The room smelled like cheap vodka and the floral body spray one of the girls had shaken on before they came over. Fairy lights draped over the bunk beds threw everything amber. Ben sat on the lower bunk with a beer that had gone warm in his palm, ankle crossed over his knee, trying to look like he wasn't calculating anything.
Alex was beside him. He had the ease of someone who'd never had to figure out if he belonged somewhere. 6'1" (1.85 m), 185 lbs (84 kg), built from six years of high school football: broad shoulders tapering to a narrow waist, white t-shirt fitted across his chest, golden hair that fell just over his forehead. Blue eyes half-lidded, cheeks faintly pink from the vodka shots. That was the only way Ben could tell the alcohol was touching him at all.
Ben was 5'10" (1.78 m) and leaner, 155 lbs (70 kg), all limbs and freckles. Wavy red hair he kept cropped but that never sat flat. Green eyes, pale skin that had been going warmer at the ears since they started drinking. He had a gray hoodie on over nothing, hands wrapped around the beer bottle, and he'd been looking for an angle all night.
Across from them on the floor, Sarah and Emily sat cross-legged with their drinks between their knees. Sarah was the brunette, petite with dark curls, and Ben had spent the last hour trying to put his finger on what her expression reminded him of before figuring out it was a poker player who already knew what everyone else was holding. Emily was blonde, chin resting on her knee, watching both of them with a half-smile she hadn't bothered to conceal since they sat down.
The conversation had turned to truth or dare, and the girls were steering it.
"Dude," Alex said under his breath, nudging Ben with his elbow. He set his empty bottle on the floor. "Two girls right here. We just gotta push it."
Ben's knee drew toward his chest. His freckled cheeks were going pink. "I don't know, man. What if they think we're weird?"
Alex's grin was answer enough.
"Okay, dare," he said to the girls. Loud and settled. "You two make out. Proper girl-on-girl. We've all seen it in movies. Why not live?"
Sarah and Emily exchanged glances. A beat of something private that Ben didn't catch.
"Only if you two go first," Sarah said. She wasn't smirking. She said it the way you'd state a rule you'd already decided on. "Boy-on-boy. Real kissing, not a peck. Make it worth watching and we'll match you, act for act. You stop, we stop."
Emily hadn't moved. Chin still on her knee. "You go first," she said. "That's the deal."
The room went quiet except for the muffled thump of music from the hallway. Ben's eyes widened. "Whoa, no way. I'm not—"
"Come on, bro," Alex interrupted, leaning in close, his breath warm and boozy against Ben's ear. He placed a hand on Ben's knee, squeezing once. Persuasive. Brotherly. Ben's stomach went tight. "It's just a game. Think about it: if we do this, we get to watch them. We're straight, it's not like it means anything. Just a quick kiss."
Ben's eyes went to the girls. Sarah was watching with her chin lifted. Emily turned her glass between her palms. The vodka sat warm in his chest and his brain had gone a little slow and loose at the edges. "Fine," he muttered. "But just a little. For the girls."
Alex's grin widened. He turned to face Ben fully on the bed, their knees brushing. He reached out first, his strong hand cupping the back of Ben's neck, thumb finding the soft skin below his ear and stroking once. Ben's pulse jumped. His shoulders were already up, jaw already set. "Relax," Alex murmured. Voice low, coaxing. "It's nothing."
Ben didn't move. Alex was close enough that Ben could see the slight chap on his lower lip, smell the beer on his breath, feel the warmth coming off his face. Neither of them closed the distance for a moment.
Their lips met tentatively at first, soft and experimental, the taste of vodka between them. Ben kept his mouth closed a beat too long, lips pressed flat, not kissing back so much as holding still and letting it happen. Ben's mouth was warm, his lips fuller than Alex expected, and as the kiss deepened Alex's tongue flicked out, probing, urging Ben to open. Ben gasped softly, his shoulders drawing up without him meaning them to, but he parted his lips, letting Alex's tongue slide in. It was wet, invasive, their tongues meeting slow and uncertain, and Ben's sternum contracted, one sharp squeeze he hadn't braced for. *Just a game. It's just—* Alex's hand tightened on Ben's neck, pulling him closer, his other hand gripping the red strands firmly, tilting Ben's face for better access. Ben's hands came up, went to Alex's chest first, fingers curling into the fabric like he was about to push him back, and then didn't. They traveled up to his shoulders instead and stayed there, feeling the hard muscle shift beneath the t-shirt.
