Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 43759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 219(@200wpm)___ 175(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 219(@200wpm)___ 175(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
they didn’t com m ent.
Eventually, by late afternoon, Jez was fed up with it. Making the
excuse of needing to call his fam ily, he went up to his room and hid out
there for the evening, only going back down to grab som e dinner, which
he ate upstairs. He didn’t see Mac again that night.
As the week progressed, Jez saw little of Mac.
Considering they were on the sam e course and norm ally sat
together, it was im pressive that Mac m anaged to avoid him all week. He
left the house early instead of walking in to lectures with Jez and spent a
lot of tim e study ing in the library rather than at hom e.
When their paths crossed in the com m unal spaces in the house, Jez
m ade the effort to act norm ally around him . As far as Jez was
concerned, nothing needed to change. What they ’d done together was a
bit of fun and nothing to stress about—but that didn’t m ean Jez could
forget about it. He didn’t want to forget about it. It had been seriously hot,
and even if it was a one-off, he’d be filing it away in his own personal
spank bank for y ears to com e.
Jez was frustrated at the distance between them , but he didn’t think
pushing would fix it. He went out running on Wednesday afternoon to
burn off som e excess energy and his irritation at Mac’s avoidance. The
weather had turned m uch cooler. It was early October, and they were
well into autum n now. He ran through town and up over the Hoe, where a
stiff sea breeze whipped his hair and a few drops of rain stung his cheeks.
The sea was choppy and m urky grey, reflecting Jez’s m ood. Shaking it
off, he picked up his pace, heading out along the sea front before finally
circling back hom e.
That night he slept better than he had in day s.
As the weekend approached, Mac started to relax around Jez again,
and they fell back into the easy friendship they ’d enj oy ed before. On
Friday, Mac took his usual seat beside Jez again in their m orning lecture,
and Jez welcom ed him with a nod and a sm ile. The professor droned on
about glaciers, and Jez was distracted—and he wasn’t the only one. He
caught Mac staring at him a couple of tim es, and then Mac would flush
and look away quickly, obviously still em barrassed about what had
happened.
They stay ed in together on Friday night when all the others had
plans—alone again for the first tim e all week. Jez was half expecting Mac
to hide out in his room and avoid him , and he was relieved when that
didn’t happen. Instead Mac j oined him in the living room in front of the
TV, and they ended up watching The Walking Dead on DVD.
“Do y ou want a drink?” Jez held up the half-full pint glass. “I got
som e cider because it was on special offer. It tastes a bit rough, but it does
the j ob.” Jez was in the m ood for the buzz of alcohol tonight. It m ight ease
the awkwardness between them .
“Yeah, thanks.”
Jez went to the kitchen to get the cider and another glass for Mac.
He’d bought a couple of two-litre bottles, deciding that even with his
econom y drive he could treat him self to a few drinks at the weekend.
Plus he owed Mac from the weekend before.
They watched a few episodes back to back. Jez refilled their glasses
whenever they were em pty and got the second bottle from the kitchen
when they finished the first one. As the alcohol seeped through Jez’s
sy stem , he felt warm and relaxed. He found him self slum ping sideway s,
half leaning on Mac’s solid bulk beside him . It was com fortable, and Mac
m ade no m ove to put any distance between them . Jez was relieved that
things were okay again. He’d m issed Mac this week while Mac was being
weird.
Mac’s glass was sitting em pty on the coffee table again, so Jez
leaned forward and unscrewed the cap on the second bottle. It fizzed up
as he poured it, m aking a frothy white head that filled the top third of the
glass.
“Oops.” He handed the glass to Mac, and their fingers brushed, the
warm contact m aking Jez’s belly fizz like the cider.
“Thanks.” Mac’s sm ile was lazy and open. He hadn’t sm iled at Jez
like that since last weekend.
Jez grinned back, losing him self in the beautiful stretch of Mac’s lips
and the crinkles at the corners of his dark brown ey es. “You’re
welcom e.”
“Are y ou try ing to get m e drunk?” Mac asked. His sm ile turned
teasing, flirtatious alm ost.
Jez felt his cheeks heat as he held Mac’s gaze for a few exciting,
uncom fortable seconds. “May be.”
He sat back again, watching the screen but no longer taking any of it