Page 14 of Muscle Cub

“Well, alrighty then!” Austin held out his fist for a bump, but Jay gave it a sassy little pat instead.

Jay looked between the two of us. “Are we gonna see you guys in the sauna?”

I prayed Austin wouldn’t volunteer us for some kind of… quintuple situation. Or whatever it was called when it involved five people. Oh, wait. There were two other men in the bathhouse.

This could quickly slide into orgy territory.

“Um.” Austin made eye contact with me as if it were something we’d been discussing before Jay showed up. “I think we might take a little skinny dip in the pool while we have it to ourselves.”

“How romantic.” Jay waved his finger at us in a circular motion. “This is giving me a daddy-and-his-boy fantasy.”

My cheeks flushed, but fortunately, nobody could see it in the dark. The objectification and the labeling mortified me, but I was also desperate to know if that was how Austin saw us too.

Us. One witness and we’d become an us.

Austin didn’t seem to mind. “Shut the fuck up.” He playfully shoved Jay toward the Chrises. “We might see you in there later. If you’re real lucky.”

With a smirk, Jay left us. The screen door screeched and banged closed behind the three men, leaving Austin and me relatively alone again in the dark.

“You kinda say yes to everyone, don’t you?” I asked.

Austin shrugged. “It’s just easier. Given my reputation.”

“What kind of reputation is that?” Of course, I could have guessed, but I wanted to know how he would present it to me. I was also a little proud of myself for turning the tables on him, putting him on the spot.

Austin shot me a look that said, Seriously. You’re gonna make me spell it out? He sighed. “If I blow somebody off, it’s gonna make him feel like he’s the one and only guy I won’t flirt with.”

Interesting. Austin wasn’t concerned about the labels anyone might impose on him; he was concerned about how he might make them feel. “You have the right to say no.”

Austin hummed skeptically. “I’m not good at saying no, and I hate hurting people’s feelings. I just don’t want to make anybody feel undesirable, or ugly, or too old, or not good enough. I have ways of putting people off gently. Usually without them even noticing.”

“A little glamour spell?”

Austin’s mouth dropped open. “That’s what Jim calls it!”

It crossed my mind that I might see his careful, compassionate magic in action before the night was over. He might’ve promised Eric and Ben he’d keep me company and stroke my ego a bit. Nothing like a little attention from the youngest, hottest guy at camp to rekindle a spark of hope in their pitiful friend. “Good to know you wield your power benevolently.”

Austin batted his lashes, convincingly bashful. “I’m not all that.”

“Oh, please, bro. I don’t believe for one second you don’t know what people see when they look at you.”

“Well, yeah, what they see.” He uncrossed and recrossed his legs. “But, you know, deep down, once a chubby kid, always a chubby kid.”

I squinted. The confession did change how I saw him. The kind of physical transformation he must have undergone had the power to either make a monster or armor a tender heart, depending on the soul inhabiting the body. I’d been small-minded. I should have suspected there was complexity behind his considerable charm and quick wit.

Austin leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest, his massive pecs bunching together. “I’m gonna ask you something point blank. I’m just gonna blurt it out, okay?”

“Okay.” I dragged out the word warily.

“Would you ever consider being with a guy like me?”

I almost choked on my tongue.

A guy like him? Was this a move? Something vulnerable intended to disarm me and make me feel like I was the special one? I would have liked some clarity on what he meant by being with him—a hookup? Dating?—but I didn’t have the guts to confront him on that directly. Besides, another honest question popped out of my mouth, “Does anyone ever say no to you?”

Austin rolled his eyes. “Uh, yeah. You. Like, what, an hour ago?”

“I said I wouldn’t dance with you.”