Good Guys Don't Date Bad Boys - 30. What You Don’t Know Makes You More Curious

Chapter Thirty – What You Don’t Know Makes You More Curious

Ray grinned all-knowingly and wiggled his eyebrows while Jonathan tried to focus on his textbooks. One could only do so much to ignore a curious roommate slash self-proclaimed BFF. Not that he had any qualms about that, and Ray was the first and only BFF he had ever had. On top of it all, he was very grateful to have a friend like that. Nonetheless, the unspoken questions that floated in the air made it a less than ideal environment for studying and also unnerved him a little.

“Is there something on your mind, Ray?” he asked, without pulling his eyes away from his study materials.

“People say you’re getting married,” Ray whispered, his eyes darting around like he was expecting someone to jump on them while they were safely tucked away in the kitchen of their dorm room.

Jonathan ignored his self-imposed rule of trying not to give in to the temptation of indulging Ray in his latest obsession with current gossip and looked up in utter shock. “Married?”

Ray burst into laughter. “Glad I got your attention. No, no one says you’re getting married.”

“Well,” Jonathan straightened up in his chair, “you surely have my attention now. What is it?” They were supposed to be studying together, but it looked as if Ray was like a kid with a new toy which he was dying to show to others.

“Are you going home for Thanksgiving?”

The question took him by surprise. He felt his body stiffen up and grabbed his pen, while his eyes moved over the open textbook in front of him, in search of answers. “I haven’t yet given it proper thought.” He had tried. Even if they didn’t reach out to him, that didn’t mean he should maintain the silent war between them. He wouldn’t go back to being under their thumb, but he didn’t want to ignore them forever either.

“I was thinking,” Ray said, completely unfazed by his lack of enthusiasm regarding the quickly approaching short vacation. “How about you come home with me to meet my folks?”

Jonathan stared at his roommate. Ray’s face was an open book, and he was waiting for an answer. “Thank you for inviting me,” he replied. “But I should seriously think about visiting my family.”

Ray nodded sympathetically. “Sure thing. But if you change your mind, just let me know.”

Jonathan fiddled with his pen. Things such as inviting friends over for Thanksgiving were normal, but why were they such an alien notion for him? “Are you sure your parents wouldn’t mind? I’m a stranger,” he pointed out. And he doubted Ray’s family had a guesthouse where people who visited them on occasion could stay.

“Pfft,” Ray made a strange sound and smacked his lips, “what stranger? I told mom and dad everything about you. My mom can barely wait to make you slave in the kitchen with her. She wants to see the miracle of a college boy going beyond the boiling of an egg.”

Jonathan laughed and shook his head. “So, it’s all a ploy to get me in your parents’ kitchen.”

“You can say that. But, jokes aside, JJ, you’re really welcome if you want. And it can even be a short-notice thing, like right before we have to go out the door and head to the airport.”

Jonathan couldn’t remember feeling so touched by another human being ever before. Ray had zero obligations toward him; everything he did, he did because of the goodness in his heart, and that meant a lot. “Thank you, Ray,” he said quietly.

As much as he seemed an airhead more often than not, Ray had proven once more that he was more attuned to other people’s feelings than most people. He reached over the table and squeezed Jonathan’s hand briefly. “It’s the least I can do for your not letting me die of starvation. Mom is even certain I gained some weight.” He leaned back into his chair and stretched his t-shirt over his ribs.

Jonathan pursed his lips not to laugh. “Yeah, I’m sure. One more bite and we might have to find a dorm room with a bigger door.”

Ray huffed in disbelief. “Make fun all you want. I’m sure I finally put some meat on my bones. Hanna thinks so, too.”

“Ah, well, if Hanna says so, who am I to say otherwise? Now let’s study, or else.”

“Or else what?” Ray asked with emphasis to show that he wasn’t scared.

“I’ll put us on a diet. Keto. Raw. All that,” Jonathan joked while burying his head in his books to hide his grin.

“Eww, no,” Ray decided. “I don’t even know what keto is, but raw doesn’t sound too good.”

“You eat raw fruits and vegetables all the time,” Jonathan pointed out.

“Yeah, but not raw meat.” Ray pondered for a bit. “Unless it’s sushi. Does that count?”

