“I’m sure a tutor who specializes in paleontology and bioinformatics will be very hard to find,” Liam said drily. He tapped the cue, but at Coury’s humored laugh, pushed too far.
Coury’s eyes glittered. “Left me a good run.”
“It moved more than I intended.”
Coury ran the table and high-fived Liam a decent slap against his open hand, with just the right amount of sting. “Nice game.”
“For you. You gave me nothing.”
“Welcome to my world.” Coury handed the stick to Beckett. “You two play.”
“Think your dad will give you the money for a tutor?” Beckett asked.
“You know someone who can help me?” Coury stretched, his shirt riding up to expose tight abs and a little dark-blond treasure trail.
Liam almost lost his nerve. He averted his eyes. “I can help you.”
“Seriously?” Coury sat up, fire in his eyes. “You would?”
“That’s right,” Beckett said, delighted. “Squ . . .Liam’sthe science nerd.”
Coury held up a hand in front of Beckett’s face, meeting Liam’s gaze. “Ignore the troll and don’t feed him or he’ll never leave.”
“Tell me about it.” Liam smirked. “But yeah, I’ll help you. I loved that class.”
“Oh, man. You’re the best.” Coury grabbed Liam in a bear hug, pulling him off the ground. Gravity raced through Liam, bolting him with electricity. The hairs on his nape prickled, the backs of his knees grew weirdly sensitive, and his dick hardened.
He squirmed free, and Coury bounced obliviously back to the couch.
Holy shit, that was close. Liam had never gotten so hard that fast. Engulfing him in those strong arms better not be something Coury did often. Or tutoring him would be . . . harder than he thought.
Beckett lined up his shot. “So . . . tonight.”
Liam folded his arms. “According to Pop, you, me, and Coury are going out.”
“He told you?” Beckett looked up as he struck; the cue careened to the side and it ended up a weak break.
Coury struggled not to laugh, which helped Liam’s confidence. “So it’s true?”
Beckett grabbed the rack to reset the balls, but Coury popped up. “Whoa, you can’t reset because you suck. You gotta play out.”
Coury gently pried the plastic triangle from his friend’s hand.
“Thanks,” Liam said.
Beckett cleared his throat. “Coury mentioned a party and I thought . . . I mean he invited both of us.”
“You suck at this, Becks,” Coury said. He paused until Liam put the fourteen ball in the side pocket. “There’s a party at—now let me get this right—Luke’s boyfriend Nico’s roommate Isaiah’s boyfriend Darren’s frat.” He ticked off fingers as he recited the progression. “And we’re invited.”
“You meanyou’reinvited.” Liam kept his eyes on his shot.
“Right, but I can bring friends.” Coury held up a finger to stop Beckett from interrupting. “Look, I heard about your roommate being an asshole. Darren is the head of his frat, the party’s for his boyfriend. It’s a safe place to go, hang out, have fun. No homophobic shit allowed. I mean, party for Darren’sboyfriend, right? And you know I ain’t letting anyone talk shit about us in front of me.”
“Exactly,” Beckett said. “It’ll be cool.”
Beckett cared enough to set this up with his best friend? Liam’s eyes stung. He swallowed hard. Now he understood why his brotherrandomlydecided to come this weekend for no real reason.
“Can I agree with one condition?”
