Suite Mates (bxb)

Chapter 5

Derek

When Ryan texted me the next day asking to go out to lunch, I rolled my eyes back into my head so fast it was a miracle I didn't get whiplash. The guy just did not get a clue.

However, he added that his suite mate was going to tag along. Which of course had me agreeing.

I also felt slightly bad for assuming that Ryan would continue to chase me after I'd let him down easy. I should've given my friend a little bit more credit than that.

I met the two of them in a local diner. It was one of those earthy kind of places that made most of their profit on coffee and sandwiches. James looked cute as all hell in his jeans and button-up shirt. His blue shirt was the same color as his shoes, so he'd definitely put some thought into his clothing. It almost looked like he'd dressed up for the occasion.

Ryan was wearing a crop top and jean shorts, so he'd obviously decided to dress down for the occasion.

"Hey, Derek!" Ryan chirped. His eyes were bright with joy, so clearly he'd moved on from sobbing in his room about how I'd never love him back. It was kind of comforting to know that the pain I'd caused him was short-lived.

I stood and he jumped into my arms to hug me. It gave me the ability to smirk at James from over his shoulder.

James blushed.

"This is my suite mate, James!" Ryan said. He waved a arm in front of James, like he was presenting him to me. "I thought you two would get along, so I figured I'd get us all together."

Was Ryan trying to set me up with his suite mate? Suddenly I was filled with gratitude towards the little guy. He must've seen how shaken I was after meeting James the first time. He'd put aside his own feelings just to help me land the guy I liked.

There was a reason Ryan was my friend. He was just selfless sometimes, even when he didn't have to be.

I reached out and shook James' hand. "It's great to meet you."

Surprise graced Ryan's features. He was probably shocked I was actually getting along with somebody, but of course I was. James was great.

James nodded and let our handshake linger. I looked into those baby blues of his and saw returned desire. Despite his wish to not hurt Ryan, he felt something for me in return. "It really is."

"So, let's order something!" Ryan said. He clasped his hands together and bounced on the balls of his feet. "I just love this place!"

We all sat down and I smiled at James. "So James, I haven't seen you around campus before now. You must not be a Comp Sci major."

Ryan's jaw subtly dropped. Apparently he was amazed that I was even bothering to make conversation. Ryan severely underestimated my wooing skills.

"Is that Computer Science?" James asked. At my nod, he continued. "Yeah, not my thing. I'm big on immunology. I'm a Microbiology major."

"Damn," I whistled. "You gonna do research?"

He grinned. "That's the plan."

A scientist. That was so hot.

"So how about you?" James asked. "What do you do with Computer Science? Do you hack into stuff?"

I snorted. "Yeah, I wish. Mostly I just work with algorithms. If you need me to make a program that organizes numbers numerically, I'm your guy."

Ryan giggled. "Wow, this is all going straight over." He made a whooshing sound and passed his hand over his head. "I could never do STEM. Theatre is the best."

I loved Ryan like a brother, but I really wanted him to leave so I could learn more about sexy James and his immunology. I mean I appreciated Ryan for setting up the date, but wasn't this the part where he was supposed to realize he'd left the oven on and needed to get home ASAP?

The waiter approached our table and took our orders before heading off. I scooted a little to the side so I was directly across from James.

"So are you in that business frat thing?" I asked.

"Oh hell no," James snorted. "Professional fraternities are not my thing. Neither are regular ones, for that matter... uh, are you in one?"

I smirked. "Nope, lucky for you or I'd be really offended."

He rolled his eyes.

"So, Ryan tells me that you're gay?"

James choked and regarded me with wide, unblinking eyes. "Excuse me?"

I dropped my face into the palm of my hand and smiled. "It's just something he's mentioned. Is that why you're rooming together? Or, well, adjacent to each other?"

Ryan scoffed. "Oh please, Derek, you know I'd be rooming with you if you weren't a commuter. Jeremy and I got put with Noah and James randomly."

The waiter brought us our food and I dove in. I caught James watching my mouth with hooded eyes a couple times and I really wanted to eat him up instead. He was so cute. I made sure to accidentally brush my foot up against his a couple times and I smiled when he blushed.

Ryan was painfully oblivious. "Well, it's just so funny how we all came to know each other in different ways and now we're friends! Or well, I'm friends with you. But you'll be friends with each other soon I bet, huh James?"

James coughed on his sandwich. This guy was always having swallowing problems.

"Um, yeah, for sure," James said, shyly meeting my eyes. I sent him a wicked smirk.

"I'm sure we will be," I agreed. "Why don't we kick it off right now? I'll write my number down before we head out and you can text me sometime."

James fidgeted and glanced at Ryan, who was grinning at me. Once he was reassured that Ryan wasn't going to scream at him or something, he nodded.

I had to wait until the check came before slipping James my number. He kept looking nervously at Ryan, so clearly he hadn't picked up on Ryan's ulterior motives.

I was just so glad that I had a friend kind enough to set me up with someone I liked.

-

How are you all liking the story so far? What do you think is going to come from Derek's little misunderstanding?