Page 59 of Advanced Chemistry

All this thinking was hurting my head.Just go with it, I told myself.

I pulled him to me, my sweaty chest imprinting on his T-shirt.

“Seb, let’s make it weird.”

Our lips met in a heated kiss filled with tenderness and years of history. We were more than friends. We were fused together.

And yet…it was off in some way.

It reminded me of baking cookies with my mom as a little kid and forgetting to put in the salt. Cookie recipes only required a tiny amount of salt, but even so, we noticed the difference when we bit into them hours later.

Fuck, was this me overthinking again? I was kissing my best friend, and it was amazing, but also…it needed salt? I told myself that it would be less weird the more we did it.

I pushed Sebastian backwards, out of the kitchen and against the wall, rattling the pictures hung behind him. He pressed his chest against me, squeezed my ass with his greedy palms.

I used every maneuver in the Anton Makeout Handbook. (not a real thing, but maybe that was an unexplored business idea?) My tongue swept into his mouth as I cradled his chin and moaned against his lips. Sebastian bit my bottom lip in a rush of heat.

His taste drove me wild. The smacking sound of our lips was like a brilliant symphony.

And yet…salt.

WHERE WAS THE FUCKING SALT? WHY DID SALT NEED TO BE IN COOKIES? MAKE IT MAKE SENSE.

Sebastian was wearing a ratty old South Rock wrestling T-shirt. He had a million of them. He wouldn’t miss this one. I tore it open, revealing his bronzed, delicious chest. He threw his head back and gasped my name.

I kissed down his chest, flicking a tongue on his nipple.

Not all cookies needed salt, did they? Was it some scientific requirement for baked goods? Ugh, this was why I stayed away from complex carbohydrates.

“Come here.” I grabbed the remnants of his shirt and yanked him flush against me, mashing our mouths together in a heated kiss. Then I shoved him onto the futon and lay on top of him, thrusting my hips.

There was heat, for sure. But I felt myself working overtime to make up for something that was lacking that I couldn’t put a finger on.

Who needed salt? It only made you bloated and led to high blood pressure.

Sebastian pulled back and caught his breath. “Anton.”

“You okay, Seb?”

Confusion flickered across his face. My kiss really did a number on him, and maybe not in a good way.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Does something feel off to you?” He squirmed under me. A relief I couldn’t describe washed over me at the admission.

“Honestly? Kinda.”

Sebastian sat up and wiggled out from under me. “It feels like something is missing.”

“Salt!” I shouted.

He raised an eyebrow. “Buddy, seriously, lay off the PEDs.”

I wished there was a way for friends to read each other’s minds. It would save us tons of time from having to explain things. Friend telepathy. I filed the idea away as another future business prospect.

“I mean I agree. I love kissing you. I want to keep kissing you. I’m so stoked that we’re doing this finally. But something is missing.”

“Chase,” Sebastian said. He seemed as surprised as I was. “I wish Chase were here.”

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