“I’m not mad,” Kyle said in the same sarcastic tone. “I told you. I live to do things like this. I love walking around in a jock strap in front of the entire student body and making a colossal fool of myself.”
Elroy sensed his anger. But Elroy also knew how to turn things around. He’d learned how to master the art of the spin in any situation. “Stop worrying about that. You didn’t make a fool of yourself. Look at the positive side.”
Kyle blinked. “The positive side?” “Those people who saw you outside will never forget how hot you looked in a jock strap,” Elroy said. He wasn’t lying. The more he thought about it the more he wanted to bend this guy over the bed and bone him. “You blew them away, man. Trust me on this, I’m gay. You are one hot dude.” He figured he’d get this out of the way, too. He’d learned in the past it was easier to admit he was gay right from the start. Though he had a strong suspicion Kyle was gay, he wasn’t completely certain and he didn’t want to get stuck with an uptight straight guy as his roommate.
For a second, it looked as if Kyle would never stop glaring at him. But when Elroy complimented him on his body, his expression softened and he looked into Elroy’s eyes for the first time since he’d met him. “I’m curious about something.”
“What’s that?”
“Are you always this much of an asshole? Or is this one of those rare moments for you? I’d like to know for future reference.”
Elroy spread out his arms and shrugged his shoulders. He sent Kyle a silly grin and said, “Oh, I’m usually an asshole.”
“I figured as much.” He almost smiled that time. He made no attempt to admit whether or not he was gay. This led Elroy to believe he was gay. The straight ones couldn’t wait to tell gay guys they weren’t gay. That seemed to be their rite of passage which they wore on their sleeves. They were open to gay men, and said they supported gay rights, but never got too close to a gay man for fear others might think they were, indeed, gay.
Elroy moved closer and said, “Don’t be pissed, man. We’re going to be seeing a lot of each other.”
Kyle took a deep breath and exhaled. He sat on the bed and shook his head. “It’s cool. I’ll live.”
“So we’re good?” Elroy asked. This was almost too easy. If he could play a prank like this on Kyle and get away with it, the things he could get him to do in the future were endless.
“Yeah, we’re good,” Kyle said. “I don’t hold grudges.”
“It’s cool that I’m gay?” Elroy said. He wasn’t going to let him off that easily.
“Give me break,” Kyle said. “I knew you were gay the minute I saw you earlier when you helped me with the footlocker. Just like you knew I was gay. I’m shy but I’m not stupid, so stop playing games.” He shot him a stare and looked into his eyes. “And never, ever underestimate me.”
Elroy turned and walked back to his bed. It was evident this guy was far from stupid. “I’m curious about one thing, though.”
“What’s that?”
“Where the hell did you get that ugly fucking scarf?”
“I yanked it off some girl’s backpack on the way to the main entrance,” Kyle said.
When Elroy heard that, he started to laugh again and didn’t stop until Kyle went into the bathroom and slammed the door in his face. He thought about getting up and joining him in the shower, but decided it was too soon for that. He’d wait until later that night. He had to be careful with this one, especially if he wanted to control everything about his life that semester.
Chapter Five
The first night they spent together in the freshman residence seemed to set the tone for what Elroy portended would be an extremely boring, sexless semester. Though Kyle was filled with raw sex appeal in a natural, unplanned way, he reminded Elroy of those clueless people who loved to watch birds all the time with binoculars. They got erections when they saw yellow-bellied woodpecker sapsuckers, but show them a real honest to goodness man-pecker and they either yawned or screamed.
The event that led Elroy to come to this conclusion about Kyle happened the first night they spent together. Elroy saw no point in wasting time, especially when it came to sex. He’d been planning ways to get into Kyle’s pants all day. When he returned from a party that night around midnight, he found Kyle alone in the room, sleeping on his side. There was enough light shining through the front window for Elroy to see that Kyle slept in the same gray sweatsuit he’d seen him wearing earlier. He had made up his bed with what looked like one of those bed-in-a-bag affairs sold at discount department stores. This one had a black background and little gold stars; the sheets and pillowcases matched the comforter. Elroy didn’t even touch the synthetic fabric and he cringed.
While Elroy undressed—he never wore anything to bed—Kyle grunted a few times and turned on his other side so his back faced the room. Elroy dropped his clothes in a heap on the brown carpet and went into the bathroom for a moment to pee and brush his teeth. When he returned he went to Kyle’s bed instead of his own. He gently pulled back the offensive synthetic comforter, climbed into bed naked with Kyle, and snuggled up against him in a spoon position.
In a matter of minutes Elroy grew hard. He pressed his erection into Kyle’s body and started rubbing up and down very slowly.
But when he put his arm around Kyle and licked the back of Kyle’s neck, Kyle opened his eyes and asked, “What are you doing? Did I invite you into my bed? Did I say, ‘Hey, Elroy, why don’t you hop into bed with me and lick my neck?’ Because I don’t remember saying that.”
Elroy moved his hips a little faster, rubbing with more intensity. Then he squeezed one of Kyle’s chest muscles and said, “I thought we’d have a little fun. You look like you need a good boning.”
Kyle laughed. “Seriously, dude. What made you think that? Did I give you the impression I wanted to sleep with you? Or are you just a natural perv?”
Elroy licked the back of his neck again and said, “I’m just a natural perv. I figured since we’re both gay, why not take advantage of it? I saw the way you were looking at me when I was naked earlier today. Let’s not pretend. You know you want it.”
With that statement, Kyle sat up and turned around. He pulled the covers back and pointed at Elroy’s erection. “You need to put that away, seriously. It’s not going to happen. I don’t sleep with guys I just met. I have standards and I have rules by which I live.”