Good
Guys Don't Date Bad Boys Ch. 37
By
Laura S. Fox
Copyright
© 2022 Laura S. Fox
All
Rights Reserved
Gay
Erotica
Intended
for Mature Audiences Only
This
story will contain graphic depictions of sexual intercourse, strong language
and it is not meant for readers who are less than 18 years of age.
Consider
making a donation to Nifty by clicking the little blue button on the front
page, as they help us all enjoy so many great stories, while aiding authors
like me to display their work.
Chapter
Thirty-Seven - Clean Up Your Act, Rusty Parker!
Hey, hey, Sunny Hill, are you ready
for another episode of the biggest drama on campus? Just put your textbooks
down for a moment, because we have news for you! No, it's not starting to rain
men on the streets of our beloved campus, but it sure does rain hurt feelings
and whatnot.
Did any of you ever think you would see
Jonathan Hamilton's cool facade break? The perfect gentleman act appears to
have been long forgotten... Oh, Jonathan... Desperation is so not a good look
on you... And it surely doesn't go with any of your four-hundred-dollar
sweaters!
We now have confirmation that
Jonathan and our king Rusty Parker really played the horizontal cha-cha behind
Maddox Kingsley's back. As you all know by now, Maddox dropped his so-called
boyfriend like a hot potato the moment he learned - from us, of course - that he
had been taken for a fool by Cold Beauty himself...
...and also by his best friend for
life. But maybe we should scratch that last bit from that title, there is no
`for life' anymore, and we doubt that Maddox and Rusty are even simple friends at
the moment. We get it, Maddox, we get it. Rusty should have stuck to that old maxim.
Bros before hoes, right?
In the wake of all this drama
happening right here, at the heart of Sunny Hill, you would expect things to
die down by now, to see Jonathan Hamilton walking hand in hand with Rusty
Parker, and for Maddox to return to the loving arms of his female adorers.
But no, these boys just won't let us
put our pens down! (figuratively speaking, of course).
Rusty seems to have lost all interest in Jonathan, as he does with all his
conquests. Did you think you could keep the notorious sex beast all to
yourself, Jonathan? It appears you're not that special, no matter what Maddox may
have told you. You should have stuck with the guy who appreciated you.
Desperation
was, without a doubt, too strong a word, Jonathan wanted to believe. To the
outside world, at least, his only attempts to try to get Maddox to talk to him had
been a few chance encounters around campus. The magnifying glass under which
they were being put, however, intensified everything else, especially
perspective, hence the new piece in Xpress.
From the
last row, he examined the back of Maddox's head, while the same bad feelings
kept roiling in his gut. At least, one of them wasn't in the plethora of sentiments
assaulting him at the moment, and that was regret for having ever gotten
together with Maddox in the first place. He had expected that one to hit him
first, but there was nothing like that. This time, he couldn't blame it all on
someone else, and, in a strange way, that made him feel like he had some
semblance of control over the situation. Yes, Maddox's words still hurt each
time he remembered them and, yes, Maddox was unfair to think of him as a
cheater, but despite all that, Jonathan understood on a deep level why his
former boyfriend had reacted the way he had. If given the chance, Jonathan
would apologize until he was red in the face, but Maddox's cold stare had been
enough to make the words die on his lips. That and, of course, Maddox had
walked away every time, leaving him standing there like an idiot, talking to
the empty air.
In the midst
of all that, there was also someone else hurting, and Jonathan couldn't risk
reaching out to him. The rumor mill had enough fodder as it was, and if it
wanted someone to churn so badly, let it be him. Rusty had steered clear of
him, as well, probably because he didn't want to feed Xpress any more stupid
reasons to assume that there was something going on between them.
Ray had
found the problematic sweater almost perfectly folded and packaged in a paper
bag outside their dorm room with a single note. Too nice for me. Jonathan hadn't said a word, and Ray hadn't asked,
and the sweater had ended up, paper bag and note, at the back of a drawer. If
things ever got back to normal, Jonathan planned on convincing Rusty that he
should still take the sweater.
