“Let go,” Eric whined as Jerry’s mocking face came unbidden into his mind. Unhand me, you big brute!
“No. Not until you talk to me.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
“You are so wrong. There’s everything to talk about.”
Angry at his traitorous body for getting aroused by the steely determination in Will’s low voice and by the way his hand gripped Eric’s arm with that bicep bulging, Eric gave in. He still meant to stay pissed off at Will for at least the next millennium, but okay. The fucker wanted to talk? Fine.
“You lied to me,” Eric said tightly and stared straight ahead.
“Yeah. I let you believe what you wanted to believe. That’s what I do.”
Eric glared at Will. Ugh, mistake. Will’s gorgeous face was right there. Stop looking at him. He turned his head and studied the stage. “Wanted to believe? That’s bullshit.”
“Oh yeah? You had me pegged the day we met. Straight. You even told me I was. What was it? The Falcons T-shirt? The Southern accent?”
“I… okay, I jumped to conclusions. But why didn’t you tell me the truth? You lied to me for months.”
Will blew out a sigh and moved restlessly in his seat. “If I let go of you, don’t leave. Okay? And dude, could you look at me? Please?”
Eric paused. Then he shrugged and turned slightly toward Will. “Okay. Since you said please.” Will flashed him his crinkly smile as he released Eric’s arm, and Eric felt his self-righteousness begin to leak away. “But you’re still a liar.”
“So are you, but we’ll get to that later. Oh, close that mouth of yours before I kiss it.”
Eric’s jaw had dropped open stupidly at Will’s words, but he snapped it shut. “Um… has Jerry been talking to you, by any chance?”
“Yes, your pretend boyfriend Jerry and I had a chat this afternoon. That was after I threw my ex-boyfriend Jesse out of our room.”
Eric bit his lip. “Um, yeah, about that pretend-boyfriend stuff—”
“S’okay. I don’t care now. We’re both liars. Moving on.”
“I’m sorry, Will. I shouldn’t have done that. I—”
“There you go, showing me up again, apologizing before I get to. It’s okay. All right? I understand. Can I talk now?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve been crushing on you since the minute I saw you.”
“Huh?”
“Jesus, Eric. Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?”
“What?”
Will shook his head. “Guess not. Lemme say a bunch of things before I chicken out. I saw you that first day, and I was blown away. Then you thought I was straight, and that kinda pissed me off.”
Eric gave a rueful smile. He wanted to apologize for being so stupid, but he was still speechless from Will calling him beautiful for the second time that day.
“So I let you think it. I kept planning to tell you, but I was with Jesse and I thought you were with Jerry. Um… so it was easier to pretend to be straight. I’m sorry now that I did.” Will paused to take a breath.
“Oh,” Eric said faintly. “But wait a minute. What does us being with different people have to do with you pretending to be straight? Was that just with me? Because everyone else thinks you’re straight too. Or at least they did before the Kinsey conversation,” he added.
“Not just you. Lemme… lemme back up. Growing up in Georgia wasn’t fun for a gay boy. I’m not out to my family because they’re a bunch of far-right Christian homophobes. I never said a word to anyone about being gay. I played sports and passed as straight, took some girl to the prom, but I couldn’t wait to get out of there.”
“I bet.” Eric felt a pang for young Will. Eric’s parents had always been liberal, but even so, he’d been nervous when he came out to them. He was lucky they’d been cool from the start. Damn, why hadn’t Will told him before? “But what about here?”
“Yeah. The week I got here for school I went to a gay bar. Like, I was gonna finally have my big gay adventure. I met Jesse that night. He’s military—kind of arrogant and commanding. For some reason he noticed me and took me home. I thought he was great. He’s older, experienced, and… I didn’t have anyone to compare him to. He’s not out either, mainly because of his job in the Pentagon. And he’s not close to his family. So we mostly hung out at his apartment.”
Eric nodded, feeling an irrational hate for “arrogant, commanding” Jesse.
“He was like a separate thing from school. And since he didn’t go here, people assumed I’m straight. I’m so used to playing straight it was easier not to tell ’em different. You know? Or maybe you don’t know. Anyway, I never thought much about it until I met you.”
