The Coincidence 07 Seth & Greyson (10 page)

Greyson

Friday night, I’m stupidly nervous for some reason. It’s not like Seth and I haven’t hung out. We’ve spent a lot of time together since the poker game. We hung out that night at the Red Ink, drinking well into the morning hours, and we’ve grabbed lunch together, been to a movie, and texted off and on each day in the week since. 

Tonight’s date night, and I waver between being excited and wanting to hurl as Seth and I wander past the painted canvases and photographs hanging on the walls. Maybe it’s because I haven’t really done much dating, and I feel a bit out of my element, my full awkwardness shining through.

“So, this is what you do, huh?” Seth squints at a photo of a flower taken at an angle to blur the surroundings.

“In a way, kind of.” I take a sip of my wine as I study him instead of the photo. “I actually prefer taking pictures of people, though.”

“Oh, yes, I remember.” Seth glances at me from the corner of his eye, his lips twitching upward. “When they’re not watching, right?”

I shake my head, reliving the embarrassment all over again. “Actually, yes. And not just with you,” I say as we move to the next exhibit, a canvas splattered with neon colors. “I think the best photos are taken when the person isn’t watching. They’re completely themselves and not so self-conscious.”

“Yeah, I can kind of see that.” He examines the painting in front of us. “No offense, but I don’t really understand how splattering paint across a canvas can be art.”

“No offense taken at all, since I completely agree with you.” I smile at him, grab his arm, and wander toward the back corner, where a few of my photos are being displayed. “What about these? What do you think of them?”

Seth finishes the rest of his wine then angles his head to the side. “I’m not sure… they feel kind of dark and are taken at a really awkward angle.”

I feel like I’ve been punched in the stomach. “Yeah, I guess I can see that.”

Seth turns his head toward me with a sly smile on his face. “I’m fucking with you. I know they’re yours.”

I shake my head, but realize how much I value his opinion. “That was a dick move,” I say in a light tone so he’ll know I’m kidding.

“Sorry. I promise I didn’t mean it, though. I just have a twisted sense of humor.” He turns his concentration to the picture I took of Jenna and Ari on a bridge with the river as their background.

“They didn’t know I was taking it,” I explain, moving up behind him.

He tenses from my nearness, but doesn’t budge. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the way he kissed me the other night. I was kind of shocked when he allowed me to kiss him, and I was completely floored when he took charge the way he did. I can’t wait to kiss him again. Tonight. Tomorrow night. Kiss and kiss and kiss.

“They look so happy and in love,” he remarks quietly. “And free.”

“Free?”

“To be themselves.” He cups his scarred arm as he stares at the picture. “I kind of envy them in a way.”

“Seth.” I gently place a hand on his arm. “Tell me what happened.”

He shakes his head. “I can’t.”

“Why not? I promise, I’m a good listener. I can be there for you.”

He shakes his head again. “It’s too soon and honestly, I think the story’s a little too dark for you. I love how you don’t see all the ugly in the world… I don’t want to take that away from you.” Summoning a deep breath, he turns around and faces me. “So, you have to tell me what’s up with that giant statue at the front door that totally looks like a penis.” His subject change throws me off a bit, and it takes me a moment to get my footing again.

“Penis statue?” I scratch my head. “I’m not sure which one you’re talking about?”

He aims a finger toward the front door at a tall, blue tinted sculpture.

I shake my head. “Fuck, it really does look like a penis, doesn’t it?”

He laughs. “It does, but I don’t think that’s what it’s supposed to be. The plaque on it said ‘to inspire you.’ It totally did, but not in the way I think it’s meant to.”

“Oh, yeah.” I down the rest of my wine in one swallow. “How did it inspire you, then?”

“It inspired me to never, ever attempt to understand art.” He peeks over his shoulder at my photos. “I like yours, though. They’re the only ones I really get.”

“Just wait until you see Jenna’s.” When intrigue crosses his face, I grab his hand and pull him toward the back of the building. On my way, I swipe two more glasses of wine from of the serving table, then duck behind a curtain that leads to the room where Jenna set up her exhibit.

Darkness surrounds us, and I smile to myself as Seth’s hand tightens on mine. When Jenna told me what she was doing, I initially thought it was creepy. Now, though… Well, I think she might be fucking brilliant.

“What the hell is this?” he hisses under his breath. “I can’t see a damn thing.”

“I think that might be part of the point,” I whisper, sliding my hand up his arm. I feel him shiver from my touch and my cock starts to get hard. Unable to see, any reservation I felt has vanished and I feel so… alive. “Come here,” I whisper, pulling him closer.

Our bodies crash together, but our lips don’t quite connect, and we end up bumping foreheads. We laugh, fingers fumbling, my heart racing.

“Okay, that was
so
the worst kiss.”

“No way,” he says as he works to catch his breath. “I think it might quite possibly be the best kiss I’ve ever had.”

 Before I can reply, his lips find mine. Through the dark, my hands wander over his body, up his arms to his shoulders as I pull him closer. My pulse pounds as I let out a quiet moan and deepen the kiss, gripping him tightly. I’ve kissed plenty of guys, but this kiss is so different. I feel so comfortable, so
un-
awkward, so in my element. Right now, in this moment, is exactly where I belong. It took me a while to find it, and I’m not about to fucking let it go.

