Page 42 of Advanced Chemistry

He reeled back in amused shock. “You don’t mince words.”

“I really enjoyed it. I liked being transgressive and wild. My life is usually none of those things.” I kept thinking about what Anton said to me in school. Maybe I did have a wild side worth exploring.

“What happened to enjoying routine?”

“It’s fun to step outside my routine now and then. I spend my weekends ordering pizza and putting together puzzles with Einstein. Well, I put together the puzzle and Einstein squeezes herself into the empty box.”

“I’m assuming Einstein is a cat.”

“A bossy one at that.” I traced my finger in the gravel as a bit of nerves got stuck in my throat. “And to be frank, I liked spending time with you and Anton, even before the sexual stuff.”

It was hard to describe and sounded implausible. We’d barely spent time together. One long afternoon. But I kept thinking back on it fondly, cherishing the easy chemistry we had. Anton’s cockiness and Sebastian’s seriousness and my quirkiness all combined in a dazzling feat of alchemy. It was rare for me to find people I clicked with. I wasn’t someone with a million friends. Most people got sick of me pretty quickly. I was an acquired taste.

Sebastian was indecipherable at the moment. Conflicting thoughts seemed to be churning in his head.

“Seb, you’re still here.” Anton found us outside. He sat down in front of us, completing our circle. “Is everything okay?”

It was cute how much concern washed over Anton’s face for his friend.

“Yeah. I just needed some air.”

“That was a competitive game. You guys got really into it.”

Sebastian and I shared a look of mutual understanding.

“What’ve you guys been talking about?”

“That you orchestrated this outing so that we could all have sex again,” I said.

Anton’s face dropped for a second before he broke out into an unashamed smile. “I mean, if that happened, that wouldn’t be an uncool way to spend a Thursday night.” He squatted down to our level, his thigh muscles bulging under his shorts. “Listen, we can all just grab another round of drinks and hang out for real. We’ll shoot the shit, have a few laughs, no presh.”

“I like that plan,” I said.

“Bottom line: I like hanging with you guys.” Anton shrugged.

“We could do that,” Sebastian said, a mischievous eyebrow raised. “Or we could go back to our place again. We still have that case of hard seltzer in the fridge.”

“This is true,” Anton said, scratching his chin. “That’s the more economical choice.”

I laughed to myself. It seemed that some things would be left unspoken no matter how open we could be. I thought of it like one big game.

“Yes, I agree. I would rather relax in a living room than on those uncomfortable bar stools,” I said.

“Totally! Our futon is far more comfortable,” Anton said. He jumped up and extended a hand to Sebastian and me.

We took an Uber back to their apartment, and my body tingled with excitement the whole way there. Even though I had a feeling of what would happen, I couldn’t stop myself from unraveling with anticipation.

15

ANTON

No lie: I was rock fucking hard the entire Uber ride home. The driver had a rule that if a passenger puked in his car, they had to pay a fifty dollar cleanup fee. But what was the fee if a passenger accidentally jizzed themselves?

I was in between two sexy, sweet guys and I was on the verge of potentially getting laid tonight. Sebastian, though, was still focused on work, judging by his phone screen.

“Dude, are you still checking emails?”

“Just want to make sure there are no fire alarms,” he said.

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