Chapter 7: Kiss and Tell

Jonathan wished there was a magic trick to stop the hammering of his heart that didn’t care to slow down even once he was inside the small suite he shared with Ray. He pressed his back against the door and tried to control his breathing. He had gone and kissed Maddox Kingsley! Of all the students on campus, he just had to go for the guy who was the worst choice he could make.

He pressed a hand on his chest and breathed out. At the time, he had been so cool, in control, thinking that he would just pay Maddox back for the sudden attack on his person with a small surprise of his own. One that didn’t involve punching the guy in the nose, he thought and winced at the reminder.

What kind of kick-ass fighter was Maddox if he couldn’t block a slow hit like that? Jonathan was pretty sure that he was no boxer or MMA aficionado, so landing that punch had taken him completely by surprise. It had been a knee-jerk reaction, too, as he had been so tense the moment Maddox had walked through the door. That, especially, had to worry him since he had never known himself as an aggressive individual. Apparently, Maddox had a remarkable ability to bring out the worst in him. At the moment, he had thought the guy would call it a prank and laugh at him, and -- But the kiss ... The kiss had been amazing. Jonathan banged his head against the door and groaned. Maddox’s full lips felt as good as they looked, sweet marshmallow pillows that one could indulge in for hours while slowly going mad. And when Jonathan, too sure of himself, had dared to sneak his tongue inside and have a taste ... That should have been the moment when he should have realized that he had gone utterly, hopelessly insane.

How was he supposed to forget about Maddox now? How was he supposed to kiss another boy and not compare the way their lips would touch to that mind-blowing kiss?

Maddox was such a tough act to follow that Jonathan had no idea what to do but stay there, pinned to the door like an old coat, and ponder over the miserable fate that he had tailored for himself with his own two hands and through no one else’s fault.

“Ah, you’re home?”

Ray’s voice woke him up from his imagined self-flagellation. His roommate’s hair was a mess, and he looked like he had just woken up.

“Were you already asleep? So early?”

Ray stretched and yawned. “What can I say? Certain study materials are the best sleeping pills. Just for the record, I wanted to surprise you and have dinner ready, but I forgot to order takeout.”

That was as far as Ray’s abilities to handle dinner went, and Jonathan was thankful for his forgetting to order. As much as Ray insisted that he needed to repay Jonathan for always cooking for two, eating garbage, no matter how tasty, wasn’t high on his list. Plus, it was cheaper to have something made at home, as he had come to learn during the months spent alone and away from his family. Anyone from his ‘before’ life would barely recognize him in an apron and reading the nutritional facts of each ingredient that went into the pot, especially since he came from a family that considered cooking something reserved for the help.

“It’s all right. I’ll throw something together in no time.”

Ray followed him as he took off his bag. “I stocked the fridge and the cupboard.”

“God help us then,” Jonathan joked. “How do you like your cereals, Ray? Poached or deep fried?”

Ray giggled. “Come on, it’s not that bad. And I’m starting to learn a thing or two from you. Like how to hold a fork.”

“Give me a minute to change. And I have no idea what you mean by that.”

“You know.” Ray made a vague gesture. “Like with elegance.”

Jonathan just shook his head and disappeared into his room.

“So, have you gone on a date with Connor already?” Ray watched Jonathan like a hawk as he stuffed his mouth like he hadn’t eaten in a month. Seeing how skinny he was, Jonathan wondered where all that food could go. Ray had a metabolism that could make supermodels on all continents go green with envy. As expected, he wasn’t appreciative of his so-called gift.

Jonathan hesitated. He hadn’t had the heart to tell Ray that he didn’t find Connor attractive. “No, not yet.”

“Hmm, have you at least bumped into him tonight?”

Jonathan frowned in thought. “No, why would you say that?”

Ray gestured at him with a dangerously full spoon. “I don’t know, but your eyes are all shiny, and you look happy.”

Jonathan could feel his cheeks getting slightly warm. Was he that transparent? The little game he was playing with Maddox was getting out of hand if people could easily tell something was going on.

“I just rushed here from the library. The fresh air must have made my eyes water.”

Ray examined him with narrow eyes. “Right. So, you’re not the kind to kiss and tell. I can respect that, man.”

Jonathan let out a small breath.

“But I’m your roommate and bestie,” Ray continued. “One of these days, you need to fill me in, because boy, this thing you have going with Connor, must be pretty intense.”

Jonathan stared at Ray nonplussed. “What do you mean?”

“You know, one day you’re blue, another tickled pink.”

Jonathan didn’t repress a small laugh. “I have no idea what you mean.”

Ray sighed and then placed his chin into his palm with a dreamy look on his face. “I wish I were with a girl who’d make me feel like this. But I suppose things like this don’t happen to people like me.”

“Do you mean, having a small cold the other day, aka your definition of blue, and allergies acting up, aka my shiny eyes?” Jonathan asked, hoping that Ray would let it go, at least this time.

No chance of that. Ray grinned and then winked at him. “One day, JJ, you’re going to kiss and tell. And I’ll be here for you, as your bestie.”

“A very nosy bestie,” Jonathan pointed out.

“Hey, if I don’t have a love life, at least I can live vicariously through yours,” Ray said matter-of-factly.

“You’d practically live a gay man’s love life,” Jonathan said and grabbed the plates.

“So? Love is love,” Ray replied and beat Jonathan to the sink, where he took the dirty plates from him and began washing them like he was serving time in Satan’s kitchen.

