Nathan Marsh's State of Being

Chapter Three

intrigued

"Okay," Harley said, stopping me from walking with a hand on my shoulder.

I glanced up at him to see him watching Noel, Dylan, and the other guy, Rex, who had impossibly pale skin and impossibly dark black hair, tred away.

Where I'd found Noel hard to read and cool as ice, Rex was intimidating with his sharp features and bright blue eyes. Both of them, along with Dylan, however were all incredibly nice and shockingly outgoing.

They were the group of guys who sort of seemed mismatched in the same way a rubix cube had so many different combinations yet in the end came together neat and uniform.

Judging by the stories I'd hear them tell and how comfortable they were with each other, I assumed they grew up together.

"That was weird," Harley said, drawing my attention again. "Wasn't that weird?"

Noel had his hands in his pockets, kicking at a stray rock in his path as he walked. I shook my head at Harley. "No. I think it was fine."

"Nate, you hardly spoke. Normally you're the loudest person around."

"Rude."

"Truth-telling," he countered. "They just talked to themselves the whole time."

I held up a finger and pointed it at him as I spoke. "Not the whole time. Noel asked about lacrosse."

Harley snorted in amusement. "No he didn't. He said field hockey."

"How's he supposed to know the difference?"

He sighed. "You know what? Doesn't matter. At least he speaks to you now. Guess it took you walking in on him during sex for that to happen."

I smiled, knowing my relaxed opinion was annoying him. "Doesn't bother me."

"Also, he still calls you Nat."

I sucked my lips against my teeth, letting them go with a popping sound. "Yeah...that's 'cause I told him he could."

Harley chuckled and patted me on the back. We began walking back towards our dorm. "You're such a dumbass."

I couldn't even argue with him on that one.

Hours later, after working in the library with Harley on reading assignments, I was back at my room to find the door wide open.

I stepped inside, feeling oddly cautious which I realized was a thing now. Part of me was slightly nervous that I'd walk in on Noel naked again. Normally, I'd have been jumping for joy being in the presence of an extremely hot naked guy, especially since I'd been increasingly horny lately and Jason and I had hardly fucked all summer.

The thought was bitter in my mind as I remembered it was because he was busy fucking someone else. I bit my cheek and ignored the dull ache in my chest as I dropped my bag on the floor beside my bed.

Noel glanced up from his book for a brief second and then went back to reading.

"Yo," he said, sounding distracted.

I grinned, dropping back into my naturally friendly demeanor, even though Noel wasn't looking at me. "Hi."

I pulled my laptop out of my bag and flopped onto my bed, kicking my shoes off before swinging my feet around. I leaned against the wall, facing Noel, as I brought up the web browser. Finally finished with my reading assignments that never seemed to end, there were a few videos I'd been wanting to watch all day.