Desert Dropping - 30. Dancing Between Sheets

A/N: thanks to jim for editing!

"Would you like something to drink, Rory?" Mrs. Fisher asked.

"No thank you," I replied as she closed the Fisher’s front door behind me. She still reminded me of my mother in some ways, but at least I could face her. After hearing my mom’s voice again, reading her thoughts and allowing myself to really remember her, Seth’s mom just wasn’t a comparison anymore. She was just a reminder.

"Can I take Rory to Seth’s room?" Gail asked from her mother’s side.

"That’s okay," Seth said as he came down the stairs, smiling at me. I’d called first. He’d been expecting me. "Hey, Mom? We’re just gonna be in my room for a while."

"Are you going to eat lunch?" Mrs. Fisher replied.

"We’ll probably go out for something in a while," Seth insisted, waving me towards him. I didn’t hesitate to go.

"Okay. If you guys need anything, let me know," she replied as I followed Seth up the stairs.

"We will," he called back, and then glanced over his shoulder to flash me another small smile; I returned it, and then made a point to look at his butt in the most obvious way possible, and he laughed.

"Sorry I didn’t call you earlier," I said as we reached his room.

"That’s okay. I figured you were sleeping in."

"I was talking to Eddie," I explained, but then decided that I didn’t want to get into it.

"You don’t have to be home anytime soon today, do you?" Seth asked as he moved away from the door and towards me, his hand finding a place on my back as we walked further into his room.

"Not that I know of," I replied, turning to him for a light kiss, mine just brushing over his. He smelled like cinnamon again. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah," Seth replied as his hands moved up my arms and over my shoulders--which weren’t covered in sleeves today--before they moved back down, all the way to my hands where his fingers hooked mine.

"Does your mom... or, do your parents know that when I come over here..."

"They suspect," Seth answered before I could finish. "I haven’t told them anything, though. They’d come up here way too much if I did--do you want me to tell them?"

"Would they come up here way too much if you did?" I teased, and then gave his hand a tug, leading him in front of the sofa so we could both sit down. Honestly, I didn’t really care either way if Seth’s parents knew that we were seeing each other. But at the moment, I was in favor of whatever would grant us the most privacy. The night before, I’d gone with him to take Meg and Angela home, but by the time they were dropped off, we hadn’t exactly had much time to spend alone together. Now I was glad that some of that affection he’d been displaying at the bowling alley was still there as he leaned towards me on the sofa, and then completely into me as I made sure that our joined hands landed on his thigh. I lifted my free hand when he turned his head to look at me, and I took the opportunity to cup the side of his neck; my thumb stretched upwards to trace his jaw as I guided him towards me until my mouth was trapped fittingly beneath his.

Seth parted his lips, and mine with them, leaving me plenty of room to slip my tongue upwards until it came against his and I followed his slow rhythm as I reacquainted myself with the taste of cinnamon and the feel of his hat brushing over my head. I slid my hand down his neck, my fingers lightly hooking his collar bone for a brief moment before they continued their way downwards over his chest--where his shirt was a thin, silky material and I could feel the hair on his chest through it, along with the way that his nipple hardened beneath my thumb; and I found myself wondering if Seth had managed to lock his door. I discovered that he hadn’t, just as my hand began moving lower, downwards over his stomach, my small finger brushing up against the hem of his jeans just before I wrenched it away, breaking our kiss in the process. But, I had good reason.

"Seth," Gail called as she took her own liberty to open Seth’s door. "What are you doing?"

"Gail!" Seth was on his feet in a second, and at the door before his little sister even managed to stick her head in. Meanwhile, I was still on the sofa, straightening and hoping that I looked somewhat composed. "You have to knock!"

"But the door was open," she argued.

"It was not. Get out of here," Seth insisted.

"But Mom said I can play up here with you because she has to make lunch."

"You can’t play in here," Seth informed her. "Go do something in your own room, okay?"

"But I wanna come in here."

"Well you can’t, because we’re leaving," Seth responded. Sounding exasperated. It was actually kind of cute, and I turned around to watch him talk to his sister.

"We are?" I asked.

Seth looked at me, his cheeks coloring slightly.

"Yeah," he replied. "You can, right?"

I nodded and stood up.

"Go where?" I asked, already fishing out my cell phone so I could call Eddie and tell him that I was with Seth, but wouldn’t be at Seth’s house.

"Park?" Seth asked. I thought about that for a minute. I guess there were plenty of places in the park where we could be alone. It was too light outside to park his truck somewhere, anyway, and I.... I just wasn’t thinking with my big head at the moment.

"Okay," I agreed. He smiled and picked up his sister.

"I wanna go to the park," Gail insisted, grabbing onto the brim of Seth’s hat. Can I?"

"No," he told her, and then looked at me again, apologetically. "I’ll be right back."

I nodded and sank back on the sofa to call Eddie. He thanked me for calling, and then mentioned that he’d be going out, too; but if I needed anything he’d have his phone, and as far as he knew, Luke and Dave were still asleep at the house. He also asked me if I was feeling better. I told him that I was fine. And, I think I really was.

Seth decided to leash up his mom’s dogs, and the two shepherds seemed happy to get out when he set them loose in the park. They seemed a bit more rambunctious than Chey, and more interested in each other than people, but they did stay relatively close and always came when Seth whistled for them as we circled the entire park via a sidewalk that I hadn’t noticed before. We were near the basketball court, and I’d just pointed out to Seth where Eddie had nailed me in the head with a baseball.

"I guess it was kinda funny," I admitted, rubbing at the place on my head that had been swollen up because of it. "I didn’t think it was when it happened, though."

"When I saw you in the mall with that black eye, I thought Aaron did it," Seth said, and I looked at him curiously.

"Aaron?" I asked. "Is there a reason why you would have thought it was Aaron?" I thought it was a good question. Aaron was a lot of things, but I never would have been afraid of him hitting me. Then again, the night I was trapped in a bedroom with him at that party did seem to spark a few questions.

"I don’t know," Seth responded, looking a little uncertain.

"Did he ever hit you?" I asked, becoming angry at just the thought of it. But, Seth practically laughed at that.

"No. He wouldn’t have the nerve. But he’s been known to have a temper every once in a while. Or, lose it. I’ve seen him hit his brother before."

I gasped.

"The little one?" I asked worriedly.

"No, not Alex. Cody."

"You mean the one that blackmails him?" I asked, and Seth smiled again.

"That’s the one. They fight all the time. I think part of the reason why Aaron lets Cody get away with that shit is because Cody never tells when Aaron goes really hard on him. The first time I broke up with Aaron..."

"The first time?" I cut him off.

"Yeah," Seth replied. "I’ve only taken him back--once. The first time I broke up with him was about a week after we started going out. Aaron was really mad at his dad for something. I think it was because his dad promised to take him on some trip, but Aaron didn’t wake up on time so he left without him. He asked me to come over to keep him company, and while I was there, Cody decided to be a smartass. He said something that set Aaron off and I had to pull Aaron off the kid. Cody’s the only one I’ve ever seen him do that with, though. But, I don’t know; when I saw your black eye I thought... I guess it was stupid. I called Aaron as soon as I got home to make sure he didn’t do it."

