Ros gave a nervous laugh and grabbed the napkin he’d been mindlessly drawing on during the wait. “Sorry you couldn’t stay. I’m not out to anyone.”
Shane’s handsome face pinched, and he cocked his head, staring at Ros as if he wanted to grab a pair of scissors and cut his clothes open. “Really?”
Ros was about to answer, but a waiter came over to take their order, and he got stuck with a mouth full of words he couldn’t articulate until they were on their own again.
“My dad’s not of the most accepting sort, and I don’t want to get in trouble with the other guys at the frat. They already think I’m weird for not loving football.”
“That sucks. But hey, now you have a new gay best friend,” Shane said, relaxing the atmosphere with another one of those smiles that transformed him into a roguish pirate on a quest to take over the Caribbean. If the Caribbean was Ros’s heart.
“Oh. Just a friend? I mean, that’s cool too,” he added, squeezing the napkin in his fist. Shane’s irises were even greener than he’d remembered, and Ros couldn’t take his eyes off the symmetry of the man’s face. The birthmark on the left above his lip and the crooked bridge of his nose somehow made all the other features seem even more harmonious.
Panicking, Ros was about to spit out more babble, but air got stuck in his throat when something pressed his foot under the table.
“Relax,” Shane said, piercing him with his bright gaze. “I’m just messing with you. I couldn’t be just friends with a hottie like you.”
Ros couldn’t even blink. “It was so hot, wasn’t it?” he whispered, leaning closer. “I didn’t know it would feel that good.”
Shane’s teeth dragged over his plump lip in a way that made Ros’s brain glitch, leaving him at a loss.
“It was, wasn’t it? It felt so good inside you.” Shane’s foot applied yet more pressure to Ros’s, and invisible hands slid up and down his skin in the tight space between flesh and fabric.
“I thought I could easily go through college just focused on my art, but after last night, I don’t think I can. I want to get to know you…” There. He put his cards on the table like a man.
Shane kept smiling. What did it mean? Did he find Ros amusing or was he happy about everything being out in the open now?
“Sounds like a plan. I’m just curious how someone as hot and charming as you managed to keep his cherry for so long.”
Ros ran his fingers through his hair, feeling the flush stain his skin. “I’ve never met someone like you, but I also… I wasn’t intending this. My dad’s really strict, and he pays for my college, so… you know. But you have this energy about you that draws me.” Too woo-woo? He hoped not, because he couldn’t help his feelings.
“How would your dad know if you were up to no good behind his back? You’re dealing within your frat, and he hasn’t found out,” Shane said loudly enough to alarm Ros.
The waiter chose this moment to bring their coffees, so Ros had to wait through the agonizing silence before he could speak up.
“I’m no goody two-shoes. I just need to keep it on the down low. How about you? Is this how you always take care of customer satisfaction?” Ros smirked and dared wink at Shane, who smelled his black coffee before dropping in four cubes of fancy non-refined sugar.
“What if I said yes?” Shane asked, staring straight at Ros. It was a challenge. Was he also unsure about Ros’s intentions and fishing for information?
“I’d say you’re a slut,” Ros teased, more relaxed by the minute. Yes, he was still nervous, excited, and tingling all over, but Shane’s smiles were bringing out his playful side.
Shane chuckled. “Compared to you? Definitely. What if I corrupt you? Will Daddy mind?”
Ros bit his lip and poked Shane’s foot. “He’ll never find out, so there’s nothing for him to mind. So… do you? Fuck around? Or would you focus on this?” He pointed between the two of them. So maybe it was needy. Whatever.
Shane leaned back, and for a terrible moment Ros was prepared for complete rejection, but he winked and dragged the side of his foot up Ros’s calf. “I’m sure you can convince me to focus on you only, pretty boy.”
Ros had been called handsome before, but not pretty, and he liked it more than he was willing to admit. He wouldn’t consider himself competitive but he loved a little challenge. “I can think of many ways to keep you entertained. I could make a cast of your face.”
“Like a death mask?” Shane asked, frowning.
Ros laughed out loud and kicked him gently. “No! I just think you’re so handsome I wanna get a replica. How does that feel, pretty boy?” He stuck his tongue out between his teeth, exhilarated by how much fun he was having talking to Shane.