Each one of them
tried to deal with the aftermath in his own way. Maddox by ignoring him, and
probably Rusty as well, he, Jonathan, by trying to get Maddox to listen, and
Rusty... well, he didn't know what Rusty was doing, but it was a good bet that
feeling miserable was high on the list. During Thanksgiving break, he had
caught a glimpse of Rusty that wasn't anything like the persona everyone else
thought they knew, and that glimpse told Jonathan that the chances were that
Maddox's best friend was suffering just as much as he was, if not more.
The
professor called them at the end of the class and praised them on an excellent
project. Maddox stood a good foot away from him and didn't spare him a glance.
Jonathan felt the now familiar ache all over and accepted the praises in a
mechanical, barely polite way. When Maddox moved away, his feet forced him to
follow, but only for a couple of steps. Through sheer willpower, he stopped
himself. Let Xpress figure out what else they could invent about a story they obviously
hoped to keep going for months if he no longer acted desperately in public.
On the
inside, desperation was the name of the game, indeed. In the dim past, he had
thought himself in love with Drew, but those pale feelings were nothing
compared to the scorching heat that threatened to engulf him whole each time he
thought of Maddox and what they had used to have.
It was in
the light of those feelings that he couldn't bring himself to hate Maddox for
ignoring him, not even a little. After all, it was a measure of how serious
Maddox had been about their relationship. If Maddox hadn't cared at all about
being lied to...
There was no
point in dwelling on what-ifs, not with finals knocking at the door. Jonathan
waited for a couple more minutes until he was certain Maddox was long gone, and
he wouldn't risk bumping into him.
***
One week later
and it still hurt exactly the same way. There was not one sign that the pain in
his chest would fade. Maddox was already getting used to tossing and turning
all night long. It didn't help that the world at Sunny Hill was so small
compared to the one outside. That meant that stumbling upon Jonathan was
inevitable, and just seeing him opened the same can of worms over and over.
He couldn't
stand the fact that Jonathan appeared so hurt when he looked at him. What right
did he have to feel anything like that? Maddox closed his fists and cleared his
head. Was love supposed to hurt like this? Damn, it sounded like a cheesy song.
And he had finals to worry about, anyway, not how attractive Jonathan's face
looked, even all filled with shadows like that. All it took was for him to
close his eyes and remember the same face, inches from his, their heads lying
on the same pillow.
Dex and Kane
barely paid him any attention when he came inside. They had tried to get him to
change his mind and `see reason' their words, not his for days, but
eventually, they had started to give him a wide berth since they needed to
study like everyone else. He still felt their questioning eyes on him, and the
atmosphere in the house was getting tense. He hadn't planned on breaking up
with his friends, too, but if they couldn't be on his side, then so be it.
There was,
of course, another particular problem that didn't want to go away, or better
said, a particular someone. Maddox pursed his lips when he saw Rusty sitting on
the floor by his bedroom door, looking like a kicked dog. If anything, the guy
was resilient. Dex had mumbled something about having to drag Rusty from there
and into his bed on more than one occasion. Clearly, everyone was getting a bit
fed up with all the drama.
Xpress wouldn't
let things cool down, either. Maddox assumed that, in due time, the gossip rag
would find something else to chew and spit, but so far, no luck. It wasn't
because it hurt his pride; in the past, if someone had asked him how he would
feel under such circumstances, he would have said something along the lines of
`mad as hell' on the basis of wounded pride, but that wasn't it.
He just
wanted them to stop already, and especially to quit picking on Jonathan. The
guy was again being ostracized by most people, not that he was the type to
care, but it felt unfair. Maddox didn't need to ingratiate himself to most
people, either, these days, so that made two pariahs out of them, not just one.
His own condition was by choice; Jonathan's wasn't.
Throughout
all of this he had expected to start regretting ever having gotten involved
with someone like that. It had been for the first time in his life, even. Yet,
those feelings of regret never came. No, the most torturous part of it all was
that he remembered all the good things so clearly. They hadn't been together
long enough, probably, so that they had bad things to remember. And that made
it all the more unbearable. There was nothing to focus on; not even little pet
peeves, like if either of them had the nasty habit of picking his nose, or leaving
dirty socks everywhere, or loudly snoring, or anything. They had had only the
perfect part of a relationship, or so it seemed. And that was the part that
warranted all the regrets.
