Page 84 of On Thin Ice

“No, you were tense as hell. A good night of sex and your shoulders smooth out just there . . .” Ramsey reached over and ran his fingers up his shoulders. “See? Relaxed.”

“Fine. Okay.” Finn gave his friend a sharp nod.

“But mostly, more than anything else, I was walking out of Hood this morning and saw Jacob drop you off. And when he did, you leaned in and kissed him. Wasn’t a quick kiss either. Seemed serious.”

It seems serious, Finn wanted to tell him,and it seemed like the best idea in the world last night but now I’m . . .panicking. Just a little. And mostly, almost entirely, because of this whole interrogation.

“That explains it, then,” Finn said, then logged into his laptop and started on his assigned reading, enjoying as Ramsey squirmed, for the first time today.

He let him go for five minutes and then ten, pretending to ignore as Ramsey shot him look after look, eyes flicking up from his phone every so often.

Finally, Ramsey gave in and tossed the phone onto the desk. “Are you really not going to tell me about it?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Finn said, barely able to keep the grin off his face.

“You know what I mean,” Ramsey hissed. “You’re not going to tell me how you finally got him—Jacob freaking Braun—into bed and you’re not going to tell me if it’s actually serious? Was last night not the first time, because it sure seemed like the first time, but maybe I’m wrong, thatdoeshappen sometimes—”

Finn took pity on his friend, for whom ramblingdefinitelydid not come naturally. “You were right. It was the first time.”

“I knew it,” Ramsey announced triumphantly only to be shushed by two adjoining tables.

“You’re going to get us kicked out,” Finn said.

“Wouldn’t be the first time. Did I ever tell you about thelasttime I got kicked out of the library—”

It wasn’t even a contest; it would be way worse to hear all the details of Ramsey’s last conquest—in the library no less—than to confess the truth of last night.

“I thought you wanted to hear about me and Jacob,” Finn interrupted.

Ramsey’s eyes gleamed as he leaned across the table. “Well, tell me then.”

“We went to dinner.”

“Like a date?” Ramsey looked horrified, then remembered, probably just in time, that Finnwasn’thim, and wasn’t allergic to commitment.Oh you’ve got no idea, Finn thought.

“No, not a date. A dinner meeting, with his agent and his PR rep. He’s . . .uh . . .starting a foundation.”

“And he has to come out first,” Ramsey finished before Finn could decide just how much he should say about Jacob’s future plans. “Because it’s a LGBT-leaning organization, and he doesn’t want more people speculating on his sexuality than talking about the charity work he’s trying to do.”

“How do you know that?” Finn asked, mystified. “Were you masquerading as one of the waiters last night or something?”

“My major is Communications,” Ramsey said pointedly, like he actually did fuck all with his major.

“Anyway, yes, good guess. I was there because Jacob wanted my take on their plans.”

Ramsey nodded in approval. “Damn. I would’ve thought he wasn’t that good. But he pulled it off.”

“Thatiswhy he invited me.”

“Sure,” Ramsey said easily. “Not just because he’s crazy about you.”

“Anyway, yes, he invited me. I wore the Burberry suit—”

“Wait, you pulled out theBurberryfor Jacob? You must’ve been pretty fucking desperate to go for the big guns. Was he really putting up that much of a fight?”

“Yes and no,” Finn said, attempting to find his dignity. It shouldn’t be humiliating to admit to Ramsey he’d gone to dinner intending to seduce Jacob, especially when it had worked. After all, he’d done it, he shouldownit.

“Oh, he was,” Ramsey said annoyingly. “But you got him in the end, didn’t you? God bless that suit. I wishmydad would buy me a custom Burberry suit that makes men forget their own names.”

---