he empty solo cup was swept out of his hand. Lee turned towards it and found Milo standing next to them, looking ticked and wearing a threatening smile as he addressed Roland. Roland raised his hands in surrender.

Lee stepped forward and, likewise, Roland backed off. Lee looked back at him and raised a hand to him. Roland clapped onto it and gave him a tight squeeze before passing behind him, back to where Simon was sandwiched between the two girls from the speakers.

Lee looked back at Milo, who was sniffing the empty solo cup. Lee flicked it out of Milo's hand before leaning back to take in the sight of Milo looking absolutely baller.

Milo's black hair was spiked that evening, adding a solid three inches to his height. Not only that, but his legs were flattered with a pair of high-waisted green slacks synched at the waist by a black belt. As if that wasn't enough to get Lee's mouth watering, the white shirt he tucked in was collared, elbow-length, and unbuttoned down to his pecs.

Overall, the look should have been made illegal.

It was too loud to talk, so Milo took him by the hand and dragged him around the outskirts of the crowd. Lee staggered after him, grinning as they passed Roland. Roland discretely high-fived him.

At the basement archway, Milo took them on a detour elsewhere. Lee hadn't exactly "toured" the place, so the kitchen was new to him. It was, somehow, empty. Milo slid the doors to the kitchen closed behind them.

Over the bass thumping through the walls, Milo said, "Why did you come with Roland?"

Lee leant back against the island counter and said, shrugging, "Why'd you set up Tinder on my phone?"

Milo stared at him like he was crazy. Lee raised his eyebrows at Milo, who had his back in front of the door like he expected Lee to make a break for it. Milo ran a hand through his hair and looked away. The tension in his face faded a little, replaced with just plain stress.

"Do you want me to delete it?" Lee said.

"I—" Milo started, strained. He shook his head and said, eyes on the ground, "You can do whatever you want."

"Be realistic," Lee hissed. The sharp edge to his voice had Milo looking up and meeting his eyes. "Do you want me to go dance with Roland?"

"No, fuck no!" Milo cried, only to realize what it meant for Lee to be in possession of a dating app. Milo cursed again and said, "I-I don't... I don't know, Lee. Could you just—delete it? Please?"

Lee hid his relief. He caught his breath in his throat before clearing it and saying, "No." Milo's shoulders tensed and, honestly, it looked like he was about to cry. "I'm not getting rid of it unless you delete yours."

"What?" Milo cried, and Lee jumped at the severity of it. Realizing that he had completely screamed it, Milo put a hand to his chest and cursed, relaxing a fraction. He looked away and said, "I'm not—! I'm not deleting it. It's a messaging app, too—I talk to people on it—"

"You're making excuses for it! It's a fucking dating app, Park!" Lee shouted. Milo flinched. "It's no different than me using it to message Roland."

"It is different—"

"No it fucking isn't," Lee seethed, jabbing a finger in Milo's direction. "I'm attracted to him, but we're just talking. What bothers you is the first part. It's no different than how I feel about your fucked up date schedule. The only reason you talked to anyone on that app is because you're attracted to them, Park."

Milo's eyes were the size of Mars by the time Lee finished. Lee straightened his sweatshirt with a furious huff before putting his hands back on the edge of the countertop. Lee stared Milo down, the alcohol in his system making him feel precisely like his power complex had amplified into a full-blown dominatrix. Honestly, he was getting a little hot thinking about Milo on his hands and knees begging for forgiveness. All he needed were a pair of stiletto heels to finish his own look.

Milo took a step towards him, a hand out to reach for him.

Lee put a hand out to stop him. "No. I'm not touching you until you message all of them. You're leading them on, they deserve to know."

Milo curled his hand into a fist. He dropped his hands to his sides. His expression twisted to borderline anguish before he smothered it with a sneer. He pegged Lee with middle finger and hissed, "Fuck you."

He turned around and flung the sliding door open. It bounced off of the frame as Milo stormed around the corner and out of view. Lee stared at the spot where he disappeared, mouth slightly ajar.

Well, I guess I wasn't expecting a tantrum, he thought, heart hammering in his chest.