"You should
just stop," he told Rusty, the first words he had addressed to him in many
days.
Rusty raised
his head. "I'll stop if you listen."
He looked
like warmed over shit, so something inside Maddox moved a little. "All right."
"Really?"
Rusty's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.
"Don't make
me change my mind. Get inside, say what you need to say, and get over it."
Rusty didn't
say another word and followed him inside. Maddox sat at his desk, but left
Rusty standing. His friend oh, no, his former friend began pacing the
floor.
"Are you
going to wear a new pattern in my carpet or are you going to start talking?"
"Right."
Rusty stopped abruptly and turned to face Maddox.
By now, he
should have been used to Rusty's antics, but the complicated look the green
eyes threw at him was enough to make him feel uncomfortable. "What?" he asked,
letting it come out more aggressively than he intended.
"I didn't go
to my dad's for Thanksgiving," Rusty began.
Maddox
sighed. "Figures. It's a bit too late to tell me that, don't you think?"
Rusty
grinned, and Maddox caught himself as he was about to do the same. It was too
easy to like Rusty. It was almost unfair.
"So why
didn't you go?" he asked, deciding that since Rusty was there, it was better to
get everything clear once and for all.
"Because
he's a douche, his new family sucks, and his new wife makes the shittiest pie
ever," Rusty replied promptly.
Seven years
later and Rusty still called his dad's current family the new one. Maddox felt
slightly ill. To think that he had always taken his family for granted and even
fought with them the last time they were together. He skimmed over the reason;
he wouldn't go there, not right now.
"So? Was it
that hard to tell me? I was supposed to be your best friend," Maddox pointed
out. This was, by far, the most serious conversation he had ever had with
Rusty, or maybe with anyone else their age.
"No." Rusty
shook his head. "But you have this awesome family, and I didn't want you to
pity me."
Jonathan had
told him as much. Maddox looked away, feeling a bit guilty. Annoyed at his own
reaction, he tried to muster something of the anger he had felt all week. The
problem with it was that it was growing thinner and thinner.
"All right,"
he mumbled. "That still didn't give you the right to..." He couldn't bring
himself to make the same accusations again. Kane had told him that he was
starting to look ridiculous. Maddox knew his friend was right, but he wasn't at
all ready to let go of his righteous anger. He had been lied to, for fuck's
sake.
"Thing is,"
Rusty continued, "Jonathan found something out about me, something secret. By
mistake."
"That you
actually like him?" Maddox asked, working his jaw. "By the way, I told him I
have nothing against you two being together if that's what you both want."
Rusty rubbed
his head, making his hair an even bigger rat's nest than it was before, if such
a thing was possible. Then he groaned in frustration. "It was nothing like
that."
"What was
it, then?" Maddox crossed his arms. He had a feeling that crossing his arms
would make him look even more like he had the upper hand in this. And the right
to be angry, of course. "You're Rusty Parker. You don't have secrets. You
flaunt your kinks for the world to see. If there wasn't the risk of getting
arrested for indecent exposure, you'd drag your naked balls over each bench on
campus. In the middle of the day."
Rusty
smirked. "Yeah, I'd totally do that."
"So, the
only secret I can think of is that you--"
"I can
sing!" Rusty blurted out all of a sudden and then, much to Maddox's surprise,
he ran to the opposite corner of the room and started banging his head against
the wall.
"Rusty, you
can't sing for shit. You can't even handle karaoke. Stop making shit up,"
Maddox said, rolling his eyes. It wasn't right that it felt so normal to talk
to Rusty. He had committed the unforgivable sin, even if Maddox's confidence in
that particular part of the story in Xpress was starting to shake more and
more.
Rusty
groaned and banged his head a few more times. Then, something happened.
Maddox
stared at his friend's back, as... the most astonishing sounds began to pour out
of him. It was some kind of song, sure, not the kind he listened to as a
college kid, or anyone else he knew, and it came out of Rusty?
He jumped
from his chair and walked over to Rusty. He grabbed him and made him turn to
face him. Next, he started searching Rusty for the hidden source of the music.
Rusty just raised his arms and did a full turn while Maddox searched all his
pockets for his phone. No, it really came out of Rusty's mouth, so Maddox took
a couple of steps back, completely stunned. "What the fuck, dude? Did you
swallow some opera singer?"
