He Says He's Just A Friend

Chapter 17 - Gorgeous

- Emmett -

I tried not to stare at Clay in that tight baby blue t-shirt. His very nicely defined pecs, his flat stomach slowly rising and falling with every breath, his abdomen constricting with laughter at the movie. And his arms, where his sleeves barely reached the top of his biceps, which flexed every time he brought a handful of popcorn up to his mouth. Thank God the theater was too dark for Clay to notice me ogling him like a creep. He had worn clingy clothes before, and I knew he had an impressive body, but today it just seemed so out there, on display.

I wasn't the only one to notice. The girl at the concession stand stared at Clay lustfully, though he barely gave her a second glance as he ordered our popcorn and a drink for us to share. Clay reasoned that it would be much cheaper to get one jumbo sized cup, which came with free refills, than to buy two smaller drinks that were one-and-done. We'd shared a water bottle on the hike yesterday, and we shared food all the time, so it made sense.

When the movie let out and Clay rattled on about the plot not making much sense, I just let him talk. Partly to hear his smooth, honeyed voice, and partly because I barely knew what was happening on the screen the whole time. And not just because of all the leering. I'd also been watching Clay's hand to time my popcorn grabs perfectly so our hands would brush together in the bucket. We both whispered apologies the first couple times, but as it kept happening, we gave up the niceties. I suspected Clay didn't care that much, and I didn't want to keep drawing attention to it, worried he might realize that I was doing it on purpose.

"But I mean I laughed a lot," Clay said, "and it was a comedy, so I guess that's the most important thing."

"Yeah. I know what you mean." I only laughed along with everyone else to keep up the pretense of watching the movie.

"Are you hungry?" Clay raised his wrist to look at his watch, making his bicep flex again. "It's almost two. And I'm starving."

"I could definitely eat," I lied. I was mostly full on popcorn, but I would take any excuse to spend more time with him.