Ryan hated social media.
In all fairness, it was entirely his fault. His high school years were nonstop infidelity, as no young naive girl ever suspected the nice boy from band to take the foreign exchange student underneath the bleachers for an international affair. No cheerleader could even dream of the quiet kid in class skipping the track meet to fool around with her sister. And while he had never accomplished that popular highschooler fantasy of sleeping with the teacher, he did manage to make out with the slightly drunk substitute when he was supposed to be meeting her daughter for the movies.
For a time, things were great. In his first year of college, he had basically picked up where he left off, though being surrounded by full-grown adult men had certainly upped the challenge. And at first, things continued as they had, sleeping with a liberal studies major here, a psychology student there, meeting in the aspiring optometrist's examination room somewhere in between.
But then the internet came along and ruined everything.
Over the next several weeks, his lovely girlfriends had gotten wise to his whoring ways. Ryan wasn't exactly a loner, he had friends of course, but the thought never occurred to him that not everyone only keeps a half dozen actual friends on their facebook profiles instead of, say, the entire goddamn school population both present and 3-5 years past. Once the news got out, it flew across social media like a puddle of freshly lit gasoline. It had taken some time to figure out why his winning smile began to receive looks of revulsion in the campus, and by the time he did, salvaging his reputation had become a pipe dream.
Academically speaking he was still doing fine, at least, but if he wanted to continue his manwhoring ways, it would have to be somewhere outside of the dorms...and the surrounding counties. Maybe even out of state. It seemed a good number of gas station attendants and movie theater clerks had apparently seen the "CHEATING ASSHOLE" written above a picture of his old high school band days.
So Ryan had been forced to locate an apartment. Between the deposit, a necessary internet installation to continue his classes and food for a week, his funds were becoming frighteningly close to exhaustion about a year faster than they should have. His wealthy godfather had supplied him the means of education and money for basic living but little else, always claiming a little grit in one's life is the polish needed for a bright future...or some crap like that. At any rate, unless he started wearing a smock or found a roommate, he would soon be snacking on ketchup packets at the gas station.
His few remaining friends had declined, opting to stay at/near the college (where more than a few of Ryan's ex-girlfriends found revenge sleeping with his buddies), and given the price tag he had to advertise on such a mediocre place, he didn't blame them. So he had grudgingly coughed up the very last of his money to place an ad in the papers, since posting it online had done little but draw links to his slutty ways and fill his phone with irate messages.
Ryan was sitting alone in his expensive, sparsely furnished, crappy apartment, looking through his phone to find the settings that'd silence the nonstop notifications, when heard a gentle knock at his doorstep. He stood, groaning, slowly shuffling to the entrance, wondering how many weird old people or yappy dog owners or shady alcoholics he could afford to decline before settling on someone. With a silent prayer to whoever may take pity, he opened the door.
As his eyes acclimated to the sun, Ryan's first thought was, "Oh great a runaway on the first try."
The kid was slightly below average height, with a very nimble frame accentuated with skinny jeans and a clinging black tee. His wavy, mahogany hair nearly came down to his neck and did a decent job covering his hazel eyes, which seemed hesitant to maintain contact with his own. His body language indicated anxiety, with his shifting feet and slightly downturn head.
As his vision adapted to the sun and he took in more detail, Ryan's second, completely unexpected thought was, "Holy fuck he's hot."
The kid was thin, scrawny even, but he naturally held his body in such a way his slender hips and long legs were accentuated. The face hiding behind the hair was smooth, with small sensuous lips and only a few tiny dots of teenage acne on his supple neck. His hands, squirming awkwardly at his thigh, were slender and large, with slightly long fingernails painted black.
For what felt like an eternity Ryan was unable to move or speak. He'd always, ALWAYS, admired women. Young or old, petite or (to a degree) curvy, it usually didn't matter. His eye had always been drawn exclusively to females. His mind always wandered, if only for a split second, what it'd be like to sleep with any given woman he happened to encounter. Never before had a man registered as anything other than a friend and/or potential obstacle in the way of his sexual targets.
More than that, he had almost always had some kind of opener to engage a potential lover. No, it didn't always work. In fact a good chunk of the time he'd come off like an absolute moron. But he had to try, and before the whole internet decided to hate him, he had been suave (or persistent) enough to usually avoid a night alone.
For the first time in his life, he stood before a man that not only gave him a strangely strong stirring in his crotch, but also knocked the suave (or persistence) right out of him. To his utter embarrassment, the best he could come up with was "Um."
"Hello," the kid shyly offered. Ryan could tell he had a naturally deeper voice than his lithe body suggested, but social awkwardness had kicked it up a few octaves. "I uh, hope I got the right place. Were you looking for a roommate?"
"Right," Ryan said, snapping out of it. He stepped back and opened the door wider. "Come on in, see if you like what you see."
Ryan cringed and shook his head at his stupid remark as the kid walked inside, taking in the apartment. As he passed, Ryan couldn't help checking out the small but round ass tightly packed in the ratty jeans.
"You have an ID, right?" he asked.
"Yes, yes, I'm eighteen," the boy said, a small note of annoyance breaking through the shyness.
"Nothing personal," Ryan assured him, though inwardly he was relieved. Beforehand, he had decided any potential roomie he chose would at least be old enough to have a drink with him, but now he'd settle for legal adult. "My name's Ryan, by the way."
"Oh, I'm Jesse," he said, turning with his hand raised. Ryan briefly shook it, impressed with how soft it felt. "Jess for short."
"Jess it is then," Ryan said, smiling. He gestured to the apartment and added, "Feel free to look around, and let me know if you have any questions."