Chapter Twenty-Six -- Bottoms Up!
Jonathan hesitated for a moment before knocking. Why was he so nervous all of a sudden? Oh, yes, he needed to remind himself, he would actually spend some time in the company of The Amazing Four, and it wasn't the cringe-worthy nickname that bothered him. He adjusted his cuffs and straightened his collar, feeling his skin a bit too hot. It wasn't like they didn't know him, but, in a way, this was official, and things were getting serious.
He shook his head in mirth. Basically, as Ray had put it candidly before he walked out the door, he was being introduced to the 'family', the one on campus, so to speak. Damn, all his nervousness was well-founded then, right?
He raised his hand to knock, but before he managed to do that, Maddox opened the door and offered him a dazzling smile. "How long were you going to keep me here, waiting for you to knock?" he asked. He then took Jonathan's hand and dragged him inside.
Three extra pairs of eyes were on him that very instant, and Jonathan felt the redness creeping from under the collar of his shirt, up his neck and to his cheeks.
"You know these jokers," Maddox interrupted the tense moment. "Say 'hi' to Jonathan, assholes."
"Hi, Jonathan," a chorus followed, and Jonathan had to stifle a laugh by biting his lips. As weird as that had to sound to anyone's ears, it felt as if the others were just as nervous as he was of being evaluated by their best friend's boyfriend.
"Hi," he replied and waved, a bit stiffly.
Rusty jumped off the sofa, taking everyone by surprise, and walked over to him. Jonathan didn't know what to expect when Rusty suddenly pulled him into a long hug. Maddox had to push him away. "Hey, hey, that's enough," he warned, only half-joking.
Rusty smirked and winked at Jonathan while giving him a naughty once-over. "Yo, Hamilton. You dangled some fine goods in front of everyone yesterday. Too bad you have a jailer as a boyfriend," he said, pointing at Maddox.
Jonathan was sure his eyes were growing so wide now that they threatened to jump out of their sockets. By instinct, he held Maddox tightly, afraid that his boyfriend might just start something. The hard muscle under his fingers was tense, but Dex defused the situation right away by groaning and starting to talk. "Welcome, Jonathan. Too bad you happened to drop by while the circus is in town."
Rusty immediately identified his next target and dashed to ram his head directly into Dex's hard chest. Dex didn't seem in the least surprised by the attack. However, he promptly caught Rusty in a headlock and kept him there, seemingly amused by the other's struggles to break free. To prove that he wasn't even breaking a sweat, he continued to offer Jonathan an open, easy smile.
Kane shook his head and walked over to him, his hand extended as a peace offering. "Yeah, it's pretty much a clown house around here," he confirmed with a sigh. "Good to have you here, Jonathan."
He shook the offered hand. "It's not a problem. It's very lively," he noted while throwing a short look at Dex and Rusty who were still engaged in a little war of their own, "but I don't mind it. And I'd rather you all feel as much at ease as if I weren't around."
Kane smiled and gave him a thumbs-up. "Maddox kept asking us to behave, not that his speech reached certain ears," he said and his eye roll was clearly pointed at the other half of The Amazing Four. "But you know, I'm glad we finally got to meet you properly and have the chance to get to know you better."
So, Ray was right. It was like meeting the family. "The pleasure's all mine," he replied with a slight tip of the head.
"Just listen to these dorks," Rusty said snickering, after having finally and mysteriously gotten out of Dex's hold. "What's next? Sipping tea with the pinky raised?"
Kane turned to his roommate with a murderous look in his eyes. Jonathan began to laugh. Maddox must have told his friends some crazy things about him. "I told you, guys. Just do whatever you'd do if I weren't here. And now, if you'll excuse me, I think I have some cooking to do."
"Well, thank heaven for that," Dex commented. "Kane, let's get some studying done. Thanks for not needing us in the kitchen, Jonathan. I don't know if Maddox told you, but for us, the fridge means the place where we keep the beer and not much else."
With that, Dex grabbed Kane by the shoulder and they walked out of the room together. Jonathan didn't miss, however, the brief exchange taking place between the two. He was being measured, all right.
He decided to stick to the plan and head to the kitchen. Seeing how effusive Ray always was about his cooking, he hoped he had the means to win over these guys. Maddox followed him closely, but, to his surprise, he wasn't the only one.
"Whatcha doing, Rusty?" Maddox asked, drawling the words with a little bit of a warning tinging the tips of his consonants.
"I want to watch you two cook," Rusty replied promptly.
"Don't you have anything else to do? You know, chasing skirts, stuff like that?"
Jonathan was a bit surprised at the undercurrents in Maddox's words. He either wanted very much for them to be alone, or he was getting a bit jealous of his buddy, hence mentioning Rusty's current favorite activity, which was to maintain his king of hookups status on campus.
"Nope. I'm all yours tonight," Rusty replied promptly.
"Lucky us," Maddox commented under his breath.
Jonathan took him by the shoulder and leaned in to brush his lips over Maddox's ear. "Don't be petty," he whispered. "Let him stay."
Maybe Rusty was just as curious as Xpress about Maddox's bisexual awakening. Jonathan wanted to believe that, at this point, they had nothing to hide, especially in front of such close friends. Just in case Rusty found it hard to believe that Maddox was truly attracted to him, there was nothing wrong with letting him have a front row seat, while the two of them behaved like boyfriends.
Which they were, obviously, Jonathan thought, as Maddox's hand lingered on his waist for a bit longer than needed.
***
Rusty wanted to get on his nerves tonight, Maddox thought, as he gave his bestie the evil eye. Jonathan was, as usual, nice and polite, explaining what he was doing as he went about his cooking. From time to time, Rusty would ask questions, and Jonathan offered explanations without once being fazed by the other's campy comments.
Maddox wasn't paying attention in the least to the cooking process. He was much more interested in what the hell Rusty was playing at. They had known each other for a long time, so he liked to think that he was pretty much an expert when it came to Rusty and his body language, more than any other. No one knew Rusty like he did. Kane said so, and Kane had the annoying habit of being almost always right.
And right now, Rusty's face was an open book, as he was staring at Jonathan in awe. Even if he joked around and asked foolish things such as why couldn't humans just eat raw meat since their ancestors surely did, his eyes didn't lie.
Maddox pouted and crossed his arms. His best buddy was looking at his boyfriend like he was some kind of alien; not the kind with green skin and large eyes, but one...
