Neo’s lips were a little dry, and he kissed me awkwardly, clearly unpracticed. But it was…nice. Nice to know that he hadn’t been kissed much. That I was one of the few to get to kiss him.
So I let my lips lead us, working them on his, lightly playing with his hair as I did so. His hands didn’t seem to know what to do, so I grabbed one and placed it on the back of my neck, pulling Neo closer to myself.
His fingers curled against my neck, and I could feel the light tremble of them. They were cool against my neck, and I shivered against them as he brushed them across my neck.
And he told me to stop doing that to Donnie, I thought in amusement.
I pulled away from Neo’s lips and kissed his jaw. He tilted his head up, letting me, his fingers brushing against my neck again.
I pulled his body even closer, wrapping my arms around his waist and kissing his neck. He squirmed uncomfortably.
“Stop that,” he said, his voice slightly shaky.
I picked my head up and kissed his lips again. He kissed me back before pulling away and struggling out of my grip. I released him, watching him curiously.
“I don’t want to have a, um, problem on Steve’s bed,” he said, not looking at me as color entered his cheeks.
“I’m sure Steve would hate that,” I said. I paused and groaned. “Dammit, now you’ve got me doing it too.”
A small smile appeared on his face, but he quickly wiped it off as we heard Scott and Bennett walking down the hallway. They entered the room with a bowl of cut-up cantaloupe, and apples and peanut butter.
“My mom’s a health nut,” Scott informed Neo as he and Bennett sat on his bed. “You two didn’t violate the purity of my bed, did you?”
“Scott, you had sex in your bed,” I reminded.
“And what a nightmare that was,” he said, dipping a slice of apple into peanut butter and biting it.
“I can’t even imagine you having sex. I feel like it would just be so uncomfortable. You’re so monotone about everything,” Neo said, reaching over and grabbing an apple slice.
Scott shrugged. “My girlfriend at the time wanted to. I couldn’t wait for it to be over. I don’t know how Alexander and Bennett enjoy that shit.”
“It was your first time, it’s not like you lasted for hours,” I said.
“This always happen when I try to eat,” he said with a sigh, scooting away on the bed from us and continuing to eat his slice of apple. He pulled out his phone, scrolling through it.
“Are you on Twitter again?” I asked.
“I don’t judge your life,” he said, not looking up from his phone.
I rolled my eyes. “You’re probably tweeting something really stupid.”
“I’m going to tweet that you use peanut butter as lube,” he said.
“Charming,” I said, turning my attention to Neo.
Neo peeked up at me, searching my face. I offered him a smile as I grabbed a piece of cantaloupe.
“So, is this all you guys do when you hang out? Talk about sex, eat fruit, and make Scott uncomfortable?” Neo asked.
“We rarely talk about sex, actually. And it’s hard to make Scott uncomfortable,” I said.
“Leave Scott out of this,” Scott said, standing up and pulling his newt, Isaac, out of its tank. He placed Isaac in his hand and sat down, grabbing an apple slice and placing it in front of Isaac. The newt crawled forward, placing its mouth on the apple slice.
“Wow you are adorable,” Neo said. “You are seriously feeding your newt an apple.”
“Isaac has to eat,” Scott said, shrugging.
“I hope you took him out of the room when you had sex,” Neo said.
“Scott put a towel over Isaac’s tank,” I said.
“You did not,” Neo said.
“I did,” Scott said.
“It’s illegal to be so damn cute,” Neo said.
“Scott doesn’t mess around when it comes to his pets,” Bennett said.
“Scotty!” Mrs. Anderson’s voice called from downstairs. “Scott, come down here!”
Scott sighed and got up, holding his hand out flat so that he wouldn’t disturb Isaac. He left his bedroom, and I turned to Neo.
“Wait,” Neo said, holding up his hand. “Make the stalker leave.”
“Bennett, leave,” I said.
“I already know what’s going on,” he said, getting up. “But I’ll let you two pretend I’m ignorant.”
He left the room and I nodded at Neo to talk. He just stared at me, though, looking like he was trying to figure me out.
“Why?” he said finally.
“Because you’re different. You’re…complicated,” I said.
“You’re really bad at complementing a guy,” he said.
“I’m just stating facts,” I said, crossing my legs and resting my elbows on my knees.