"You did?" I asked, feeling a little touched, and once again, foolish over ever hating Seth.

"Yeah," he replied, lifting his arm to rest his elbow on my shoulder as we walked, and I found myself moving closer.

"Hey Seth, can we talk?" I asked. Aaron’s name coming up in conversation had brought me back to yesterday. Something Aaron had said was bothering me and I was already getting tired of ignoring it.

"We are talking," he pointed out, flashing me a small smile.

"I mean, about you and me," I replied. "About... what we’re doing."

"Oh," he replied, dropping his elbow from my shoulder. He looked a little nervous, and we walked in silence for at least the next four minutes. He didn’t speak again until we were away from the basketball courts and all of the people there. "Yeah. What did you wanna talk about?"

"Well... what are we doing?" I asked. "I mean, I like you."

"I know," he replied simply. "I like you, too."

"So is that it?" I asked. "I like you, and you like me, and we’re leaving it at that?" This felt obnoxiously like a conversation I’d had with Aaron once.

"What are you getting at?" Seth asked pointedly.

"Like, you know I’m leaving, right?" I asked him. "I mean, I’ll be back for holidays, and probably next summer. But, I’m leaving in a month. So I guess what I wanna know is, are we just hanging out until then?"

Seth seemed to take a minute to think about it.

"Do we even know what things are going to be like in another month?" he finally replied.

"Huh?"

"I know you’re leaving. I thought about it. A lot," he admitted. "I mean, I knew I liked you, but I didn’t know if I wanted to get involved in anything if you weren’t going to be around that long. But then you kissed me, and..."

"So all of this was just a mistake?" I asked him.

"No," he said quickly. I mean, it sucks that you’re leaving, okay. But, I do like you. So... maybe this is a conversation we should have in a month before you leave, don’t you think?"

"So until then--what? You’re taking me for a test run?" I asked grudgingly, but Seth laughed at that.

"I thought we were getting to know each other," he replied, reaching for my hand. "But, if that’s how you want to put it..."

"I didn’t think I’d like you so much," I admitted.

"I don’t think you thought you’d like me at all," he remarked.

"Yeah, I guess."

Seth whistled for his dogs to catch up as we continued to walk in silence, and I found myself leaning into him as his thumb began to move over my knuckles.

"I don’t want to see other people," he finally said.

"What do you mean?"

"I don’t really do the dating thing, you know?" he replied. "I like to see just one person at a time. I don’t want you to see anyone else, either," he added, matter-of-factly, and I looked at him, trying really hard not to laugh at the seriousness of his tone when he said that. It sounded more like an order.

"You don’t?" I responded, feigning shock.

Seth playfully narrowed his eyes at me and lifted his arm, wrapping it around my neck.

"I don’t even want you to think about it," he informed me, and I smiled.

"I don’t want to think about it, either," I said, turning into him as he placed a few light kisses on my face before I cupped the back of his head in a way that made his hat come right off, and I directed his lips over mine.

............................................

I helped Seth close his tailgate after we’d coaxed both dogs into the bed of his truck, but rather than walking to our respective doors, he turned towards me with a sly smile and I moved in closer, not at all in a hurry to go if it meant more kissing. But his hand hardly even had the time to find a place on my hip before his cell phone started to ring. Seth let out a breath as he lifted the phone and I watched as he rolled his eyes before he hung it up without answering and turned his attention back to me again. I smiled as I took his phone from him, sliding it into his pocket for him because his hands were busy moving back to my waist as he pulled me towards him. I could taste his mouth on mine before we were abruptly interrupted and Seth recoiled so badly that his teeth managed to hit my lip in an unpleasant way that had me cursing.

"You did not just hang up on me!" Angela said as walked around the truck with Meg, her cell phone in hand.

I licked at my lip, tasting blood on it, and Seth frowned as he moved his thumb to my mouth, touching it.

"I’m sorry," he said quickly.

"It’s alright," I replied. Angela looked at me and her eyes widened.

"Oh, I’m sorry, Rory."

"What do you want?" Seth asked her, testily but also playfully.

"I saw you guys over here and I just wanted to say hi," she explained as she fished a pack of tissues out of her purse and held them out for me. "I’m sorry."

I might have been annoyed with her if she didn’t look like she actually felt bad. I gave her a small smile and took the tissues.

"Don’t worry about it," I told her as I held a tissue to my lip and walked around the truck to find a mirror where I could check the damage. It wasn’t that bad. By the time I got there, the bleeding had almost stopped. Angela’s reflection appeared right behind mine in the mirror.

"Are you alright?" she asked me, and I finally just laughed at her.

"I’m fine," I insisted.

"What are you guys doing, anyway?" I heard Seth ask Meg, and Angela and I turned towards them.

"Nothing, really," Meg replied. "We were at Brian’s with Rick, but they had to go somewhere."

"I was going to call you later," Angela said to Seth. "We’re going dancing tonight and wanted to see if you and Rory wanted to go. No one else will come and we want someone to dance with." Before Seth could even respond, Angela turned to me and latched onto my arm. "Please, Rory. Seth’s gonna say no."

"Angela, don’t," Seth insisted, grabbing her arm and pulling her away from me. "And no."

"Come on, Seth. It’s no fun with just Meg."

"Hey!" Meg objected.

"You know what I meant," Angela said, rolling her eyes at Meg.

I looked at Seth rather curiously.

"Didn’t you mention this dancing thing before?"

"Yeah, but we don’t have to," he insisted. "And I’m really not good at it."

"I’ll sit out with you," I offered, and Seth studied me for a moment before a small smile graced his mouth.

"But it’s not fun if you don’t dance," Meg objected.

"Do you want us to go or not?" Seth responded, and Angela made a point to look exasperated.

"When would we go?" I asked.

"The place opens at six," Angela replied. "But we don’t have to go that early. Actually, if you guys aren’t going to dance then I don’t see why we’re going at all."

"We’re going to make out in every dark corner we can find," I remarked looking at Seth, and then laughed at the surprised expression on his face.

"Will you guys stop being gay for two seconds and think about us?" Meg responded irritably, surprising both Seth and me before we laughed at how serious she actually looked.

"Look," I said. "Luke and Dave are at my place. They’ll dance with you."

"How do you know?" Angela asked, and I did my very best not to laugh at her, too. I had a feeling that Dave wouldn’t say no to anything if Angela Conner was involved. And, I was right.

Meg had borrowed her sister’s car, and once she returned it, she’d agreed to get her mom to drive her and Angela to meet Seth and me back at the house. Meanwhile, I’d talked Seth into going swimming with me. We dropped his dogs off and he changed into his suit. I was amused when he asked me to wait outside while he did so. He insisted that if he started taking his clothes off in front of me, he’d expect me to do the same thing. I told him I’d have no objections to it, but he still didn’t think it was a good idea, given the fact that his sister was already lurking around his door. I wondered when her bedtime was.