“Really?” Eric watched Will’s face and tried to wrap his head around Will being gay but letting his fellow students assume he was straight. He knew they were in Virginia, where Trump voters and evangelicals lurked behind every bush, but come on. Nobody their age cared about sexuality. Did they? A vision of the frat goons persecuting Andrew rose up. Oh, right. Some of them did.
“Yeah. You kinda shook things up.” Will gave a short laugh that didn’t sound all that happy. “You’re so out there, you and Jerry and your other friends. I… I envied you.”
“So why didn’t you tell me? Didn’t you trust me?”
“I trust you. I felt dumb for not telling you right away. And then me and Jesse started to fall apart, and I… yeah. Once I met you, I realized Jesse’s… well, he’s kind of a controlling asshole.”
Bingo. Eric curled his hand into a fist. “But wait, I’m still trying to understand this. You’ve been walking around campus passing as straight and not bothering to correct people’s assumptions now, for what, four years?”
“Yep.”
“But what about all the girls?”
“What about ’em?”
“You… okay, are you bi? A Kinsey three, like you said?”
“Naw. More like a five. But I didn’t wanna give you a heart attack that night by saying my real number.”
“You still almost gave me a heart attack.”
“Maybe I should have told the truth.” Will frowned. “You got with that Jake guy.”
“No. I never slept with Jake. And the Jerry thing was totally pretend, in case you were wondering.”
“He told me.”
“Oh, that’s right. You said you two talked.” Eric wished he’d been a fly on the wall for that conversation. “And you never slept with any of those girls. Jeez, Will, what have we been doing? I wish you’d let me know way before this.”
“I wanted to tell you,” Will said. “I almost did at Thanksgiving.”
“Was that at the bar, when you were getting plastered?”
“Right. I’ve been drinking a lot this year. Mostly ’cause I’ve been fucked-up about being in the closet and being with Jesse.”
“Jesse. Shit, I almost forgot. Did anything happen today when you threw him out? Is everything cool?”
“Yeah, it’s cool. Nothing much happened. I don’t even know why he came by. He’s already got a new boyfriend. His excuse was I have a book of his.”
Eric made a face. “Right. But you aren’t, like, threatened by him or anything?”
“Naw, he’s not a stalker. Just an asshole.”
“Okay. So where were we? You were saying you’ve been drinking a lot.”
Will nodded. “So there was being in the closet, being with Jesse, and then having to be around you every day.”
“Having to be around me is so bad?”
“God no. It’s awesome. But… this is going to sound lame. I didn’t think you were into me. I didn’t think I had a chance. You were with Jerry, and you guys are amazing. What can I say? You were too perfect.”
“Oh, please,” Eric said.
“No, really. I just got this. As long as you thought I was straight, I didn’t have to go through the deal about you not being into me for real. I mean, even after you told me you and Jerry broke up
and I said I was a three on the Kinsey Scale, I was still too chicken to go for it, because what if you said no? I couldn’t take that because you’re the only one I want.”
“God, Will. I want you too. I’ve wanted you since day one.” They smiled dopily at each other. “But are you—I don’t know how to say this. If… if you and me got together, would you want to keep it in the closet? Because I don’t think that would work.”
Will put his hand back on Eric’s arm. “No. That’s what I’m trying to say. I want to be who I am. I know that I’d have to be out, being with you. That’s what I want. Screw my family and the rest of the world.” He took a breath. “I want to be with you.”
Eric swallowed. “I’ve been crushing on you since the moment I met you. And the more I got to know you, the worse it got. You’re… you’re perfect for me.”
Will seemed at a loss for words for the first time, so Eric continued.
“How could you think you had no chance? You’re so fucking gorgeous and funny. You… I mean….” Eric’s cheeks warmed. “I’m an idiot with no gaydar.”
“No. I’m the idiot. But sounds like we’re past that.” Will gave a slow, sexy smile. “Come here,” he drawled as he put his hand around the back of Eric’s neck and pulled him in for a kiss that started softly and got progressively more passionate.
