Bentley’s alarm went off at seven sharp. He opened his eyes to find that he and Kit had now somehow switched positions in the middle of the night. He was playing big spoon and held Kit’s waist; Kit’s face buried into a pillow. Bentley looked down at the boy’s ass pressed against him and quickly rolled away, almost falling off the bed. Even better was the sticky mess he felt in his pants. He winced. Probably not the brightest idea spending the night in bed with someone.

Bentley got out of bed and searched across the floor for his phone, hoping to turn off the alarm before either of his friends could wake up. He was a little too late, though. Noah turned over; his wild hair a mess as he stared Bentley up and down.

“Good morning.”

Bentley glanced over at him. “Hey.”

Noah continued to gawk. “So, you spent the night in bed with Kit.”

It was Bentley’s turn to stare now. “Well, you were the one who told me not to wake him up, Noah. If I would’ve moved, he would’ve woken up.”

“Sure. Because I’m stupid.”

Bentley looked away. “You’re not stupid, but it’s true.”

“We’re going to have to talk about… whatever that was… at some point. You do know that, right?”

Bentley ignored him. He instead looked for something to put on. There was still quite some time before Kit’s father would arrive, and he desperately needed some air. “You probably have, what? An hour of sleep left? Maybe you should just go back to sleep…”

“All I’m saying is, I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t want it getting out of hand. If this blows up, I’m the man in the middle, Ben. And he’s a good dude. I could’ve gotten a fucking dickhead for a roommate, but I didn’t, so try not to lead him on or make a mess out of this. I’m actually… not sure what you’re doing. Are you even sure what you’re doing?”

Bentley shook his head. “I’m not doing anything, Noah. We’re friends, and he doesn’t’ even like me like that.”

Noah looked as if he were about to give up, but the tail end of that response caused his eyes to widen. “What do you mean he doesn’t like you like that?”

“He’s not interested, okay? Don’t worry about him getting hurt. He only wants to date gay guys.”

“Which makes sense…” Noah added sarcastically.

“I…” Bentley glanced back to Kit’s side of the room and saw he still appeared to be fast asleep. “I’ll talk to you about this later on.”

Noah didn’t seem pleased, but he eventually accepted the answer and turned over in bed. “We’re talking about this.”

Bentley thought about their conversation before glancing back over to where Kit remained fast asleep. At least he hoped Kit was fast asleep. Bentley took a deep breath and began to pack up all of his things and head to the bathroom to get dressed. He was kind of nervous about moving in with Mr. Edwards. The man was intimidating during their phone call, but at least Bentley had a place to stay.

Once he was ready, he walked back out into the room. Both teens were asleep, and it was closer to 7:30 now. Bentley stole a piece of paper from Noah to write a thank you note, left it by the TV set, and walked over to Kit. He removed his necklace, laid it beside Kit on the pillow, and carefully attempted to remove the beaded-bracelet from his wrist. Kit moved slightly, and Bentley froze, not wanting him to wake up in the middle of his little swap. Eventually, he’d gotten it off, snuck it onto his wrist, and grabbed his things to leave.

??

Bentley wheeled across campus trying to waste time. His mind was racing about his mom, BMX, Zoey, Kit – just about everything, it seemed. He really did need someone to talk to about all of this. Kit would be willing to listen to him ramble about everything but how he might be feeling for Kit, it seemed. Bentley wasn’t really sure what he was feeling, but it felt a lot like he was developing a bit of a crush, and waking up to find himself pressed up against the back of Kit didn’t help, either.

He shook his head as he made his way back to the dorm buildings. Maybe putting all of his focus and energy into the upcoming competition would be beneficial to him, instead of thinking about Kit’s smile, or his laugh, or the way he randomly wanted to talk about sex last night. God, Bentley was about five seconds from reaching out and touching him, and effectively ruining their short but fruitful friendship.

Noah was right. There was a lot at stake if he took this too far.