“Study, or no pizza,” Jonathan threatened. It didn’t work to be subtle with Ray. His roommate had a special skill for wriggling himself out of any situation.

“No pizza?! All right, tyrant,” Ray mumbled and finally turned his attention to his books. “But if we get through our mid-terms with flying colors, you make sure to add some extra toppings.”

“Cross my heart,” Jonathan promised.

***

Maddox stretched and yawned. He was done studying for the day, but he didn’t feel like going to sleep already. For a while, he toyed with the idea of sexting Jonathan, but the guy’s major was definitely a lot harder than his, and as a responsible boyfriend, he needed to let him study. He realized that he needed to pay more attention to his obligations, too, and not only the fun parts.

Thinking of which, he realized, there was something part fun part obligation he hadn’t done in a while, which was to pester Rusty to study. The kinkster was lucky to be gifted by nature in the smarts department, but some things couldn’t be navigated by wits alone. Maddox had already heard Kane warning Rusty to study so that he didn’t flunk like an idiot.

He walked out of the room and knocked energetically on Rusty’s door. He had heard him earlier, and it wasn’t possible for him to be asleep already. “Go away,” the familiar voice of his friend called from behind the door in an exasperated tone.

Maddox grinned and knocked louder. He couldn’t exactly explain why, but sometimes pestering and teasing Rusty felt incredibly rewarding. Maybe it was because the kinkster could be convinced to do the right thing now and then, and when he did something, he never did it by half. Maddox shared Kane’s opinion that Rusty was some sort of closet genius, and it was one of his secret vows that he would make it come out, eventually.

“I will strangle you with a sock and then make you eat it,” Rusty called again.

Maddox was about to knock for the third time, when the door was yanked open abruptly, and he found himself face to face with his bestie. Rusty’s eyes were red-rimmed and his hair was a mess.

One possibility was that Rusty’s room was full of girls of various shapes and sizes, which explained why the guy was in such bad shape.

The other possibility, the undesirable one, was that Rusty had gotten into another ugly and conflictual conversation with one of his parents. Maddox’s bet was on the asshole absent father, but Rusty’s mom was also difficult to deal with, as well.

“Rusty, come back to bed,” a feminine voice whined.

Good, it was the first guess, Maddox thought and sighed in relief. “I didn’t know you were busy, man, my bad.” He made a move to go back to his room, but Rusty caught his shoulder and dragged him back.

“Say I gotta study and shit,” Rusty whispered in his ear.

Nothing like a buddy to save you from a bad hookup. That was one of Rusty’s wise quotes, and Maddox believed that he knew why the guy lived by them. Therefore, he played along. “Rusty, you fucking piece of shit,” he said loudly, “why the fuck aren’t you studying right now?”

Rusty threw him a pointed look and gestured for him to up the ante. Maddox pondered for a moment. What the hell worse insults could he come up with? Rusty and his weird ideas.

“You’re one bad grade away from finding yourself a bum on the street,” Maddox continued.

Rusty put his hands on his hips and gave him a disapproving stare. Maddox hunched his shoulders and stared back, at a loss of what was needed of him. Rusty rolled his eyes, grabbed one of his hand and put it on his own shoulder. Then, using Maddox’s hand, he pushed himself back into the room while staring wide-eyed at him.

“That’s it!” Maddox exclaimed, filled with righteous, yet fake, indignation. “You’re going to start studying right now or there will be consequences!”

Rusty mouthed at him, ‘what consequences?’.

“I’m going to fuck you up so badly,” Maddox said, “you won’t be able to sit for a week!”

Rusty finally offered him a quick satisfied grin and then schooled his face into a seriously frightened look. For a moment, Maddox lost his composure; Rusty knew so well how to change his expression at the drop of a hat that unless people knew him very well, they easily bought into his act.

“Maddox,” the girl squealed from the bed, “leave Rusty alone!”

He had failed to notice how Rusty had surreptitiously moved his hand from the shoulder to his throat, and now it looked like he was strangling his buddy. “No can do, darling,” he said. “This fucker needs to study, and unless you’re not squeamish about seeing blood, I suggest you take a hike.”

That seemed enough to convince the girl of how serious he was about those threats, because she jumped half-naked from the bed and quickly grabbed the rest of her clothes.

