That… might actually work.How had he not thought about that?Sure, it would be awful while he was in the thick of it, but Baz pretended every day.He could pretend a little more, for the sake of making it back to the safety of his bed.Or to Sami’s, falling into his arms…
Baz shook his head to dismiss the thought.More people were the last thing he needed after an event like this.Strange for his brain to forget that.
“I guess I can give that a try.”
“I know you can.You’re better at this than you think.”
“How would you know that?Are you here?Are you watching me?”
Sami chuckled.“You project confidence, Baz.That’s why you were such an intriguing challenge for me too.”
He really meant that, didn’t he?
“Thank you,” Baz whispered.
“Of course, at a closer look, you’re a total mess.I mean, you’re so high-strung, you lost your shit over a coffee stain.You are majorly obsessed with what people think of you, and you have a stick up your butt so huge, it would make the most well-hung guy on the planet feel insecure.But I’ve seen you loosen up after an orgasm.I know you can do it.”
“Thanks again, really,” Baz deadpanned.
“Anytime.I’m really good with people,” Sami hummed.
“I hadn’t noticed.”
“Rude!”Sami rolled therin a way that scratched an itch in Baz’s brain he hadn’t known was there.“You’re lucky you got me.”
“As far asfrivalswith benefits go, I suppose you’re right.”
“Aw.Now stop stalling and give them hell, honey.”The smile seeping through Sami’s words was nearly as beautiful as the one Baz imagined on his face.Soft, cheeky.The kind that made the stars in his eyes glow.
“I’ll try.Have a good night, Sami.And… thank you.I mean it.”
“Anytime.Good night, Baz.”
The line went dead.
Anytime.The promise echoed in his mind.
Since Sami believed in him, maybe this was destined to end in disaster.
“Here goes nothing,” Baz muttered to himself.With a bracing breath, he opened the door to the lion’s den.A wall of hot air and horrible music punched him in the face.The numbing fog crept into the edges of his mind.Baz willed it away.
Offer alcohol.Feign interest.Laugh.
He could do this.
Collin and the other guys were still in the center of the living room, though the beer bong had thankfully disappeared.Baz forced a smile on his approach and clasped Collin’s shoulder.
“Who wants shots?”
It actually fucking worked.
The exhaustion sat in every cell of Baz’s body when he got home; he bonelessly collapsed onto his bed.His head hurt like a car had run over it three times, and yes, he’d need forty-eight hours in a dark room to recover from this charade of being fun, but he had done it.
The guys had laughed and partied, accepting shot after shot.He had endured pats on his back and strangely lingering hugs from allegedly straight men, but after forty-five minutes, Eevee had suddenly, desperately, needed him and though it broke Baz’s heart to leave, ‘family had to come first’.
No one mocked him, no one called him boring.Quite the opposite, he got sympathetic nods and comments about what a shame it was he had to go, how good it was that he had come.Sullivan even said he would stop dumping annoying cases on him, now that he knew Baz had a cool side.Baz hadn’t realized Sullivan had been doing that in the first place, but it sounded like a compliment.Of sorts.
He felt as though he had unlocked the secret to human interaction, and it was all thanks to Sami.
