chapter 9

After all that we managed to study for about an hour and a half. He mentioned that he was supposed to meet Autumn at the Chipotle. She went to a community college in the area and worked a part-time job at a store that sold candles and other smell-goods. My mom would love to use her employee discount. Maybe if I got Autumn to like me, she’d help me shop for my mom.

“I don’t want to study anymore,” he said, stretching out on the floor. He was wearing his plain-Aidan clothes, just a t-shirt and jeans. He rolled over onto his stomach and got on his knees. He kneeled forward and stretched his back, his ass pointed in my direction. His jeans were pulled tight against his bubble butt. He got to his feet and sat next to me on his bed.

“I usually just cram right before a test,” I said. “You got me studying just for the hell of it.”

“You don’t study?” he asked, surprised. “Cramming would just give me too much anxiety.”

“If I get to study with you, I’ll study every day.”

“We’ll become the best studying duo in the country!” he exclaimed. “Tests and quizzes will quake in fear as we approach them. Our number two pencils will be our weapons.”

“What?”

“Oh, uh, I was just joking around,” he said. He scratched at the nape of his neck. “It’s dumb.”

“That’s no way to speak as the leader of the—the uh, Intelligence Collective. As your loyal sidekick and bodyguard, I must encourage you to—believe in yourself?” He laughed loudly, falling back onto his bed. “Sorry, was that not good?”

“It was perfect!” he said, sitting up. “You’re perfect.”

He moved closer to me, which wasn’t a long way to move on his tiny bed, and placed his hand on my thigh. I could smell his hair. That’s where the coconut smell was coming from. I wanted to smell it more deeply, so I leaned over and took a good whiff of it.

His hand traveled up my thigh, finding its way to my stomach. I immediately tried to suck in as much as I could on instinct. “Stop,” he said. I exhaled slowly, and I could feel my gut pushing forward. His hand rested there for a moment, and I’ll admit that it felt nice to be touched like that.

Like before, in the back of my truck, he stealthily moved in between my legs. He was on his knees before me, looking up at me from his bedroom floor. He grabbed at the hem of my t-shirt and pushed it up so that it rested on the top of my gut. He brought his face close to it and slowly kissed from one side to the other. His hand grabbed at one of my love handles and he squeezed it gently. I never thought having a guy focus so much attention on my stomach could make me feel anything other than embarrassment, but I was really enjoying how Aidan was touching me.

“C’mere,” I said, grabbing his hand and pulling him to his feet. I pulled my sweats and underwear down so my cock was out. I grabbed it, stroking it a few times. He wrapped his arms around my neck, and with my free hand I popped open the button on his jeans. I was finally able to grab one of those cheeks. “Damn, this ass is fat.”

His lips met mine and we kissed for a few moments. I was still stroking my dick when he slipped out of my grasp. Back on his knees, his mouth wrapped around the head of my dick. I wasn’t paying much attention to what was going on outside of this moment. I was completely lost in Aidan and how he was making me feel.

“Aidan,” called the voice of an older guy. Aidan jumped to his feet, shooting me a nervous glance. I put my dick back in my pants and pulled down my shirt. I felt my heart beating out of my chest. This could’ve turned into a very awkward situation. Before long, the man was at the door of his bedroom. This guy was maybe about twenty-five and a smidge taller than Aidan.

“What do you need, Ryan?” Aidan asked.

“Who’s that?” he asked, gesturing towards me. He didn’t seem to be in a good mood.

“This is Oakley,” Aidan answered, pulling at his t-shirt, trying to cover his front. He hadn’t buttoned his jeans. Ryan looked Aidan up and down, obviously noticing our mistake. “He’s a really good friend of mine,” he added. I stood up, adjusting my own shirt. He looked up at me.

“Friend?” Ryan asked suspiciously.

“Yes,” Aidan replied, his voice shaking slightly. Something didn’t seem right. “Oakley, this is my older brother Ryan.”

“Are you gay too?” Ryan asked, skipping the pleasantries. I was getting a weird vibe from him. He seemed kind of like an asshole.

“Yeah, I am,” I said in an authoritative tone. I wasn’t going to let this guy make me feel bad about who I was. Ryan looked at me for a moment, really taking me in, and then he brought his attention back to Aidan. He walked out of the room.

“We should go meet Autumn,” he said, buttoning his jeans.

“Yo, what was your brother’s problem?” I asked. “I didn’t like that shit.”

“I probably shouldn't have invited you over,” Aidan said worriedly. “I thought he’d be at work until later tonight. Fuck.”

“You didn’t want me to meet him?” I asked, looking down at him. “Are—are you embarrassed of me?”

“Of course not!”

I thought about all the things he said that day in the bathroom when I first kissed him. He mentioned not having a problem with a secret arrangement. I never considered that he might want to keep me a secret. “Listen, I can understand if you don’t want to go out with me. I guess we can just have sex or whatever if that’s what you want.” He was packing away my things much neater than I ever would have. He handed me my jacket and backpack. He pulled on a hoodie and grabbed my free hand. He led me to the front door and then we walked out to my truck.

“I really like you,” he said. “But things with my brother are hard to explain. I just—I can’t talk about it.” I wouldn’t push him. I would let him talk to me when he was ready. I probably should have been more observant in the moment. Obviously, Ryan was weird about gay shit. Aidan probably wasn’t supposed to bring guys back home. I felt like I might have created a bigger problem for Aidan.

Autumn was not enthused to see me walking into the Chipotle with Aidan. I think it was mostly an act though. I offered to treat them, and like the weird twin deer-people that they were, they split a burrito bowl. I got a bowl with lots of extras and two tortillas on the side. I figured it looked better than buying two burritos. Aidan said he liked watching me eat, but I wasn’t going to eat like I normally would in front of Autumn.

I could tell once we finished eating that Aidan didn’t want to go home. I didn’t know what was going on or how I could help, and it made me really angry. When we pulled up to their house I watched in frustration as they went inside.