Curious (mxm)

Poor Timing

Erik's POV

I always got a sixth-sense shiver down my spine when Axel did Straight Boy™ things. Today was one of those days.

"He was supposed to get off an hour ago." I glanced at my watch and resisted the urge to take out my phone.

Jackson blinked at me like an owl. "Controlling much?"

"I just know his schedule."

"Mm you're definitely not wondering where he is right now." Jackson kicked his feet onto the coffee table. "Not to mention, desperately resisting the urge to text or call and ask."

We were watching Brokeback Mountain. I was trying to rewrite memories. "Shut up." I cuddled into the Grindr boy that I'd hardly done anything sexual with. "You're supposed to be comforting me, not rubbing salt in the wound."

Jackson patted my head on-cue. "Aw, poor thing. You kissed your best friend and expected it to go perfectly right off the bat."

I rejected his judgmental affection by batting his hand away from my hair. "Obviously I didn't expect it to— I didn't even plan to do it."

"Mhmm."

Jackson, the jerk. He was merciless in his disapproval towards my moping and he was fucking hot, too, which pissed me off. His hair was messed up in an obnoxiously perfect way and I wanted to kiss the mocking fake pout off of his face.

I poked his shoulder. "Talk about you. I'm really sick of talking about me and Axel."

Mostly I was sick of Jackson encouraging me to do horrible things, such as text Axel about what had happened between us or kiss Axel again when he got home.

Jackson smiled in a slightly-too-bright kind of way. "Just little ol' me. Why do you ask?"

"Because I'm deflecting, obviously," I grumbled. "I don't want to talk about the kiss. I want to talk about you."

"Ha! At least you can admit it," Jackson snorted. "I'm boring. All college kids are boring."

What was it he said his major was again? "Um ... how's physiology?"

Blue eyes always seemed to give the rudest glares. I was always on the receiving end of Axel's and was never able to give it right back to him. "It's kinesiology."

I did not know the difference. "Oh, duh."

"Anyway, I don't even really love my major," Jackson grumbled. "So it doesn't matter. I wish I'd majored in social work. I'm an idiot."

Thank God, finally, a point in time where I didn't have to listen to myself whine about my problems. I cuddled close and settled my hand into his hair. "Tell me about it."

I guess my hand in my hair must've been nice or something, because he leaned into my touch and closed his eyes. "I picked my major with a group of friends in high school. We all got into the same school and I thought we were going to be all cute and major in the same thing and be best friends forever."

"Okay. What happened?"

"They're douchebags."

I hummed knowingly. I knew a little bit about high school friends being douchebags.

"Anyway." Jackson's eyes opened and he looked a little bit dulled at the edges. His usual goofy energy was gone. "I should've just done what I wanted to begin with."

"True," I admitted. But considering I majored in communications and biology, and was now a photographer, I really wasn't one to talk. "Why don't you switch?"