Suddenly, a bright light flashes through the room, lighting up the walls and curtains around us.

Seth jerks back, eyes wide as the lights turn on. “What the fuck was that?”

“That was perfection.” Jenna jumps through the curtain with an old school Polaroid photo in her hand. “Oh, my God, that was seriously the most perfect kiss I’ve ever seen.”

Seth’s jaw is pretty much hanging to the floor. “Were you watching us?” he asks, trying to catch his breath.

“Only towards the end.” She lifts the photo in front of her. “So I could take this. It’s part of my exhibit. You would be amazed at how much freedom people feel when they’re in a dark room and don’t think anyone’s watching.”

“But someone
was
watching.” He snatches the photo and stares at it as the white turns to color. “A creepy girl with purple hair.”

“I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable,” Jenna says, but doesn’t sound particularly apologetic. “If it makes you feel any better, I’ve done it to like ten other couples already. And one couple was a step away from having sex on the floor.”

Seth’s nose scrunches as he glances down at the carpet, but he loosens up when he looks back at the photo again. “I’ll forgive you,” he says. “But I’m keeping the photo.”

“You have to let me at least see it first.” Jenna reaches to take the photo.

Seth tucks his arm behind his back. “No way.”

Jenna pokes out her lip and clasps her hands in front of her. “
Please
.”

Seth glowers at her. “You know that cutesy, innocent look isn’t going to work on me, right?”

Jenna scowls at him, but then smirks. “I bet I can get you to show it to me.”

“Yeah, right. You don’t know who you’re messing with, honey. I always get my way.”

Jenna pokes my side. “Greyson, pout and tell him you want him to show me the photo.”

I raise my hands in front of me. “I’m not getting into the middle of this.”

She jabs me again. “You’re the one who instigated the kiss, therefore this is all your fault.”

“That is kind of true,” he says, amused. “So, she has a valid point.”

I gape at the two of them. “What kind of logic is that? And how the hell did you two go from arguing to turning on me.”

“We’re not turning on you.” She reaches up and pinches my face between her hands. “We just want to see that cute pouty face of yours. I don’t know what the big deal is. You do it all the time, anyway.”

I shift my weight and move my head out of her grip. “I do not?” I glance at Seth. “Do I?”

Jenna beams brightly. “See? Now do it.”

I roll my eyes, but oblige them and pout. Seth covers his mouth to hide his laughter, while Jenna claps her hands like she won a prize.

“See? Adorable,” she singsongs, still clapping her hands in front of her.

I shake my head, snatch the photo from Seth, and shove it at her. “There you go.” I head for the curtain. “I’m leaving before the two of you try to make me strip or something.”

“I’m totally down for that,” Seth calls out and Jenna busts up in a fit of giggles.

I’m not really mad, especially since Seth seemed okay with having our picture taken. Earlier, when Jenna suggested I take Seth back there during our date, I was a little hesitant over how he’d react.

I end up waiting for Seth on the other side of the curtain. He comes out moments later, stuffing the photo into his pocket.

“Don’t I at least get to see it?” I cross my arms and stick out my lip.

“In a bit,” he replies in a playful tone, quickly swiping his finger across my lip. “Now, come on. Let’s go get stupidly drunk on wine and make fun of that large and slightly crooked penis statue at the front.”

Laughing, I follow him back over to the wine, where we both get a refill.

We spend the next couple of hours wandering around, looking at art, admiring some, but mostly just making fun of stuff. It’s probably the most fun date I’ve ever had, and by the time we’re headed back to the dorms, I don’t want the night to end.

“If you want, we can go back to my place for a while,” I suggest to Seth in the backseat of Ari’s car.

Ari is driving and is a little grumpy about it, since he was elected DD and is now stuck chauffeuring Jenna, Seth, and I around.

Seth doesn’t answer right away and I can almost feel his anxiety, even sitting a seat length away from him. I wonder exactly what he thinks I’m proposing.

“Okay… Yeah, but only on one condition.” The streetlights from outside reflect in his eyes as he smiles at me.

“And what’s the condition?”

“That we stop and get some ice cream. I have the drunk munchies.”

“Drunk munchies? I didn’t know that was a thing.”

“It’s kind of my thing.” He scoots closer to me. “Every time I get drunk, I feel like I’m starving.”

“Oh! I totally get that!” Jenna exclaims from the front seat and fist pumps the air, but ends up smacking herself in the face. “Ari, to the ice cream store!”

The three of us erupt in laughter and even Ari seems to get a kick out of it.

“I’ll get you ice cream,” he says, steering the car into the store parking lot. “But no more drinks for you.”

She waves him off and hops out of the car before it even comes to a full stop. The rest of us get out and chase her into the store, all the way to the frozen food section. We make our selections and I learn just how big an ice cream junkie Seth is when he chooses three flavors—mint, cookie dough, and chocolate chip.

“Please tell me you’re not going to mix all three together,” I say as we climb back into the car after we’ve paid.

“Of course I am.” He smiles at me as he shuts the door. “What other way is there to eat ice cream?”

“The normal way.” I buckle my seatbelt. “One flavor at a time.”