Bentley sat down on the steps of one of the rec centers as he got the message from Mr. Edwards that he’d be there shortly. He was grateful. The quicker they got to Carson and he got settled in, the quicker he’d be able to focus on what he needed to do to get his head on straight.

??

Mr. Edwards seemed nice so far. Large, yeah. Quiet, like Kit. But nice. He’d given him a stern once over once he got out of his pickup truck, and shook Bentley’s hand maybe a little harder than he needed to, but after helping Bentley get his bike into the back, he seemed pretty chill.

They talked about everything but college on the way to the Edwards’ household, and Bentley was grateful for that. He didn’t want to linger on the decisions he’d made. He wanted to focus on the future. They discussed where Bentley was from, and talked about cool places to go in Los Angeles, even chatted about the auto shop Matthew was hoping to open soon.

Bentley noticed that when they pulled up in front of the Edwards’ home that it was only a block over from his aunt and uncle’s place. Great. He’d have to be extra careful riding around here, and he would. Bentley walked his bike up the stairs of the two story home, and smiled as he looked around inside. Mr. Edwards locked the door behind them.

“Wow. Lovely place you have here,” he said.

Matthew nodded to him. “Appreciate it. It’s all thanks to Kit. He’s got the designer eye, much like his mother.”

Bentley let his bike rest against one of the front walls as he looked around. The living room had these dark grey walls, a long, white sofa, these pretty awesome tan leather chairs, and a square wooden coffee table in the center of it all. The television was huge, and sat in this entertainment center in the front of the room Bentley would kill to have in his home.

“God. Thinking of all the football I could watch on that thing is making the blood rush to my head.”

Matthew laughed as he stroked at his beard. “Yeah. You keep saying sentences like that and we’ll get along just fine.”

Bentley smiled. He walked over to the mantle above the brick fireplace and took a look at the photos. He was drawn to one of Kit when his hair was jet black instead of the platinum blond he wore now. It was clearly Christmas time, and he had a wide grin on his face and held up an unwrapped present – a brand new sewing kit, it looked like. Bentley stared at the photo for a while, smiling before he moved on to the next picture. It was of Matthew with the woman Bentley assumed to be his late wife. She looked so much like Kit – gorgeous green eyes, that gleeful grin, and her high cheek bones.

“She’d be so proud of the man Kit has become,” Matthew said, removing the Cincinnati Bengals hat he wore and placing it on a vanity by the door. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like Kit,” Bentley said, glancing back at the photo of Kit once more before turning around to face Matthew. “I haven’t really known him long, and maybe it’s because I’m used to stuck-up Californians. But he’s intelligent, and generous, and genuine, and caring. He’s going to do well at UCLA. You should be proud.”

Matthew was quiet for a moment. “He seems to be fond of you, too.”

Bentley looked up at him. “Why do you say that?”

“Well, you two just met. He’s found you a place to stay. Kit wouldn’t do that for just anyone.”

Bentley nodded. “Most people wouldn’t. I’m beginning to think that’s what makes him Kit. My own ex-girlfriend basically told me to F-off. She thinks I’m an idiot.”

“Are you?”

“Maybe,” Bentley answered with a smile. “Probably. But, despite my idiocy, Kit believes in me. I almost gave up this weekend and I hadn’t even begun yet. But he and my friends didn’t want to hear that, even if they think I’m making a foolish choice.”

“To be fair, kid, I’ve seen you play football. A lot of people have. So it’s easy for us to be shocked.”

Bentley nodded. He could understand that.

“But, if this is what you want to do, you’re old enough to make that decision. I hope you won’t one day regret it.”

“I’d regret not going after this more.” Bentley removed the bag from his shoulder and looked around. “And I know that it seems like I’m going downhill now, but I’m going to work hard. Thanks again for agreeing to this.”

Matthew folded his arms. “As long as you’re straight, son.”

Bentley smirked. “Oh, here we go.”

Matthew stared at him. “Are you? I couldn’t see your face over the phone, so I don’t know.”

