Good Guys Don't Date Bad Boys - 7. Kiss And Tell

Chapter Seven - Kiss And Tell

Jonathan wished there was a magic trick to stop the hammering of his heart that didn’t care to slow down even once he was inside the small suite he shared with Ray. He pressed his back against the door and tried to control his breathing. He had gone and kissed Maddox Kingsley! Of all the students on campus, he just had to go for the guy who was the worst choice he could make.

He pressed a hand on his chest and breathed out. At the time, he had been so cool, in control, thinking that he would just pay Maddox back for the sudden attack on his person with a small surprise of his own. One that didn’t involve punching the guy in the nose, he thought and winced at the reminder.

What kind of kick-ass fighter was Maddox if he couldn’t block a slow hit like that? Jonathan was pretty sure that he was no boxer or MMA aficionado, so landing that punch had taken him completely by surprise. It had been a knee-jerk reaction, too, as he had been so tense the moment Maddox had walked through the door. That, especially, had to worry him since he had never known himself as an aggressive individual. Apparently, Maddox had a remarkable ability to bring out the worst in him. At the moment, he had thought the guy would call it a prank and laugh at him, and --

But the kiss... The kiss had been amazing. Jonathan banged his head against the door and groaned. Maddox’s full lips felt as good as they looked, sweet marshmallow pillows that one could indulge in for hours while slowly going mad. And when Jonathan, too sure of himself, had dared to sneak his tongue inside and have a taste... That should have been the moment when he should have realized that he had gone utterly, hopelessly insane.

How was he supposed to forget about Maddox now? How was he supposed to kiss another boy and not compare the way their lips would touch to that mind-blowing kiss?

Maddox was such a tough act to follow that Jonathan had no idea what to do but stay there, pinned to the door like an old coat, and ponder over the miserable fate that he had tailored for himself with his own two hands and through no one else’s fault.

“Ah, you’re home?”

Ray’s voice woke him up from his imagined self-flagellation. His roommate’s hair was a mess, and he looked like he had just woken up.

“Were you already asleep? So early?”

Ray stretched and yawned. “What can I say? Certain study materials are the best sleeping pills. Just for the record, I wanted to surprise you and have dinner ready, but I forgot to order takeout.”

That was as far as Ray’s abilities to handle dinner went, and Jonathan was thankful for his forgetting to order. As much as Ray insisted that he needed to repay Jonathan for always cooking for two, eating garbage, no matter how tasty, wasn’t high on his list. Plus, it was cheaper to have something made at home, as he had come to learn during the months spent alone and away from his family. Anyone from his ‘before’ life would barely recognize him in an apron and reading the nutritional facts of each ingredient that went into the pot, especially since he came from a family that considered cooking something reserved for the help.

“It’s all right. I’ll throw something together in no time.”

Ray followed him as he took off his bag. “I stocked the fridge and the cupboard.”

“God help us then,” Jonathan joked. “How do you like your cereals, Ray? Poached or deep fried?”

Ray giggled. “Come on, it’s not that bad. And I’m starting to learn a thing or two from you. Like how to hold a fork.”

“Give me a minute to change. And I have no idea what you mean by that.”

“You know.” Ray made a vague gesture. “Like with elegance.”

Jonathan just shook his head and disappeared into his room.

***

“So, have you gone on a date with Connor already?” Ray watched Jonathan like a hawk as he stuffed his mouth like he hadn’t eaten in a month. Seeing how skinny he was, Jonathan wondered where all that food could go. Ray had a metabolism that could make supermodels on all continents go green with envy. As expected, he wasn’t appreciative of his so-called gift.

Jonathan hesitated. He hadn’t had the heart to tell Ray that he didn’t find Connor attractive. “No, not yet.”

“Hmm, have you at least bumped into him tonight?”

Jonathan frowned in thought. “No, why would you say that?”

Ray gestured at him with a dangerously full spoon. “I don’t know, but your eyes are all shiny, and you look happy.”

Jonathan could feel his cheeks getting slightly warm. Was he that transparent? The little game he was playing with Maddox was getting out of hand if people could easily tell something was going on.

“I just rushed here from the library. The fresh air must have made my eyes water.”

Ray examined him with narrow eyes. “Right. So, you’re not the kind to kiss and tell. I can respect that, man.”

Jonathan let out a small breath.

“But I’m your roommate and bestie,” Ray continued. “One of these days, you need to fill me in, because boy, this thing you have going with Connor, must be pretty intense.”