“You’ve been with so many people. I don’t think I trust you,” Neo said. “In fact, I would be completely stupid to trust you. Anyone who thinks that they actually mean something to you is stupid. I know why so many people flock to you. They want to be the one to change you. But you don’t want to be changed. You like what you do. You get a sick pleasure out of breaking hearts.”
“Clearly, you don’t have me figured out,” I said. “It’s not like that, Neo.”
“You’re a spoiled little brat who doesn’t care who he hurts as long as he’s having fun while he’s doing it,” Neo said.
“Also not true. I’ve been on the receiving end of heartbreak. It sucks. Look, I don’t fool anybody. Everyone knows how I work. Everyone knows the risk they take when they get together with me. I’m not easy to get into a real relationship with. That doesn’t mean I don’t want one. Actually, it would be nice to have a serious relationship again. I kind of miss that,” I said, turning my head to look out of Scott’s window.
Relationships were complicated for me. I liked being in serious relationships, but I had only been in so few of them. That feeling of being hopelessly in love with someone…it had only happened to me once, and when that relationship had ended, I’d needed Bennett and Scott to help me put myself back together. But I didn’t want to be one of those guys who hated the very thought of being committed or in love just because it hadn’t worked out once.
“I’ve…never really been in a serious relationship,” Neo said, snapping my attention back to him. “I mean, I’ve been in relationships. But never a serious one.”
“That surprises me, actually,” I said.
Neo rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”
“I want to spend more time with you, Neo. But just the two of us, alone. No Scott, no Bennett, no Donnie, no Clifton,” I said.
“Especially no Donnie or Clifton,” he said nervously.
“If you don’t tell them, they won’t know,” I said.
“How can I trust you?” Neo asked suspiciously.
I shrugged. “I guess you’re just going to have to put a little faith in me.” I grinned. “I can seal the deal with a kiss, if you want.”
He blushed and glared down at the floor. “Do what you want,” he grumbled.
I leaned over, kissing him, loving that inexperienced, awkward way he kissed me back. He was certainly different than the others I had gotten with.
“Wow, kissing you on Scott’s bed with Bennett sitting outside the door was really not how I pictured my day to go,” Neo said.
“I’m glad the day went this way,” I said, twirling a strand of his hair around my finger.
He reached over, biting my wrist. I raised an eyebrow at him, but continued to play with his hair.
“Your hair is really soft,” I said.
“Good to know. I can recommend my shampoo to you,” he said, but I didn’t miss the way that he moved a little closer to me.
“I drank shampoo once,” I said thoughtfully. “I was six and my mother left me alone in the bathtub. I drank it, spit it out into the bathwater, and then drank the bathwater to wash the taste out of my mouth. Not one of my finer moments in life.”
Neo snickered. “You were an idiot as a kid.”
“And you weren’t?” I said, raising an eyebrow.
“Okay, admittedly, I may or may not have tried to pet a bee. But in my defense, I was three,” Neo said.
“A bee?” I laughed. “When I was four, I accidentally walked into the girls changing room at an event my mom had taken me to, and her friends called me Peeking James until I was 11.” I rolled my eyes at the memory.
“Right, I keep forgetting that James is your real name,” Neo said.
“Feel free to keep forgetting. I prefer Alexander,” I said.
“But Alexander is so long. Don’t your other fuckboys gets tired of yelling it out in bed?” he asked.
“Want to find out?” I asked with a wink.
“If your dick was longer than this sentence, I would fuck you,” he said, flicking me in the nose. “But nice try.”
I rolled my eyes, pushing his hand away from my nose. “You’d be in for a shock, then.”
“So do you just look at guys for sex?” he asked.
“No. In fact, you’re the one who always brings up sex,” I pointed out.
He blushed. “It’s just a weird thing to think about. Like…you’re inside someone. Or they’re in you. I don’t know, it’s weird for me to think about.”
“It’s a natural thing. Observe any animal. We all do it,” I said.
“You and your friends just talk about it so easily,” he said.
“Because it’s nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed of. Donnie and I use to lay on my bed and talk about it all the time,” I said.
“Didn’t need to know that,” Neo said. “Just the whole thought of losing virginity is weird to me.”
“Give your virginity to me. I’ll keep it safe,” I said with a wink.