When we made it back to the house, Dave and Luke were coincidently in the pool already. While Seth stripped down, I went to change and was pleasantly surprised to find him talking to Dave when I got back. I’d been under the impression that the two of them had been a little uncertain of each other, all because of Angela. But apparently, I’d been mistaken. Seth and I had decided that we wouldn’t tell them that Angela and Meg were going to show up, and the look on Dave’s face when Angela did arrive was worth it. Luke started talking to the girls as if he were the one who invited them, and Angela and Meg both scolded me for not telling them to bring swimsuits. That was okay, though. Luke took care of it by offering shorts and T-shirts, and once in the pool, Angela wasted no time in mentioning that they wanted to go dancing but had no one to dance with, all the while shooting dirty looks at Seth and me. Obviously, she wasn’t going to just outright ask Dave and Luke to remedy the situation herself, but Luke knew what a hint was when he heard it. I’m not sure which part of Dave’s body that Luke decided to grab under the water, but it efficiently had Dave practically jumping towards Angela; and to my surprise, he made his mouth work all by himself and told her that he’d dance with her. Angela seemed to lead a conversation with him from there and Meg started to tell Luke about what a jerk Rick was being, but apparently, they were still together.

Meanwhile I stayed in the shallow end with Seth, wishing that we were the only ones in the pool as he took of his hat and dunked his head in the water to cool off. Without thinking about it I brushed back the dripping strands of hair that fell over his face for him, and almost as quickly, I had him pressed up against the wall and my tongue requesting entrance to his mouth. He might as well have held up a big ‘ol Access Denied sign as he pushed me back, but then moved his arms around me, turning me around so he could pull my back into his broad chest where I could feel the thin hair there tickling my skin, and even his nipples, hard from the water, brushing against my skin. It was when I realized that his nipples weren’t the only things hard that my eyes momentarily widened.

"Keep it up, and I won’t be able to get out of the water," he informed me, and there was more panic in his voice than amusement. I could understand why. I could feel the head of a very apparent erection stabbing me in the back, and as a result, I found myself looking down in the water, towards my own.

"Now I can’t get out of the pool," I complained. Seth laughed and nipped my ear before he released me and we decided to move as discreetly as possible over to the stairs where we could sit down, still stay hidden under the water, and begin an in-depth discussion about naked grandmothers and what various insects would taste like, without anyone asking us why.

..........................................

It was only four o’clock when Seth agreed to take Angela and Meg to Angela’s house so they could get ready to go out. I didn’t understand why they needed to go anywhere. They had perfectly good clothes there to wear already. I really didn’t understand why they had to get my boyfriend to take them all the way back across town when he could have been hanging out with me. Eddie and Jase were still out, and according to Luke, he’d gotten a phone call just before I showed up and Jase had told him that they’d actually gone to the zoo. Neither Luke or I seemed to have hard feelings about not being invited.

Everyone was talking about leaving at six, so that left me plenty of time to change into clothes that Luke picked out for me and spend over a half hour in the shower to work off the sexual tension I’d been exposed to all day long. This was way worse than when I’d been simply waiting for him to kiss me.

Sex. I don’t think I’d thought about sex so much in my entire life. It didn’t matter what kind of sex it was, I just wanted to have it with Seth, and I wanted it to be just as good as it was when we’d been parked on the side of the road in his truck. Maybe better. Besides, I’d promised to make it up to him and I fully intended to. I just hoped that I could get Aaron’s little voice out of my head, saying that I wasn’t good enough, when I did do it.

"I’ll drive, too. That way you and Seth can ride together if you want."

I looked over my shoulder from where I’d been pathetically waiting on the front porch, to see Luke standing in the doorway.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah," he said, smiling as he moved to sit next to me. "I can trap Dave in the back seat with Angela that way, too." He laughed at his own scheming, but his heart didn’t seem to be in it, and I frowned as Luke’s expression seemed to fall.

"Is everything okay?" I asked him.

"Yeah," he insisted. "I was just thinking about stuff, that’s all."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Not really," he replied. "I’m just confusing myself. I do that sometimes. Bad habit." I raised an eyebrow at him and he smiled at me again. "You really like Seth?"

"Yeah," I said, no hesitation involved. "Sometimes it’s really weird. Like, I can’t figure out if I wanna listen to him talk or just get in his pants. Like in the pool, I kept picturing him with his clothes off, but he was talking about making worm sandwiches when he was little or something like that, and he kept cracking me up, so..."

I was interrupted by Luke’s abrupt laughter and I felt myself blushing over my outburst.

"Shut up," I responded, trying not to smile too much. "I like him."

"Mmm. Worm sandwiches and sex. What other weird fetishes do you have that I should know about?"

"Seriously. Shut up."

"I can’t. I’m jealous." In a matter of two seconds, Luke’s voice had become entirely serious, and I stopped laughing.

"What do you mean?" I asked, and he let out a breath.

"You and Seth," he explained. "You guys hardly even looked at anyone else today."

"Hey, I’m sorry, Luke. I didn’t realize we were ignoring..."

"It’s not a bad thing," he replied. "It just made me remember what it’s like, you know? The only person I’ve been able to be that way with is Aaron Keslin, and that..."

"Oh come on," I insisted. "Aaron..."

"I know what Aaron’s like, I’m just saying, is all. Jase thinks... he thinks that it’s because of my dad. Stupid, huh?"

"What do you mean?"

"The reason why I was with Aaron so long. You know, how I kept taking him back, trying to improve myself to impress him. It’s always been a sore point with me, that my dad didn’t want me, and... I don’t know. I couldn’t really handle that Aaron didn’t want me, either. But after Aaron, I swore to myself that I wouldn’t get attached to anyone who was going to end up leaving me... or disappointing me. Jase also thinks that’s why the only guys I’ve been attracted to in the last year are guys who are ‘unobtainable,’ anyway."

I stared at Luke, feeling like I was required to say something to him that might make him feel better. Only, I really had no idea what to say.

"Hey," I finally said in a hapless attempt. "When you look like you no one’s unobtainable, right?"

Luke granted me a small smile for my effort as he reached out and squeezed my shoulder before standing up to go back into the house, leaving me with a few parting words.

"Word of advice, Rory: The next time you’re faced with worm sandwiches or ass, go for the pants."

....................................................

I held the phone up to my ear as I glanced across the empty seat between me and Seth, where he was sitting in the driver’s seat, following behind Luke, who had everyone else with him. Seth had been as happy about that as I had, and the look I got back from him reminded me of it. I made a point to stretch out across the seat, placing my head next to his thigh as the other end of the line continued to ring in my ear. But the call I was making was momentarily forgotten when Seth took it upon himself to slip a hand down the collar of my shirt where he promptly found a nipple and playfully pinched it in a way that made me squirm and explode into a fit of giggles.

"Hello? Rory, is that you?"

"Hi, Eddie," I said quickly into the phone, managing to compose myself just enough. Seth’s hand retreated from my shirt and found a place on my head, and I was able to relax quickly with his fingers moving through my hair.