Rusty
stopped and began laughing. "You said `swallow'."
Maddox
rolled his eyes and then punched him in the shoulder. "For real? I don't
believe you. Do it again."
Rusty
grinned from ear to ear and then raised one hand while he began another aria,
something that sounded warm and wonderful, and made Maddox believe that he had
never really listened to music the right way before.
"You're
totally fucking with me," Maddox murmured and stared at his friend like he was
seeing him for the first time in his life. "How don't I know about this?"
Rusty
dropped his hand and stopped. "Because I kept it a secret. That's why."
"And
Jonathan found out? How?"
"I was in
the music room, thinking I had the entire place to myself. Jonathan just walked
in. And he said `bravo'," Rusty added with pride. "You know, the way they do at
the opera house, while they applaud."
Maddox had
no idea what people did when they went to watch operas live. But Jonathan
would, of course. That was the world he came from, even though he never really said
a lot about it. Too astonished by the recent revelations, he went back to his
chair and sat down. He scratched his head. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Rusty sighed
and sat on the floor, crossing his legs. "My dad always said singing like this
was for fags."
Maddox
almost bit his tongue at the offensive word.
Rusty caught
his reaction right away. "Sorry. His words, not mine."
Maddox
waved. "Don't worry about that. I'm starting to get more and more why you think
the guy's a douche."
"Thing is, I
stopped. I picked up sports and became good at it. I started chasing chicks, you
know, the whole thing."
"For his
sake?" Maddox asked.
"He still
left," Rusty replied. "And it was for my sake, too. I wouldn't be who I am
today if it wasn't for all that, right?" There was something crooked in the way
he smiled. Maddox wasn't sure he completely agreed.
"You're,
like, awesome," Maddox commented. "I mean, I know exactly nada about opera, but
you sound like a freaking pro. At least like some winner on a talent show."
The
compliment seemed to hit Rusty in the right spot, because he kept smiling, and his
features relaxed. "Before you say anything else, I made Jonathan promise to
keep it a secret. And, um," he added and ran his hands through his hair, trying
to make it behave to no avail, "when you called, I took him by surprise and
told him not to say that I was there. I didn't give him much choice. He's not
to blame," Rusty said and looked down guiltily.
Maddox
sighed. "You both lied to me."
"Yeah,"
Rusty admitted, "but I'm the one you should be mad at."
"I'm mad at
you all right."
"I know. I want
to make it up to you. Any chores you want, I'll do them."
"Like what
chores?"
"You know,
making the bed, all that."
Maddox threw
a pensive look around his room. He wasn't some neat freak, but there was little
he could find to give Rusty to do, even if he wanted to. "Tell me more about
your time with Jonathan," he said while his eyes remained glued to the
bookshelf. There was something that irked him a little, but he didn't dwell on
it as Rusty continued to talk.
"I forced
him to cook my turkey," Rusty said.
"Is that
some weird kink?" Maddox made a face.
"No, I had a
turkey and I put Jonathan in charge. He roasted it whole." Rusty gestured with
his arms. "And I ate most of it."
"Did you eat
a whole turkey?" Maddox didn't exactly doubt it given the legendary capacity of
Rusty's stomach, but still.
"Over a few
days. And I'm sure Jonathan hid some from me."
Maddox
sighed. Kane was right. Rusty and Jonathan had discovered that they were the
only people on campus and just spent Thanksgiving together. It wasn't a crime.
But Maddox still wanted to hang on to the feeling of anger that had tortured
him all week. And surely, Jonathan could cook, and Rusty could eat.
"He made me
eat some veggies," Rusty said with a disgusted face. "Although they were like
the best veggies I've ever had."
"Yeah. He's
good at that," Maddox admitted. "Still, how the hell did you end up in his
sweater? And why did you keep it?"
Rusty
sighed. "I was in my crocs."
"Your
crocs?"
"The pink
ones," Rusty added.
Maddox
rubbed his forehead. "Outside?"
"Yeah.
Jonathan said I was a nutso--"
"He didn't.
Jonathan doesn't talk like that," Maddox corrected him.
