Good Guys Don't Date Bad Boys

Chapter Fifteen -- The Big Question

"Do you like risky situations?" Jonathan asked as soon as they were safely inside the bathroom. Rushing across the hallway in the buff had given him a rush, and he felt his heart still hammering in his chest.

"Dex and Kane have their bedrooms downstairs. Only Rusty and I are on this floor."

"Ah, so you just enjoy stressing me out for no reason."

Maddox offered his dazzling smile. "You know, that time, at the pool, what was that?"

"What was what?" Jonathan asked as he stepped into the shower stall and pretended not to be affected by how Maddox almost glued himself to his back.

"You know. You ran away like I had the plague or something."

Could he really explain it? Jonathan took one deep breath. "It wasn't about you."

"Then what was it about?" Maddox insisted, just as his hands began to rub against his back, washing him gently.

Their roles were reversed. Back then, he had been the one washing Maddox's back, and it had all started as a joke.

"I was afraid," he admitted.

"Of my cum?" Maddox asked as his hands moved to his front and began rubbing his chest.

"Of you."

"Yeah, 'cause I'm so scary," Maddox said with a snort and moved his hands lower.

Jonathan pressed his hands against the tiled wall, to steady himself. Maddox moved again and began to soap his ass crack like it was the most natural thing in the world to do. "You're called Mad Dawg," he explained.

"Not for the reasons you think," came the enigmatic reply.

"Really?" He groaned as Maddox took care of his cock and balls, too. The worst or best part was how he was teasing his crack, though, not pushing or anything against his hole, but making it twitch in expectation. "Enlighten me."

"No way. Stick around for the whole month, and I'll tell you."

"I cannot imagine why you're so eager about this whole thing," Jonathan said. "Almost even more than me."

Maddox made him turn so they were facing each other. The water sprayed them, making their hair heavy and wet. "It's easier to be more eager than you. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you don't like me much."

Jonathan pushed the wet hair away from Maddox's face. He looked into his eyes. "I like you too much, former king of hookups. And that's not good for me."

"Why?" The grey eyes scanned his face.

"Isn't it obvious? You're straight; I'm gay. We could never work out."

Maddox's face stretched into a lazy grin. "Stop getting so serious, sexy lips. We're only hooking up."

Jonathan sighed in relief. For a moment there, he had thought he needed to explain himself. But Maddox took things easy, and easy they would remain, for the sake of their sanity. "Good, that's good. We should work out some arrangement, though."

"Because you need to study, right," Maddox replied. "I'll let you do that during the week."

"So, no more booty calls?" Jonathan asked, hoping that he didn't sound as disappointed as he felt.

Another grin convinced him that he had nothing to worry about. "You wish. I'll still call. And we need to work on the 'booty' part in 'booty call'."

Jonathan rinsed the suds off his body and then placed his hands on Maddox's chest. He wished the heat in his cheeks wasn't obvious, but by the way the other smiled, there was slim chance of that.

"That dude, was he straight?" Maddox asked.

No need to ask who he meant. Jonathan frowned as his hands explored the contours of Maddox's astonishing muscles. "Yes," he replied quietly.

"I see."

No other commentary followed. He could breathe freely.

"So, he ditched you for some girl?"

Ah, he had relaxed too soon. Jonathan shook his head.

"Is he the reason why you changed schools?"

That conversation was getting too close to home. "Turn your back," he ordered and began soaping Maddox's body down to the curve of his ass. This time, he didn't hesitate and enjoyed the feeling of those perfect mounds filling his hands while he did his best to tease the other as revenge for his earlier sweet torture. Maddox purred, quite audibly, and Jonathan licked his lips as he investigated along the line separating the buttocks and letting his fingers dart in and out, but only a little. They were walking a thin line here, and he should have been in bed by now.

"Was he afraid of commitment, so you're afraid, too, now?" Maddox insisted.

"Commitment? Why are you asking? No. Once our month of shenanigans reaches its end, I intend to find someone serious."

He hadn't intended to say so much, but Maddox was bugging him with all those questions.

They faced each other again. "Is Connor that someone?"

"He's a candidate," Jonathan replied tersely.

Maddox grimaced. "No, cross him off the list."

"I don't have a list."