"Are you okay?" Eddie asked me, sounding slightly suspicious.

"Yeah," I replied. "I’m fine. Um, me and Luke are going dancing. He said I should call and let you know?"

"Dancing, huh?" Eddie responded, sounding mildly disappointed. "I guess the cheesecake we brought back for you guys is going into the refrigerator then."

"It’ll get eaten," I assured him.

"Dave is with you guys too?" Eddie asked, after I heard Jase ask a question along those lines in the background.

"Yeah," I replied.

"Tell him to call his mom, will ya?"

"Okay," I replied. "I’ll talk to you later, Eddie.

"Hey, Rory? Hang on a sec. Um, your grandma called me tonight?"

"Huh," I responded indifferently. "She said she was going to do that last week."

"I think she’s been a little busy. Something about remodeling... listen, I hope you don’t mind that I told her you opened the birthday present from your mom. She sounded a little worried about you and said your last talk didn’t go very well."

"Yeah, well..." I didn’t really have much else to say. I sort of wanted to hang up now. I was having a good night, and didn’t need worrying about Grandma Alice to get in the way of it.

"She wants you to call her back," Eddie told me. "I think you should... maybe talk to her about your plans for going home."

Something about the way he said that had me sitting up.

"Why?" I asked suspiciously.

Eddie sighed.

"Not really for any reason," he insisted. "You know how I feel about it. I just want to make sure that if you are going back that you and your grandma are on the same page."

"Maybe I’ll call tomorrow," I replied, after a long moment of thinking on it.

"Alright... you guys call if you’re going to be late, and drive safe."

"Okay."

I hung up, feeling a little miffed over the mention of Grandma Alice. Worried about me. If she’d fucking talk to me then she wouldn’t have to worry about me.

"Everything okay?" Seth asked me, and I leaned into him, still leaving him enough room to drive.

"Yeah," I replied. "Just stuff with my grandma. She can get annoying." I paused and looked out the front window. "Where’d Luke go?" I asked.

"Behind us," Seth responded, smirking. "We’ve been passing each other for the last five miles." He pointed out the window just in time, and I watched as Luke’s jeep passed us, Dave’s horribly white butt cheeks pressed up against the window while Meg and Angela looked to be near hysterics in the back seat.

................................................

Four things happened as soon as we got to the underage club thirty minutes away from the house, which was located near a Dairy Queen and a pharmacy. First, Seth actually took off his hat when I asked him to and left it in the truck, easily pushing back long straight strands of hair that seemed to rest neatly on his head, as if he’d actually taken the time to make it look that way in the mirror. Second, Seth told me not to bother locking his doors because nothing in his truck was more expensive than the windows. Third, he held my hand as soon as we were out of the truck, and I actually noticed a group of guys who didn’t seem to approve of that. I almost let go, but instead, I just held on tighter, deciding that what they thought didn’t really matter, even if it scared the hell out of me. But Seth did tell me he was going to come back out and move his truck the first chance he got. And fourth, Dave did it for him as soon as that particular group had cleared.

"I don’t know if I wanna be here anymore," I admitted as we headed towards the building, and Seth squeezed my hand a little tighter, just as Luke threw an arm around my shoulders.

"Fuck them, okay?" he said simply.

"I come here all the time, Rory," Angela insisted. "You aren’t the first gay guy to walk through the doors, and I swear I’ve never seen a problem here before."

"It’s okay," I told her. "I guess I’m just not used to that."

And I wasn’t. I also didn’t want to get used to feeling like I had in the parking lot--full of fear and an overwhelming self-consciousness; and if anything, it had planted some serious fear about what would happen if I did decide to come out to my friends back home. But I pushed the thought out of my mind and focused on relaxing, even if that was hard to do with music so loud that you couldn’t even hear the lyrics, just a whole bunch of bass.

"Let’s get a table," Seth said to me, leaning closer so I could hear him. Not only was the club dark and loud, it was crowded, too. Way worse than the bowling alley. I’d be surprised if we even managed to get a table, which seemed to suit everyone but Seth and me just fine because they were all on their way to dance.

I stuck close to Seth as we navigated our way under a series of flashing lights that quite frankly made me feel dizzy, and up a short stairway, past a bar serving sodas and through a group of girls where each of us were asked to dance several times before we were actually able to escape. The only quiet place to stand and wait for a table to open up was near the restrooms, and I was beginning to think that what had happened in the parking lot was only the first of things that was going to turn this into a worse night than I thought it would be.

But then, even as we stood near the bathrooms, things started to change, and I started to relax again. Seth and I looked over the dance floor together, pointing out our friends when we managed to catch a glimpse of them. Dave was actually managing to dance with Angela without fainting, and not far from them, Meg was slow dancing with Luke to a fast song. He looked entirely trapped. I began to consider rescuing him, especially as I thought about our earlier conversation.

"There you go, look," Seth said, draping an arm around me and pointing over my shoulder, and I looked in the direction to see two guys, maybe a little younger than us, dancing in their own corner. They seemed shy towards each other, leaving just enough room between their bodies for a third person. Somehow, seeing that made me feel a little better about being there with Seth. The next two guys he pointed out were simply talking, but holding hands under a table; then, he found three lesbian couples, one which had decided that the dance floor was a suitable place to make out.

"How do you pick them out like that?" I asked Seth.

"I don’t know," he replied, looking genuinely confused with himself. "I think it just happens." I laughed and took his hand, and then pointed out something on my own.

"Table," I said, as I watched a group of girls leave a small booth just next to the top of the stairs, and Seth and I rushed to get it. It wasn’t the cleanest thing in the world, but at least it was comfortable and in a perfect location to watch our friends.

"So you want something to drink?" Seth asked me as I slid into my seat. "I’m gonna get something."

"Sure," I replied. "I get to save the table."

"Don’t move," he told me, grinning.

I sat back in my seat and redirected my attention to the dance floor, wondering if I had Seth’s talent of picking out gay couples. It turned out, I didn’t. But, I did spot one girl who looked like a guy. I made a mental note to point that out with him as soon as he came back, just in case he might find it interesting. And then I spotted Luke again. As always, he was being a good sport. In this case, he seemed to be doing everything he could to make Meg smile, and it seemed to be working. But, I couldn’t help but wonder if Luke’s smile was real. Earlier, he’d sounded so lonely, and I was beginning to feel guilty for being so happy with Seth around when Luke was stuck dancing with Meg, because apparently this crush of his had no interest. Unobtainable. That was the only clue Luke had given me when it came to who this person was, but it didn’t exactly help any. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out who could be unobtainable and of interest to Luke. Maybe it was someone he worked with. He’d always talked about the best part of his job was working with a bunch of sweaty guys all day. I just hoped that it wasn’t some old married guy who happened to be really hot. Luke would definitely have some sort of complex if that was the case. Maybe, I thought, he just needed to get out and meet more people. Maybe Seth could use his talents and find a nice gay guy who wasn’t particularly attached to someone that I could mention to Luke. I wasn’t sure he’d appreciate that, though. Luke struck me as the kind of guy who liked to deal with people on his own. Besides, I wasn’t quite sure if the whole area was a sore subject for him. He’d brought it up with me, but if he was just venting, then I wanted to respect that. Of course, that didn’t necessarily stop me from wanting to cheer him up, and when Meg left him on the dance floor to head towards the restrooms that Seth and I had just been standing in front of, all I wanted to do was go check up on him. But then I saw him move towards Dave and Angela, and Seth had returned.