Jonathan didn’t mind Ray’s enthusiastic nature most of the time, but there was no way in hell he could admit to him, or anyone for that matter, that he was falling for the resident bad boy like a complete naive.

Wait, he stopped, was that what he was doing?

“This Saturday, it’s on us,” Dex announced as they sat around the kitchen table with beers in front of them. “I’ll make sure we have all the booze we need. You three will be in charge of the rest.”

“I’ll handle the snacks,” Kane replied right away.

“I’ll bring the strippers,” Rusty said in the most innocent manner possible.

Both Dex and Kane stared at him until Rusty grimaced and looked away. “You’re no fun. Should I bring some nuns, then?”

“Did you buy something weird from the sex shop again?” Kane narrowed his eyes as he examined their mutual friend. “I’m sure your definition of nuns cannot be found in any dictionary.”

“Yes, it can,” Rusty retorted. “The dictionary of sex.”

“You’re not bringing anyone,” Kane decided. “You’ll be the DJ.”

“Boring,” Rusty said and pouted.

“So that means that I’m the promoter of our little event,” Maddox said once his roommates were finished shooting daggers at Rusty from their eyes.

As the most popular guy in their group, he always made sure practically everyone attended their events. However, this time, he had a special guest in mind. Jonathan was avoiding him again. In all truth, since their majors were so different, they didn’t have any classes together except Statistics, but that didn’t mean that the feeling that he was being avoided was farfetched. Jonathan must be incredibly shy, Maddox had decided, and he would apply a cure for that the soonest he could, which was exactly what this party would serve for.

“Are we going to meet the mysterious girl who keeps on breaking your heart?” Kane asked.

Well, Maddox pondered for a moment. His homies needed to learn about it sooner or later, and that moment was as good as any. “Have you guys ever crushed on a dude? It’s for research purposes,” he added quickly.

Too late. His question made all his three friends stop and look at him with curious eyes. It was easy to tell Kane was dying to start asking questions himself while Dex examined him all-knowingly. Rusty was as clueless as ever, and he was probably considering Maddox’s question for real if he were to take after the focused frown knitting his dark blonde eyebrows together.

Dex spoke first. “I think I might have crushed on our math teacher in sixth grade. Or, I just fell in love with math. Hard to tell. I was pretty confused at the time,” he said with a shrug and then burst into laughter as Kane elbowed him hard.

“Thank you for your input, Mr. Solomon,” Maddox said and pretended to push imaginary glasses up his nose. “How about you, Mr. Dubois?”

Kane seemed eager to add his thoughts. “So, you want to know if we had, like gay experiences?”

“Something like that.”

“Well, when I was ten, my sister’s girlfriends dressed me up as a girl, and one of them kissed me. Does that count as gay enough? It was practically a lesbian kiss.”

“Not by far. Sit down, Mr. Dubois. By next time, you better learn the difference between lady parts and dudes’ parts, ‘cause damn, you’re even more confused now than Dex in sixth grade learning about equations and thinking them sexy.”

They all snickered except for Rusty, who seemed so deep in thought that Maddox was starting to wonder what could be on his mind. It was good that everyone took things so well. His news wouldn’t count as such a big bomb then.

He didn’t have to repeat his question for the third time.

“I’m into dudes in latex,” Rusty said with confidence and grinned broadly.

Maddox didn’t have to look at his other two friends to know that they were as shocked as him. Rusty was their resident kinkster, but that kind of confessions blew anything else out of the water.

“What?” Rusty stared back at them. “I just like the costume. You know, complete with cat ears and a tail.”

Dex blinked a few times and raised one arm, pointing at Rusty like he was some lunatic, which wasn’t that far off the truth, seeing what came out of his mouth or his bedroom regularly. “Wait, wait, wait, is he talking about cat boys?”

“Yeah,” Rusty replied like it was the most natural thing in the world to admit in front of this friends. “What’s wrong with that?”

Kane smacked his forehead and groaned. “You know, all this shit would sound a lot less weird if it were Catwoman getting you into latex and cat ears and whatnot.”

“And tails,” Rusty corrected him. “And what’s so weird about it?”

Dex snorted. “Maybe the fact that you’re not gay. Not even bi. Wait, do you have something to confess, Rusty?”

Rusty froze, and his eyes ping-ponged between his friends frantically for two heartbeats. “Not me, Maddox has something to say.” He pointed with his finger at Maddox to divert everyone’s attention from him.

Now, three pairs of eyes were on him. His friends were waiting, so Maddox took a deep breath. “I want to kiss Jonathan Hamilton,” he said in one go.

He closed his eyes and waited for the chaos to unleash. When nothing happened, he opened one eye, then the other. His friends were just staring at him in utter shock.

“Weren’t you in hate with him or something?” That was Rusty, who, of course, had to ask something off-topic.

“We made up since then,” Maddox said with a little wave. “We’re even working on a project together for Statistics.”

Suspiciously enough, Dex and Kane were completely silent.

“Well, no one has anything to say?” Maddox asked, unnerved by the silence.

“Do you want to, like, give him a man hug and kiss him on the cheek like a bro?” Rusty asked.

Maddox groaned. “Someone else got anything to say?”

Dex offered him a small smile. “All right. Just give us a little moment here, Maddox, ‘cause you dropped a real bomb on us. So, you want to kiss him?”

“Yeah,” Maddox said and shrugged. “Nothing weird about it, right?”

Dex scratched his head. “Not weird, no, just surprising. So why haven’t you kissed him already?”