"Good." That last word had come out belligerently, like suddenly, they had a bone to pick with each other. Sometimes, Jonathan wasn't sure Maddox was the open book he claimed he was. There was no reason for possessiveness between them. Yes, their month together involved exclusivity, but it stretched no longer than that.

***

Hmm, hmm, Maddox's mind was going in circles, ever since he had let Jonathan go back to his room. Pieces of the puzzle were coming together, but they didn't tell the whole story yet. First of all, Jonathan had had a lover. The word would have made his friends snort and laugh, but it suited the guy. Jonathan Hamilton didn't have boyfriends; he had lovers because everything he did felt like lovemaking.

Second of all, and the most irritating thing, he had been in love, seriously, deeply in love with that asshole. Maddox didn't know a lot about that, but hell, everything was serious when it came to Jonathan. He was the type of dude that had perfected his blowjobs for his lover's sake. That took dedication.

Third of all, and this was the silver lining, the asshole had ditched Jonathan. Not that he enjoyed seeing those beautiful amber eyes flicker with hurt, but it was only because of what had happened before that they had a chance to know each other now.

Maddox rolled onto his belly and sighed. By the end of their month together, Jonathan would forget that asshole ever existed in his life. Thank goodness the asshole hadn't fucked him; it was Maddox's solemn duty to make that so memorable for Jonathan that he'd never let go.

He was about to drift into a world of pleasant dreams when there was a short rap on the door. He didn't have a chance to invite the person in, because Rusty stuck his head in, scouting the room in one sweep.

"Hey, bud, what's up?" Maddox asked.

"I heard you had your boyfriend over. Did you score?"

Maddox grabbed a pillow and threw it at Rusty who caught it deftly and then marched toward the bed with mischief in his eyes. They were soon engaged in a battle with the pillow in the middle. It ended quickly when they both ended up on the floor.

"I give up," Maddox breathed out.

They lay on their backs, catching their breath. "I scored," Rusty said matter-of-factly.

"You wouldn't be the king of hookups otherwise," Maddox replied in kind.

"I thought you didn't read Xpress."

"Jonathan told me."

"Why?" There was puzzlement in the way Rusty asked the question.

"He was afraid that I might have regrets about being dethroned."

"Tell your boyfriend that's bullshit. I've always been the king."

Maddox laughed. "Sure, buddy, anything you say."

Rusty turned on one side, propping his head on his hand, arm bent at the elbow. "Did you score?" he insisted. "You look like you scored."

Maddox turned his head to look into his friend's eyes. "It was freaking amazing. But I didn't actually get to ass fucking if that's what you're so curious about."

Rusty groaned. "When are you going to fuck this dude? He's leading you by the dick."

"You know, Rusty, some people like to take it easy. We've barely met."

"Did he suck your dick? Give me at least that, or I won't be able to call you my bro anymore."

"Yeah, he did. And I sucked him off, too," Maddox offered.

Rusty's eyes grew wide. "For real? What does it taste like?"

"Fuck off. I told you too much already."

"No way, I need to know."

"Then go suck a dick and stop pestering me."

"Are you going to be all lovey-dovey with him now that you two sucked each other's dicks?"

Maddox sighed. "We're kind of secret."

"What do you mean? What's there to hide?"

Now this was a part of this conversation that Maddox didn't like very much. "He knows I used to be the king of hookups."

"No way you were," Rusty said. "Tell him that. Tell him who the true king is and always was."

"All right, all right. I bow before the king. Is that enough?"

Rusty nodded with a huff. "What's his problem?"

"Dunno," Maddox lied. He had his suspicions about the Asshole (yes, since he didn't have a name, he deserved a capital letter for that moniker), but he wanted to keep them to himself for now. "But my reputation of fuck 'em and leave 'em clearly doesn't help my case."

"Do you want me to talk to him? I can tell him you're the real deal."

"No, what the hell? I'm doing fine."

"No need to bite my head off, 'kay? You're just wussing around with this dude, is all."

"I'm not wussing around," Maddox protested. "It's just that I don't want to scare him off."

Rusty pushed against his shoulder hard. "He's not a girl, bro. Stop handling him like he's gonna break or something."

"Ah, screw you. I'm not going to take advice on this from you."

"Really? Who are you gonna listen to? Kane? He's practically half woman ever since he got hitched with Louise. Whatever he knows won't help you with a dude. And Dex doesn't love you the way I do," Rusty joked.