ERIC WAS forced to conclude that auditorium seats were fucking uncomfortable after what seemed like hours of kissing Will, mapping every possible way that their lips and tongues could come together. After another deep, toe-curling kiss that involved much tongue and some biting, he finally pulled his mouth away. “Let’s go.”
When Eric stood and stepped shakily into the aisle, Will scrambled to his feet and followed. The moment they were standing, they put their arms around each other and hugged tightly. The full body contact felt so good that Eric sat on the arm of the seat, opened his legs, and pulled Will in close. Will’s crotch rubbed up on his own aching boner. Jesus. Will made an incredibly sexy noise and tried to stick his hands down the back of Eric’s jeans, so Eric put his hands on Will’s ass, and they ground together.
Eric was close to coming when the ludicrousness of them humping in the aisle of the university theater occurred to him. He stopped. “Come with me.”
“If I can walk,” Will answered, but he put his hand in Eric’s and let himself be dragged along as Eric ran down the aisle and up the side steps to the stage. Eric crossed the wing and led them backstage in almost total darkness—not a problem, because he knew it like the back of his hand.
“Watch your step,” he whispered, even though there was no one around to hear them, and felt along the wall until he found the door he was looking for. He drew Will into a large communal dressing room, flipped on the light, and….
“Aha. Voila!” Eric gestured to a couch that was somewhat shabby but large and upholstered in dark purple velveteen.
Will laughed, and Eric had to stop to kiss his smile. Then they stumbled over to the couch, still kissing. Eric tried to maneuver Will down, but the little fucker somehow wrestled them around and the next thing he knew, Eric was lying flat on his back with Will on top of him, and—oh.
“Will, wait,” Eric said breathlessly. “Don’t move or I’ll come.”
Breathing hard, Will snickered into his neck but lay still. Will’s hard cock pressing down on Eric felt glorious.
“I was going to say….” Eric moaned when Will licked along his throat. “Oh God. I was—baby, you’re killing me—gonna say we can take it s-slow….” Will ran his hands underneath Eric’s shirt and stroked his nipples with his guitar-calloused fingers. “Ungh.” Eric arched up into the sensation and held on for dear life.
“Don’t wanna take it slow,” Will muttered. He wriggled down Eric’s body so he could mouth the skin right above Eric’s belly button. “Wanna suck you off.”
Eric let out a gusty breath, managed to croak out an assenting noise, and concentrated on recalling the most boring facts from Will’s anthro and econ books so he wouldn’t come before he even got to feel Will’s mouth on him.
When Will unbuttoned his jeans and started to pull on the zipper, Eric lifted his head to watch him, but at the sight of his kiss-ravaged swollen lips, his biceps, and his—oh fucking God—his long sexy fingers, Eric let his head fall back. He thought furiously about macroeconomics as Will wrestled his jeans and briefs down to midthigh.
“Eric. Open your eyes.”
He opened his eyes and lifted his head again to lock his gaze with Will.
“Okay?” Will asked and licked his lips.
Eric huffed out a laugh. “Yeah.”
Will smiled. “Good,” he said and took Eric’s cock in his hand.
“Oh crap.” Eric let his head flop down again. “I can’t look at you. It’s too fucking sexy.”
“That’s okay.”
Will’s voice floated back to him as he wrapped his warm fingers around the base of Eric’s cock. When Will’s hot mouth engulfed the head, Eric moaned helplessly and dug his fingers into the sofa. Then Will swirled his tongue around and around with a wicked expertise that left Eric shaking.
Finally Will took him in so deep that Eric bit down to keep from screaming as his body came off the sofa and the world reduced itself to his cock and Will’s mouth—desire, panting, heat, flames, building, Will’s lips moving up and down his shaft, his tongue caressing the head, one hand stroking at the bottom, and the other one holding his balls. Eric thrashed his head back and forth, eyes squeezed shut, and moaned out broken sentences until finally his orgasm started in a blinding rush.
