“Kid?” Felix looked him up and down. “What are you, twenty-five?”
Jack sighed. “Do you need help with the coursework?”
“No.”
“Then get out of my way. And quit looking so twitchy.” Jack didn’t wait, just nudged him aside and started walking. Felix took a moment to enjoy being moved bodily out of the way by a muscly man, then whirled around.
“Wait! I do need your help!”
Jack sighed louder and turned back. “Shane can give you my email?—”
Felix cut him off. “Do you know how to cook? Or clean?”
Jack’s annoyed expression morphed into pure confusion. He looked around like he was worried they might be on a secret game show, found the classroom empty, then looked back.
“Uh,” he said. “Yeah? Not great at cleaning, but I can cook, sure.”
“And you need money,” Felix said, relieved. “Right? Shane says you have atleastthree jobs.”
Jack narrowed his eyes. “What are you asking?”
“How much would it take for you to teach me to cook?” Felix asked. “Like, one recipe a week for the whole semester. We’d have to do it at your place, obviously. I don’t have a kitchen.”
Jack folded his bulky arms over his chest, considering. “Forty bucks a week. And you buy the ingredients.”
“Done!” Felix beamed and grabbed Jack’s hand, shaking it vigorously. “I’ll get your email off the syllabus. Ninety percent chance I won’t burn your house down!”
He took off, ignoring Jack’s cry ofyou’d better fucking notas he vaulted out of the classroom.
Felix ran down the hall, triumph taking over the knot of anxiety in his gut. He had one semester to turn himself into the perfect roommate. Cooking was set—now he just needed to find someone to teach him how to clean. Once he had finally learned enough, he would show Jacob and convince him they could live together.
But before that, he had to take Jacob’s virginity, he reminded himself as he headed for his dorm. One step at a time.
Felix rushed through a shower, blow-dried his hair with the disgusting communal hairdryer and headed back to his dorm. He’d considered stretching himself in the shower, but one: he hated doing that in the communal shower and two: he was determined to start slow. Jacob was already so flighty about this; Felix wasn’t going to spring anal on him on their first night together.
He fought down a spasm of butterflies as he dabbed the smallest portion of glittery shadow on his eyelids.Their first night together.He couldn’t let himself get attached, but a guy could dream, right? He’d thought about tonight so many times. It wasn’t happening the way he’d hoped—a love confession wasalways a prerequisite when he’d let himself think about it—but he was going to take what he could get.
Jacob knocked on the door at exactly three p.m.
“One second,” Felix said, twisting his eyeshadow closed. He wanted to add some lip gloss, but as he was getting up to grab it, the door opened.
Jacob came in fast, slamming the door closed behind him like they were doing something suspicious. Then they just… stared at each other. Jacob had changed his shirt, which was good, since it had been pretty sweaty the last time Felix had seen it—the same reason Felix had showered after classes. It was a loose shirt, the fabric hanging off his neckline. A glimpse of his clavicle made Felix panic. They were really going to do this. He wanted it so much. He was going to be devastated by it.
He did what he always did when he was overwhelmed: he joked. “Ready for some fisting, guv’na,” he croaked, in a terrible British accent that he’d never heard out of his own mouth before.
Jacob’s face twisted. He turned to leave.
“Wait, fuck,” Felix blurted. He lunged across the room and plastered himself across the door, blocking the handle. “Sorry. I’m nervous.”
“Why areyounervous?” Jacob demanded. “You’ve done this a million times.”
Not with anyone I’m in love with, Felix thought.
“Even the fisting,” Jacob continued. “Which we arenotdoing for my first time.”
“Aw, and here I was all excited.” Felix pulled up a cheeky smile and forced his posture to relax. “No first-time fisting. But since we’re both nervous, I thought we’d start out with something else on your list. A not-sex thing.”
“Okay,” Jacob said suspiciously. “What?”
