Sebastian's hands flew up in front of his chest like he was warding off an attacker. "NOTHING!" The word exploded out of him with the force of a man who had definitely done something. "We did nothing. Absolutely nothing. We sat here in complete silence. No conversation. No interaction. No—no kissing. Definitely no kissing. Why would there be kissing? That's absurd. That's preposterous. I don't even know how to kiss. I've never kissed anyone in my entire life. I'm kissless. I'm a kiss virgin. Kissgin, if you will."
Kota sighed, the sound long and put upon, and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "We kissed. He kissed me. It was fine."
Theo's face shifted into an exaggerated, theatrical pout. His lower lip jutted out, his eyes going wide and glassy with mock hurt. "You kissed without me? Both of you? Without waiting for me to go first? That's so unfair. I'm the boyfriend. I should get first kiss privileges. Now I have to give you a special kiss to make up for it."
Before Kota could respond, Theo lunged across the center console and crashed their mouths together. This wasn't the soft, gentle kiss Kota had given Sebastian. This was something else entirely. Theo kissed like he was starving, his tongue sliding deep, his hands tangling in Kota's hoodie, his breath coming in hot, desperate gasps. The wet sounds of their mouths moving together filled the car, Theo's soft moans vibrating against Kota's lips.
Kota's hands dropped to Theo's waist, then slid lower, grabbing two huge handfuls of that monumental ass through his suit pants. He squeezed hard, fingers sinking into the plush flesh, and Theo moaned louder, his hips grinding forward against the center console.
"Mmm—darling—now I'm all horny again—you can't just grab my ass like that and expect me to be normal about it—"
Sebastian sat in the backseat, completely gobsmacked. His mouth was hanging open. His eyes were the size of dinner plates. He had just witnessed, in the span of thirty seconds, the most passionate kiss he had ever seen in his life, and it was between his boss and his boss's boyfriend, and they were still going, and Kota's hands were still on Theo's ass, and Theo was still making those sounds—
They finally composed themselves. Theo pulled back, his lips swollen and shiny, a thin string of spit connecting them for a second before it snapped. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, a breathless, satisfied smile spreading across his face. "We have to do that more often. Much much MUCH more often. Every time I get in this car."
Kota just chuckled, settling back into his seat. His eyes flicked to the rearview mirror, catching Sebastian's shell shocked expression, and his grin widened.
Sebastian's internal monologue erupted into absolute chaos. He had kissed Kota. He had pressed his lips against Kota's mouth and Kota had kissed him back and for one glorious, delusional moment he had thought that meant something, ANYTHING.
But now he had seen the difference.
The way Theo kissed Kota was like a forest fire, consuming, passionate, desperate. The way Kota had kissed him was like a candle flame. Small. Brief. Almost polite. It wasn't special. It wasn't even in the same category. It was the kind of kiss you gave a stranger at midnight on New Year's Eve when you couldn't find anyone else. It was a pity kiss. A mercy kiss. A kiss that said "I see you're having some kind of emotional crisis and I'm too nice to reject you outright."
The sadness hit him first, a cold, sinking feeling in his chest. He wasn't Theo. He would never be Theo. He was just the awkward English teacher who had walked in on them having sex and somehow gotten invited to go shopping out of what was probably just politeness. He was a third wheel. A charity case. A—
WAIT. He froze mid thought. His eyes slowly widened as the realization dawned on him like the sun rising over the Oxford spires. Kota had kissed him. And then Theo had kissed Kota. Which meant Theo's mouth had touched the same lips that had touched Sebastian's mouth. That was an indirect kiss. By the transitive property of kissing, he and Theo had technically kissed. His kiss count had just increased by two. His first real kiss with Kota. And his first indirect kiss with Theo. Which meant his total lifetime kiss count was now a whopping... three. Well, three if he didn't count the time he had tried to kiss his reflection in the mirror when he was fourteen. Which he didn't. That was practice.
A giddy, uncontrollable smile spread across his face. Three kisses. Three whole kisses and he wasn't even done yet. Maybe, just maybe, if he played his cards right, he might finally lose his virginity. The blowjob he had given his professor that one time did NOT count. He had sucked at it. Literally. His professor had told him he sucked at it. Those exact words. "Sebastian, you suck at this." And then he didn't even get the extension on that paper. It was humiliating. It was degrading. It was NOT a valid sexual experience and he refused to count it in his personal ledger.
So if he played his cards right, if he didn't embarrass himself again, if he managed to stop blurting out whatever insane thought entered his head, he might get fucked. By Kota. Or even by Theo. He didn't mind who. Either one would be acceptable. Either one would be life changing. Either one would finally, mercifully, remove the crushing weight of his virginity and allow him to walk into faculty meetings with his head held high, knowing he had experienced carnal pleasure with a real, live human being.
He was so lost in his giddy, spiraling thoughts that he didn't notice Kota and Theo exchanging a look. A knowing look. A look that said "he's doing it again, he's muttering to himself and smiling at nothing." Their matching teasing smirks should have embarrassed him, but Sebastian was too busy mentally planning his seduction strategy to notice.
Theo put the car in gear and pulled out of the long, winding driveway. The mansion disappeared behind them as they merged onto the main road, heading toward the shopping district. Sebastian sat in the back, still grinning like an idiot, still mentally tallying his kiss count, still planning his eventual deflowering with the strategic precision of a military campaign.
Thirty minutes of driving later, Theo guided the McLaren into a parking lot. A massive parking lot. The kind of parking lot that stretched in every direction, packed with cars and dotted with islands of landscaping and connected to a structure so enormous that it seemed to blot out the sky. Kota sat up in his seat, his eyes widening as he took in the entrance, the fountains, the gleaming glass facade.
He had expected a small timey mall. Maybe a strip mall with a few stores and a food court. What he was looking at was not that. This was not a small timey mall. This was the Galleria Houston.