Someday, I knew my brother would have a job that really challenged him.
“You call Mom today?” he asked, stretching his arms above his body. He was even beefier than me, at six-four, and I swore he worked out even more than I did these days.
“No. Why?”
He lifted an eyebrow. “It’s her birthday, Brode.”
“Shit,” I swore under my breath. “I had a reminder set up in my phone this morning, too.”
“Forgetful, forgetful,” Roman said.
“Always have been,” I said, sighing as I pulled out my phone, seeing that the reminder must have slipped right past me. Another item on the Brody Bryant guilt-list for tonight.
“I got your back,” Roman said. “And Mom won’t mind.”
“I’ll call her on my walk home,” I said.
“I mean it,” he said. “She’ll understand. She grew up with you, she knows how it can be.”
Roman was referring to my unique ability to forget, lose, and misplace just about everything I ever came in contact with. I was sharper than fucking hell with focus on a football field or in bed, but put me anywhere else, and I was a mess.
I had always pretty much figured I was put on this world to do two things: to play football and to fuck.
I was usually very good at both. But so far this year I was playing like shit on the field, and I hadn’t hooked up with anybody yet.
“I was trying to be more organized this semester,” I told him, looking up at the trees gently swaying in the chilly night air. “I bought, like, three different planners and a bunch of plastic organizer things to try and schedule my stuff better. I even got a fancy pen to take notes with.”
Roman chuckled. “And you’re just about the only person who still takes notes with a pen and paper.”
“It’s supposed to help with memory, and God knows I need help in that department,” I said. “But I got my grade back for the first American History exam yesterday.”
I could see the wince in Roman’s face already. “Not good?”
“Not good. 67%,” I said. “And half of the questions were things I really should have known, man. I definitely knew that the Revolutionary War was in the eighteenth century, not the seventeenth. But that’s always so confusing. I knew it was in the 1700s, at least. I remember the prof saying it.”
“You’ll get there,” Roman said. “Flashcards. I’m telling you. That’s how I aced the exams for this job.”
“I forgot to make flashcards,” I said, scratching the back of my neck. “Fuck. The words ‘I forgot’ are going to be written on my grave.”
“You’ve made it through every year so far. I know you’ve got this.”
I wasn’t so sure, though.
I stayed and chatted with my brother for a few more minutes before walking back home, calling Mom along the way and wishing her a happy birthday. When I got back, I ambled up the old wooden steps that led to the apartment.
“I’m home,” I called out through the place as I walked in. I still couldn’t help but say something every time I walked in, even though Logan was always either out at the library or cooped up in his room. It just felt polite to let him know I was back, even though he seemed content to squirrel himself away at all times.
I’d only really run into my new housemate a few times in the last couple of weeks, in the mornings as he scarfed down some cereal or as we passed each other on the way to the bathroom at night.
He was shy as hell, but it was totally fucking adorable. I just wanted him to feel comfortable in his own home. My living here was another thing that had happened because of a long list of things I forgot. I’d put off finding senior year housing for far too long, and by the time I found a place, this was one of the only housemate openings I saw listed online in the area.
I’d have been willing to bet the nerdy kid had gotten straight As on every exam so far. Envy crept through my chest as I thought about how easy school must be for him.
I collapsed back onto the bed after kicking off my sneakers. I pulled up a food delivery app and navigated to Lucky Ten Chinese. It was a night for deluxe fried rice, coconut shrimp, sesame chicken, and extra egg rolls. Hell, lo mein noodles, too. I only allowed myself one cheat day a week on my diet, and tonight, I needed the comfort.
The delivery would arrive in half an hour, and I was going to go nuts if I was alone in here for that long.
It was time for some twinks.
I looked up my favorite porn site on my phone as I pushed down the waistband of my sweatpants. Within moments of my fist being around my cock, I knew this was what I needed. As I watched some cute guy in a video taking it from a dude with an equally nice cock, I fell into a good rhythm jerking off, edging myself little by little as I lost track of time.