“It just might, Damon,” he said.
“We’re made of stronger stuff than that.” I tipped the can and drained the last of my Coke, letting the silence go on a bit longer.
Seth nodded, looking at something interesting in his hands. I couldn’t see what it was, but it occupied Seth’s attention entirely for a few heartbeats. “It’s good to see you, too,” he said. “Really.”
“There. You survived.” I tossed the can inside the paper bag and got up. My muscles were sore from the killer combo of gym and drills on the same day. Things that crossed my mind had no place being said now. I didn’t want to resurrect the ghosts of old lovers and boyfriends and dating. And I sure as hell didn’t want to sit here determining who didn’t want to text first and why. I knew who I was without seeing the judgment in Seth’s eyes. I didn’t need to hear the justifications. I already knew that I was nobody’s ideal boyfriend.
I hadn’t heard him stand up. Only when his hand touched the back of my arm did I realize he’d approached me. “All good?”
I cracked a grin and turned to him. “Better than good. Very good, I dare say.”
That made him laugh. I knew it would. “One thing I never understood,” Seth said, his hand still on my arm, though I wasn’t going to point that out. “They made you look like such a broody mystery on the show. And you played along.”
I shrugged. “That meant I didn’t need to learn any lines.”
“No way,” Seth said. “It was scripted?”
“Sometimes,” I said. “When they wanted a cool line for a teaser, they’d feed it to us before rolling the cameras.”
“And you didn’t feel like memorizing lines,” Seth said, his voice adding the unspoken word.Typical.
“I had to memorize my marks and poses for maximum muscle display,” I said. “It’s quite technical.”
“It’s just funny that people don’t realize you have the dumbest sense of humor and you do the worst impressions.” Seth’s hand moved away from my arm, and he tucked it into his pocket. “You’re pretty lame when you think about it, but the world has no clue.”
“And it’s gonna drive you insane to be the only one who knows the truth. Who’s gonna believe you?” I turned a little to face him fully. “You’ll never convince them, gov’ner.”
“Someday, I’ll get ya,” Seth vowed. “And the world will know what a nerd you are. ‘Oh, I miss the stars.’ Pathetic.”
My arm made up its own mind and slid around Seth’s waist, pulling him in until we were pressed together. I smirked and gazed down on his heated face. “I miss your naked ass under the stars, not the stars themselves. It’s an important distinction.”
Seth wiggled a little but couldn’t break free of my hold. For all his nice physique, he wasn’t even close to being my match. “There’s so much willing ass on this campus, you just have to take your pick.”
“I did,” I said.
He tried to laugh it off, but it was forced and strangled. “You know the deal,” he said.
“This doesn’t go against the terms,” I said.
He got his hands up to my chest and rested them there. “Let’s see. Rooftop, food, gifts, and sentimental memories. Damon, this is almost a date.”
“So?” I asked. “I don’t just hook up with people. I can also be nice.”
We both knew that wasn’t entirely true. Seth smiled, though. “I know you can. That’s the trouble.”
I loosened my hold on him. People didn’t tend to say that. It wrecked my playboy persona. We parted to allow a bit of empty space between our bodies. Being near him didn’t just make me horny by default; it also clouded my judgment. “We can keep it simple. We always did.” That, too, was a bit of a lie. But if he didn’t know things got complicated for me, then what harm was done? “Nobody got hurt the other night.”
Seth bit his lower lip, the memory of the weekend party still fresh, apparently. “It makes me a liar.”
I snorted. “To Nick. What else is new?”
“You’re right,” Seth said. “I don’t hate that I have to lie to Nick, but it’s still lying. And when will it become too much? If he finds out, he won’t take it well. The truth or the lying.”
“He won’t find out,” I said. “I’m not telling him shit.”
“When has an affair ever stayed hidden?” Seth asked pointedly.
I chuckled. “Affair. Makes us seem so fancy, and all we do is fuck.” But he wasn’t amused. “Fine. You have a point. Odds are that on a distant day, when we decide to elope together, Nick will be blowing steam from his ears. I can live with those odds.”