They remained unmoving like extras for a photoshoot while she ran out of the room. Only after they heard her rushing down the stairs did Maddox droppped his arm. Rusty began laughing like an idiot.

“You’re such a fucking ass,” Maddox whispered to him.

Rusty waved and plopped down on the messed up bed. “Thank God, she’s gone. You don’t have to whisper. Phew, that was some bad shit. Remind me not to hook up again with the heroine chick look.”

“I think it’s actually heroin chic,” Maddox corrected him.

Rusty made a gesture like he had it up to his neck. “This one wanted to convince me to go vegan, but only after sacrificing a goat at midnight and drinking its blood.”

“You’re full of shit.” Maddox crossed his arms and stared at his friend with a critical eye. “And let me open a fucking window. Did you two sacrifice the goat in here already?”

Rusty laughed and rolled around on the bed like the naughty kid he was. Maddox shook his head and opened the window. It wasn’t goat or anything, but that chick was probably high on something that smelled pretty funky. Maddox didn’t exactly feel bad about sending her on her way with their little act.

“Thanks, man. You helped me dodge a bullet right there.”

“Sure. By the way, I’m here because I actually want to make you study. That was no joke,” Maddox warned him.

“I’m not going to study,” Rusty drawled.

Maddox was sure his friend was testing him right now. That meant Rusty was more restless than usual and needed some putting in his place. “You look like warmed over shit. You need to shower and get that head in order,” Maddox said in what he hoped was a no-nonsense tone.

“I’m too blasé for all of that,” Rusty replied and made a sweeping circle with one arm through the air as if it suddenly conveyed his current state of Baudelairean spleen.

“Blasé? Since when do you use such words?” Maddox questioned him.

Rusty gave him an offended look. “What? Only Jonathan can talk fancy like that?”

“I have yet to hear him use the word blasé in casual conversation,” Maddox pointed out. “Don’t tell me you suddenly want to cosplay as Jonathan.”

Rusty shrugged. “He’s a good character.”

“He’s my boyfriend,” Maddox said curtly. “Leave him out of your weird cosplay shit.”

The heartfelt sigh that followed wasn’t enough to convince him of the kinkster’s good intentions.

“Do I have to drag you to the bathroom?”

Rusty stretched out an arm as if he was on his deathbed. “Yes, please.”

Maddox shrugged. Well, that was what people got for being friends with Rusty. On the other hand, he was sure that the world would have been a much sadder place without people like that in it. “Come here, bum,” he said and hooked Rusty’s arm over his shoulders to help him out of the bed.

***

Rusty didn’t protest while Maddox shampooed his hair and stayed there, kneeling inside the bathtub, his back to him, without saying a word. “Now, before you start suggesting something weird, I’m not going to wash your balls,” Maddox said.

Kane used to say that having Rusty around was like having an overactive dog. Maddox couldn’t say he saw any fault in what Kane said. He wasn’t the only one who washed Rusty’s hair like that on occasion. The only thing that came to him now, however, was how comfortable and uninterested he had always been around other naked guys. Only Jonathan did it for him, it seemed. Still, his eyes lingered for a moment over Rusty’s back and his broad shoulders.

Rusty grunted in displeasure, but then he agreed. “Yes, boss.”

“The things I do for you,” Maddox commented. “You realize that tomorrow Xpress is going to write some stupid shit about how I turned into Mad Dawg again. That chick is going to say that I beat the crap out of you.”

Rusty didn’t seem affected by the gossip that was bound to flare up after their little stage act. “I can paint myself a black eye. Or two.”

“Don’t you dare,” Maddox warned him and used the shower head to wash the shampoo out of Rusty’s hair. He winced when Rusty began shaking his head, spraying droplets of water everywhere. That only meant he would have to change before getting the kinkster to study. “I have a boyfriend now, and I don’t think Jonathan will want to hang out with me, the friend beater.”

“Jonathan wouldn’t believe Xpress over you,” Rusty pointed out.

“That’s true. But I’d rather lay low for a while. They’ve kept on dragging up all of my hookups since freshman year, and I think Jonathan is a bit weirded out about it. I mean, not one third of what they say in there is true, but still. No smoke without a fire, right?”

“It’s not like you can change that,” Rusty pointed out. “Jonathan’s too smart to fall for it.”