Jonathan stared at Ray nonplussed. “What do you mean?”

“You know, one day you’re blue, another tickled pink.”

Jonathan didn’t repress a small laugh. “I have no idea what you mean.”

Ray sighed and then placed his chin into his palm with a dreamy look on his face. “I wish I were with a girl who’d make me feel like this. But I suppose things like this don’t happen to people like me.”

“Do you mean, having a small cold the other day, aka your definition of blue, and allergies acting up, aka my shiny eyes?” Jonathan asked, hoping that Ray would let it go, at least this time.

No chance of that. Ray grinned and then winked at him. “One day, JJ, you’re going to kiss and tell. And I’ll be here for you, as your bestie.”

“A very nosy bestie,” Jonathan pointed out.

“Hey, if I don’t have a love life, at least I can live vicariously through yours,” Ray said matter-of-factly.

“You’d practically live a gay man’s love life,” Jonathan said and grabbed the plates.

“So? Love is love,” Ray replied and beat Jonathan to the sink, where he took the dirty plates from him and began washing them like he was serving time in Satan’s kitchen.

Jonathan didn’t mind Ray’s enthusiastic nature most of the time, but there was no way in hell he could admit to him, or anyone for that matter, that he was falling for the resident bad boy like a complete naive.

Wait, he stopped, was that what he was doing?

***

“This Saturday, it’s on us,” Dex announced as they sat around the kitchen table with beers in front of them. “I’ll make sure we have all the booze we need. You three will be in charge of the rest.”

“I’ll handle the snacks,” Kane replied right away.

“I’ll bring the strippers,” Rusty said in the most innocent manner possible.

Both Dex and Kane stared at him until Rusty grimaced and looked away. “You’re no fun. Should I bring some nuns, then?”

“Did you buy something weird from the sex shop again?” Kane narrowed his eyes as he examined their mutual friend. “I’m sure your definition of nuns cannot be found in any dictionary.”

“Yes, it can,” Rusty retorted. “The dictionary of sex.”

“You’re not bringing anyone,” Kane decided. “You’ll be the DJ.”

“Boring,” Rusty said and pouted.

“So that means that I’m the promoter of our little event,” Maddox said once his roommates were finished shooting daggers at Rusty from their eyes.

As the most popular guy in their group, he always made sure practically everyone attended their events. However, this time, he had a special guest in mind. Jonathan was avoiding him again. In all truth, since their majors were so different, they didn’t have any classes together except Statistics, but that didn’t mean that the feeling that he was being avoided was farfetched. Jonathan must be incredibly shy, Maddox had decided, and he would apply a cure for that the soonest he could, which was exactly what this party would serve for.

“Are we going to meet the mysterious girl who keeps on breaking your heart?” Kane asked.

Well, Maddox pondered for a moment. His homies needed to learn about it sooner or later, and that moment was as good as any. “Have you guys ever crushed on a dude? It’s for research purposes,” he added quickly.

Too late. His question made all his three friends stop and look at him with curious eyes. It was easy to tell Kane was dying to start asking questions himself while Dex examined him all-knowingly. Rusty was as clueless as ever, and he was probably considering Maddox’s question for real if he were to take after the focused frown knitting his dark blonde eyebrows together.

Dex spoke first. “I think I might have crushed on our math teacher in sixth grade. Or, I just fell in love with math. Hard to tell. I was pretty confused at the time,” he said with a shrug and then burst into laughter as Kane elbowed him hard.

“Thank you for your input, Mr. Solomon,” Maddox said and pretended to push imaginary glasses up his nose. “How about you, Mr. Dubois?”

Kane seemed eager to add his thoughts. “So, you want to know if we had, like gay experiences?”

“Something like that.”

“Well, when I was ten, my sister’s girlfriends dressed me up as a girl, and one of them kissed me. Does that count as gay enough? It was practically a lesbian kiss.”

“Not by far. Sit down, Mr. Dubois. By next time, you better learn the difference between lady parts and dudes’ parts, ‘cause damn, you’re even more confused now than Dex in sixth grade learning about equations and thinking them sexy.”

They all snickered except for Rusty, who seemed so deep in thought that Maddox was starting to wonder what could be on his mind. It was good that everyone took things so well. His news wouldn’t count as such a big bomb then.

He didn’t have to repeat his question for the third time.

“I’m into dudes in latex,” Rusty said with confidence and grinned broadly.

Maddox didn’t have to look at his other two friends to know that they were as shocked as him. Rusty was their resident kinkster, but that kind of confessions blew anything else out of the water.