Lee was effectively frozen in the kitchen until he was interrupted by some party goers stumbling in giggling and drunk. Lee blinked and resumed motion. When he left the kitchen, he looked curiously in the direction Milo escaped to. Willing himself not to follow, he returned to the dance floor, however, less inclined to party than before.

His heart fluttered in his chest when his eyes honed in on the image of Park in the mosh pit. He would have kept staring at Park and sorority girl had he not felt a tap on his shoulder and Roland's voice in his ear saying, "How'd it go?"

Lee cleared his throat and said, "He won't delete the app. So I'm not talking to him until he does."

"Well then," Roland sighed, hands on his hips. Lee eyed him up and down before a slow grin came to his lips. Roland leant towards him and said with a wicked smile. "Make him want to talk to you."

Lee laughed and accepted the hand Roland lent him. "Finally, a man who speaks my language," Lee teased as he followed Roland to the front of the crowd.

Since the room was a living room at some point, some furniture was left behind and pushed to the outskirts. The coffee table was no exception, and on it strewn dozens of empty cups and cans that Roland kicked aside as he jumped onto the table. They were on the fringes of the party where the speakers deafened everything and numbed Lee's insides with their steady, rhythmic pulses.

They were right next to the DJ stand where Roland leant over to get the DJ's attention. Lee looked out at the crowd until his eyes settled on Park staring in his direction with a look that said, "Don't you fucking dare."

A hand tapped his leg.

He looked down and grinned at the sight of a familiar red-headed girl raising her eyebrows at him. Lee held a hand out to her and helped her onto the table. She leant into him, her short, ginger curls pouncing as she shouted over the music, "First the running back and now the quarterback?!"

Lee felt Roland push up against his back, saying, "Entertainment for the night!"

An amused grin spread over Olivia's face as the DJ cut the current song short. Annoyed boos sounded across the crowd until a familiar, jazzy saxophone played through the speakers. Thrilled screams spread, and Lee watched as people hyped themselves up for the bass and then, Fifth Harmony blasting on the speakers.

Olivia tossed her hair to the side and it fell over her shoulder as she swayed in front of Lee. Lee licked his lip as she hooked her wrists over his shoulders and he felt Roland's hands on his hips, his fingers grazing the V of his hipbone. He shivered at the sensation of Roland's thumb hooking on the waistband of his pants as they dropped to the beat and the three of them rocked the coffee table.

Halfway through the song, Roland said something that Lee couldn't quite hear—it sounded like a question. Lee nodded and less than a second later, at the harmonic vocals, he felt Roland drag his tongue up the column of his throat.

Lee shivered. Some people whistled near them, and Olivia snickered from in front of Lee as he laughed and elbowed Roland in the ribcage. He could feel Roland's smile against his hair where his cheek was pressed against the side of Lee's head, his grin against Lee's ear.

"That does it!" Roland said over the lull in the music. He started to say something else, but was jerked off balance by someone next to them. Lee staggered to keep his balance, holding onto Olivia as he watched Roland stagger away, laughing, as Milo-fucking-Park stole his spot on the coffee table.

Lee turned to him with a raised eyebrow. When Milo reached for him, Lee instinctively slapped his hand aside. A scandalous "Ooo!" sounded through the onlookers.

They stared each other down as a peppy guitar riff shook the table beneath them. Milo, with that perfect fucking unbuttoned white shirt, looking entirely too frazzled to function, stared Lee down with a strand of his black hair curled against his forehead. He looked like he was straight out of Grease the musical, and Lee was the star of the show.

Milo leant forward, pointing to himself as he shouted, "Okay!"

Lee went on staring at him. Maybe it was the alcohol, but the world was spinning and blurring at the edges. Milo leant towards him and he didn't move away. He could feel Olivia's hands on his hips, like she knew he was cruising through vertigo with a purpose. Milo put his hand to Lee's damp neck, clammy with sweat, and an instant later, he tasted salt on Milo's lips.

Lee was floating. He clutched onto the waistband of Milo's green slacks and shivered against his mouth, gasping at the sensation of Milo's tongue dragging across his bottom lip before he crushed their open mouths together, splitting away with an audible pop. Lee felt Milo's saliva dry cold on his lip.

Lee staggered a little. Olivia still had him by the waist, which helped, but he needed to get off of that fucking coffee table or risk a broken ankle.

