Page 37 of Advanced Chemistry

I checked out his ass as he leaned over the bar to get the bartender’s attention, something I’d never done before in all our years sharing locker rooms and bathrooms. There was something about the three of us being in the same room together that got my mind surging with dirty thoughts.

And it was a really nice ass. One meant for quarter-bouncing.

“Hey. I’ll cover this round.” I took out my credit card.

“I already ordered.” The bartender slid over a rum and Coke.

Huh. When Sebastian went for hard alcohol and sugar-filled beverages, that either meant he was looking to have a good time or that he was in a bad mood. Sadly, I was beginning to think it was the latter.

“Thanks.” Sebastian left a tip on the bar and tasted his drink. “Hey,” he said to me finally.

“You kinda just ran off.”

“I wanted to get something to drink. I was thirsty.” Sebastian made his way through his drink.

“I can see that. Is it cool that I invited Chase? I bumped into him a few days ago at South Rock when I was refilling the vending machines. We had a good conversation.” A conversation that continued to reverberate in my head.

“You refilled the vending machines yourself? Don’t we pay Alberto to do that?”

“I have a special place in my heart for South Rock. I wanted to make sure it was done right. Just because we’re the boss, doesn’t mean we can’t still get our hands dirty.”

“Well, the time you spent over there, you could’ve been prospecting or cold calling or networking for new business. But whatever. That’s cool.” Speaking of cool, I was getting an ice cold vibe from Sebastian. I thought inviting Chase to join us would be a fun surprise, but I realized that surprises weren’t really his thing.

“Are you mad?”

“No,” he said, obviously meaning yes.

“I didn’t mean to spring him on you.”

“You didn’t.”

Sebastian wasn’t as go-with-the-flow as I was, but was inviting someone to meet up at a bar really such a big deal? Judging by the tension coming off him, the answer was yes.

“I can tell Chase we’ll meet up with him another time.”

Shit. What if Sebastian wanted to use tonight to talk business, and all I thought about was pleasure? Or, sensing the tension in the air, what if it was something more serious, and here I was letting my dick, uh, dictate tonight?

“You invited Chase just to hang?”

“Yeah. He’s a cool guy. I’m learning that he has a really dry sense of humor.” I glanced over at Chase, obliviously sipping on his drink. It took him a moment to catch my eyeline and wave back like a big, adorable dork. That smile of his was undeniably infectious. Who knew I had such a thing for nerds?

“You have no ulterior motives?” Sebastian asked, eyebrow cocked.

“I thought it would be good if we got to know each other better.” Even before we got down-and-dirty last weekend, we all seemed to click at SpringFest. We had a good time together. And in the future, if we happened to fall into bed at the same time without clothes on, I would not object to those serendipitous circumstances.

“Okay,” he said simply.

“Are you sure, Seb? Honestly, if you want it to be a bros night, I’m totally on board with that. Chase won’t mind either.” I searched his inscrutable eyes. They werelocked down. “Was there something you wanted to talk about?”

“Uh, no. Just thought it’d be a good night to grab a beer. Or whatever.” He sucked down half his rum and Coke, and that seemed to loosen him up slightly, like a knot slowly pulling apart. “It’s always good to see friends.”

Sebastian pushed past me, his shoulder bumping mine, en route to our table.

Maybe this would turn out to be an awesome night.

He gave Chase a hard pat on the back that made the science teacher audibly wince. “Hey, Teach. How’s it going?”

Or maybe not.

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