“What?” Rusty stared back at them. “I just like the costume. You know, complete with cat ears and a tail.”

Dex blinked a few times and raised one arm, pointing at Rusty like he was some lunatic, which wasn’t that far off the truth, seeing what came out of his mouth or his bedroom regularly. “Wait, wait, wait, is he talking about cat boys?”

“Yeah,” Rusty replied like it was the most natural thing in the world to admit in front of this friends. “What’s wrong with that?”

Kane smacked his forehead and groaned. “You know, all this shit would sound a lot less weird if it were Catwoman getting you into latex and cat ears and whatnot.”

“And tails,” Rusty corrected him. “And what’s so weird about it?”

Dex snorted. “Maybe the fact that you’re not gay. Not even bi. Wait, do you have something to confess, Rusty?”

Rusty froze, and his eyes ping-ponged between his friends frantically for two heartbeats. “Not me, Maddox has something to say.” He pointed with his finger at Maddox to divert everyone’s attention from him.

Now, three pairs of eyes were on him. His friends were waiting, so Maddox took a deep breath. “I want to kiss Jonathan Hamilton,” he said in one go.

He closed his eyes and waited for the chaos to unleash. When nothing happened, he opened one eye, then the other. His friends were just staring at him in utter shock.

“Weren’t you in hate with him or something?” That was Rusty, who, of course, had to ask something off-topic.

“We made up since then,” Maddox said with a little wave. “We’re even working on a project together for Statistics.”

Suspiciously enough, Dex and Kane were completely silent.

“Well, no one has anything to say?” Maddox asked, unnerved by the silence.

“Do you want to, like, give him a man hug and kiss him on the cheek like a bro?” Rusty asked.

Maddox groaned. “Someone else got anything to say?”

Dex offered him a small smile. “All right. Just give us a little moment here, Maddox, ‘cause you dropped a real bomb on us. So, you want to kiss him?”

“Yeah,” Maddox said and shrugged. “Nothing weird about it, right?”

Dex scratched his head. “Not weird, no, just surprising. So why haven’t you kissed him already?”

Rusty mumbled something about how everyone thought his obsession with cat boys was weird, but Maddox’s sudden desire to kiss a guy wasn’t.

“I tried. He punched me in the face.”

“What?” Rusty looked ready to fight. “He punched my bro?”

“But he kissed me after,” Maddox said quickly to curb Rusty’s belligerent enthusiasm. “Which was freaking amazing.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Kane intervened. “Was that when you came home looking like someone had just punched you in the face and also happy like crazy?”

“Yeap,” Maddox confirmed.

“That’s so confusing,” Rusty intervened again. “How much time passed between the punch and the kiss?”

“Dunno. Five minutes or so,” Maddox said quickly. Suddenly, he didn’t want to share how Jonathan had offered his t-shirt, or called him ‘baby’, or kissed his nose. That stuff was pretty private.

“And you’re crushing on him from that only?” Dex asked.

“We also jerked off together once,” he replied.

Kane began scratching his head in a dramatic fashion. “That’s one weird order of business. Is this like an unwritten rule for gay relationships?” He turned toward Dex.

“Hey, don’t look at me,” Dex said and raised his hands. “My dads had only awkward talks about sex with me, like all parents have. I was definitely happier to learn on my own than sit down with them ever again.”

“Wait,” Rusty jumped into the conversation again, “first you two jerked off, then he punched you, and then he kissed you? Man, you’re making me envious. That’s one weird example of rough trade.”

“The jerk off stuff didn’t happen the same time as the rest,” Maddox explained.

That only appeared to make Rusty even more confused than before. “So, are you gay now?” he asked.

Maddox shrugged. “I have no idea. But, man, I need to kiss Jonathan again.”

“So, you’re not my best gay friend? Or my gay best friend? Or --”

“Rusty, Rusty,” Kane took their confused friend by the shoulders, “don’t burn all your brain cells in one place. Maddox is just figuring things out. Right?”

Maddox nodded. “Yeah, that’s pretty much it. So, I’m going to invite him to our party if that’s okay with you.”

“Sure thing,” Dex said promptly. “But, Maddox, this thing... You sure?”

“Totally. Never been surer.”

However, he wasn’t sure what the surreptitious glance between Kane and Dex was supposed to mean.

“Okay, just don’t toy with him if you’re not,” Dex said. “What I learned from my dads is that boys are not that different from girls when it comes to stuff like that. They can get hurt just the same.”

