Page 19 of Switch Pitching

“It’s just some casual, friendly conversation.” James says, completely unfazed. “And it’s working because you’re already loosening up.” He taps the steering wheel in victory, proud of himself. “Now, spill. You gotta answer.”

“Bruh.” That’s all I can manage.

“Go on, don’t hold back. Tell me all the dirty details. I’m not gonna pop a woody or anything so you have nothing to worry about.”

I pause. “Alright. You want the details? Fine. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Stalling for time, I stare out the window while thinking about how to start. “Okay, so it was back in my senior year of college with a guy I was hooking up with. We were never together-together, but we had something going on for a couple months.”

“Go on.”

Another breath. I mentally prepare myself to say words I’ve never said out loud, let alonethought. “My team got knocked out of the NCAA playoffs and I was feeling down when I got back to Burlington. He hits me up to fuck so I head to his place, and he starts off by giving me some amazing head.”

James stays quiet, his eyes still fixed on the road.

I continue, strangely confident and determined to tell James what he wants, or doesn’t want, to hear. “We had plans to go all out, but I was so worked up that I ended up finishing after like three minutes, just gripping the sheets and trying to keep it together. It was way more intense than anything I’d felt before.”

There. I said it out loud, which is a feat for me, given that I’m a private person. I don’t offer up details of my sex life like some of my straight college friends do with each other, and I even had to channel their energy, just to get through my story.

“Damn, Ethan,” says James, letting out a quiet whistle. “I thought you were gonna give me some weak-ass story, but no, you brought out the big guns.”

Heat continues to rise in my cheeks as I laugh nervously. “Well, you asked for it straight up, and I delivered.”

He chuckles. “Honestly, I respect it. Three minutes, though?”

“I was on the road with a roommate forweeks, man. Half of the hotels we stayed in had a window between the bedroom andthe shower. I’m surprised I didn’t come the second I took my pants off.”

James winces, his face scrunching up in sympathy. “Okay, I’m curious. How long can you go without?—”

“Nope! No more from you!” I cut him off before he can finish asking me whatever depraved question he had in mind. “It’s my turn now.”

James laughs. “Fine, fine, that’s fair. Hit me.”

There’s a part of me that wants to scratch the itch in the back of my mind and see if James has at least considered being into guys. I should know better than to feed into a random delusional fantasy, but hell, he just asked me to describe some guy-on-guy sex to him in lewd detail like it was nothing. The thought nags at me as I consider backing down and asking something else, but then again, what harm can a vague question do?

Screw it.

“Have you ever kissed a dude before?”

James answers immediately. “Never on the lips or anything, but back home the boys and I would give each other forehead kisses when we got wasted. We love each other.”

I cock an eyebrow. “That sounds kinda?—”

Gay.

“—intimate?”

James laughs, as if to say I’m overthinking this. “Nah, man. It’s what we did. Just because I’m straight doesn’t mean I can’t care for my friends.”

Straight.Mildly disappointing, but I’m kinda glad I have concrete confirmation. That’ll make it way easier to avoid crushing on him.

“We were all super comfortable around each other,” he continues. “Except for my friend Luke, we were all straight, but we always acted super couple-y with each other, just as a joke.”

“You acted couple-y with your friends?”

“Just playful, unserious flirting, the normal stuff that guys do. I’m pretty sure I’ll be the same around you, to be honest. It’s how I show affection to all my friends.”

Even though I can’t totally wrap my head around what James is describing, it doesn’t sound all that different from what I’ve seen before. A ton of straight guys mess around and jokingly act gay with their friends. James is probably the same way.

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