“Fuck, fuck, I’m gonna— Will I’m—” was all Eric managed before he shouted incoherently, his cock pulsing into Will’s mouth, his hands pulling and slipping convulsively on the velveteen sofa. When Eric was spent and limp and his gasps had tapered off, Will let go of his softening cock, placed a line of kisses on Eric’s stomach, and then lifted his head with a satisfied smile.
“I’ve been wanting to do that since day one,” he drawled and kissed Eric’s hip.
Eric put his hands on Will’s head and ran his fingers through his hair as a strange sensation filled him. It was warm and tingly and felt suspiciously like love.
“Come here,” Eric murmured. Will crawled back up his body. Eric pulled him in tightly with one arm around his back, and rubbed his thumb over Will’s swollen lips. Smiling into Will’s eyes, he whispered, “You’re gorgeous, you’re hot, and you are so not straight.”
He cut off Will’s laughter by pulling him down and kissing him fiercely while a possessive rush of emotion flooded through him, roughly translated as mine, mine, mine.
He finally pulled away enough to breathe out, “I am going to do so many, many things to you.”
“Can’t wait,” Will said huskily as Eric reached down to unbutton his jeans.
Chapter SIXTEEN
“PUSH ’EM against the far wall and move the dresser under the window?”
Eric considered. “Maybe. I can’t quite visualize it. We need an engineering type.”
“Or architecture. I’m gonna text my friend Roger. He’ll know what to do.”
Will pulled out his phone and typed a text while Eric ran his foot up Will’s pants leg under the table and fantasized about what else he was going to do to him that night. His erotic visions were interrupted when the coffee shop waitress set their plates on the table.
“Thank God. I’m starving.” Eric grabbed his cheeseburger.
“Post-hot-sex munchies. It’s a common malady.” Jerry stood by their booth. “Everything okay?” He gave them a knowing smile, and his eyes sparkled.
“Yeah,” Will drawled. “Tryin’ to figure out how to rearrange our dorm room. Gotta push those single beds together.” He reached over, took Eric’s hand, and interlaced their fingers. When he met Eric’s startled glance, his steady look held a hint of determination.
Fuck, I’m in love with you. Eric tightened his fingers around Will’s.
“Excel
lent,” Jerry replied, staring at their hands and arching his eyebrow. “Your door does lock, I hope?”
“It does now.” Will picked up his phone with his free hand and looked down. “Eat up,” he told Eric. “We’re meeting Roger at the room in fifteen minutes.”
“Oh, my,” Jerry said. “I do like a man with a mission. Catch you lovebirds later.”
“Later,” Eric managed through the haze of desire that Will’s assertiveness had triggered. He moved slightly in his seat and licked his lips while Will kept hold of his hand and picked up his burger with the other. Eric didn’t even feel hungry anymore as he watched Will chow down.
Will noticed. “Hey, eat up, roomie. You’re gonna need your energy for later.”
“Okay,” Eric said. “I like you ordering me around.” He took a bite of his cheeseburger.
“Same here.”
“What?” Eric couldn’t help but ask, even though his mouth was full. “You like ordering me around or you like it when I order you?” He swallowed his food. “Sorry for being gross.”
Will shrugged at Eric’s belated attempt at table manners. “Both. And, Eric?”
“Hmm?” Eric was concentrating on shoveling in his food so they could get back to their room. He’d taken another enormous bite when Will spoke again.
“I’m gonna do that open mic.”
“Mmph.” Eric waved his free hand around wildly and chewed as fast as he could while Will smiled.
“Don’t choke now,” Will drawled. “Not when I finally have you where I want you.”
“I’m gonna burst,” Eric exclaimed when he could finally talk. “Or cry or scream. I’m so happy!” He threw what remained of his burger back on the plate and reached for Will. “Will….” He trailed off, holding Will’s hands, feeling grounded by Will’s presence, even when he was going crazy with joy inside.
“Ready to go?” Will squeezed Eric’s hands and traced over his palms with his thumbs.
Eric shivered. “Yes.”
They scrambled out of the booth.
Eric smiled giddily. “You know what? I’m going to send Jackson a bouquet. If it weren’t for him, you’d be in Patterson and I’d be in Hutchinson and none of this would’ve happened.”
The Kinsey Scale Page 7