"Yeah, but Dex has two dads, and if I ever need advice, I can ask him to have them help me."

Rusty scrunched up his nose. "Dex's dads used to date, when? Like a century ago?"

"If I let them know you said that --" Rusty jumped on him for another session of roughhousing. There was no way to win. "All right, all right, I won't ask them anything," he promised.

Finally, Rusty declared himself satisfied and let him go.

"What's with you?" Maddox asked, wanting to steer the conversation away from Jonathan and learn what Rusty was getting up to these days. "I hear there's not one girl left on campus who hasn't had your tender loving care."

Rusty snickered. "You abandoned the cause, so I had to step up my game. Twice the work--"

"--twice the fun," Maddox completed the sentence. "You could slow down, you know? You're hooking up almost every day."

Rusty shrugged. "Not my fault you got slow. You need to score, grandpa."

"Why the hell do you want me to fuck Jonathan so much?" Maddox asked, with genuine curiosity.

Rusty's face was like a mask. "To see if you're really gay or not. And so you can get over this dude."

Maddox felt slightly annoyed by that last remark. "I don't want to get over him."

"Is that why you're not fucking him?"

"You know what, Rusty? Sometimes, you're a huge ass pain to talk to."

Did his buddy have a point? Could it be that once the novelty wore off, he'd end up getting over Jonathan? Over his gorgeous amber eyes, sexy lips, slender waist, round ass, and fucking A cock? Was it possible?

It wasn't impossible, for sure. How many times before had he gotten all worked up over a girl only to forget about her within a week? Suddenly, Jonathan's worries with regard to his person seemed very much legit.

"I hate you, Rusty," he said.

"Really, why?"

"But I love you, too. Because you just freaking opened my eyes. Now, get your ass to your room and sleep, 'cause it's past your bedtime."

"You can't make me."

"Well, in that case, you're welcome to sleep on the floor."

"No way. I'm sleeping with you on the bed."

"Dream on. There's only one guy whose ass I want in my bed, and that's not you."

"That hurt," Rusty joked and got to his feet. "And let me know how it goes with Jonathan. No one leads my bro by the dick."

Maddox sighed, but decided not to get into another argument with his friend. He needed time to chew on that revelation. What if he forgot about Jonathan once they fucked, and they became strangers again? The thought alone was so unsettling that he worried he might not get any sleep.

***

Jonathan tiptoed inside, not wanting to run into Ray and have to offer explanations on where he had been until that hour. There was no way he could lie to his bestie, not in good conscience now that Ray was pretty much aware of his crush on Maddox. It would be useless to invent a story that he needed to work late or something like that; the library always closed at the same time every day.

"Ah, there you are." Ray startled him by suddenly opening the door of his bedroom.

Through the open door, Jonathan noticed Hannah sitting on Ray's bed, leafing through a magazine about board games. Truly, those two had plenty of things in common, and Maddox had played quite the matchmaker when he brought them together.

"Yeah, I'm home," he said in a strained voice and offered an equally strained smile.

"You took a shower," Ray said and narrowed his eyes.

Jonathan rubbed the back of his head, realizing that his hair was still a bit damp. He had been in such a hurry to leave that he hadn't made sure to dry off properly.

"You've been with him," Ray concluded and grinned while leaning against the door jamb.

Jonathan gestured helplessly toward Hannah who had stopped reading the magazine and was now leaning forward. "Hi, Jonathan," she said and waved happily at him. "How is Maddox?"

Jonathan groaned and ran both hands over his eyes. "Guys, can you keep a secret?" There was no point in chiding Ray for telling Hannah.

"He didn't tell me anything," Hannah said as if she could read his mind. "It was just too easy to put two and two together after you left that time in such a hurry, ready to have Maddox's head. Ah, and there was also the way he talked about you."

Jonathan let his hands drop and now stared openly at Hannah. She was waiting and smiling. He gave up. "All right, what did he say?"

"Well," she began, obviously pleased with being able to share her knowledge on the topic, "he told me to go see if Ray was into girls, and he pointed him out to me by saying, I kid you not, 'it's the dude in the striped t-shirt hanging around that tall, gorgeous guy'. Yeah, that's what he said."

Jonathan was at a loss for words. Was Hannah joking? As much as she smiled, she did appear genuine.

"I bet he says that about everyone," he made a lame attempt to downplay it.