"And then he
gave me socks and a sweater. That sweater," Rusty explained. "I should have
given it back at the time. I knew it was too nice for me, but Jonathan insisted
that I should keep it. I shouldn't have kept it after."
That was
like Jonathan all right. Maddox felt a bit stupid and petty for all of his reproaches.
"Don't you still have it?"
"I left it
by Jonathan's dorm room door. I hope no one stole it," Rusty said. "I mean,
it's like a legendary item right now."
And that was
like Rusty. Maddox felt more and more appeased. "Still," he decided to throw his
last card on the table, "you cleaned up your room for him. Or did he clean it
for you?" All right, good thing Kane wasn't present or he would be rolling his
eyes so much right now.
"Jonathan
was never in my room," Rusty said. "After that first drop on Xpress, I kinda got a wakeup call, though. I mean, they said some
things--"
"Mean
things," Maddox argued.
Rusty shook
his head. "True things. So, as much as I hate those bastards right now, I just
thought, you know. Clean up your act, Rusty Parker."
"Ah, I see.
No wonder you offered to help me clean my room, too." Maddox's eyes wandered
again to the neatly ordered rows of books.
"He slept in
your room," Rusty said without being asked. "It was the only way to keep me away
from that turkey. Do you believe me, Maddox?"
Maddox stood
up and began to search for the thing that kept bothering him. He liked to keep
his books neat, and there was one that stood out from the rest, slightly out of
line. "I think I do," he murmured. That had to be the reason why he had thought
his sheets smelled like Jonathan, right after their big fight. The night before
Jonathan hadn't slept there, and the sheets had been washed right before the
holiday, so...
He stopped
in front of the book that wasn't aligned with the rest. Jonathan must have
wanted to read that book. Even though he worked at the library, maybe it was
one he hadn't had a chance to read. Maddox pulled the book out. It could be
used as a pretext to go see Jonathan. He didn't know what to say exactly. Sure,
everything Rusty said made sense, but... what was he going to do with all of the anger
that had consumed him for days?
By simple
force of habit, he opened the book and looked at the first pages. Jonathan had
weird tastes if he was interested in this one.
"Something
fell out," he heard Rusty say.
He noticed
the small piece of paper on the floor and picked it up. He didn't recall
putting any such thing in that book, so he stared at it. He had to flip it to
read the words neatly written on it, black on white, by a hand he knew well.
I love you, Maddox Kingsley
He threw the
book on the bed, not bothering to put it back.
"What's
that? What does it say?" Rusty asked, jumping to his feet.
Maddox
pressed the piece of paper against his chest and put his other hand up to stop
Rusty from taking it away from him. "You stay right there," he said, while his
face moved all its muscles into a smile he just couldn't stop.
"Do you want
me to start cleaning?" Rusty asked.
Maddox
breathed out, pressing one hand to his forehead and tried to think. Who would
have thought it was hard to do that when you felt like bursting with happiness?
"No," he said. "No cleaning for you."
Rusty's face
fell. Maddox pulled him into a brief hug with one arm, still holding onto that
precious note. Letting him go, he kept pointing at Rusty as he headed for the
door. "You," he said, "I love you, man."
Rusty looked
at him, completely confused. "I love you, too, man."
Maddox
rushed down the stairs, taking them two by two, but for a completely different
reason than before.
Dex and Kane
jumped to their feet, surprised by the thunder of his steps on the stairs.
Maddox landed at the foot of the staircase with a loud thump.
"What's
going on?" Dex asked.
"Jonathan
loves me," Maddox declared. "And Rusty can sing!"
Kane
narrowed his eyes. "Our boy has finally lost it." He nodded like he was old and
gray and all he was missing was a pipe hanging from his mouth. "Rusty can't
sing for shit, so that means that the other thing is also--"
"Rusty, get
down here and sing!" Maddox yelled and looked up.
Rusty made a
horrified face from the top of the stairs.
"It'll get
you off cleaning duty," Maddox promised.
"Um, okay,"
Rusty replied.
Maddox
didn't wait for the aftermath of his actions. As soon as Rusty began to sing,
the last thing he heard before he closed the door after himself was both Dex and Kane exploding at the same time.