"Hey," Seth said, sliding into the booth, so close to me that all I could do was lean into him. I smiled as he held a drink in front of my face, apparently waiting for something, so I sucked on the straw for a moment to taste something akin to raspberry lemonade. "Do you think it’s kinda sour?" he asked me, placing the drink next to the second one that he’d placed on the table. When his eyes met mine again it was a moment before I had my hand on the back of his head, pulling him towards me so I could sneak my tongue into his mouth for a brief moment before pulling back.

"Not sour," I decided, and Seth rolled his eyes at me.

"You’re corny," he remarked.

"So?"

"Good point," he responded, and I smiled as he tilted his head down, resting his forehead against mine in a way that had his hair falling against both of our faces, tickling my cheeks. I lifted both hands, tucking it behind his ears as he subtly brushed the tip of his nose over mine. "It’s loud in here," Seth commented.

"Mm-hmm." I nodded against him as I found a place for my hand over his knee, and then slid it upwards, over his thigh until I felt Seth’s hand move gently over mine, but lightly enough so that I could trace circular patters over the material of his jeans with my fingers, and the effect seemed to have Seth shifting a little in his seat, especially as I moved closer to the space where his thigh met his hip.

"I like sci-fi," he suddenly announced.

"Yeah?"

"I just thought you should know," he said conversationally. "You know, books, movies, television shows. I read a lot of books." I liked it when he started babbling like this. It’s how most of our conversations started. He usually wasn’t hooking his fingers into the bottom of my shirt, tugging me towards him when he did it, though.

"I don’t read much," I responded. "Just my mom’s diary lately. I can’t sit still for that long."

"How is that going? I mean, the diary... Is that even an appropriate question?"

I smiled at him.

"It’s... interesting. I’m glad I have it."

I felt Seth’s fingers brush against my skin, just above the hem of my pants, and I slid my hand further up his leg as I tilted my head back, touching his lips with mine, just as my own fingers came up against the beginning of a firm bulge in his pants. The contact had been accidental, but made him jump, nonetheless, and we both chuckled at it as I moved my hand to a safer area. But just knowing it was there shot a warm sensation down my navel and up my thighs until I could feel tightening in my shorts; and as Seth slid a hand up my back and over my neck, pulling me towards him until my mouth was on his again and he was shyly meeting my tongue, not even the sound of someone clearing their throat directly in front of our table seemed to pull my focus away from kissing him. When the throat-clearing turned into a poor attempt at severe coughing, Seth broke the kiss, with my objections, and glanced over his shoulder where Meg was standing with her arms crossed, looking every bit annoyed with us.

"What?" I demanded, and Seth laughed at my tone.

"Do you wanna sit down?" he asked her, sliding over to make her room, and pushing me around the booth in the process.

"Thank you," Meg said, and then helped herself to one of our drinks.

"Where did Luke go?" I asked her curiously, glancing back down to where I’d last seen him.

"Over there," Meg pointed, and I spotted him not far from Angela and Dave, dancing with another girl. I recognized her immediately as Mary, the one that Angela had been complaining about the night before. Obviously, Angela no longer had a problem with her because I saw her wave in Mary’s direction, but Luke looked like he was about to find the nearest window and retreat, the way that Mary was grinding against him. It probably wouldn’t have looked so bad, I guess, if she wasn’t entirely lacking rhythm.

"Why aren’t you dancing with him?" I asked Meg, almost accusingly.

"My ankle hurts," Meg complained, and furthered her point by bringing her foot up into her lap.

I sighed as I leaned back into Seth and he moved an arm around my waist, his hand resting over my stomach, but my eyes remained focused on Luke. I wished that he would have looked like he was having a better time. I mean, he was smiling, but... hell, maybe I was just reading too much into the situation because something he said earlier had gotten to me. I didn’t like this feeling of feeling sorry for Luke. Luke did not seem like someone anyone would feel sorry for. At least, not in the middle of a club where he was getting so much attention that I’m sure he didn’t know what to do with it all.

"Are you okay?" Seth asked, and I trembled slightly when I felt his teeth lightly scrape over my ear.

I nodded and turned my head to look at him. God, I was comfortable there. I didn’t really want to leave for anything. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. I’d leave with him in a second if we were going somewhere where I could go for the pants, as Luke simply put it. But, Luke wasn’t just anything.

"Hey Seth," I said. "You know how I said I’d sit out with you?"

He raised an eyebrow and regarded me curiously for a moment.

"You want to dance, don’t you?"

"Want isn’t the right word," I admitted, and then nodded towards Luke. "He was kinda down earlier. I want to see if he’s okay."

Seth looked surprised, but seemed to recover quickly, and shrugged.

"Yeah. Okay. I’ll wait here for you."

"Thanks," I said. "I’ll be right back." I slid out the other side of the booth, but not before taking nearly a full minute to kiss Seth again, pulling away only when Meg pretended to gag in a way that actually made us both laugh. "Right back," I promised again, and when Seth turned his dimple on me, I nearly changed my mind. But soon I was navigating my way through a crowd.

It had been a while since I danced anywhere. The last time it had been with Jason Cross’s girlfriend at a school dance. It was after my mom had gotten sick, but one of the last times I could remember actually getting out on my own and having a really good time. Jason had refused to dance with the girl--Danielle--and she’d recruited me. Later, she’d named me her little freak, much to Jason’s chagrin. I still had mixed feelings about that particular nickname, but it had been fun dancing with her--so much actually, that we’d been warned by one of the chaperones to ‘cool it.’

I’d pretty much remembered how to find my rhythm with the music by the time I reached Luke and Mary, and smiled when they both looked at me.

"Do you mind?" I asked, and Mary turned towards me, grinning as she continued to do very odd things with her hips. She stopped smiling, though, when I moved past her and reached out to physically grab Luke’s waist and pulled him towards me. He looked as surprised as Mary did, but laughed out loud and when I danced, he danced.

"What are you doing?" he finally asked as we learned to keep rhythm while also keeping a respectable distance between each other.

"Are you okay?" I asked, responding to his question with one of my own.

"Why wouldn’t I be?" he asked as he suddenly turned, and I found Luke’s ass up against my crotch. "Is this about earlier?"

"Yes, it’s about earlier!" I responded, unable to keep from laughing at his antics as he turned back around as a slower song began to play and he moved his arms around my neck, as if I were supposed be leading. I wasn’t much for slow dancing. For me it seemed awkward doing it with another guy.

"Sorry about that," Luke replied.

"You’re sorry?"

"Yeah, I got bummed out over stupid stuff. Don’t worry about it."

