Figure It Out

Chapter 1 Luke stuffed his hands into his pockets and eased his way into the dimly lit bar. The usual litany of fears popped up in the back of his mind. What if the other guy never showed? What if “Evan” turned out to be some bunch of straight guys from one of the fraternities looking to get a good laugh—or worse? What if the guy wasn’t what he said he was? He kicked himself mentally for the last fear. He was here for a hookup he found on an app, not looking for his One True Love. Getting all up in arms because a guy listed himself as six foot five when he was really five foot six would be kind of shallow. Sure, it was a lie. It wasn’t like Luke was going to see him again after tonight. As long as he smelled good and didn’t set off any red flags for the night, what did it matter if he wasn’t the model-gorgeous guy from his profile picture? It wasn’t like Luke relied on looks to tell him about people when he wasn’t on an app. He scanned the crowd. Maybe the person he was here to meet had used his real pic in his profile. Luke hadn’t come across too many charlatans in all of his time using the apps, so he hated himself a little bit for the worry. At the same time, he’d heard stories. Everyone had heard the stories. The stories were almost more famous than the apps at this point. “Hey, you must be Luke.” The melodic tenor came from behind him. Luke turned around to see exactly who he’d agreed to meet. “Evan” stood at six foot two, with a perfectly chiseled jawline and just enough stubble to make Luke’s mouth water. His dark eyes danced as he smiled. “You look just like your profile pic.” Luke shook Evan’s hand. “So do you. Should we grab a seat or…” “Yeah, let’s grab a drink.” Evan put a hand on Luke’s back and guided him through the small crowd over toward the bar. There weren’t too many people in the way, not yet, and the gesture made Luke warm with anticipation. “What’s your poison?” “I’ll have a local IPA or whatever.” Luke had only turned twenty-one over the summer. Being able to order a beer in a bar was still a little bit of a novelty for him, but that wasn’t something Evan had to worry about. “Awesome choice.” When the bartender directed his attention toward them, Evan ordered for both of them, choosing a porter for himself. They sat down on the nearest pair of vacant bar stools, and now Luke had all of Evan’s attention. It was almost dizzying, the full attention of a man like Evan. His eyes, his smile, even his laugh had a weird way of drawing a guy in, making him feel almost pinned. Luke couldn’t have looked away if his life depended on it, and he wouldn’t have wanted to. “So tell me about yourself,” he said, trying to recover from the overwhelming force of Evan’s charisma. “Are you a student around here?” Evan grinned, happy and relaxed. “You bet. I’m going for my PhD in American history. I’m going to be that guy, the one who pops into all the pundits’ timelines on social media and corrects their bad historical takes with facts.” Luke chuckled as the bartender dropped their beers off. “That’s certainly a noble goal.” He raised his glass in a kind of salute. “Are you from around here? You don’t have the accent, but not everyone here does.” “True, but no. I was born in Los Angeles. How about you? You don’t sound like you’re exactly local yourself.” Evan looked him up and down. “Nah, I’m from Yachats, Oregon. Population six hundred ninety, in case you were wondering why you haven’t heard of it.” Luke snorted. “Virginia was on the opposite coast, as far from Oregon as I could get, so here I am.” “I guess I can’t exactly fault you for that.” Evan’s beer had formed a little mustache on the top of his lip. Luke wondered if licking it off would be too forward of him. Maybe a public place would be a little much. “So. I guess you’re a student too?” “Yeah. Environmental studies.” He toyed with his beer for a second. Neither of them cared what the other one was in school for. They were here to scratch an itch, nothing more. “So, your profile said you were in an open relationship.” He scratched at his throat, not even really aware he was doing it. “Is that an issue for you?” Evan knit his eyebrows together, just a little bit. “I mean I was pretty up front about it in my profile but sometimes people get weirded out once they’ve had some time to think about it.” Luke waved a hand. “It doesn’t bother me, exactly.” And it didn’t, not under the circumstances. “I just want to make sure everyone involved is on the same page.” Evan smirked and pulled out his phone. “You mean you want to make sure my boyfriend knows we’re in an open relationship? I hear you.” He opened up the app and started scrolling. “Here you go, right here.” He showed Luke a profile. “Nick’s” face was hidden in shadow, but his abs and pecs were on full display. The notation that he was in an open relationship with Evan was clearly noted as well. “Comfortable?” Luke blushed and nodded. “Yeah. I just didn’t want to get into the middle of an awkward situation.” “Hey, it’s smart. As long as you’re not going to get weirdly judgmental about it, it’s cool.” Luke shuddered. “So not my place. Even if I were uncomfortable, it wouldn’t be my place. It’s your life, your relationship. If I wanted the responsibility of managing a relationship, I’d have my own.” Evan drained the rest of his glass, and a shiver of anticipation ran up Luke’s spine. “I’m glad to hear that. As it happens, Nick is out of town right now. Our relationship is open because we both travel for work, and we both get weird when we’re alone for too long.” Luke held up a hand. “It’s all good. You don’t have to justify anything to me.” It meant something that he wanted to, and maybe at some point down the road Luke would try to figure out what. For now, he just wanted to lose himself for a little