CARNIVORE [MxM+]

Chapter 32 [Revised]

Riley Worthright.

I'LL ADMIT THAT I WAS WORRIED WHEN TYCHO SUDDENLY CALLED, saying that I had to drive him to campus before his game. Alexei was usually the one to drop him off and pick him up. It made me wonder if they had a falling out.

That, or he's going to bring up what he saw...

I've been chewing my nails all day, thinking about what to say to him. I knew it wasn't a hallucination when I saw him in the doorway this morning, even though I wish it were. Not only was I embarrassed that he had to see me in such a state, but I was more worried about how much of a toll it'd take on him mentally. Alexei, Xavier, and I have talked time and time again about his stability, and we've all agreed that when it comes to any kind of affection between each other, it'd be best to do it with him out of the room. That's why I was so excited when he approached me the other day while I was doing the dishes.

"You can call me sweetheart."

I still remember the look on his face when he said that. He was battling with himself so violently that I was certain he was going to keel over and die right there. But he surprised me, and himself. He managed to actually say it before walking away. It also felt like he's been getting better ever since, involving himself in more conversations and being less apprehensive about sensitive topics. He brought up his stepfather all by himself the other day. 

There were still some bad sides. There were plenty of things that we still had to work on and address, but I was smart enough to know that it'd take a long time to chip away at the horrible way he thought of things. Tycho reminded me so much of a younger Alexei that it made me want to vomit— his demeanor, speech patterns, the way he carried himself, and even his clothes were similar. He walked around like he was constantly stepping on broken glass. I wanted to fix that. 

The opening of the passenger car door reminded me of our situation. 

Just how much had he seen?

I wanted to die from embarrassment. I didn't want to bring it up at all, but it was even worse leaving it alone. 

"Riley, hey." He settled into the seat with a smile on his face while he shoved his gym bag between his legs. Oh my God, he's seen me naked. 

My face was lit up like a Christmas tree. I turned away from him, leaning forward and gripping the steering wheel.

"Thanks for the ride. You didn't have to do this." 

I blew air from my nose. I felt like I was dying. I hated this. Why the hell was he acting as if nothing had happened? There's no way he could just ignore it. I decided to follow his lead, starting the car and swallowing the anxiety building in my throat. I wasn't a very anxious person, so it sucked whenever I felt this way. Ugh, I feel like a pervert. 

On the way to campus, he was overly chatty. For the first time in his life, he managed to ask me how my day was without retreating to his room to avoid the awkwardness. Obviously, his room wasn't here, but whenever we were out of the house, he tended to fall back into himself instead.  

For the first time ever, I was hesitant to speak to someone. I was terrified I'd say the wrong thing and make all of our progress come crashing down. I decided that if he wanted to act normal, I would too. So I kept up the act all the way to the fieldhouse, before parking the car in the back left, per Tycho's request.

I shut the car off and looked out the window. 

"So..." I started, but trailed off. Fuck, it was like a first date or something. I didn't know what to say. I observed the empty parking lot. I guess we were early.