Chapter 9: Escape Artist

Jonathan took advantage of Maddox’s insane popularity to make himself scarce from his host’s view as various people began dragging the star of the party to and fro while trying to convince him to be part of their shenanigans. Now he was free to play the wallflower, and he was fine with it. The good part was that Ray seemed to be enjoying himself a great deal as Dex, Maddox’s friend, had him literally under his wing, holding him by the shoulders and plying him with alcohol. Jonathan hoped he wouldn’t have to deal with a very drunk Ray afterwards, but if push came to shove, he would do his best to help his roommate.

He leaned against the wall and took in his surroundings. Moments like this made him feel a bit alone and out of touch. It was too dramatic to think that he felt older than his years, but how many people in that room could say that they had gone through an experience similar to his? All his life, he had been sheltered, allowed to feel happy and carefree, and then, suddenly, the rug had been pulled from under his feet. And his parents, their judgmental eyes, had been too much. To think that they wouldn’t believe him, or at least accept that he had his own side of the story to tell. The one that belonged with the truth they hadn’t cared about.

Was there anyone at the party that had felt as alone and scared as he had felt at that time? The happy faces around him told him everything he needed to know.

“We should stop meeting like this.”

Connor offered him a red plastic cup and smiled. Jonathan took it and murmured his thanks. “Do you mean, when the music is too loud, and people can’t hear each other?”

“You gotta admit it that it’s not as loud as in other places,” Connor commented and leaned against the wall to his right. “The Amazing Four know how to pull off a class act when they want to.”

The Amazing Four? If things weren’t already ridiculous enough, Maddox’s group of friemds had to have a nickname like that. And he had no idea about what Connor meant by a class act, as this party didn’t look that different to him as opposed to others.

“I see that my joke was not well received, so I must suck at making them.”

Connor offered him a pleasant smile, and only then Jonathan realized that the guy had actually put in the effort to brush his hair and no weird smell wafted away from his beard this time. Also, he wasn’t accompanied by his usual posse and he wasn’t talking about the important task resting on his shoulders alone, aka saving the planet.

“Oh, it was a joke? I’m afraid I’m the one who’s slow on the uptake,” he said courteously.

Connor stared into his cup for a few moments and sighed. “Jonathan, I cannot help but think that I gave you a wrong first impression. No, let me finish.”

Jonathan had made no sign that he wanted to interrupt him but said nothing on the matter.

“I tend to be a little too overbearing with the things I’m passionate about, so I didn’t realize that I was making no effort to get to know you.”

“It’s admirable to have a passion and be so involved with it,” Jonathan offered politely.

“Yes, but that pushed you away.” Connor gave him a shrewd look.

“I wasn’t sure you were interested in me,” Jonathan said, aiming for a truth that wouldn’t inconvenience either of them.

“I am,” Connor said directly. “I think you’re a nice guy, the kind worth getting to know better. So, do you think we can start again? I promise I won’t try to kiss you out of the blue anymore and force you to leave the party early.”

Jonathan nodded. This was what he needed, someone uncomplicated who spoke his mind, right? And Connor wasn’t unattractive. On top of it all, he was openly gay, too, so there would be no sneaking about and looking over the shoulder.

“All right. Hi, I’m Jonathan Hamilton.”

“Connor Simmons. Delighted.” Connor shook his hand and held it, brushing his thumb over Jonathan’s skin before letting go. “So, what brings you here?”

“To this party? My roommate, Ray.”

Connor laughed. “I like a man with a dry sense of humor.”

What do you know? Connor could be pleasant when he put his mind to it. Jonathan fell into a natural flow of conversation right away. It appeared that Connor was capable of talking about other things besides the impending and untimely death of Mother Earth.

Maddox munched on a cracker with a vengeance, as he observed Connor all over Jonathan. They were chatting, but they looked like they were having fun, and that ground his gears. One of these days, he’d have a throw down with Connor, although he had never had one with anyone before, and that’s if he didn’t count how Jonathan had almost floored him with a single punch.

Nonetheless, Connor was trying to steal Jonathan, and he couldn’t let that happen without a fight of some sort. He didn’t know how that was supposed to go down, but he was pretty sure that if it were a kissing contest, he would win it, and then, Jonathan would have no choice but to kiss only him.

Rusty threw one arm over his shoulder. He pointed at Jonathan and Connor who were fortunately too far away to hear them. “What is Connor doing? Is he trying to steal your man?” Rusty gestured with a plastic cup that was still half full, making its contents slosh around dangerously. Great, now his buddy was half-drunk and cared only about pissing him off, Maddox thought.

“They’re just talking,” he said defensively. “And he’s not my man,” he added and pouted.

“For real? You had the guy in your room, and you didn’t score?”

“No, because you ruined it,” Maddox said pointedly.

“Me?” Rusty pointed at himself and seemed completely surprised at the accusation. “Nah, you must have said something stupid.”

“That’s it, I’m going to box your ears until you say that you’re a stupid sandwich,” Maddox threatened.

“So, when are you going to introduce him to us?” Rusty asked, completely deaf to the nasty fate being prepared for him.

“So that you can fill his head with stupidities about me? No way, first I need to secure the deal. Then, he’ll have to live with the fact that I have at least one moron as a best friend.”

“Who? Dex?”

