were done. Also, hello Nathaniel, hope you’re doing okay.”
Nathaniel was still recovering from the ‘boyfriend’ comment, and it took him a moment to get control of his senses enough to reply. “Ah, hello, Clay. Yes, I’m doing just fine, thank you.”
“Clay, leave them alone,” Elliot chided, though, to Nathaniel’s ears, there wasn’t much heart in his words.
“Fine, then I’ll focus on you,” Clay grumbled.
“Promise?” Elliot asked.
Tyler rolled his eyes, backing up. “God, there they go. Now Clay will try to act like that didn’t make him happy and Elliot’s going to keep going. Then they’re probably going to disappear and I’ll pretend like I don’t know what they’re doing.”
Nathaniel raised a brow. “Didn’t you use to have a crush on Clay?”
Tyler’s eyes widened. “Nate!”
“You what?” Clay demanded.
“He’s lying!” Tyler shouted, the screen shaking as he hurriedly backed up.
“No,” Elliot said with a laugh. “He’s not.”
“Go have sex!” Tyler barked at them.
Nathaniel cringed as the background was filled with wooden fencing and Elliot and Clay’s voice disappeared. “I am...so sorry, Tyler, I thought you were away from them.”
Tyler groaned. “Thanks a lot, Nate. I’ve never seen Clay look so horrified.”
“I am sorry.”
“Ugh.”
“I mean it.”
“I know, but that was one thing I really wish Clay had never learned about me,” Tyler moaned.
“Would it make you feel better if I told you that your plan yesterday went off without a hitch?” Nathaniel offered.
Tyler squinted at the camera. “It might if you meant it and weren’t just trying to make me feel better.”
“It is possible that it’s both.”
“Alright, then yeah, it does make me feel better.”
“Which, outside of the urination incident, it did go off without a hitch.”
Tyler laughed and sat down at the base of the fence, phone in his lap. The angle was enough to stare up the expanse of Tyler’s body while he found a comfortable position. Nathaniel tried his best not to notice the way the front of Tyler’s shorts stood out noticeably or the slip of skin at his waistline when his shirt rode up.
They’d never quite had the chance to do much when they were younger. It had been a friendship, first and foremost, for them both. The attraction had come later, delayed mostly by Tyler’s awkwardness and Nathaniel’s reluctance. Eventually, both had given way, and in a moment of need, had kissed. It had been quick, hurried, and a little clumsy, and hadn’t gone much farther than that.
In fact, Nathaniel didn’t have the slightest idea what Tyler looked like without clothes on. He’d, of course, seen him shirtless when they’d been younger, but other than that, he had no idea. And if the full-grown man on display for the camera was any indication, Nathaniel was finding himself very interested in what was beneath Tyler’s clothes.
“How much trouble did you get into for disappearing?” Tyler asked.
Nathaniel blinked. “What?”
Tyler looked down at the phone, frowning. “I asked how much trouble you got into for being gone. You okay? You’re red again.”
That was the second time Tyler had called him out on being red-faced. Nathaniel was pretty sure that if it continued, he wouldn’t be able to keep explaining it away.
“Of course,” he replied evenly.
Tyler cocked his head. “Uh-huh.”
Did he know?
Nathaniel cleared his throat harshly. “It turns out that no one noticed I was missing. That or my father is playing some sort of game and seeing how many times I’ll step outside his approved lines.”
Tyler snorted, shifting his position again. “Sounds about right. You deserve better, Nate.”
“We’ve had this discussion before, Tyler. It is what it is,” Nathaniel reminded him, keeping his eyes at face level.
“And we’re always going to have it so long as you and I are talking. Because you do deserve better, even if you don’t realize it,” Tyler huffed, adjusting the phone.
Of course, he adjusted it so that his crotch was once more on display. Nathaniel had to fight to keep his eyes on the top half of the screen where Tyler’s face was. It was a losing battle the moment he realized there was a lot more to Tyler than he might have ever suspected.
Nathaniel tried for the diplomatic approach. “Your crotch is taking up center screen Tyler, we need to talk about your camera skills.”
Tyler blinked, looking at the camera and adjusting it. “Ah, sorry.”
“It’s no problem,” Nathaniel assured him, glad his voice didn’t betray him like his cheeks had.
Tyler squinted. “Jesus, are you...are you red again?”
“No,” Nathaniel said simply.
Tyler grinned. “You are.”
“I am not.”
“Enjoying the show, were you?”
If the boldness, which had