"It wasn’t stupid," I insisted as I decided that my hands could rest comfortably on his waist, and then I smiled. "You know, Seth keeps pointing out gay guys here, maybe..."

Luke laughed.

"Maybe some other time."

"Yeah?"

"Maybe; thanks for dancing with me."

"Anytime," I replied, and leaned in to hug him back for a brief moment when he pulled me in, before placing his hands on my shoulders to push me back. "You should tell me who this guy is you like," I decided for him.

"Should I?" Luke responded, appearing mildly amused.

"I could talk, or kick some sense into him for you."

Luke chuckled. "You really are family, you know?"

I smiled at him.

"Yeah. Okay. So you’re not gonna tell me."

"I could," he replied, sighing. "But if I did, the only person you’d want to talk sense into is me."

I cocked my head at him, and he shrugged.

"I think Seth’s waiting for you," he said, nodding in the direction, and I glanced over my shoulder. He certainly was waiting, still in the booth and watching Luke and me intently, even with Meg talking his ear off. I sent him a small wave and then looked at Luke again. "Are you okay if we take off a little early?" I asked, and Luke’s smile turned mischievous.

"You have other plans?"

"I don’t know yet," I admitted.

"Go ahead. I’ll see you later?"

"Yeah."

I parted with Luke, but he wasn’t alone for long. A moment later, Angela was cutting in. He probably wasted no time in asking her why Mary was dancing with Dave now and she wasn’t, but to be honest, I could care less about that situation at this point. At least Luke seemed a little better than he’d been before, and plus, Seth was waiting for me. I was pleasantly surprised when he pulled me right into the booth, directly against his side, as soon as I got there and wasted no time kissing me, his mouth spreading my lips in a way that granted his tongue immediate access, while all I could do was recover from my surprise and take it. I’m sure I was blushing by the time he pulled back.

"Everything okay?" he asked, and I managed to nod before he was kissing me again, and Meg was mumbling about how rude we were as she left the booth.

Despite wanting to get out of there with Seth, we didn’t leave until eight o’clock. Instead, we talked between kisses while people came and went from our table. Angela showed up with Dave for a while, and they didn’t seem to mind us ignoring them. Dave was carrying on an actual conversation with her, and even I was proud of him when I heard him pay her two compliments within thirty minutes. Meg came back a few times, mostly to tell us that she was dancing with other guys, and if either of us happened to see Rick anytime soon, we should feel free to repeat the fact to him. Luke showed up once to ask everyone at the table to help him convince some girl that he was, in fact, gay; and then a little later I noticed him talking to one of the gay couples that Seth had pointed out before--the two that had been holding hands under the table. Luke was smiling again. That was also around the time that Seth finally asked me if I wanted to get out of there.

I felt surprisingly relaxed when Seth and I left the club. The sun was beginning to set and the warm air and even the sound of traffic coming from the main road behind the building was a welcome exchange from the loud music and flashing lights that still had my head swimming. For ten minutes Seth and I wandered the parking lot trying to figure out where Dave had parked Seth’s truck. But, it felt more like a nature walk across asphalt than a stressful search for our ride out of there.

Once in his truck, all it took was one look from Seth for me to slide across the seat to get closer to him as he pushed his hair back, the lightest strands shining under the street light we were parked under before he covered it with his hat.

"We can go back to my house," he said, moving his hand between my legs to rest on my inner thigh.

"Okay."

"But... if we wait an hour, my sister will be in bed and my parents probably won’t notice us."

I smiled at those odds. "Okay."

"Do you wanna go to dinner or something?" he asked, and I nodded.

As we headed away from the club, we talked about where we wanted to eat. Seth finally just told me to pick a place, and since one of the streets looked familiar, I directed him towards a restaurant that Eddie took me to a lot. Seth said it sounded good until he discovered fish on the menu. I pointed out that there was only one thing on the menu that had fish in it, so he was fairly safe. He liked his chicken, and the pool table in the corner. We played a game as I told him how Eddie and Jase had met in the same restaurant; and as we left, I pointed out the fire hydrant that I’d hit my first time driving. He teased me over that all the way to his house.

.........................................................

I looked around Seth’s room, feeling a little lost. The only available light came from the short hallway leading to his bathroom and the glow from the television, and Seth wasn’t there. It had been mostly dark when we’d silently climbed his stairs, but obviously his dad had heard us come in because as soon as we were on the other side of Seth’s door he’d called for Seth. Which is why Seth wasn’t there with me now. He’d told me to get comfortable and that he’d be right back. Get comfortable? Honestly, I don’t think those words had ever carried so much pressure with them before. If there was any such thing as foreplay, Seth and I had been having it all day; and while it hadn’t actually been discussed, it was pretty clear that we both had the same idea when it came to why we didn’t want his parents to know I was there. But even so, I didn’t want to get too far ahead of myself. I think the problem was that Seth had way too many places to get comfortable in his room. If this was any other situation, I’d just take a seat on the sofa and stare at the muted television while I waited. But when I sat on the sofa to wait, I found myself staring at his bed, instead, wondering if I should just go over there and wait for him.

I’ll admit, this was all very stupid. I just needed to relax. I guess it was fair to say I was a little nervous. The last time Seth and I had really done anything together it had seemed completely spontaneous. Not much thinking had been involved at all. Now, things seemed a little planned, but I still had no idea what to expect, or what was expected from me. But, I did have a few ideas when it came to what I wanted to do to Seth. I just wished that I wasn’t suddenly so intimidated by it. It was because I’d been given way too much time to think about it. And, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that while I knew Aaron was just a dumbass, some of his words had stuck with me and after realizing that Seth was more experienced in some areas than I was, I was a little worried about disappointing him.

I did my best to appear relaxed when I heard the door opening, and I looked over my shoulder, happy to see that he was alone as I watched him softly close the door and lock it.

"Everything okay?" I asked.

"Yeah. My parents are going to bed," he replied as he moved over to the sofa. I smiled as he leaned over long enough to kiss my forehead before he moved over to his closet where I silently watched him hang up his hat. Then, to my surprise, instead of coming to sit next to me, he went to sit on the end of his bed and started to unlace his shoes. "You still have to be home by twelve, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, unless you want me to go sooner."

He looked up and met my eyes then. "No," he said simply, flashing me a small smile. "So I never asked--is Luke okay?"

"Huh?"

"Earlier, you said you wanted to see if he’s okay--you danced with him."

"Oh. Yeah, I think he’s alright."

Seth simply nodded. "I like the way you dance," he said, before turning his attention back to his shoes. I looked across the room, studying Seth closely for a moment before I stood up, moved across the room and took a seat next to him as a thought occurred to me.

"Did you want to dance?" I asked him.

"No. I kind of liked the other stuff we were doing."

I had to laugh at that. "Me too; but, you’re not, like, upset that I danced with Luke, right?"

It took Seth longer than expected to answer that. "No. I mean, you obviously... made him feel better."