“I don’t intend to hurt him,” Maddox replied.

“Then how about that rough trade thing?” Rusty asked. “Or you’re the guy who likes to get it?”

Kane gave Rusty a tight hug and squeezed him until protests emerged. “Rusty, my man, you just need another beer, right?”

“Sure.” Rusty wasn’t the kind to refuse that. “Can you let go of me now?”

Kane shook his head. “Not until you shut your mouth and stop asking Maddox weird questions.”

“All right. Just one thing. Make sure you decide on a safe word first, Maddox,” Rusty said. “Don’t make it too long, though.”

Dex snorted, and Kane groaned, but Maddox was strangely curious. “Why shouldn’t it be too long?”

“You might not be able to squeeze in ‘winner winner chicken dinner’ while you have your -- you know what? Just pick a word from the dictionary, and you’ll be cool.”

At least, it looked like Rusty had a slight sense of self-preservation and did not share with him all the strange sex practices he was indulging in.

“So, we’re cool, right?” Maddox asked his friends again. “No teasing and all that.”

Dex snorted. “For real? This is the juiciest thing since Rusty forgot to tell us about his special weekend with that Amanda chick, and we came home to find them both licking whip cream from each other’s bodies.”

Rusty groaned. “I was sick for days. I’ll never have whip cream again in my life.”

Kane squeezed Rusty in his arms again. “Someone needs to understand moderation. You two weren’t supposed to get covered in it up to your eyeballs.”

Dex snickered. “They looked like two very weird ghosts.”

“Oh, yeah?” Rusty bristled. “And you were the ghostbusters, then.”

Kane kissed Rusty on the head and released him. “That wasn’t really an insult, Rusty. You need to work on it more. Sure thing, Maddox, bring your special friend to the party. I’m definitely curious to see how this plays out.”

“All right. Dex?” Maddox turned toward his other friend.

“All fine by me, of course. Just don’t let him break your heart or something.”

“Hey, I thought you were worried earlier that I might do that to him.”

Dex shrugged. “I don’t know. I thought a little, and the dude looks like a heartbreaker to me.”

“What’s that even supposed to mean?” Maddox asked.

“Yeah, really,” Rusty joined him. “What makes this Jonathan dude a heartbreaker?”

“Maybe the fact that he’s throwing random punches? Maybe he’s a nose breaker, and I just got it all wrong,” Dex offered and winked at Maddox, making him groan. So the teasing was starting already.

“Thank you, guys, then, you’re all awesome,” Maddox said.

“Wait, why aren’t you asking me, too?” Rusty complained.

“Okay, do you have something against it?”

“No,” Rusty replied promptly. “Was that kiss with tongue or without?”

“I’m not going to kiss and tell, punk,” Maddox said defensively.

“You just did, though,” Rusty pointed out and smiled broadly. “It was definitely with tongue.” For some reason, this asshole of a friend of his found that extremely funny. “Guys, Jonathan Hamilton put his tongue inside Maddox’s mouth.”

“Oh, gawd, you’re really starting to pull my leg, aren’t you? Couldn’t you wait until after the party or something?”

“Why? What do you intend to do then?” Rusty asked, and his grin grew even wider if that was possible. “Are you going to --”

“Kane, please, restrain Rusty ‘cause I want to punch him in the face,” Maddox warned.

This time, Rusty didn’t allow Kane to catch him and moved deftly out of the way. Maddox shook his head and left, leaving Kane in charge of chasing Rusty around the table.

Well, that had gone pretty well, teasing aside. Now, he only needed to convince the guest of honor to drop by.

***

He wasn’t avoiding Maddox. No, definitely, he wasn’t doing that, but each time he saw the guy around the campus, his feet were commanding him to move in the opposite direction. So what? Jonathan didn’t want to dwell on things too much, especially since he had a lot to study, and he also needed to work to support himself.

Those were the excuses, of course. The real reason lay hidden under many wraps and layers, and Jonathan had no intention to start digging for it. Maddox was a player, a womanizer, a straight dude, and therefore, on all accounts, an absolute ‘no’.

It didn’t matter that he had the most beautiful eyes Jonathan had ever seen in his life, or that his lips were amazingly sweet, or that he knew how to make anyone laugh with just a word.

Who was he kidding? Maddox was an amazing guy, head to toes, minus that thing with the illegal fights, of course. Jonathan had yet to know him well, and he didn’t need to know him well because then he would only want to get to know him better, and for them to grow closer, and then –

Ray elbowed him hard, interrupting his train of thought that kept on torturing him while he pretended to sit on the grass and enjoy the last pleasant days by reading arid study materials for the next class.