while. “I know. I wanted to set your mind at ease a little bit.” He glanced at Luke’s empty pint glass. “I don’t suppose you’re ready to get out of here?” “Absolutely.” Luke stood up. Evan led him out of the bar. “I only live a couple of blocks from here. Are you okay with going back to my place, or would you rather go to a hotel?” Luke shuddered away from the thought of spending hotel-type money. “Your place is good.” Places around the bar—hell, near the University—weren’t exactly cheap, but if Evan had already bought it the cost wasn’t Luke’s problem. “It’s convenient for classes, huh?” They made small talk as they quickly made their way back to the old brick factory, now converted into high-end condos. Luke didn’t look around more than he had to, but he could see that Evan occupied a large, minimalist space with two separate loft-type areas. City lights dazzled from a massive, unobstructed picture window that took up an entire wall. Evan kissed his neck as Luke found himself distracted by the beautiful view. “Nice, isn’t it?” he murmured into Luke’s ear. His normal voice was upbeat and alluring. When he spoke like this, deep and direct into Luke’s ear, it was like he had a direct line to Luke’s c**k. His pants very suddenly fit all wrong, and the clothes he’d worn against the October chill created a sauna. Luke leaned into his embrace, and Evan took it for the invitation it was. His strong, elegant hands slid under Luke’s henley, leaving a trail of fire against the skin beneath. “I think you’re a little overdressed, don’t you?” Evan tugged at the edges and slipped it over his head. “Let’s get this off you.” Luke let Evan strip him, first of his shirt and then of the rest of his irritating, hateful clothing. He hadn’t gotten particularly into b**m, but he had no problem letting his partner take charge in the bedroom. Evan knew what he was doing, that much Luke knew, and he didn’t feel at all uncomfortable standing naked in front of Evan even though Evan was still fully dressed. He stood proud before Evan. He knew he had nothing to be ashamed of. And the way Evan looked him over, with every ounce of his attention frozen to Luke, just solidified that knowledge. “Well now. You’re one beautiful man, Luke. And eager.” He eyed Luke’s hard c**k and winked. “Can you blame me?” Luke chuckled. “I’ve been looking forward to this since we connected earlier.” “Mmm. Me too.” Evan peeled his shirt off, slowly and carefully. Luke’s mouth watered as Evan all but performed a strip tease. He’d done a few hookups, here and there, but he’d never been with someone so unabashedly sensual as Evan. His c**k throbbed with need, and something under his skin burned. “We should move this upstairs.” Evan glanced over at the stairs going to the loft space over the kitchen. “It’s where the stuff is, anyway. Not that I wouldn’t be happy to screw you right on top of that ottoman, but we have all night.” The idea of more than one round with Evan made Luke weak at the knees. “Let’s go.” Evan took him by the hand and led him up the stairs. The loft space turned out to be generous, with a huge walk-in closet and a massive master bathroom tucked in behind the main loft space. Luke only had eyes for the giant platform bed, though, with its soft gray bedding. “Let’s get nice and warmed up.” Evan guided him gently onto the bed, and even just the feel of his hands on Luke’s skin had him raring to go again. He obeyed, lying on his back across the foot of the bed. “You okay with oral?” Luke’s profile had been pretty specific with what he liked. “I love giving head.” He swallowed hard, looking at Evan’s dark red c**k. “Me too.” Evan climbed onto the bed, switched his position so his c**k was toward Luke’s face, and lowered his mouth over Luke’s needy c**k. Oh, God. Luke opened his mouth to take Evan into his own mouth, even as the sensation of Evan engulfed his consciousness. Evan was big, and heavy on his tongue. Luke was going to have to work up to taking him deep, but he didn’t mind putting in the effort. Concentration would be a problem, given that Evan was doing something with his tongue in Luke’s slit that was making him want to shout, but it was worth it. Somewhere, out in the wider world, metal jingled. Luke barely noticed. He was too focused on the dual sensations, one at each end of his body. Evan tasted like rain on a hot summer day, and when he moaned the vibrations did something to Luke that defied language. Luke relaxed his throat a little more, able to take more of Evan than he had been. This was exactly what he’d needed. He didn’t often run into a hookup who could so easily sync rhythms with him, but with Evan it was like they’d known each other their whole lives. Everything else in Luke’s life fell away as he gave in to the motion. Stress over his senior project or his exams melted into the ether for the slight taste of salt on his tongue. Numbing loneliness floated into nothingness as heat pooled in his belly. Footsteps, probably in dress shoes from the sound of it, ascended the wooden stairs coming up to the loft. Luke’s heart rate sped up, because this could be anyone. It could have been a murderer. It could have been a thief. He was powerless to do anything about either, both because he was pinned under Evan and because he was about to come. He tapped Evan’s side to warn him, and Evan pulled off him and out of his mouth at the same time. Just as hot ropes of come splashed over Luke’s body—from himself or Evan he didn’t know and didn’t care—a tall figure entered the loft space. Luke shouted, both in warning and in pleasure, but the figure stayed where he was. Luke’s vision whited out as his orgasm washed over him. When he came back to himself, he found himself looking into the eyes of Professor Ackerman, his sophomore year Poli Sci teacher.