I’m not sure what it was in that comment or his tone that didn’t quite sit well with me, but whatever it was gave me the sudden urge to get closer to Seth; and as he finished pushing off his shoes I moved my arms around him, guiding him to turn towards me as I took a moment to kiss his neck, and then his mouth in an uninterrupted sort of way that provoked his hands to climb up my shirt, his fingers playing over my ribs until they were under my arms, coaxing me to raise them as he broke the kiss and lifted my shirt right over my head. It seemed strange how losing one piece of clothing could make me feel so completely naked as the air conditioning hit my back, along with Seth’s hands as his mouth fell over my shoulder as he dragged his lips upwards until I felt his tongue on my collarbone and sighed against the sensation; but then he laughed when he reached down to grab one of my ankles and pulled my foot upwards as he attempted to remove my shoe.

"Hold on," I insisted, and then kicked off both of my shoes to save him the trouble. "Your door really is locked, right?" I asked him as I watched him climb back on his bed while pulling his comforter back, watching me as if I were expected to follow.

"For the next three hours," he replied, and I glanced at the clock. It was just after nine. As I turned my attention back to Seth, three hours suddenly seemed like a long time. I moved towards him, eager to reach for his shirt, but I hardly had my hands on the bottom of it before he suddenly grabbed me by the waist and practically lifted me until I was sitting up next to his pillows, able to lean against his headboard if I wanted to, which I did, leaning back as I watched him remove his own shirt. I decided that I liked this position he put me in when his mouth came down to meet mine again, one of his arms against the headboard behind me to hold his weight while his free hand moved upwards, over my thigh to grab my hip while he left himself completely open for my hands to get better acquainted with the body leaning over me as Seth moved to straddle my knees.

I lifted my hands, taking a moment to study his chest with my fingers, tracing contours as I allowed the thin layer of hair there, shining in the limited light, to tickle my palms. I moved my hands to his back, my hands moving over soft skin and then the rough material of his jeans as I cupped his ass in my hands to pull him closer, until I could feel the length of his erect cock through his jeans against my bare torso. Seth deepened the kiss then, just before he broke it entirely to move off of me and I watched as he unbuttoned his jeans and slid them downwards, taking the time to work them over his long, muscular legs before he sat up on his knees again and hooked his fingers in the white, tented boxers still covering him. He paused and looked at me expectantly.

"Take your pants off," he said, sounding all business, and I processed the order before I laughed out loud. "What?" He looked confused as he looked down his own body, as if checking for something that I might find amusing.

"Nothing," I replied, smiling as I sat up and unbuttoned my shorts. "It just sounds funny when someone actually says that to you." He blushed, but smiled as I slid my pants over my own blue boxers, down to my knees where I paused again to stare as I watched him drop his underwear without a second thought, the long shaft of his erection springing upwards against the spiral curls surrounding it, looking slightly curved towards the head, shaped sort of like a strawberry, I noticed. All in all, I decided that Seth had a very nice-looking cock, and I blamed it entirely for my staring problem.

"What?" he asked again, when he realized that I was still holding my pants at my knees.

"Nothing," I said again. "Just noticing you’re a natural blond." I couldn’t keep a straight face after saying that, especially when Seth cocked his head at me before he figured out what I was talking about and blushed again. But at least I made him smile, even if I had managed to embarrass him a little. He recovered by practically tackling me again, and I ended up back against the headboard as I parted my lips against his and met his tongue while he took over the task that I’d failed to perform--working my shorts down over my legs, before he hooked his fingers in my boxers with little hesitation; and even as I felt his fingers gently guiding the material over my cock I could feel myself hardening when I hadn’t thought any more of an erection on my part was possible.

Meanwhile, I kept my hands busy, exploring new parts of Seth that had only just been revealed to me, running my fingers up his thighs, noticing a visible tan line halfway to his knees. I became brave enough to move my hands to the back of his thighs, roaming upwards until my hands covered his bare cheeks, feeling firmer against my palms as I thought they would. As he finished removing the last of my clothing I gripped his ass tighter and as we kissed I guided him back into his previous position of straddling me, not prepared for the way he dropped his weight and my own erection slid right up to the cleft of his ass, causing me to gasp against his mouth, my hands clinging to his back as he slid forward across my length in a way that had me squirming beneath him, and becoming a little concerned with how much more of that feeling I could endure before it was all embarrassingly over. But Seth seemed to have no objection when I gripped his waist and guided him upwards onto his knees, breaking the kiss he didn’t seem to want to give up to move my mouth over his chest, capturing a nipple gently between my teeth as his chest reached my level. Seth’s hands cupped the back of my head, holding me to him as my nostrils became clouded with a slightly musky scent mixed with his cologne, and he trembled lightly as I slid my hands back to his ass again, fingers tentatively dipping into his cleft as I pulled him forward and released my tongue over his navel as my mouth worked its way down.

For as nervous as I’d been, it seemed incredibly easy to slide my mouth tightly around the head of his cock, but maybe that was because the small sound that escaped him sounded completely grateful, or the way that his hands moved to my shoulders, fingers digging in tightly while not being completely constricting. As I slid down his length at my own comfort I could feel his thighs shaking, and as I made it halfway down before needing to pull back again, I found that it was because he wasn’t attempting to thrust at all, thank god, because as I moved halfway down his length for the second time it occurred to me that he was somewhat larger than Aaron. I really wished I hadn’t noticed that, though, because with my eager desire to impress Seth with skills I didn’t really think I had, the thought itself was intimidating.

As I continued to take him into my mouth, trying each time to take a little more of him, Seth began to shift his weight on his knees, every so often making a small thrust, and it became even more obvious that he was holding back. The thought of it had my own cock jumping and I suddenly became even braver, gripping his ass again to pull him forward as he held the headboard, deciding that it was even easier to let his hips do the work. They were obviously better made for it than my neck, and I completely trusted him with each thrust as he quickened the rhythm, but never pushed too far. I was the one who eventually made the mistake of pulling him in too far, gagging myself. But, when Seth tried to pull out because of it I held him tighter, sucking around his cock in a way that had him moaning above me, another thing I decided that I liked, and as he thrust, I concentrated on relaxing my throat, swallowing around his organ when I felt it up against my throat, and I continuously reminded myself that I could hold my breath for a very long time. It seemed that that talent was good for more than one thing.

And then he pulled away completely.

I sat up, feeling confused as he abruptly sat again, my cock lurching as it slid up between his cheeks, feeling slick now with my own saliva and my eyes widened as his mouth came over mine, his tongue pressing rigorously against my lips before I even had a chance to part them, and as I softly moved my fingers over his back I felt him relax slightly, and found myself doing the same, deciding that he just needed to take a break; which is why I dropped my hands to his thighs and rubbed some of the tension out of them before I started guiding him upwards again. Only, this time I was met with resistance as Seth’s hands came over mine and he pulled his mouth from mine.

"I’m not ready yet," he said somewhat breathlessly, and I looked at him in a way that suggested that I didn’t get his meaning, especially as he lifted his weight off me long enough to grab my hips and pull me down until I was on my back, head on a rather comfortable pillow. I felt one of his knees moving between mine and I instinctively parted my thighs, but my eyes widened again when he suddenly reached into a drawer by his night stand and removed a bottle of lube.