“JJ, Maddox Kingsley is walking straight toward us,” his roommate whispered.

It was too late to make a run for it. Jonathan raised his eyes, trying hard to focus on anything else but that confident strut, those broad shoulders, that sexy hip swing that should have looked awkward for a dude, and yet it didn’t. Yes, he was trying.

The least he could do was to school his face into a neutral expression. Seeing how much practice he had in that respect, it wasn’t hard, and that was his saving grace.

However, Maddox only acknowledged him with a slight nod, much to his surprise, and then began talking to Ray.

“Ray, right?”

“Yes,” Ray replied in a meek voice as if some A-list celebrity had just agreed to give him an autograph.

“Hi, I’m Maddox.”

Jonathan watched in complete disbelief as Ray stood awkwardly to shake hands with Maddox. What the hell was he supposed to understand from that?

“Listen, me and my buddies, we’re throwing a party this Saturday. I was wondering if you’d like to come.”

Ray stood there, still shaking Maddox’s hand, with an elated look on his face and smiling. Maddox grinned at him and wiggled his eyebrows. “Well? Would you?”

“Yes, yes,” Ray replied enthusiastically, and after shaking Maddox’s hand one last time, he finally let go of the guy.

“All right, it’s on.” Maddox winked at Ray and then began walking away under Jonathan’s completely flabbergasted stare. “Oh,” he threw over his shoulder, “and feel free to bring your roommate along. See you guys there!”

Jonathan didn’t have any words left. Ray dropped by his side and then grabbed him by the shoulders and began to shake him. “JJ, Maddox Kingsley just talked to me! He invited us to a party! Can you believe it?”

“Yes, since I was right here the whole time,” Jonathan replied. “Now could you please stop shaking me?”

Ray let go of him only to throw his arms in the air and shout victoriously. “I’m no longer invisible! Popularity, here I come! How many days are left until Saturday? Only two! What should I wear? Oh, no, I have nothing I can wear!”

“Ray, Ray, calm down. God, stop being such a groupie. People will start doubting I’m the gay guy if you react like this just because Maddox Kingsley talked to you. You will go to the party, and you will be yourself, choice of clothes and all.”

“No way I can be that,” Ray refused outright all his advice. “I’m boring, and my clothes are weird.”

“Don’t overreact. And we’ve been to a party already this semester, haven’t we? This one is no different. You’ll be fine on your own.”

“On my own? No way. JJ, you need to come with me,” Ray said.

“What? He only said that you should feel free to take me along, not that you must.”

“No. I’m pretty sure you’re my ticket to this party.”

Jonathan scoffed. “Ray, for real. Maddox wouldn’t slam the door in your face if you went alone. And I’m certain the entire campus will be there. I’m not even sure why he had to address such a formal invitation.”

“Obviously, because he knows you’re a popular guy, too, and popular guys hang out together,” Ray explained.

That was surely not it, but Jonathan couldn’t tell Ray about the whole thing with Maddox, which he had serious trouble wrapping his head around as it was. “You keep forgetting that Maddox invited you, not me. And I was right here.”

Ray shrugged. It looked like nothing could burst his bubble. “He invited the both of us. Maybe he didn’t talk to you because you’re intimidating.”

“Me? Intimidating? How?”

“You know. It’s like you could freeze someone on the spot with a single look.”

“That’s certainly not true,” Jonathan protested.

“And you keep your head high like an aristocrat. Good thing I don’t believe in royalty,” Ray said matter-of-factly, “or I would have been afraid to talk to you.”

“You don’t say,” Jonathan commented dryly, more and more surprised by Ray’s speech. “So Maddox Kingsley, the king of hookups and illegal fights, was afraid to talk to me right now.”

“Could be,” Ray said with a smile. “JJ, you’ll come to this party. No way you’re ditching me.”

Jonathan groaned and tried to return to his study material. But as he turned his head, he couldn’t help but notice at a fair distance from him Maddox and his group of friends chatting happily and conversing with everyone passing by.

As if it were bloody magic, Maddox looked right at him. He made a small gesture like he was smoothing down the sleeves of his t-shirt and then waved at him.

Jonathan buried his face into the open book in front of him and wished, for the umpteenth time since he had met Maddox Kingsley, that he didn’t have a heart that could react like that each time the guy moved as little as his pinkie.

TBC