Page 50 of Ancient History

“Youused to go to,” Amos said, correcting me. “I didn’t go to parties. Not ones with alcohol. Mine involved board games, pizza, and watching Netflix DVD’s we got in the mail.”

“Some G-rated Netflix and Chill.” Honestly, that sounded like a good time.

“How’s your drink?” Amos asked, his lips pert and wet from his sip. I used every piece of willpower not to rake my eyes over his body.

“It’s good. Wanna try?” I handed the glass over.

My dick twitched in my pants as our fingers touched.Down boy.

“It’s good.” He took a sip and handed it back. “Has a kick to it.”

I didn’t take my eyes off him as I drank my Sodium Chloride Dog, putting my lips right where his had been.

I had to enjoy this sip because this would be as close as our lips got tonight.

* * *

The party flewby in a blur of merriment and cheer. Good people, good conversation, good drinks. I got to chat with teachers from school that I’d only seen in passing. They pressed me on how the soccer season was going. We sang “Happy Birthday” to Chase as he blew out the candles on his pyramid of cupcakes, then somehow, in the oddly sound logic of party flow, that led to Amos putting on the OGHigh School Musicaland turning it into a drinking and karaoke game. Nostalgia was a helluva drug. The condo shook with the good vibes of singing and laughing, and I wanted to bottle this night and come back to it over and over again. I hadn’t had this much fun in a long time.

I did all this while looking over at Amos repeatedly. I tried to exercise willpower. It was difficult because he looked so damn good. It was like we were back in the halls of high school sneaking peeks.

Maybe it wasbecause it’d been so long, but my body craved all this social time. Raleigh had to leave early, and I said I’d get a ride home. Eventually, things began to wound down, and I found myself wandering into Amos’s room for a breather.

There was a queen sized bed and packed-but-organized bookcase plus a desk in the corner. For a room of this size, he made use of every available square foot. Above the desk was a cork board filled with postcards from cities all around the world. Rome, Paris, Tokyo, Santiago. The world was humongous, and I’d barely scratched the surface.

“Hey.”

I whipped my head around, broken out of my daze. Amos hung by the door, still sexy in his black outfit but small circles ringing his eyes.

“Tired?” I asked.

“Hosting a party is not for the weak of heart.” He leaned against the threshold. I wanted to trace the side of his torso and hip with my hand. And other body parts. “Is Raleigh still here?”

“He went home a little while ago. I think Everett finally got to be too much for him.”

Raleigh admitted that he’d dozed off trying to watchHamiltonand said it wasn’t his jam, which set Everett off on a quest to prove to him why it was the definitive piece of modern theater.

“Strong theater opinions aside, your friends are really good guys.”

“They’re your friends, too, now.”

The quiet between us let me hear the low buzz of music coming from the hall.

“Am I the last one here?” I asked.

“Yeah. Everett and Julian just left to drive a drunk Chase home.”

How the hell did I wind up the last one here? I got sucked into a void of combing through Amos’s room. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to overstay my welcome. I’ll help clean up.”

He waved it off. “It’s fine. I got most of it.”

“I can’t believe I’m the last one here.” I prepared myself for the gentle ask to leave. The tightening in my pants hoped for a different outcome.

“You were busy going through my stuff.” He said it with his typical Amos sarcasm, but I still felt a bit embarrassed.

“I wasn’t going through anything. I opened no drawers or closets.” I put my hands up for added effect.

“But how can I be so sure?” Exhaustion added a sexy rasp to Amos’s voice. My throat went dry, old desires roaring back. Amos had moved on, but I was working on it.

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