Olivia hopped off of the table, knocking over a few solo cups. She had Lee by the hand then, helping him down. He more or less tripped off of the coffee table, at which point, Milo steadied him with his hands on his shoulders as he jumped down.

Milo shouted over the music, "Did you hear me?"

Lee straightened a little, a little nauseous, but mostly there. "Did you message them?"

Milo put a hand to Lee's arm as he furrowed his brow and said, "What?"

Lee jabbed him in the chest as he said, slowly and loudly, "Did you. Message them?!"

Milo shook his head. White-hot fury spiked through him. He made himself clear, didn't he? What in God's name gave Milo the impression that he could kiss him, then? His stomach churned, skin tingling, as he brushed Milo's hand off and seethed, "Don't fuck with me until you're done fucking with them."

"But—"

"I'm fucking serious, Park. Lay off," Lee snapped. When he turned, Olivia was there staring at them, eyes wide. He brushed past her and left, rubbing the back of his hand against his mouth.

_____________

Lee might have been hungover, but he was alive and didn't feel godawful. He already felt guilty for calling in sick, so when he called in again, it was to go back on his word. His manager said, "If you're feeling sick—"

"I lied," Lee sighed. "I'm fine this morning, really. I'd just like to work today, if that's okay?"

His manager hummed through the phone. Lee bit his lip as she said, "Well... you're already up at the ass-crack of dawn. Might as well."

"Thank you," Lee breathed. "I'll call the girl who was supposed to cover for me, let her know she doesn't have to come in."

Thus was how Lee spent his Friday morning, pulling shots and mixing tea. He was grateful for the distraction. His OChem exam was that afternoon and he found that it was easier to focus on it when he didn't spend the entire morning cramming for it. Starbucks was a welcome distraction, even if the throbbing in his head said otherwise.

He crouched in front of the cashier, tearing open a fresh bag of cups. As he refilled the cup holder, he stopped at the sound of Park's voice on the other side of the counter.

"Large matcha latte, light ice, and..."

"No foam?" a girl said.

Lee twisted the bag like he was wringing someone's neck.

"Right. And a triple shot latte, no foam, please."

Milo was sticking his card into the machine when Lee emerged from beneath the counter. The instant he came into view, both Milo and the girl jumped like they were in a goddamn haunted house. Lee stared blankly at them until the card machine beeped and Milo scrambled to put his card away.

"L-Lee! I thought—I thought you called in sick?" Milo said.

Lee yanked the knot on the bag tight. His coworker flinched and smiled apologetically for him as Lee went to the backroom to put it away.

He wished he could slam the backroom door shut—he probably could, but that'd be suspicious. When he was out of view of the counter, Lee put his hand to his hair and let out a shuddering breath. It felt like someone had his esophagus in their fist and was shaking it. He swallowed hard.

He checked the clock on the wall and realized that Milo had come in earlier than usual. Milo's comment confirmed it—he wouldn't have come in with his date had he known Lee was there. That just makes it worse, Lee thought, furious. Why did it even matter to him? He had gone a few days thinking that he'd be able to handle it if Milo dated other people, but...

They'd only known each other for two weeks. I have to stop acting entitled, he told himself, but Alex's still right: Milo's still a bitch.

When Lee emerged from the backroom, he resumed his place in the espresso assembly line. He picked up Milo's cup and set to work. He dumped out the used grounds from the last shot and pulled fresh grounds out. He latched it into the machine, aware that Milo was standing in front of him, peering over the espresso machine at him.

"I'm... going to Colorado after this," Milo said.

Lee kept his eyes on the machine switch. USFC was going up against Denver on Saturday, he knew that. In fact, his parents had tickets to that game, one of which was withheld from him. Lee figured that if he was still at USFC Law, he would have been spending this weekend in Colorado, too.

Lee wiped down the steamer spout and drizzled milk into Milo's drink. He held the foam back before sliding the drink across the counter to where his coworker called Milo's name. Lee met Milo's eyes before the idiot moved to claim the drink. The girl stood there looking between the two of them before picking up her green tea with a frown.

As they walked away, he caught wind of the girl whispering, "Do you know that guy?"

Lee scoffed to himself, rolling his eyes away from where Milo held the door for the girl and walked out.