my head, keeping me close, and my lips surrender to him.
We release each other’s hands, and his settles on my waist, navigating around the chest plate to my back.
His tongue sweeps across mine in that expert way he has—in that way that makes me forget about everything, even what the hell we were doing.
He squats down, hooking his arms around my thighs, lifting me before setting me on the bed. That’s a first, and it’s hot as hell. A jolt of excitement sweeps through me before there’s a knock at the door.
“You guys about ready?” Ty asks.
“We’ll be out in a minute!” Ryan calls before kissing me again.
“We need to get going, like, now.”
Ryan grunts into my mouth, then asks, “You feel like we’ve had enough practice for when you see Gisele tonight?”
The plan is to meet her at afters for another session. And though I’m not excited about it, he’s right that I need the practice if I’m ever gonna stand a chance with a girl like Angie.
“We might be starting to get a little too much practice,” I tease.
“No such thing. But if you’re real good with Gisele later, maybe I can offer you this as a reward.”
“Oh, now your kiss is so good, you’re offering it as a reward?”
He nods, full of all the cockiness that makes him Ryan Lorde.
“Perfect,” I say. “In the meantime, I guess I should add our names to that whiteboard.”
“Whiteboard?”
“Nothing,” I say. “It’s an Alpha Theta Mu inside joke.” Which seems real fucking apt right about now.
He laughs. “Dork.”
We get our things together and head out to TaskFrat.
Sigma Alpha stomps our asses, and then we meet at Alpha Theta Mu for afters. I chat up my friends for a bit before receiving a text from Ryan that it’s time for my lesson.
On my way to find him and Gisele in the living area of Alpha Theta Mu, I can still feel the twist in my gut, like I had the first time, though it’s not as bad. Probably because this time, I know what to expect, and also because Ryan’s definitely improved my confidence about my kissing skills.
As I near, Ryan’s expression stretches into a grin—like when he sees one of his buddies.
Never before for me. And I wouldn’t say we’re friends just yet, but it does make me wonder, considering what we’ve been up to, if maybe we’re on the way there.
Still, if he thinks I’m letting him get away with breaking rules because we’re make-out buddies, he’s got another thing coming.
I settle beside Ryan, and Gisele angles her head in a way that’s particularly flattering, offering a warm smile. Is this an acting bit for her? She did say she liked me, and she is hot, so maybe this wasn’t the worst idea Ryan could have come up with.
“How’ve you been?” she asks.
“Good. Sorry about last time. I was surprised, and then…” I shrug.
“You don’t owe me an explanation. And I’m here now. Happy to help.” She rests her hand on my arm, which catches me off guard. Though it’s nice.
Ryan’s expression turns from playful to serious in an instant as he reaches over, swatting the air near her arm. “Okay, none of this. He needs to learn to initiate.”
She removes her hand. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interfere with your process.”
“It’s not a big deal,” he says, but judging by his tone, he’s not entirely sincere. “Okay, so just like last time. Mart, you approach and start engaging. And I’ll coach you through a conversation.” He motions for me to go.
“Oh, you wanted me to actually pretend the whole bit?”
“It’ll help you get into the scene,” Gisele assures me.
I wish I’d been less in my head the last time we did this. She’s really friendly, and I like how she gives a damn and tries to set me at ease.
I step away a few feet and reapproach, working my way through the greeting part.
“Nice work, Mart,” Ryan says in a way I’m sure he’s heard from coaches throughout his life.
He encourages us to bring up different topics, and Gisele tells me about her major, a little about her family, and that she’s apparently into gardening like Dad, which is a great conversational bit for us to roll with.
“Okay, now move a little closer,” Ryan directs.
As I step toward her, she sizes me up. If this is acting, fuck, give her the Academy Award.
“Not this close yet,” Ryan intervenes once again. “Give her some breathing room.”
“How close do you mean, then?”
“Like an inch less?”
I’m a good bit from her, so that seems silly, but he’s the teacher, so I follow his instruction.
“I don’t think that was too close,” Gisele interjects, earning a glare from Ryan, who seems a lot testier tonight than last time we attempted this. Although, I remind myself that at the time he didn’t know his parents were planning to divorce, so he’s got a lot going on.
“Who’s the director here?” he asks.
Gisele laughs. “I was trying to offer some creative input.”
“Noted,” Ryan says, “but he needs to get this right if he’s gonna stand a chance in the wild.”
“Okay, okay,” she says, clearly trying to placate him. She turns to me and widens her eyes. They seem to say, He seems like a lot, and I can’t help smiling, since that’s usually the way people look to others when they’re dealing with me.
We continue working through the scene until I get a little closer.
“Now you’re gonna go in for the kiss,” Ryan instructs.
There’s that tension, but the confidence I’ve developed from working out my mouth with him makes it easier as I lean in. She moves close, studying my expression, our lips inches apart, before resting a hand on my chest. At least I think it’s hers, until it starts pushing me back.
“Okay, okay, we get the point,” Ryan insists, forcing me away.
“What?” Gisele asks. “Doesn’t he need to practice kissing?”
“No, I think we’re good there. Right, Mart?”
“Last time you said he needed to kiss me,” she says. “Oh, I’m sorry, are you not comfortable with that?” She directs this to me, her eyes wide with concern.
“I’m actually over that issue.”
“So it’s not an issue anymore,” Ryan states.
“It wouldn’t hurt to make sure,” Gisele says, and the way she’s debating this with him, it sounds like she actually wants to kiss me, which is a first for me in a while.
And judging by the tension in Ryan’s jaw and shoulders, if I didn’t know him as the big manwhore he is, I’d say he was jealous.
He flinches, scratching at his neck like he does when he’s agitated. “Yeah, you’re right. I guess a little kiss would be totally fine.”
“Hey, man, looking good,” comes from nearby, and Dax approaches Ryan, offering a fist bump and stopping to admire his physique in his costume.
I was feeling fine until now, but suddenly that tension is back as Dax and Ryan smile at each other.
“Great job at the challenge tonight,” Dax says. “You really kicked ass with the arm wrestling. Not that I’m surprised with these guns.”