Gone for You (Wild Side 1)

“You do know he plans to fuck that guy he’s talking to, don’t you?” Miles asked. He always put things out there like that. Brutal honesty was Miles’s thing, even if people sometimes thought it made him a dickhead.

“Well, maybe I’ll tell him and we’ll be fucking each other instead.” Or at least he’d get this heavy-ass weight off his chest. If it sucked him down any more he’d drown.

“He knows. You have to realize he already knows,” Miles added because apparently, he felt like it was a fun night to stab Oliver in the heart. Repeatedly.

“What? How could he know? He would have said something if he did.”

“Because everyone knows?” Chance asked. When Oliver looked at him, he held his hands in the air as though he was waving a white flag. “I’m just sayin’.”

Yeah, he really fucking hated his friends right now. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, guys. I appreciate it.” Oliver walked away, ready to find another drink.

The thing was, he’d been thinking about telling Matt for a while now. They’d just graduated high school a few days before. Their crew had their whole lives ahead of them. Matt and Oliver planned to get an apartment together for college. Oliver, Chance, and Miles were going to USC, and Matt was going to a local community college. Why not start off with a bang?

Oliver made his way to the kitchen and got another drink. He finished it, surprised that Miles and Chance hadn’t come to hunt him down. As soon as he stepped out of the busy room, he ran right into Matt’s chest. His friend’s arms reached out. His hands curled around Oliver’s biceps.

“Hey, man. I was looking for you,” Matt said.

“Where’s the guy you were talking to?”

Matt shrugged. “Eh, he wanted to hook up, but I wasn’t in the mood. Wanna go outside with me?”

Oliver’s heart went crazy, while he felt ridiculous for it at the same time. Maybe his friends hadn’t been so wrong calling him that. But the truth was, Matt just skipped out on a hookup to find him, and now he wanted to go talk.

Holy shit. What if he was right? What if Matt felt the same way he did, and he planned to tell Oliver tonight? They’d ride off into the sunset together—or you know, take a dirty, piss-scented bus through the city, same thing—before they went home, had wild, passionate sex, and lived happily ever after. Fuck Miles and Chance. They had no clue what they were talking about.

“Earth to Oliver. You in there, boo?” Matt snapped his fingers in front of Oliver’s face.

He did that sometimes—spaced out—probably because he felt so much freer in his imagination than he did in reality. “Yeah, sure, yeah. Let’s go talk.” God, he sounded like an idiot.

Oliver followed Matt outside. It was still in the eighties out, even though it had to be close to midnight. He loved summer in LA—sunshine and warmth. It was perfect.

“Let’s sit,” Matt told him before sitting on the top step. Oliver went down beside him. “Are you having fun?”

Was it him or did he hear a slight shake in Matt’s voice? Plus, what the hell kind of question was that? Matt had never pulled him aside to ask him if he was having fun at something. “Um…yeah. Are you okay? You’re being weird.” He was acting nervous. Matt didn’t get nervous.

He nudged Oliver’s leg with his own. “I should have known you’d realize something was up. I…I gotta tell you something and it’s kind of hard to say.”

Oliver’s heart dropped to his feet. Holy fucking shit. Matt wanted him too. He knew it. That had to be it. What else would he be nervous about saying? “Come on, dude. You know you can tell me anything. I…I think I know what you’re going to say.”

Matt’s green eyes went wide. “You do?”

Oliver nodded.

“You’re okay with it? I don’t want anything to fuck up our friendship.”

Fuck you, Miles. Fuck you, Chance. He wants me. “Nothing would ever screw up our friendship. I love you, Matt.”

“Whew!” Matt let out a deep breath. “I’ve been losing my mind thinking about telling you. I mean, I know we swore we were going to get an apartment together but I just…I can’t wait to follow my dreams, ya know?”

Oliver’s gut clenched. That wasn’t what Matt was supposed to have said there. “Wait. What?”

“I already got the bus ticket and everything. New York Fucking City. I can’t believe it. My parents lost their minds when I told them, but I knew you’d understand.” Matt wrapped an arm around Oliver, pulled him close, and kissed his forehead. “I know it’s going to be hard. The guy who’s letting me stay with him—I met him online—said I only have a month, which is pretty fucking scary, but I’ve always wanted New York City. I’m thinking I can take a year off, write a bunch of music and then maybe get into the New York School for Music. My parents, they don’t get that. You’re my best friend, Oliver. I knew you’d have my back.”