Page 20 of The Friend Scheme
“But like…”
“What?”
“Don’t sharks hunt at night?”
“Oh, yeah, I guess they do.”
“And that doesn’t bother you?” I ask.
“Not really. I dare them to eat me.”
He raises his eyebrows and then sets off toward the beach.
I jog after him to catch up.
Again, I think:What am I doing?
“Seriously,” I say.
We reach the sand, and he takes off his shoes. I bend down and start unlacing my shoes.
“Is this safe?” I ask as I kick them off. “I don’t want to be stupid. It’d be just my luck to get got by a shark.”
“‘Get got’?” He chuckles. “You’re funny. And you won’t; I do it all the time, and they haven’t got me yet. If they eat you, I’d almost be offended, like I’m not good enough for them, or something.”
“Really?” I say, looking out at the dark water. It stretches on and on. There are a few lights, probably yachts, bobbing out on the water. But that’s it. There’s nobody else for miles. I can’t believe we’re so close to the city and yet it feels so empty.
“I mean, you come here a lot?”
He nods. “It’s a good place to think. It’s the one place I’ve found that’s quiet. Games, and this, those are my escapes.”
I wonder what he wants to escape from.
I wonder if he wants to escape his family, like I do.
We reach a spot a few yards from the shore, and Jason stops and throws down the towels.
“No offense,” I say. “But my bad luck is seriously a thing, so I might just stay on the shore, if that’s cool with you?”
“It’s totally fine.”
I sit down. Out here, it’s undeniably pretty. The moon is nearly full right now, and the waves are gently lapping against the sand. The water looks really dark, nearly black almost.
Across from me, Jason starts unbuttoning his shirt.
Okay.
So.
How do straight guys act around other guys when they take off their shirts? I feel like they’d be totally oblivious. Like how I’d be if I was around a girl in a bra. I’d notice, sure, but it wouldn’t be like… you know.
Jason finishes unbuttoning his shirt and pulls it off his shoulders.
His body is pale and absolutely freaking gorgeous. His chest is totally smooth, and he’s ripped enough that he has a six-pack. It’s on the leaner end of abs: I can see some definition, but he’s not super bulky.
I’m not sure how I feel about noticing this, but… his body is as hot as possible for a body to be to me.
If he cares about being shirtless around me, it doesn’t seem to show. The top band of his underwear is even poking out above his belted jeans, which has always been such a big turn-on for me.