Hannah shook her head. "I've known Maddox since freshman year. He's not the kind of guy to call another guy gorgeous at the drop of a hat. Actually, I've never heard him say that ever."

"Wait, did you and Maddox..." Jonathan swallowed his words. "Not my business, please ignore me," he added quickly and put his palms up in surrender.

"Oh, gawd, no," she said and laughed. "He hooked up with my roommate at the beginning of freshman year. I think she was his first 'victim'," she explained while hooking her fingers to emphasize the quotation marks, "here, at Sunny Hill. She was pretty heartbroken over him, so I went over and called him on his bullshit."

Jonathan stared at Hannah again. Ray had moved away from the door to allow them to see each other and appeared to be having a great time just listening to their conversation. "Really? And what happened next? I mean, with your friend, the roommate --"

Hannah waved. "She got over him within a week and hooked up with someone else. We're not actually friends now. We're just too different. But somehow, Maddox and I remained friends."

The revelation was just too much. Could the famous -- former -- king of hookups be friends with a girl? Hannah was the living proof, and Jonathan had absolutely no reason to doubt her. "Huh, so there's someone impervious to his charms, after all," he said mostly to himself.

Hannah laughed. "Maddox is a great guy once you get to know him. And I think he has kind of a special sense when it comes to hooking up. It's like he knows which girls to choose. They're, you know, the superficial type."

Well, that begged an important question then, since Jonathan was pretty sure he wasn't either a girl or the superficial type. If anything, maybe he did take things a little bit too seriously. What on earth was he doing with someone like Maddox?

Unless, of course, he was falling in love, which was bad.

Was he falling in love? Now that was a big question.

***

Maddox hadn't ever known such suffering. Avoiding Jonathan during school days was fairly easy, per their understanding that they should keep their thing a secret, but the weekend was coming fast, and then there would be no more postponing possible. He sighed and groaned, letting his head drop down on the desk in front of him. His agitated state hadn't gone unnoticed, so a lot of people stopped by before the lecture to ask him if he was all right.

Mostly, he was, but not quite. Rusty, the beautiful asshole, had given him quite the puzzle to solve. Definitely, most definitely, he didn't want to get over Jonathan. As much as it would be pure torture for his dick, he would settle for just kissing and petting if that would prevent the fate of forgetting him. Only thinking of Jonathan's kisses was enough to make him want to just walk over to him, in his place in the last row, grab him and --

Ah, the pain. Maddox had always done what he wanted, and in the off-chance a girl didn't like him, he fretted for a little while and then he got over it. That was his usual modus operandi, but, right now, everything was new and pretty weird.

He looked over his shoulder, at Jonathan. The other appeared a bit troubled as well and kept his head down, checking his notes before the prof walked in. But Maddox could tell that Jonathan wasn't reading anything; his head didn't move at all, and he appeared so distant from the world around him like he really needed a big hug that very moment.

***

After a glorious start to the week, Maddox hadn't called him at all, and Jonathan had debated numerous times over calling him or sending him a message instead. Still, his pride hadn't let him. At first, he had thought that Maddox was simply busy with his studies like everyone else, but throughout the week, another truth had become apparent.

Maddox was avoiding him. Whenever they saw each other by accident on campus, they just waved an acknowledgement, and this time, it had been Maddox who suddenly changed his direction and walked away from any chance that they might be in close proximity.

The familiar unease was back in full force. But it wasn't like him to dwell on such things. Why would he? One bad experience had been enough. Sure, Maddox talked big about the attraction between them, but it was one thing to be horny and have someone available at the right moment, and another to take some time and think things over. They were just hooking up, and actually, even that they hadn't done for days now.

He would address the problem head on. If he was free to pursue a boyfriend, he wanted to know for sure. Jonathan had no time for games, and if Maddox thought himself interesting for doing so, he would have some thinking to do.

No, he would not be made a fool of once more. Drew had been enough, and that had led to other bad things that he didn't want to think about. Coming here was his chance to tailor himself a proper life, one free of lies and misery, as he had promised himself.

It was freeing to remind himself of the promise he had made at the start of the year. So Maddox had messed up his plans for a little while, but that meant nothing.

He raised his eyes and saw Maddox turned in his seat, watching him. Heat rushed to his cheeks; why was he staring like that? Even if they were at a fair distance, that body language was quite obvious.