[Memory, Freshman Year, November] – Temptation
The Two Treatises of Government were in danger of becoming three or even four, as his tired eyes tried to focus on his reading. Lyn stole a few glances around and pushed his laptop an inch away and his chair back. If he rested his forehead on the back of his hands, just like this, he’d be fine in a minute.
The full-ride scholarship had been a blessing so far, but there was no one else who knew better than Lyn that his carefully crafted house of cards could fall into shambles at any moment if he wasn’t careful. The midterm results had given him a temporary breather, but there was still a paper on political philosophy due next week, and he had case briefs to look over and—
A sudden pat on the back made him straighten up as if he was actioned by a spring. Brad’s grinning face was the first thing he saw.
“Hi Brad,” Lyn said, forgetting his tiredness and need to focus on his paper. “What’s up?”
“You, my boy,” Brad said, snorting like horse, “have an important meeting to attend. It involves you, me, and a couple of beers.”
Lyn shook his head and pulled his laptop closer. He understood there were people in the world that didn’t need to be overachievers to get what they wanted, but Brad flabbergasted him with the amount of fucks he gave about academics, which was practically zero.
“I can’t. I have this paper due next week.”
“Come on, man,” Brad insisted, grabbing Lyn’s shoulder and shaking it. “You aced the midterms, you nailed every research paper, you even go the extra mile so you can have professors swoon over you left and right… Really, you can afford a beer.”
Lyn sighed, but this time he was determined not to give in to the temptation. Brad was right about everything he said, which was why Lyn knew that he had missed getting an A- on Legal History only because the professor liked him too much to do that to him. And the slipup had only happened because he had drunk ‘a couple of beers’ with Brad the night before.
“Sorry, Brad, but I think I’d rather spend my night reading about tort law than watching you do keg stands.”
Now that was one big fat lie. Lyn wished his life was in a different place, one where he could afford spending time with Brad whenever his friend wanted, but one mistake could propel him into a spiral of stress about maintaining his scholarship, and if he didn’t have his scholarship, his life would be over.
As if Brad could read his thoughts, his next words were: “Wow, tragic. I wouldn’t want to be you, pal.”
Brad had climbed on the desk, swinging his legs while talking to him. It was hard not to stare, so Lyn looked fiercely at his laptop screen. While his jeans weren’t the tight sort others preferred, Brad’s stretched over his package in a way Lyn could only describe as delicious. Besides not letting his new friend know about how important keeping a perfect GPA score was for him, Lyn intended to never allow this one hundred percent straight guy to know that, in his mind, Lyn used words like that to describe certain parts of Brad’s body.
“Well, if you can’t, you can’t,” Brad concluded on his own, seeing Lyn’s disinterest and taking it at face value. “I’ll try to get His Majesty to join me, then.”
Lyn looked at Brad, forgetting to keep a straight face.
“What?” Brad drawled. “Jealous?”
Yeah, yeah he was jealous. Of course, Brad would think it was only because between Lyn and Alexander a quiet and deadly competition for being the best took place. Lyn had been beyond shocked to discover that the pompous rich ass had an academic scholarship, too. People who swam in money were supposed to have at least the decency to refuse a golden ticket that others would need a lot more.
The more he got to know Alexander, the less Lyn understood him. He was what people called an enigma, and, in his case, it wasn’t an exaggeration. Setting aside his penchant for matching worn out clothes with the most expensive accessories and displaying unnatural frugality when it came to spending on the most mundane items like a granola bar or a notebook, Alexander was as impenetrable as a statue.
Of course, Brad considered Alexander’s mysteriousness a challenge he needed to overcome. Therefore, despite not being asked about any of it, Brad had informed Lyn that Alexander came from old money, a family with a lot of pull in investment banking and other such venues, that his family’s house actually had painted ceilings and that, once, Alexander had pulled out a crisp one-hundred-dollar bill and gave it to a delivery guy for a tip on an order – paid for by Brad, by the way – of exactly twenty-nine dollars.
“Go party with Alexander,” Lyn said in a clipped voice. “I’m sure you two are going to have so much fun.” He closed this speech with a plastic smile to show how little he cared.
“Damn, you’re so transparent.” Brad grinned and brushed his knuckles against Lyn’s nose, a bit too hard to count as playful. During the little time they had known each other, Lyn had learned one thing about Brad: despite his easygoing attitude, he was quick to hold a grudge. Right now, he was pissed Lyn wasn’t giving up on studying to drink beer with him, and was using Alexander only to rile Lyn up.
It didn’t matter to him that Brad had a flaw like that. It only made him human, Lyn reminded himself. Since it was painfully obvious he had a crush on his straight bestie, Lyn had to be careful about painting Brad in too rosy colors. That was essential for survival, too.