Maddox had a feeling Rusty was much smarter than people thought he was. No, he was certain of it, but Rusty preferred, for his own reasons, to assume the role of a meathead, enjoying the popularity that came with it. He wouldn’t have been so kinky if he didn’t have a brain that worked on overdrive to satisfy his horniness. Not only Maddox, but Dex and Kane, too, secretly envied him for being so creative when it came to sex and everything related. However, Maddox couldn’t stop thinking that maybe, just maybe, Rusty was doing all that outrageous stuff to hide something. Was it a need to show off? Or was it boredom? One of these days, he would have to rope Kane in and have him work his magic on Rusty to discover what was really in his head. They had all been friends since high school, and Maddox liked to think he was Rusty’s best friend even within the limits of their tightknit group. Still, there was a part of Rusty that had always escaped him, and time and again, he had wanted to unravel it just to know his best friend for real.

It wasn’t the time to think of that, though. Instead of wondering what Rusty was up to, he needed to find a way to pull Jonathan away from Connor’s charms, and that without making the guy feel embarrassed.

“What am I supposed to do now?” He sighed and looked into his cup dejectedly.

“Do you mean, about Jonathan? Just leave it to me,” Rusty said, and before he could do or say anything, his friend took off.

Maddox wanted to stop him but, right then, Kane’s lacrosse buddies chose to grab him and push him toward the main room, under the pretext that they wanted him to meet someone. They were in various states of inebriation so dealing with them required a great deal of effort, and he was no match for their collective strength, either.

Just great. Now, he would have to do damage control after Rusty, too.

“Hi, my dudes.”

Jonathan stopped mid-sentence as he sensed someone right behind him, leaning in dangerously close. As he turned his head, he found himself staring into a pair of mischievous green eyes. “Um, hello.” He knew who that was. Rusty Parker, one of the Amazing Four. As much as he wanted, there was no amount of irony he could add to that to make it sound as incredible as it did.

“Yo, Rusty,” Connor said and high-fived the guy over Jonathan’s shoulder. “Cool party.”

“Oh, yeah.”

Jonathan tried to move a bit away so that Rusty didn’t have to prop himself against him to have a conversation with Connor, but a heavy hand on his shoulder stopped him. Rightfully so, he felt slightly scandalized. Rusty didn’t appear to have any notion of what personal space meant. Jonathan could feel his warm body, hovering inches away from him from head to toes.

“Imma stealing Jonathan here for a moment. I want to ask him something in private.”

What on earth could Rusty want? Jonathan wondered. Could it be that he had caught a whiff of something going on with him and Maddox, and wanted to have a little laugh at his expense? Once again tonight, but for a different reason, Jonathan felt he was getting a bit too hot under the collar.

“Sure thing. Just don’t keep him for too long. I really like this guy,” Connor said. “And I’d like to get to know him better tonight.” The last words came along with a suggestive wink at Jonathan.

Whatever it was, he would set Rusty Parker as straight as they come and quickly. He flat out refused to become the mockery of the most popular group on campus. Therefore, he made no objections when Rusty pulled him away and then guided him outside through a back door. He wasn’t afraid of a little confrontation if that were what people thought about him.

The cool air was doing him good. Rusty just kept pushing him from behind until they were at a fair distance from the house, and the music was considerably fainter, along with the noise of the party.

“Well? What do you want?” Jonathan asked aggressively.

He didn’t have time to react when Rusty pushed his back against a tree, slamming him into it, and then quickly grabbing his arms and pulling them back.

“What on earth are you doing?” Jonathan raised his voice.

It was painfully clear that Rusty was using something to tie his wrists together, forcing him to wrap around the tree and have a spine-straightening experience he didn’t care for at the moment. On top of it all, the guy was humming a happy tune.

“Release me immediately! We’re not in fourth grade! What do you think you’re doing?”

Rusty stepped in front of him and swayed for a bit. Then, he raised one finger and wagged it at Jonathan. “You stay right here.”

“Really? Like I could leave as tied up as I am right now? Is this some sort of hazing? I’m not interested in pledging loyalty to your little group, just so you know.”

Rusty scoffed, hiccupped, and laughed, all at the same time. It was unnerving how quickly this guy had managed to overpower him while still being fairly drunk. “Well, you’ll have to. No way around it.”

“I object,” Jonathan said. “I have no interest in something like that, as I told you. You’re all a bunch of jokers.”

“Too bad you’re not interested,” Rusty declared. “Because we’re interested in you.”

We? What could he mean by that? “All right, all right, you want to have your fun, go ahead. What’s next? Will you throw water balloons at me?”

“Hmm, that sounds nice,” Rusty admitted. “I bet you’d fare well in a wet t-shirt contest.”

He wanted so damned much to stare this guy down, but it was too dark for that.

“I thought those were for girls only,” Jonathan shot back. He moved his wrists, but it looked like Rusty knew a bit too well what he was doing.

“You must have one hot bod under those grandpa clothes,” Rusty commented. “Right?”

“That’s none of your business,” Jonathan sputtered angrily. “Release me, or we’re going to have a problem.”

“Really? Wanna throw a punch?”

Jonathan didn’t like where that was going. How much did Maddox share with his friends?

“Whatever,” Rusty said matter-of-factly since he chose to remain silent. “It’s because you’re so feisty, right? All piss and vinegar.”