“I hope so,” Maddox replied. “Have you thought about coming home with me for Thanksgiving?”

“I did,” Rusty said. “But I do have plans with my dad. For real this time.”

Maddox didn’t comment on it. Rusty’s strained relationship with his parents was a sore point. “Well, there’s still plenty of studying to do until then, so how about we do that?” he suggested.

“Just because you’re asking,” Rusty said. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t study for the world.”

“I bet Kane could convince you if he put his mind to it. Dex might just beat you up, though.”

“Yeah, you’re the least worse,” Rusty said. “That’s why you’re my first bestie, and they are second besties.”

“I bet they’re just as pleased with that arrangement as you are. I’ll leave you to it, but I’ll wait for you in your room. You won’t get to go to sleep tonight without studying for at least two hours.”

“Does Jonathan like you with dark circles under your eyes?” Rusty smirked as he hiked himself up on his feet and began to wash.

Maddox stole a furtive look at Rusty’s junk. Jonathan’s was slightly longer. His own was thicker. “If that means that you plan on keeping me up late, you don’t scare me. I’ve had worse rides with you.”

“Good. Now let me wash my balls since you were so keen about not doing them for me. Unless you’ve changed your mind,” Rusty added with a smirk.

Maddox shook his head, a bit flustered over being caught staring. “No fucking way,” he said and walked out of the bathroom as quickly as he could.

What the hell was that all about now? Had he developed a sudden urge to check out other dudes’ junk? Maddox pursed his lips and frowned. It had to be Jonathan’s fault somehow; maybe it was because they had gone to that show and stared at that actor’s pride and glory on stage.

Whatever the hell it was, it had to stop. He belonged to one guy, and one guy only.

***

One downside to being Maddox’s official boyfriend was that, everywhere he went now, random people wanted to talk to him. The polite thing to do was to exchange a few words and then be on his way. At first, he hadn’t been particularly annoyed by the attention since he had been such a loner all his life. However, having to stop and talk to anyone who thought him some kind of celebrity by association was starting to wear him down a little.

He put on the usual smile he had prepared for such situations when someone called him from one of the tables in the dining hall. Ready to offer a few perfunctory phrases, he turned, but when he saw Connor at the table, surrounded by his usual posse, his level of annoyance slightly intensified. Jonathan couldn’t say that he had anything against the guy, but they didn’t have anything in common either, except attending Statistics together. Nonetheless, he was supposedly an acquaintance and that warranted more than just the usual exchange of several phrases tops.

“Jonathan, how are you doing, my man?” Connor asked as soon as he greeted him back.

“You know, studying, mostly,” Jonathan offered. “How are things with you?”

“You would know if you asked him more often,” a female voice quipped from Connor’s right.

Jonathan craned his neck to identify the speaker, but Connor angled his body in such a way that he blocked him from seeing that person.

“Don’t mind my friends,” Connor said and smiled broadly, showing quite a bit of teeth. “You know, Jonathan, we were just having a very interesting conversation, and we hoped you could help us.”

“I doubt I’m more qualified than you are in regard to eco-friendly industries,” Jonathan offered politely, eager to extract himself from what portended to be a very tedious conversation.

“No, it’s not about that,” Connor said. “My friends here have a hard time wrapping their heads around certain aspects of human sexuality. So, I wouldn’t mind a little help from you since it looks like I’m failing to convince them.”

Jonathan didn’t hide his surprise. Instinctively, he grabbed the strap of his bag tightly. “I doubt I’m any kind of expert in that area, as well.”

“It concerns a very timely topic,” Connor continued, ignoring his very obvious discomfort. “You and Maddox are boyfriends now, correct?” He waited as if there was an actual need for confirmation on Jonathan’s part.

“Yes,” he said when he understood that he was expected to agree to that loud and clear.

“Maddox was well-known as not only a straight male,” Connor said in a grating scholarly voice, “but an unapologetic serial monogamist.”

“Serial monogamist?” Jonathan asked slowly.

“Apparently, any rumors concerning his being involved in sexual encounters with more than one partner are just that, rumors,” Connor offered promptly.

“All right,” Jonathan said, for lack of anything else to say. “What is the question?”

“Did Maddox just wake up one morning gay?” Another guy asked. “Connor was wondering,” he added quickly and withdrew his hands from the table, as if he had just committed the sin of talking too much.