The girls whooped softly somewhere behind them.
Alex broke the kiss briefly, breathing heavy, blue eyes dark. "See? Not so bad," he murmured against Ben's lips, and came back in more insistent, tongue thrusting deeper. Ben moaned, a low sound cut off at the back of his throat that vibrated against Alex's mouth, his freckled skin flushing hot as he kissed back. His hands tightened on Alex's shoulders, not pulling him closer exactly, but not holding distance either. His tongue pushed shyly against Alex's, tasting the salt and sweetness, and he felt his own jaw go slack and open wider without deciding to.
As the kiss heated up, Alex's hands wandered, sliding down from Ben's neck to his chest, groping over the hoodie. He could feel Ben's heart pounding, the lean muscles twitching under his palms. "Come on, bro, let's make it good for them," Alex urged between kisses, his voice husky. He tugged at the hem of Ben's hoodie. Ben's arms lifted, automatic, before he'd decided anything, and Alex pulled it up and off, dropping it somewhere on the bed behind them. Cool air hit Ben's torso first, then Alex's hands were back on his skin, and the contrast made his stomach clench. Ben's chest was smooth, abs subtly defined from running, a light trail of red hair from his navel down. Alex's fingers traced over it, groping the firm planes of Ben's chest, thumbs brushing over the small pink nipples.
They hardened instantly.
Ben arched, his whole back lifting off the mattress, a thin high sound cut off behind his teeth as Alex broke the kiss and latched his mouth onto one nipple. The wet heat of it landed differently than anything Ben had expected. Alex sucked gently at first, tongue circling the bud, then harder, a slow drawing pull that Ben felt all the way down into his stomach. His breath went short and stayed that way. Ben's hands flew to Alex's head, fingers tangling in the golden hair, not sure if he was pulling him away or holding him there. "Fuck, Alex... that feels..." Ben trailed off, his voice breathy, the words dying before he could find them. His cock was already pushing up against the denim. Alex groaned against Ben's skin, the vibration running straight up through Ben's ribs, his free hand finding Ben's other nipple, pinching and rolling it, making Ben squirm.
Ben's world narrowed to Alex's mouth on his chest, the wet sounds of it, the rhythmic pressure that had his hips rocking without permission, his fingers pressing hard into Alex's shoulders. Sweat had prickled at his collar. The room smelled like vodka and warm skin.
Emboldened, Alex's hand slid lower, over Ben's lean abs, feeling the warmth of his skin, the slight tremble. "You're getting into it, huh?" Alex teased, blue eyes lifting to Ben's flushed face. Before Ben could answer, Alex's palm pressed flat against the front of his jeans, the heel of his hand riding the seam right along his cock. The pressure through the denim was blunt and rough and exactly enough. Ben's cock twitched under it, hardening fast, thick, the shape of it already clear against the fabric. Ben gasped, his hips pushing up into Alex's hand before he'd thought to stop them. "Dude, stop — wait, no..." But his voice had no edge. Alex didn't stop. He squeezed, slow and deliberate, fingers tracing the full length of him through the denim, finding the head, the ridge below it, learning him through the fabric like he had all night. The friction caught at the seam with every pass of Alex's palm, and Ben's hips answered each time, small and helpless and nothing like a refusal. Alex's thigh had gone rigid against his. Ben had stopped being able to track more than one thing at a time.
Finally, Alex pulled back, lips shiny. His hand stayed where it was. He looked at Ben: hoodie gone, chest flushed pink all the way down to his navel, cock hard and outlined clear through his jeans, green eyes glassy and not quite focused. Ben hadn't moved. Hadn't pulled away or done anything a guy was supposed to do when he remembered where he was.
"Your turn," Alex said to the girls. Easy. Already past it.
Sarah was already leaning toward Emily. But she looked at Ben first. Not at Alex. At Ben. Her eyes moved over him. Chest flushed, nipples peaked, cock still hard against the denim. The corner of her mouth curved slightly.
"Act for act," she said.
Ben sat with his hoodie somewhere behind him and said nothing.
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