I have written a trilogy. Each story is perfectly readable and understandable on its own, but if you want to read them in order, start with Charlie then Gary and end with Mark. It will give you a bit more context and continuity.
"How did you do on the test?" Gary asked me after our plant identification midterm.
"I had the plants down pretty well, but I can't spell in Latin, so I know I lost points on the spelling. How 'bout you?"
"For some reason Latin comes easy to me. Maybe I could help you study spelling for the final."
"You mean without these clowns?" I indicated Mark, Matt and Charlie who were sitting on the other side of Gary. "That sounds good."
"We might get more done if we don't invite them."
"You playin' pool tonight, Gary?" Charlie interrupted.
"I am. At Racks. Are you going to come watch?"
"We should." He turned to the twins, "You guys wanna go heckle Gary tonight at Racks?"
The twins exchanged a glance, "Sure," Mark answered for both, "What time?"
"League starts at seven and lasts about an hour. Then it's open tables if you want to play."
"Did you get a new partner?" I asked.
"No, are you offering?"
"I can play, but I'm not very good."
"I am going to need someone after tonight, Linda is bailing on me. League is on Wednesday nights..."
"I think I can make that work, it should be fun, as long as you aren't too serious."
I hitched a ride with Charlie to Racks to watch Gary play pool. We walked into the smoky bar (this was the 90s, remember?) and found Gary. Racks had two rooms of tables, five in the main room and an additional three in a smaller room, off to the side. Gary was playing in the main room. Matt and Mark had a table and a pitcher of beer waiting for us.
"Hey there," they greeted us.
"What did you guys do after we left the other night?" Mark asked.
"We just finished the beers off," Charlie said without a moment's hesitation, "there were only two left."
"Did you now?" said Matt, skeptically.
"Then we had wild sex."
The guys couldn't decide whether or not to believe that, so I smacked Charlie.
Charlie was the biggest flirt around and he was known for his way with the ladies. I had not been immune to his charm in the past. The very recent past. We had indeed shared a hot fuck in my advisor's office after a study session on the night in question. The only proof was some RNA we had left on somebody's thesis which had been on the best flat surface in the room. Charlie had a certain charm that made him impossible to say no to, even when you knew better. He was grand fun as a friend but not the guy you would take home to your mother.
Matt and Mark were as alike as two peas in a pod, if they were cowboy peas with long, skinny legs and hats that advertised ropes. The only way to tell them apart was that Mark was likely to answer a question, whereas Matt would just look at you and blush. Matt had pledged his love to someone back home, so I left him alone. His brother had no such alliances, and we flirted shamelessly. Mark was a gentleman and a cowboy. I knew something was going on in his pretty little head because every so often he would get a far away look in his eye and blush when he came back to Earth.
A Hawaiian washed up in the middle of the mountains, Gary was a walking plant expert. He was serious about college. His intense focus, which served him well in plant identification, also drove us crazy most of the time. Gary went through life to the beat of his own pahu. His colorful surfing t-shirts from actual surf shops made him stand out among the Wrangler brushpopper shirts on campus. Gary was more than a little suggestible. You could tease him about doing something and before too long he would find himself doing it. Charlie liked to see what he could plant in Gary's fertile mind.
These four guys were my buds. I hung out with my roommates from the dorm too, but these were my people. They understood me. Oh, we were friends, but I can't deny there was an underlying sexual tension among us. Well, except with Matt who was oftentimes just along for the ride.
Over the top of my beer, I idly watched Gary lean over for a shot and realized his ass was pretty darn cute, even if he wasn't wearing Wranglers. He was slender in the way of someone who is always active, and his arms were sinewy with well-defined muscles. I am a sucker for nice arms. I guess I hadn't looked at Gary quite this objectively in a while. His brown skin contrasted beautifully with the crisp white tee shirt he wore.
"This weekend is the big night, isn't it? The field trip for Bucks and Ducks." Charlie interrupted my reverie. He gave my ponytail a quick tug. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."
"I'll be with the twins. Don't worry about my virtue."
"That horse is out of the barn and over the hill, I am talking about theirs, Chica." Despite our little rendezvous, I knew Charlie didn't have any plans for a relationship with me, outside of our banter. I was another notch in his headboard. "I'll send some extra condoms with Matt," Charlie continued.
"Please don't!"