“Okay, I get it,” Brad moaned and hopped off the desk. “But this weekend, you need to let me introduce you to that chick, Lena’s bestie.”
“Tempting, but I’d rather pass on the honor of being introduced to Lena’s bestie,” Lyn said, returning his attention to his studies. “I believe someone else deserves the burden.”
“Oh, come on, man, she’s not that ugly,” Brad protested.
Lena’s bestie’s looks had absolutely nothing to do with her chances to get to know Lyn up close and personal. One of these days, Lyn would have to let Brad do his thing and play matchmaker, only to keep up appearances. He envied people who went all out and proud like it didn’t cost them a thing; he didn’t belong in that category. Like his grades, a slipup would lead to a lot of pain he didn’t want to deal with. Or had time to deal with.
“She’s just not my type,” he said, frowning to show Brad that their little conversation was over.
“Okay, suit yourself. When you’re eighty and on your death bed, I will be there to hear you say how much you regret not getting to know more girls when you were young. Or drank more beer. And I bet you will still be clutching a law textbook close to your chest, because that’s going to be your spouse and lover till the end.”
“Interesting scenario. And what are you going to do then? By the way, keep in mind that you’ll be eighty, too.”
“Ah, I’ll chug down a beer and then give you one, too. What harm could it do since you’re already dying?”
“Okay, then I give you my word that when I’m eighty and on my death bed, I’ll drink a beer with you. Satisfied?”
Brad laughed his good-natured laugh and patted Lyn on the shoulder. “Okay, man, I’ll hold you to that.”
Lyn shook his head and sighed, even if Brad was already on his way out and couldn’t hear him. As much as he could get pissy over being refused, Brad’s bad moods were like summer rains; they never lasted.
***
Fuck, that couldn’t be. Lyn examined his laptop on all sides, as if his lack of knowledge in repairs would be cured in an instant just by staring at the malfunctioning device. No, not malfunctioning. It was dead. What the hell was he going to do now? He needed to finish his paper, and luckily, he had saved it in the cloud right before the thing died on him. The stop error screen with a sad face had cheerfully informed him that the system would collect the necessary info and would restart the device for him, but it looked like the old thing’s death had been more imminent than Lyn had suspected or hoped.
It was late, and it wasn’t like he had a magic wand he could use to summon a repairman out of thin air. He’d have to find Brad and ask him if he could help a friend in need by lending Lyn his laptop.
Lyn was quick to pack up all his study materials and grab his dead device, although he had little hope that it would ever be revived and returned to his former glory, which had never amounted to much.
He was about to walk out of the library when he saw Alexander leisurely strolling toward him.
Brad liked the guy, so Lyn had to play nice. “Hi, man,” he said, not wanting to give the ass the satisfaction of calling him by his name.
Alexander nodded shortly, not bothering to reply. Sometimes, this guy acted like words cost money, which was funny seeing how rich he was.
“Where are you going, Lynton?”
How come Brad never let himself be bothered by this annoying level of formality?
“I have to go to Brad, ask him to lend me his laptop. Mine died on me, and I have this paper I’ve been working on--”
Alexander promptly shoved his sleek, state-of-the-art, device, into Lyn’s chest. “Take mine.”
Lyn stared at his friend by association. There always had to be something galling about Alexander’s manner of doing… well, everything. Right now, Lyn thought he could read pity in those cold immobile eyes. No, not pity. It had to be something else. Like evil glee. If he could help it, Lyn never wished to be in debt to this asshole. And he could help it.
“Weren’t you on the way in?” Lyn stepped out of the way and pushed open the library door that had just closed behind him. “You’ll need it.”
“I said, ‘take it’.” Alexander hovered, his hand still steady and pushing the laptop against Lyn’s chest again.
“I don’t need it,” Lyn said through his teeth.
“You do. You just said it.”
“I’ll ask Brad for his,” Lyn said, determined to stand his ground. He walked quickly around Alexander. “See you later.”
***
Brad opened the door just a crack and smiled when he saw him. “Changed your mind?”
“About the beer, no, I’m afraid not. Hey, would you mind lending me your laptop? I have this paper I need to work on, and mine just died.”
Brad frowned a smidge and shifted his position, but he didn’t open the door any wider to let Lyn inside. “Maybe you need to recharge it.”
“No, I got the error screen, the whole thing. Please, just for tonight,” Lyn insisted.
Brad made a troubled face and scratched the back of his head. “That’s a bit… well, I can’t.”
Lyn felt his mood falling to even deeper lows. Did Brad even consider him a friend? He hadn’t expected a point blank refusal, like this.
