“You might regret that,” he warns, sounding much less bashful this time.
“Doubt it.” I grab another cookie and then the remote. “What should we watch?”
“Oh, whatever is fine with me.”
“I don’t want to put on something you’ve watched already recently,” I reason.
He chuckles. “Not much chance of that. I’ve hardly seen any movies.”
“Oh, because you’ve been busy with school?”
“No, like ever,” he says. “I started watching some last year and mostly have seen a lot of horror/sci-fi, but that’s about it.”
“What? Not even when you were a kid?”
“Especially when I was a kid,” he answers, taking another cookie as well and pulling his legs up to tuck them under himself, getting more comfortable on the couch. “I was allowed to watch educational stuff, like documentaries, but that was pretty much it. My parents thought sitting in front of the TV was a waste of time when I could be learning something instead.”
“Wow.” I’m trying to imagine my childhood without Willy Wonka or Shrek or the million other movies I watched practically on repeat. “So, wait, you’ve never seen the terrifying brilliance of Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka?”
“Willie Wonka?” he repeats. “That sounds like a porn.”
“Oh my fucking god.” I laugh out loud. “We have to watch it. This is going to change your life.”
“All right,” he agrees. “Let’s do this.”
I pull up my Amazon Prime and search for the movie. “Wait, so was there other stuff you couldn’t do either? Or were they only strict about movies.”
“It feels like I couldn’t do anything,” Alex says. “I never learned to ride a bike. That’s kind of pathetic, right? I never had many friends because I was always in class with older kids who thought I was weird for being so smart. I was allowed to read though.” This time he grins again, and it looks a little devious. “When I was thirteen my parents bought me the first Kindle and after that they never even asked what I was reading. I started devouring romance almost immediately. It was sort of like my own private rebellion against all the things I wasn’t allowed to do.”
“I always thought it was strange someone as smart as you read so much romance. I get it now.”
He frowns. “Romance isn’t for stupid people.”
“No, I know. I didn’t mean it that way.”
He narrows his eyes at me in a glare. “It takes a lot of skill to write romance.”
“I know,” I assure him again. “I just meant that usually when you imagine a mega genius, you imagine all they read is obscure medieval texts or physics textbooks.”
He waves his hand dismissively again, cookie crumbs flying everywhere. “I read all that shit when I was twelve. It’s boring; no one ever kisses. Now, someone getting dicked down hard? Definitely not boring.”
I nearly choke on the bit of cookie I just bit off. Another thing you don’t typically imagine when you think of geniuses is the phrase dicked down hard.
Alex is quiet for a few minutes before adding, “They’re not bad people,” almost as an afterthought to the conversation. “My parents,” he clarifies.
“I’m sure they’re not.”
“They’re really loving and supportive. They’re just really invested in my success.”
“That’s good.” I’m not sure what he wants me to say. It’s not like I’m judging his parents or anything. He seems to have turned out fine, so I’m sure they’re not terrible.
He nods and looks at the TV in a clear signal that he’s ready for me to start the movie.
We end up demolishing the entire box of cookies while we watch. Alex’s reactions and comments throughout the entire thing are absolutely hilarious and increase my enjoyment of it tenfold. It’s probably the most fun night I’ve had in ages.
Chapter 3
Theo
It’s rare that I get home from school before Alex since we live so close to CalTech, but it’s a good half hour to an hour drive to USC for me, depending on the traffic. When I step into the apartment, I hear the TV playing at a low level. I set my bookbag down and toe off my shoes, stepping into the living room to find Alex on the couch, reading from his tablet. His legs are tucked up, making him look even smaller than he already is.
When I first met him, I thought there was no way he was a day older than sixteen. He was wearing a t-shirt that said Scientists Do It Periodically, and I remember thinking that the two of us would get along just fine. Of course, then he suggested we all go eat at a place frequented by local firemen and that sealed it. Elijah may be my best friend for life, but there’s always room for new people, and I have a feeling Alex could easily become people.
There’s a pretty blush on his cheeks, his eyes riveted to the screen. I know he said he was able to get away with secretly reading romance on his e-reader without his parents knowing, but something tells me that’s not how he looks when he reads about equations.
“Hey,” I say, and he startles.
“Fuck. You scared me,” he mutters, looking up from his book.
“Yeah, you looked pretty engrossed with whatever you were reading.” I give him a knowing smile, and he smirks back without a hint of shame.
“I was engrossed. This dragon was in the middle of claiming his fated mate for the first time with his big dragony knot.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “His what?”
“Dragons, and some other mythical creatures in gay romance, knot when they fuck. The base of their dick swells big to lock them inside their mate. It’s super hot,” he explains, lowering his legs to the floor and giving me a glimpse of exactly how hot he finds the book, the front of his pants stretched with an impressive bulge for someone of his petite stature. “Although, it really doesn’t make any sense biologically. Dragons are reptiles, which means they shouldn’t knot, but they should have hemipenes—or two penises. But, whatever, it’s hot as fuck either way.”
I tear my eyes away quickly away from his bulge and eye his tablet again, my curiosity piqued. “If you want to send me a link to any recommendations, feel free,” I say casually.
His smile widens. “You might regret that,” he warns.
“Don’t go crazy. I’ve never read anything like that, so just pick one that’s hot enough to interest me, but not scary enough to scar me for life.”
“I have the perfect thing,” he assures me, grabbing his phone and typing for a few moments. Mine vibrates in my pocket and I’m almost afraid to see what the recommendation is. He looks back up and sets his tablet aside. “Did you get that group text from Bishop about all of us going to Twisted Cherry tonight?”
I pull out my phone to check and, sure enough, find a string of texts that mostly consist of Hudson flirting with his men, of which he has three because apparently while some of us are unable to lock down just one man, other’s get to have three devoted boyfriends. I scroll up until I find the details, Bishop—who happens to be one of the men in a relationship with Hudson—suggesting all of us meet at Twisted Cherry at eight for a couple of drinks. I type back that I’m in and put my phone away again.