Bentley laughed. “Sir. I am –”

“I’m only asking you because he’s been down this path with someone before. He seems to have a thing for the pretty boy athletes, and I don’t want any repeats –”

“Patrick,” Bentley said. “I know. He told me all about him.”

Matthew looked confused.

“And I admit, I’ve only ever been interested in girls. I’ve only ever dated them, and … been with them, but I don’t want to put a label on myself and say that one day, I’d never be attracted to a guy. It could happen.”

Matthew shook his head. “As long as it happens with someone else.”

Bentley smiled. “Yes, sir.”

“Let me give you a tour of the place.”

Bentley dropped his bag and hurried to follow him.

??

It had only been six hours since Bentley left the dorm room, yet Kit wanted to message him already. As he took a seat in the English lecture hall, he had to admit to himself that he could not stop thinking about Bentley. It sucked. He was not supposed to be developing a crush on another straight guy. He promised himself he’d never like another straight guy, yet, here he was.

It wasn’t entirely his fault, though. Sure, he was flirting with Bentley, too, and asking Bentley questions about positions and foreplay, but Bentley was playing his part as well. And when he woke up the night before to find him and Bentley cuddling under his covers in bed – Noah fast asleep on the other side of the room, Kit couldn’t help but wonder if Bentley was facing the same internal struggle he’d been dealing with. He rolled off of him and turned over, hoping to give his friend a little space, but then Bentley was right back on him, his hands on his body pulling him in closer. Kit lie awake for twenty more minutes, focusing on how good it felt being in Bentley’s arms that way. This was likely the first and last time he’d be able to say he’d cuddled Bentley Williams in bed. Most of the girls at this place wanted to be able to say that, and he could.

It wasn’t real, but it felt amazing.

What sucked was waking up and finding him gone, but the letter Bentley wrote thanking him and Noah for a place to crash was sweet.

As he pulled at Bentley’s shark tooth necklace he now wore around his neck, he knew he was only making this harder on himself.

Noah took the seat to his right and smiled, placing his laptop down on the desk. “Nice necklace.”

He blushed, rolling his eyes away. “Noah, let’s not make a big deal out of this. He left me this and took my bracelet. He’s my friend. It’s cool.”

Noah rolled his eyes. “Yeah. Friendship. Yay. Because friendship is sleeping in the same bed practically on top of one another.”

“We weren’t on top of one another…”

Noah glared at him. “Okay. So how’s your day been so far?”

“Great,” Kit smiled. “My professors seem funny, and professional. Smart, even. Unlike most of my high school teachers.”

Noah laughed. “Same. Well… my sociology professor seems like a stoner, but he’s still… interesting, I guess.”

“Excuse me? Is this seat taken?”

Kit turned to his left and found a guy standing there and gesturing to the seat beside him. He looked to be slightly taller than him, with chestnut brown hair, huge brown eyes, and a little chin fuzz.  Kit smiled at him before looking around the rest of the lecture hall. There were tons of free seats. Despite this, Kit shrugged and nodded.

“Go for it.”

“Thanks.” He took the seat and smiled back. “My name is Abel. And you are?”

“Christopher. I go by Kit,” he answered, extending his hand. “Nice to meet you. This is my roommate, Noah.”

Noah waved. “Hey.”

“Hi. Nice meeting the both of you.” Abel smiled and placed his backpack down. “I saw you yesterday at orientation. You probably don’t remember…”

Kit searched Abel’s face. He was drawing a blank. “Oh? I don’t think I do.”

“You were at the sign-up for the fashion club. I was on my way to the writers-club. I accidentally stepped on your foot.”

“Oh!” Kit laughed. “Yes. The guy with the freakin’ combat boots. I remember.”

“Your laugh got even more beautiful since yesterday.”

Noah rolled his eyes.

“Wow. Thanks, Abel.” Kit looked away as he blushed, grateful that the professor walked in and began introductions.

“Maybe we can talk more after class,” Abel whispered.

Kit nodded. “Maybe so.”