“No?” One hand sliding up Michael’s chest, Jared laughed. “Cute,” he said, thinking Michael was joking.
Michael shot a pointed look at the hand on his chest and tried to walk away, but Jared grabbed his shoulder and pushed him back against the wall, smiling because Michael was here for him. Obviously.
Michael didn’t struggle, but he didn’t have to, the look on his face enough to burst the alcoholic bubble Jared had been floating in. Shit. What was he doing? “Sorry.” He snatched his hand off Michael and buried it in his pocket, hiding the evidence. “Wasn’t thinking.”
“Yeah, you were.” Michael walked away from him, lost himself in the bodies clogging the main floor of the frat house.
Okay, he’d screwed up. Michael wasn’t into drunken asswipes pawing at him. Noted. Jared pushed his way through the crowd and out the front door, to see Michael heading back towards campus. He launched himself down the steps and onto the sidewalk, chasing after Michael.
Jared slowed to a walk at Michael’s side, and Michael ignored him. Okay, the guy was pissed. Jared could work with pissed. “You want me.”
Michael shrugged. “Not tonight, I don’t.”
A grin sliding across his face, Jared strolled at Michael’s side. “Tomorrow night?”
I’ve never met a “Jared” who was quite so insistent…. or rude. I do recall several men who clearly had no idea who I was, though they thought they did. I walked away, permanently, and Michael would be wise to do so as well, I think.
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So many ways this could play out…depending on whether Jared was acting like a jerk or actually was one.
Good point about the name, a real Jared would be a little more deferential 🙂
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It sounds to me as if Jarad is the type who could so quickly become a stalker. Michael had better watch himself and put himself before temptation. Besides, there must be plenty of other fun on the campus?
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He might do. He might decide Jared’s a dick and move on…or not 🙂
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Initially I thought Jared was just a rude alcoholic that Michael should avoid. But maybe the two guys have figured each other out though they are otherwise in the closet to the world. Jared wouldn’t be the first guy to let alcohol drop his defenses and let him show his feelings, even if he does so inappropriately.
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Because this is just a moment in time, with no backstory, you get to create your own…and that alters our perception of both guys.
As the author here, I love that you’ve thought about these characters, and come up with scenarios I wouldn’t have thought of. That’s the best thing about reading, it’s interactive 🙂
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