Jonathan examined the speaker. He was a thin young man with eyes that looked unnaturally large behind his thick glasses. Something about him made Jonathan think of Uriah Heep from Dickens’s novel. “I don’t believe so,” he said slowly. He was of a mind to become flippant and tell them all to fuck off for a change, but that wasn’t him. “First of all, it would be better if you asked Maddox about that, and second of all, you ought not to because it would be a rude question.”

A short, collective gasp moved through the people at the table like a wave.

“Why would it be rude? It’s normal to wonder why a straight man, successful with the ladies, suddenly switches to a relationship with another man.”

Jonathan frowned. Connor continued to act as a shield between him and the mysterious female speaker, and he couldn’t try to look around him without appearing suspicious. “Normal for whom?” he asked, punctuating every word.

“Anyone curious about the whole thing.”

It was so strange to look at Connor, while someone else was speaking from behind him. “Being curious about business that isn’t yours could be considered a flaw of character,” he said in a pedantic tone.

“Oh, bull,” the annoying female voice commented. “Everyone just wants to know how you turned Maddox Kingsley gay. And, of course, if you’re going to flip other guys, as well.”

Jonathan regretted stopping to talk to this bunch more and more by the second. “I did not flip anyone, to begin with. I suppose that when you like someone, other aspects simply don’t matter.”

“There’s no accounting for taste,” Uriah Heep chimed in.

When Jonathan stared him down, the boy looked away, cowering into the narrow space occupied by his own person as if he was trying to hide from the world. It only then occurred to Jonathan how little attention he had paid to Connor’s posse until now. At first, he had thought them to be just part of the usual campus crowd, maybe a little more eccentric in their choice of clothes and hair dye. Upon closer inspection, however, they looked like a strange collection of curiosities. Jonathan believed that he wouldn’t stoop so low as to judge anyone, but it seemed as if Connor had chosen the people of his personal fan club based on possible disadvantages that would motivate them to look up to him as someone superior. By Uriah Heep’s side, a girl who seemed to have painstakingly dyed each one-inch thick lock of her hair in a different color looked down and constantly touched her nose. Jonathan looked, his eyes drawn by her nervous gesture. There was nothing particularly wrong with her nose, as far as he could see, but she gave him a hard glare. “What? Something on my face?”

He shook his head. “No. Do you happen to have allergies? I could recommend--”

“Mind your own business.” Just like the boy on her right, she retreated into herself and masked her face with a handful of her multi-colored hair.

A couple, boy and girl, looked dejectedly at their plates on which some sorry salad lay bare. They were overweight, Jonathan noticed, but he couldn’t understand why they had to be miserable about it. The others around them had burgers and fries, and that didn’t bode well for their efforts to diet.

“Forgive them, please, Jonathan,” Connor called in falsetto. “You know what they say. The more you don’t know something, the more curious you become.”

“I haven’t heard that saying before,” Jonathan pointed out.

“Someone wise and ancient said it,” Connor said promptly.

Jonathan frowned. “Who?”

Connor shrugged like it was of no consequence. “It doesn’t matter. But here’s a piece of advice, Jonathan, because people will continue to pester you.” He leaned slightly forward as if he was sharing something meant for Jonathan’s ears only. “You need to have a better explanation at hand when you’re asked again, so you can help people’s assumptions to die down.”

“What assumptions are those, exactly?”

Connor smiled, his eyes glinting with malice. “That Maddox cannot be the first and only guy you ever flipped. But cheer up, buddy, and take heart. It’s like having a superpower. Are you finished yet?” He addressed the last question to the rest of the people at the table. The chubby couple tried to grab another quick bite from their salads, but everyone else was already getting up, ready to leave at the word of their leader.

Jonathan waited, while Connor got up and offered his hand to the girl by his side, the one who had spoken earlier. She quickly dragged her hoodie up, shielding her face, so he didn’t catch even a glimpse of her features. Connor hooked one arm over her shoulders and began walking. He gave Jonathan one last arrogant look as he moved past.

In unison, except for the girl in the hoodie, everyone turned and gave him the same look. Jonathan stared back until they moved away. What a strange bunch, he thought to himself.

But what was the ominous sensation in the pit of his stomach that the conversation had left him with?

TBC