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He rolled his eyes. “Believe me, if I was hard, you’d know about it. Although there’s not much room for it to go anywhere in these jeans.”
“I’m not hard either.” I sighed. This experiment couldn’t be a failure already, surely. “It felt like I was kissing a relative. No offence.”
There was silence for a second, and then JJ huffed out an amused chuckle. “None taken. It felt that way to me too. Let’s both agree to never repeat this experience.”
With a short nod, I kicked at the ground, sending some pebbles and bits of glass skittering across the concrete, a cloud of dust disappearing on the wind just like my dreams of a lap dance from Honey Rose. My experiment was a failure. There was no spark there. Nothing that made my dick stir.
When I looked back at him, I was surprised by the sympathy in his eyes. “Just because it didn’t work with me doesn’t mean it won’t work with someone else.” He squeezed my arm lightly. “Wanna come out with me this weekend? I can introduce you to some people. You won’t have any trouble pulling someone looking the way you do.”
My mood lifted. Flashing him a grin, I leaned back against the wall next to him. “Yeah, okay.”
“Okay. I’ll introduce you to some people this weekend.” His smile disappeared, and he placed his hand on my arm. “In the meantime, if you have any questions, I’m here, okay? All joking aside, if this is something you’re genuinely interested in, I’ve got your back. But only if you’re serious about it. I don’t want to be responsible for you fucking with people’s feelings. You need to be completely upfront with whoever I introduce you to, okay? Make sure they know exactly what the deal is.”
Making sure to hold his gaze, I responded. “Yeah. I know I’ve been, y’know, joking around or whatever, but Iamserious. I promise. Look—I couldn’t stop thinking about it after I’d kissed Elliot, and I know that I want to at least explore my options. I don’t wanna give anyone the wrong impression about what I want, and I’ll make sure that they know where they stand with me before anything happens. I do that with the girls I’m with anyway—that’s not going to change just because it’s a man involved.”
“Good. Because this is gonna involve real people, with real feelings.” The seriousness faded from his expression, and he grinned at me. “I think you’re going to enjoy this. Even if our kiss didn’t work out the way you hoped, I guarantee there’s someone out there who’ll give you the kind of response you’re looking for.”
I returned his grin. “Thanks, bro. I hope you’re right.”
“No. You don’t call me that. No bro nicknames.”
“Sorry, dude.”
He shot me a warning look. “You’re buying me another drink.”
I mentally prepared myself to take another hit to my bank account. “I guess I owe you one.”
5
“Shit! Sorry!”
I straightened up, rubbing my head. A guy with tousled brown hair stood in front of me, first giving me a slightly apologetic smile, then wincing as he rubbed at his own head. We’d collided as I was entering the lecture hall and he was coming out.
“Elliot?”
My gaze swung to the guy’s left, and my lips curved into a small smile. “Huxley, hi.”
The corner of Huxley’s mouth turned up, which was as good as a smile from him. “Might want to watch where you’re going.”
“Thanks for the helpful advice. I’ll be sure to remember that in future.” I adjusted my bag on my shoulder, shifting on my feet. “Uh. How’s Cole doing?”
“He’s your cousin. Why don’t you ask him yourself?” Huxley smirked at me.
“He’s your boyfriend.”And stepbrother.
“Aren’t you going to introduce me?” The brown-haired guy was looking between us with interest. His eyes lingered on me, and his lashes swept down as his gaze lowered to my mouth.
“Yeah, sorry. This is Elliot, Cole’s cousin. Elliot, meet Curtis. He’s in my band. Drummer.” Huxley eyed his friend before turning back to me. “Cole’s put us on the guest list at Revolve on Thursday.” He paused, giving me a cautious look. “You wanna come?”
Huxley voluntarily inviting me to hang out with him—that had to be my cousin’s influence. Leaning against the wall in what I hoped was a casual pose, I said, “Thursday? Isn’t that a theme night?” I tried to ignore the way that Curtis was studying me with even more interest than before.
“Thirst Trap Thursday.” Huxley rolled his eyes. “Not my choice, but it’s two-for-one on drinks, and Cole wants me to entertain him while he’s working.”
Curtis took a step closer. “You should come,” he said in a low, soft voice, and I suddenly remembered Noah’s words. Maybe this was a good opportunity to dip my toe in the water. Open myself up to new possibilities. Cole would be there anyway, and I was pretty sure I could drag some of my other friends along.
I nodded. “Alright. I’ll come. Get Cole to text me the details.”
“Don’t I get your number?” Curtis smiled at me.