***
"Are you
sure, JJ? But you're going to be all alone," Ray said while holding onto his
bag as if he could prevent him from leaving.
"I just need
to clear my head a little. I do want to get Maddox back, but so far, what I have
done hasn't worked. That means that I need to rethink my strategy, right?" He
offered Ray as nice a smile as he could, given the sinkhole that now stood in
his chest instead of his heart.
Ray shifted his
weight from one foot to the other, but he handed Jonathan his bag. "Where are
you going to stay?"
"Don't ask,
Ray. And I'll be back by Sunday night, so don't worry so much."
"Off-grid
like that," Ray murmured and pursed his lips. "I have obviously failed as your
bestie if I can't convince you to stay. What if there's an emergency?"
"That would
be very unfortunate," Jonathan agreed, "but also quite unlikely. And you didn't
fail as my bestie. I have yet to meet someone as sensitive about other people's
feeling as you are."
"Buying me
with compliments," Ray mumbled. "It's working, though. Bestie hug? It should
keep you going while you sit there, in some dicey motel room, eating bags of
chips and your feelings away. Make sure to slice them thinly."
Jonathan
accepted the hug and allowed Ray to hold him tightly for a bit longer than he
was usually comfortable with. He hadn't explained much, but it wasn't as if he
had many explanations to give. After the fallout with his family, he had done
something similar, not eating chips or anything like that, but letting himself
sink into silence until he could think clearly again. It was a bit much, even
for someone like Ray to understand. He just needed the calm that came with being
alone.
***
Maddox
didn't stop running until he reached Jonathan's door. He knocked loudly,
ignoring how hard he was breathing, and how impatient he had to look. He still
didn't know what to say, but it didn't matter. He'd just mix apologies and
kisses, kisses and apologies. Jonathan would just have to
Jonathan's
roommate, Ray, opened the door.
"Hey, Ray, I
need to talk to Jonathan," he said in a heartbeat.
To his
surprise, Ray didn't move out of the door to let him in. All right, he
understood that. "Look, Ray, it's a lot to explain, and I promise that I'll
tell you everything. But I just have to talk to him."
"He's not
here."
He hadn't
expected hitting a snag like that, but still, it didn't mean a thing. "Where is
he? When is he coming back?"
Ray crossed
his arms and leaned against the doorjamb. "You were a bit of a dick the last
time you were here, you know."
"I know,
trust me," Maddox hurried to confirm. "But I'm not here for a fight. I'm here
to apologize."
"All right,
let's hear it," Ray said.
"Not to
you," Maddox said quickly and then bit his tongue. "I mean, to you, too."
Ray just
waved. "I'm not very hurt, though. But JJ, well, he..."
"He..." Maddox
repeated after Ray, hoping for a continuation.
"He didn't
say where he was going. But he'll come back Sunday night."
"Okay,"
Maddox breathed out. "I'll give him a call then."
"Don't
bother," Ray said.
"Why?"
"Because he
turned off his phone."
That gave
Maddox pause. "What? Why?"
Ray shrugged
helplessly. "JJ things. He wouldn't tell me. Anyway, I hope you're going to
apologize really nicely. JJ is heartbroken, and I'm blaming it all on you. Do
you have any idea what it's like to eat cereal for an entire week?"
"I can't
really say I do," Maddox murmured. "So, did he stop cooking?"
Ray scowled.
"No."
"Did he burn
the food?"
Another
annoyed look from Ray decided him to can it. "Everyone knows you burn food when
you're happy in love. JJ just undercooked everything. I had to watch him to
keep him from getting salmonella, he was that out of it."
Maddox hung
his head low and then risked a look at Ray. "For all that's worth, I am really
sorry, Ray."
"Do you want
to get back together with him?"
"Yeah."
"Then wait
for him. He waited for you to listen to him for a whole week. You can wait for a
few days."
It wasn't
like Jonathan's roomie to close the door in anyone's face, but Ray did that to him
right at that moment. Maddox couldn't say he blamed him.
TBC
Thank you for reading!
If you like this story and you want to support
me while writing it, here is my Patreon account. For their generosity, my patrons
receive early access to new chapters, extras for stories finished that are not
available elsewhere, as well as complete books.