“Pervert,” he grumbled.
“I’m just joking with you. Some people wait to have sex, some don’t,” I said with a shrug. “Believe it or not, I actually respect everyone and their decision when it comes to sex.”
He opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by Mrs. Anderson calling to us that dinner was ready. Neo jumped off of Scott’s bed.
“I’m starving,” he said.
“Let’s go eat. Mrs. Anderson makes delicious food,” I said, standing up.
We left the room and Bennett looked up at us. He was sitting on the floor, against the wall. His phone was in his hand.
“Don’t keep kicking me out,” he said, holding his hand up to me.
I grabbed it and pulled him to his feet. “Sorry. We had some things to discuss.”
“Discuss them somewhere else,” Bennett said, and we followed him down the stairs and into the dining room.
Scott was sitting down with Isaac still in his hand. We all sat down with him, my stomach growling as the smell of his mom’s cooking hit my nose.
“Prescott! Do not keep that lizard at the table during dinner!” Mrs. Anderson said sternly as she carried in plates.
“He’s a newt. He wants to join us for dinner,” Scott said.
Mrs. Anderson sighed. “Scott, please go put Isaac back in his tank and wash your hands. He can eat at the dinner table tomorrow.”
Scott got up and left to go put Isaac back. Mrs. Anderson set plates down for each of us and we scooped food onto them hungrily, starting to eat.
“Holy delicious food,” Neo said.
“I told you,” I said, smirking.
Scott came back and also filled his plate, joining us as we stuffed our faces. When we had finished, Mrs. Anderson picked up our plates for us and we shifted into the living room.
Neo checked his phone and sat up. “Hey, fuckboy, I have to get home. My parents want me back. Grab your keys and bring me home.”
“Yes your majesty,” I said, pushing myself off of the couch.
“See you later Alexander,” Bennett said.
“Don’t ever threaten the koalas again or we’ll have a problem,” Scott said lazily, his body sprawled on the couch.
“I’ll take you to the zoo soon,” I promised him. “Sorry I threatened the koalas. See you guys later.”
“You threatened koalas?” Neo asked as I grabbed my keys and led him out of the house.
“A poor decision. Never threaten koalas around Scott,” I said, shaking my head.
“I barely know the guy and I could’ve told you that,” Neo said, climbing into my car and holding his hand out.
I placed my phone in his hands as I started the car. He chose a song and hooked the phone up to my speakers as I took off down the street.
“So, not so bad?” I said.
“I don’t like Bennett. I don’t think anyone can hate Scott. He’s so disinterested in everything except koalas and that newt,” Neo said.
“You also hated Bennett before you even knew me,” I said.
“This is true,” he said with a nod.
“Let’s hang out again tomorrow. But just you and me. You can come over to my house,” I said. “I’ll make us dinner. I’m actually pretty good at making food.”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” he said.
I pulled into his driveway. He glanced over at me, and I smiled. I leaned over, bringing our lips back together.
“I’ll see you tomorrow Neo,” I said, knowing that I was officially his dirty little secret.
“Y-Yea,” he said and cleared his throat. “Don’t get any smart ideas. I’ll bite your fingers off.”
“I want to keep my fingers, so I won’t get any smart ideas,” I said.
He bit his lip before shutting the door and hurrying up his driveway. He disappeared into his house and I backed out of the driveway, making my own way home.
I let myself into my house, petting Link and lifting a protesting Vesper off of the counter. I cradled Vesper in my arms, carrying him up to my room with Link following us.
“Don’t be a pest tomorrow,” I said to Vesper, kissing his head and stroking his ears gently.
“Meow!” Vesper curled against my chest.
I sighed. “Great. Now I have to protect Link from Scott, and Vesper from Neo.”
I laid down and Vesper curled up on my crotch, his head on my thigh. I stroked his fur as Link jumped up on my bed and curled up at my feet.
I licked my lips. I loved the feel of those awkward, inexperienced lips against mine. And after our easy conversations today…
Who knew. Maybe Neo would surprise me and turn out to be more than just amusement. Maybe he would become my first serious relationship in a while. I sighed, folding my hands behind my head, licking my lips again.
“I wouldn’t mind dating him as long as he doesn’t steal my cat,” I said, and closed my eyes, eager for tomorrow now.