Page 31 of Go the Long Way

"Yeah," Ethan replied just as softly. "We checked around first. Ain't exactly my first time, y'know."

"Okay! Um,good," Jakob practically squeaked, keeping his eyes firmly fixed on the TV screen. He was trying hard not to think about Ethan'sfirsttime. Wondering if he could possibly have been as big a bundle of nerves as Jakob felt right now. "Just… be safe, yeah?"

Ethan scoffed, bumping Jakob with his shoulder. "Okay,mother."

They fell into silence again, broken only by the occasional rustle as one or the other of them raided the popcorn bowl.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Jakob saw Ethan turning his head, chewing the inside of his lip as he studied Jakob.

"Redheads," Ethan whispered, so soft Jakob almost missed it.

With careful, near-infinite slowness, Jakob turned his head, studying Ethan's silhouette for a moment. Wondering…

"And?" he prompted, self-consciously brushing back a lock of his own copper hair and tucking it behind his ear.

"And… what?" Ethan asked, the stubbornness thick in his voice.

"That'sit?" Jakob teased, trying to keep his tone light and innocent. "Some redhead with a nice ass winks at you from across the party, and you two go wander off for a quick fuck?"

"Well, yeah?" Ethan blinked at him. "Sex… It's just a bit of fun, right? Not like I'm gonna get him pregnant." His expression turned mischievous then, more like the Ethan Jakob knew, and not the one he'd accidentally put on the spot tonight. "What — jealous, straight boy? There's fewer steps to the dance than you usually have to go through. You thinking about trading up?"

Jakob felt his stomach drop at Ethan's flippancy, the truth and the lie in Ethan's teasing both swirling round and round. "But… isn't that, um… still risky?"

Ethan tilted his head, his face scrunching up, before smoothing back out once he'd worked out what Jakob meant.

"I pack condoms, don't worry. Most of the time it's all hands and mouths anyway, especially if we didn't plan it. Just jerking each other off, really, or a quick blowjob. Only do anal with guys I trust. Like to, uh…" Ethan's eyes flicked to Jakob's face, and then just as quickly skittered away. "Like to hold 'em after, when the guy's all warm and jelly and happy. Like knowing I, uh… That I did that."

"Oh. That sounds…" Jakob could feel his heart beating faster, Ethan's words leaving him feeling flushed. Not that the image he'd painted helped atall."Think I'm starting to understand the appeal."

"Yeeeees. Join the Dick Side, young Skycocker," Ethan crooned in his best evil emperor's voice. "Let the cum flow through you!"

Jakob snorted, thumping Ethan's thigh with his fist.

He didn't miss the relieved expression that briefly flitted across Ethan's face, like he hadn't been too certain how his words would be received, despite Jakob's prompting.

Should know me better than that by now.

Of course, there were still some things about Jakob that Ethan didn't know at all, wasn't there?

And that's my fault. Too up in my own head to be a true friend.

But Ethan always had been the brave one of them both, hadn't he?

"So… redheads?" Jakob pressed. "That all I get? What if some hot guy comes asking me about my handsome friend? How do I know who gets the pass?"

See? Even now, here he was being a little chicken shit.

But Ethan stayed silent. The muscle in his jaw jumped; his eyes staying firmly locked on the fight scene playing out on their TV.

"I'm a sucker for dimples," Ethan finally admitted, his voice little more than a croak. "Tall. Works out, but —wiry; not in a muscle head way. Smart. Funny. Likes football, obviously. And fishing. And games and animals and — "

Ethan cut himself off, clearing his throat.

"And?"Jakob pressed, barely daring to breathe after that laundry list. If anyone who knew Jakob was asked, would say it sounded exactly like…

Ethan frowned, looking out their room's single window, just above Jakob's bed.

"I… that's it."

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