Brad seemed quick to pick up on the cues. The grimace from earlier disappeared. “You know what, buddy? I’ll get you a laptop. Give me half an hour, okay? Go to your room, and I’ll bring the thing to you in no time. Okay?”
Lyn felt his heart getting warm again. Why would he think Brad wouldn’t help him when he was in need? After all, they were best friends. Lyn didn’t know anyone else enjoying that position in Brad’s eyes. Except for that evil Alexander, of course.
“Okay, I’ll be waiting,” he said.
“I’ll be waiting,” Brad repeated in a mocking voice. “Man, you and Alexander are like two peas in a pod sometimes. Way too stiff. Now go.”
Lyn expected no other invitation. Being compared to that asshole was enough to send him away, but because Brad had promised to help him, he was in a good mood now and didn’t want it spoiled.
***
“What’s this?” Lyn asked, as a very sweaty Brad handed him a thin sleek laptop that he could easily recognize.
“A working laptop,” Brad offered, ignoring Lyn’s cold stare. “Come on, don’t you want it?”
“It’s Alexander’s, isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Brad said with a shrug. “I told him you needed one and I couldn’t give you mine because of the porn I got stashed in there--”
“Is that the reason why you didn’t give me your laptop?” Lyn asked, not quite believing his ears.
Brad took his right arm, lifted it, and tucked Alexander’s under it, making sure Lyn wouldn’t drop it. “Yeah. I mean, you’re way too innocent for the stuff I watch.”
“And how do you know that?” Lyn couldn’t give Brad back Alexander’s laptop because that would make him look like a douche.
“Geez, man, do you really have to ask that? It’s visible from space that you’re a virgin. You’re scared of girls. Frankly, I don’t think you’ve seen a pussy in your life. I don’t want you to burst into flames by opening the wrong video on my laptop. You’ll be on my conscience, and I don’t want that.”
Lyn set his jaw hard. “Tell Lena’s bestie I want to go on a date with her.”
Brad seemed to have noticed his expression only at that very moment. He put his hands on Lyn’s shoulders and squeezed them. “Come on, man, you have nothing to prove. And that chick doesn’t want to go on a date, anyway.”
“Why did you say it, then?”
“I didn’t,” Brad corrected him. “But she thinks you’re cute, and she wants to make out with you. That’s all. And anyway, she moved on already. You should’ve listened to me and said ‘yes’ when I asked you.”
Lyn shook his head. This was freaking unbelievable. On top of everything else, he needed to prove to Brad he wasn’t some clueless virgin. And what sort of porn was that anyway that Brad thought he’d be so shocked to see? This good and nice guy had no idea what Lyn knew.
“What’s the type of porn you like?” he asked.
Brad gave him a shocked look. “Wow, I struck a nerve, didn’t I? You know, kinkier stuff.” It looked like he was the one embarrassed now.
“Like what?” Lyn insisted.
Brad shrugged and rolled his shoulders. “You know, chicks who eat cum, threesomes, that sort of thing.” He looked away, looking for a reason to escape.
“Threesome? Like one guy with two women?” Lyn asked calmly.
“Yeah,” Brad said, blushing so hard he would never live it down if he knew he was doing it. “And a chick and two dudes, too.”
Lyn felt his lips curling into a smile. “I could watch that sort of thing with you,” he said. “Just to show you I don’t combust from simply seeing people having sex.”
Brad did a double take and gave him a shocked look. “Wow, wow, there, man. No way. That would be weird.”
And what else? Lyn felt the word dangling on the tip of his tongue. He was pissed at Brad for bringing him Alexander’s laptop, but he wasn’t going to be that reckless.
“Fine,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “By the way, I watch way kinkier stuff than you.”
“Like what?” Brad forgot his embarrassment and looked Lyn in the eye.
Lyn grinned and began closing the door in Brad’s face. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“I would,” Brad replied, craning his neck to continue staring at Lyn.
“Bye, Brad. See you tomorrow.”
His legs were shaking when he closed the door for good. He shook his head hard and slapped his cheeks. He needed to focus on treading lightly whenever talks about sex were going on. But tonight, the temptation had been too strong and had, for a moment, won.
TBC
Author's note: Thanks for reading!
In case you want to support me and read chapters ahead, I have a Patreon page where you can do so. My patrons in the Plot Whisperers tier are currently receiving chapter drafts for this story and we're having together interesting conversations about the characters and their choices. Pretty much like a book club, but cooler :)
@Derek - I believe that Lyn's last impressions from college are fading to leave room for something truer... Also, thank you so much for your comments on my other stories, Derek! They are appreciated!
