Hard pass.
Then wear your glasses!
They. Look. Stupid.
They absolutely do not look stupid. They look hot! That picture you just sent should be YOUR Cock’d profile picture.
And… Rusty did not know what to do with that. He stared at his phone, the wordhotscreaming at him. He shifted uncomfortably, checking his surroundings like he expected witnesses to start judging him, even though he was alone in his room.
He started, then deleted, a reply numerous times before finally settling on, “Now who’s the fucking comedian.”
I’m being serious. You look good in glasses. It’s giving… sexy professor. I kind of want you to give me detention.
Firstly, gross! Secondly, professors teach in uni, so I don’t think they give detention.
It’s my fantasy! If I want a sexy professor to give me detention and spank me with a ruler, then I deserve that.
I hate everything about this conversation.
You need to learn how to take a compliment.
And you need to keep me as far away from your weird fantasies as possible!
Ew, I’m not fantasizing about you. I was speaking more generally. Your glasses just offered inspiration.
I don’t want to inspire your fantasies, Gem!
Then don’t send me sexy pictures!
Since Rusty really didn’t know what to do with any of that, he simply replied with a middle-finger emoji before setting his phone aside and refocusing back on his main character’s leg warmers. He hated feeling flustered, and he especially hated how easy it was for Gem to get under his skin and do the flustering. Half the time, Rusty wanted to throttle him within an inch of his life. The only reason he hadn’t done it was because he physically couldn’t reach Gem’s neck if he tried!
Another text came through, and Rusty groaned as he tucked his stylus behind his ear and picked up his phone.
Did I go too far? Are you mad? Sorry.
I’m not mad.
Promise?
With a harrumph, Rusty took another selfie, this one focused on his hand, pinky finger curled like he was offering Gem a pinky-swear, then typed out, “I promise.”
Gem’s response was a picture of him offering his pinky back, his face alight with a grin. His eyes were bloodshot still, and he looked exhausted. But the smile was genuine and bright. It settled something in Rusty’s chest.
Good. Now I gotta go. I’m trying to convince Toni to stop mothering me long enough so I can go home.
He was really worried about you. We all were.
And I appreciate it, but it’s getting a bit smothering. So now I just wanna go home and suffer on my couch. Maybe watchThe Stranger by the Shoreto make myself feel better.
That brought Rusty up short.
You watch anime?
Um, duh! BL is my jam. Do you like it? You should come over and watch with me! Toni doesn’t like anime, so I always watch alone.
We probably watch different kinds of anime. Ever seenChainsaw Man?
No. Is it sexy?
