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14
There was no doubt about it. Liam was avoiding me again. I was around the house most of the following day since I only had two lectures, but he never showed up, even though I hung around in the communal areas late into the evening. The day after that was the same. He was gone when I got up and didn’t appear again. I replayed Wednesday night over and over in my mind, but every time, I came to the same conclusion. He regretted the kiss. And why wouldn’t he? The most likely reason for it happening in the first place was that it had been a moment of drunken curiosity. He wasn’t even the first straight boy who’d kissed me out of curiosity.
I should have regretted it too. Not the kiss itself—but after everything that had happened in the past with Kyle and the football team, the last thing I wanted was to be caught in another situation with a boy who was either in denial or wanted to use me as an experiment.
I told myself this, but I couldn’t stop thinking about Liam. The way he kissed…I’dneverbeen kissed that way before. I wanted it to happen again, even though I knew I shouldn’t.
“Noah? Shot?” Preston’s voice startled me out of my thoughts. I accepted the tiny glass from his outstretched hand, leaning back against the kitchen counter.
Tonight, we were going to Revolve, the gay club. I had my doubts about whether Liam would even show, but I pushed those thoughts from my mind. Tonight was about having a good time in a place where I was completely free to be myself, where I could dance and maybe even flirt with other men without any worries in the back of my mind.
“No Liam?” I asked casually, before tipping my glass up. I grimaced at the sour taste of the alcohol as it burned its way through my body.
Preston’s brow furrowed. “I haven’t seen him today…maybe he changed his mind.” He held up the bottle. “Another?”
“Why not.” Holding out my shot glass, I watched as he filled it to the brim with clear liquid. “I haven’t seen him around at all since Wednesday.”
I kept my voice light, but Preston’s frown deepened. “I haven’t seen him around much either, other than at football yesterday, but I didn’t get to speak to him. Last time I spoke to him properly was, uh—” He cleared his throat as Kian jabbed him in the ribs with his elbow. “—Wednesday night.”
“When you ran out of the kitchen and he followed you, or so I heard. Anything you wanna share?” Kian interjected with a smirk on his face.
“Kian,” Preston hissed. “It’s none of our business.”
“Nothing of note to share,” I said, my cheeks heating. Downing my shot, I changed the subject. “Where is this club, anyway? Close?”
“It’s in Soho,” Preston informed me. He frowned, tugging his phone from his pocket. “The Uber’s due in five minutes, and we’re meeting Elliot and the other guys out front. Are we sure Liam isn’t— Hey, man!”
I spun around at Preston’s greeting to see Liam standing in the doorway. He was casual in jeans and a black T-shirt, but his hair was styled in an artful mess, and there was a resolute expression on his face.
“Everyone ready to go?” His gaze flicked from Kian to Preston, and he pointedly didn’t look at me.
Okay, I could take a hint.
I made sure I went last when we headed outside, where Elliot and his friends were already waiting alongside the cabs. There were seven of us in total, so it meant that there’d be four of us in one of the cabs. Since Liam was ignoring me, I stepped around him, greeting Elliot. “Can I?” I pointed to the Uber his friends were getting into.
He grinned. “Yeah.” Ducking his head into the cab, he spoke to the guys inside, and the next thing I knew, one of his friends was climbing out of the back and getting into the front. “Get in.” He placed his hand on my back, applying a light pressure.
As I slid into my seat and Elliot climbed in next to me, I turned my head to see Liam staring straight at me with a look on his face that I couldn’t quite interpret.
But it looked a lot like jealousy.
* * *
“Elliot.” The bouncer tipped his chin at my friend as we stepped up to the roped-off entrance. He nodded back, going for extra casual, and it made me smile. Out of the corner of my eye, I could feel Liam’s heavy stare, but I ignored it. I’d come here to have a good time, and I wasn’t going to let anything bring my mood down. The atmosphere in the cab on the way had been happy, excited, all of us anticipating a good night. Elliot had given us a rundown of the club. It was spread out over three floors, and the entrance was on the middle floor, which played general dance, pop, and cheese, depending on the night’s theme. Then up on the top floor, you had a huge chill-out section, and the music was more mellow. The basement was a completely different atmosphere, as Elliot described it. Dark, smoke machines, speakers pumping out grinding, dirty beats, and a long corridor leading to the toilets and doubling as a fire exit, which Elliot had flushed at when mentioning and then clammed up.
Suffice to say, I was intrigued.
We headed inside, straight for the bar. Once we’d shown our IDs, we were being introduced to Elliot’s very hot cousin, Cole, and he was serving us a line of Jägerbombs followed by some other mixed drinks that definitely contained Red Bull and way too much alcohol. I was buzzing.
And I was very aware of Liam. Constantly checking him out to see if he seemed comfortable or whatever. Even though I knew he was avoiding me, I couldn’t help myself. It was a weird, almost protective instinct, knowing he had to be way out of his comfort zone. Even here, on the main dance floor, there were guys plastered up against each other, grinding, attacking each other’s mouths, hands everywhere…my dick was half hard just from watching everything going on around me.
Liam seemed to be handling it just fine, though.
Until we went to the lower level.
I hadn’t even been the one to suggest it. It had been Preston, giving me a smile that was way too knowing, whispering in Kian’s ear. It was no surprise that they both disappeared the second we’d made it down the stairs, melting into the crowds, the haze from the smoke machines camouflaging their exit.
Now I was stuck between Liam, who had gone from casually relaxed to stiff and uncomfortable, his wide-eyed gaze darting around the smoky room, and Elliot, who was staring at me in a way that I really hoped I was misinterpreting. Thankfully, Elliot’s friends joined us a minute later, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Liam was still ignoring me, despite the fact that he was clearly out of his depth. Even I was, a bit… The nightlife back at home wasn’t comparable to this.