"Um, Seth..." Maybe, just maybe, we were getting a little ahead of ourselves here. One informative sex talk with Jase gave me a pretty good idea what he planned on using that for, and just because I liked Seth, and had no objection to a lot of things he might want to do physically, the thought of him wanting to put that long cock of his in intimate places that I’d never had the guts to explore myself, frankly scared the hell out of me. He caught my eyes as he opened the lube, and seemed to notice a change because he quickly shook his head.

"I’m not...um... look..." He seemed to be having a little trouble with words at the moment, and decided to show me his intentions instead by warming a generous amount of lube in his hands before he wrapped one around my cock, causing me to arch up against his warm, slick hand, stroking me to a near orgasm as he gripped his own erection with the other hand, and I found myself groaning in protest as he let go; but a moment later his weight was over me and I spread my thighs even wider as I felt his erection against my length, his balls pressed firmly against mine and he rotated his hips in a way that caused an ample amount of friction over sensitive areas, and my fingers dug into his shoulders as he did it again. "This is what I like," Seth finished saying, and as I lifted my ass off the bed to meet him, our hips bumping together, all I could manage to do was nod in response before I grabbed the back of his head and pulled his mouth back down over mine as Seth lifted one of his sheets directly over our heads, causing my body to almost immediately break out in a sweat that had us sliding against each other.

I took in a deep breath when Seth’s mouth left mine and I tilted my head back as I felt his tongue on my neck, his teeth lightly scraping as he worked a hand under my ass, gripping a bare cheek to lift me towards him, pressing our cocks more tightly together as he moved against me, rotating his hips again as I slid my hands over his ass to pull him in even more, lifting my knees and biting back a moan that likely might have awakened his parents.

"You’re such a liar," I remarked, and I was surprised it came out coherent at all. The words caused me to flinch when Seth suddenly nipped at my neck and then paused all motion as he moved his head back to look at me in the dark space.

"What?"

I squeezed the cheek that was in my hand, causing his erection to lurch against mine. "You can totally dance," I informed him. Seth laughed out loud before I silenced him with another kiss and he continued to grind his cock against mine with a renewed enthusiasm, even after he came, until my mess joined his between our bodies.

It seemed that not all guys had a problem with intimacy after gaining sexual gratification. It seemed that Seth couldn’t get enough of it after we cleaned up. I’d reached for my boxers, but before my fingers had even touched the material he’d pulled me back under the covers with him where I initiated a kiss that didn’t seem to stop until breathing became too important, but Seth seemed satisfied with simple light rubbing. His fingers seemed to think that their favorite part of my body was my lower back, just at the cleft of my ass, and with my head comfortable against his shoulder I closed my eyes, never feeling more relaxed.

................................................

"This is not a good time."

Seth’s voice woke me. That was a surprise, because it meant that I’d fallen asleep, and I never slept on the second floor of any building. But I had, nonetheless, and I woke up feeling groggy and more than a little disoriented. Panic set in as I wondered what time it was. I began to sit up. My head was still on Seth’s shoulder, so it didn’t take much for him to tighten his arm around me and slow my actions as I turned partly on my back to look up at him. He had his cell phone to his ear, but covered the mouthpiece to speak to me.

"It’s only ten thirty," he whispered. I wasn’t sure how that was even possible, because the time certainly didn’t sound accurate, but it relaxed me, and I leaned back on his shoulder, looking up at his head which was resting under his free arm as he continued to talk on the phone.

"Find someone else... what about Kevin? You know he’ll...whatever. Put Kevin on the phone." There was a long pause, and as Seth began to look aggravated I slid my hand over his stomach in a soothing motion as my sleepy mind attempted to determine what was going on. "Kevin, hey? Can you take him home? I’m... are you fucking kidding me?... Well where’s your car?... Fuck. Put him back on...no, you don’t need to hit him.... Okay Aaron, give me one good reason why I should."

Well, that woke me up. I sat up so quickly that my head hurt from it. I was naked in bed with Seth and he was on the phone with Keslin. Not my ideal situation. But before I could even think to get out of the bed and start cussing, Seth was sitting up next to me, his arm securely around my waist as he met my eyes somewhat pleadingly. I glared in return.

"That’s not good enough," Seth said into the phone. "But I’ll be there." I immediately started to shake my head. That was so the wrong answer. I was pulling away from Seth and reaching for my boxers even as he hung up the phone. "Rory, slow down..." Seth insisted, moving out from under the covers in his noticeably naked form to sit next to me at the edge of the bed as I pulled on my boxers and my pants in record time. Only, when I looked down, they seemed to be Seth’s pants. I pushed them back down before leaving the bed to search for mine, ignoring his hand as it slid from my back.

"You’ll be there?" I repeated as he stood up and followed me. "Where are my pants?" Seth picked them up off the bed and held them out for me.

"He’s really wasted," Seth said calmly. "Someone took his keys this time and right now I’m his only ride home."

"Why can’t he stay right where he is?" I asked reasonably.

"You’ve been where he is," Seth responded. "I can’t just leave him there."

I paused for a moment, thinking back to that disgusting apartment. I wouldn’t want to be stuck there... but, it seemed like the perfect place for Aaron. I pulled on my shorts and buttoned them up, shaking my head.

"Fucking leave him," I muttered, and then more clearly, "What about your friend Kevin?"

"He’s drunk, too," Seth explained, frowning.

"Nice friends you have," I remarked, before I could stop myself. Seth frowned, but grabbed my hand and pulled me to sit on the bed with him. I didn’t resist, but I didn’t look at him, either.

"Actually, Kevin was one of my brother’s best friends... we only hang out every once in a while. I give him rides sometimes. "Look, Rory, I’m just gonna pick him up and take him home. Once he’s there, he can do whatever."

"Why can’t he do whatever now?" I demanded, meeting his eyes. Seth looked completely torn, and more than a little annoyed.

"I’m not going to leave him there," Seth stated, and that somehow seemed final. I didn’t like it at all. "Look, I’ll take you home first, and if you let me, I’ll call you as soon as I’m on my way back here, okay?"

"No," I responded shortly. "It’s not okay."

"Rory..."

This wasn’t good. No way did I want Aaron alone with Seth like this if I could prevent it. It was bad enough that Seth seemed to think he had to go. The effect not only had me all sorts of jealous, it had me mad as hell at Aaron Keslin, and I was just about ready to let him know it.

"I’ll go with you," I said, matter-of-factly, and Seth shook his head.

"You don’t want to go with me."

"Trust me, I want to go with you," I responded firmly, practically challenging him to tell me that I couldn’t go. Seth didn’t look happy about it. He released my hand and grabbed his clothes from the bed before he stood up, and I watched the muscles in his ass flex with every step he took towards his bathroom, my stomach in knots all the while. He stopped in front of the hall and looked back at me.

"I’m gonna get dressed. We’ll go in a minute."