We make our way over, and like I always do, I get in position behind Ian and wrap my arms around his waist, growling a horny purr into his ear which makes him scoff.
“Fuck off,” he mutters through a smile, backhandingmy chest. “It’s not my fault you aren’t getting any, so don’t take it out on me.”
“Mmm. Angry guys are such a turn-on,” I lie.
“Shut the hell up.” He lets out a scoffed chuckle. “One more word from you, and I’m shoving a fifty-pound dumbbell right up your ass.”
I soften my tone and pout my lips. “Aww, stretch me open, Daddy.”
“Never change, man.” Out of not-so-witty replies, Ian rolls his eyes and angles himself under the barbell. I chuckle, taking my actual spotter pose before helping him through his sets.
It’s odd, really, how I can get all jokingly nasty with my friends, but I can’t follow through with said nastiness for real with anyone else when push comes to shove. As much as Ian was joking earlier, I’m neglecting a dry spell that’s pushing two years, and it’s a hundred percent on me for not trying.
It’s just…I’m not wired like other guys. I know I only like other dudeslike that, but I can’t bring myself to ignore my initial nerves and pretend to like hooking up when it makes me uncomfortable as hell.
I’m not doing that again. Once was enough, and the other times after…I didn’t pretend, which ended exactly as well as it sounds.
Opting out of the whole thing makes the most sense for me?—
“Yo, help me out here!” Ian grunts, and I snap back to reality.
Oh, fuck, he’s straining.
I jolt upright and rack the barbell with a loud clang. “Hey, don’t go so hard.”
Red-faced, panting, Ian stumbles backward and collapses on the padded floor next to me. “You’re probably right. Sorry.”
“Nah, you’re good.” I grin down at him. “You’re so sweet, building a nice ass for your boyfriend.”
He rolls his eyes and smacks my ankle. “That isnotwhy I go hard on leg day, but if he asked, I would.” His face molds into a tired smile. “You know I’d do anything for him.”
“Aww, you’re so fucking disgusting,” I tease, giving his ribs a gentle kick.
What Ian and Callum have—they’re not the most conventional pairing, but the level of obsession they have for each other is out of this world.
They have something super sweet, and I’m starting to wonder if I’m allowed to deserve the same.
CHAPTER SIX
DEAN
My phone buzzes, and out of some kind of sick, primal instinct, I reach for it as soon as the notification hits my eardrums.
It’s a spam email.
Oh, well.
“Hey, what’s got you on edge?” Claire asks in Mandarin. She’s from Taiwan, she’s on the women’s softball team here, and we worked on a group project together our freshman year, bonding over how useless the other group member was.
And because I stupidly decided to befriend a bunch of people older than me, she’s one of the last friends I have left on campus.
“Nothing.” I put my phone back down. “Waiting on a message from the baseball player I’m tutoring. He’s supposed to send me an assignment to review.”
“You’retutoring someone?” She scoffs. “In what?”
“Chinese. Which along with English, is basically the only thing I’m kind of qualified to tutor.”
Claire tilts her head, which makes me sigh in frustration—I can already hear where she’s going. “Let me guess. He’s doingsobadly, and that’s why you’re jittery about reviewing his work?”
