all notes and chants and heavenly praise

our bodies pressed together

in prayer

i see capital g god

when i sit at your altar

and take in the body

of christ

father son and holy ghost

screaming names in vain

and asking for-giveness

of my sins

to stay on your lips

like a hymn

At the bottom of the screen:

I’d go anywhere with you

Chapter 16

16

“Ladies, are we decent?” Benny’s voice echoes through our door.

Definitely not. My dick is totally in Jack’s hand when Benny follows up with a knock on our door. Jack shoots up off my bed in a panic, like he got caught watching gay porn by his mom right before church.

“They’re so not decent. Door’s been shut for two hours,” Aaron shouts from the couch.

“Spicy,” Benny says as Jack lets him into the room. “Hi, sweetheart, you look flush.”

“Benny, always a pleasure.” Jack keeps his head down so nobody sees his face. As it turns out, he is a tad prudish when he’s not horny. “Chase, dinner at the Garden Dining Hall tonight?”

I stand and move toward him. Aaron and his gym bro João are playing PS5, legs strewn haphazardly over the arms of the couch, remote controls in hand. It’s clear they do not give a shit about what’s going on in my doorway.

I grab a fistful of Jack’s shirt, pull him back inside, and kiss him softly, sweetly. “Stay. It’s okay. Everyone knows about us.”

“Yeah, but I gotta go write,” he says, trying his best to smooth out his voice. He kisses the tip of my nose, nods to Benny, and slips out.

“That boy,” Benny says, tossing his bag on the floor and flopping onto his bed, “will be the death of you.”

I don’t answer because I’m distracted by the very loud, headboard-banging sex sounds emanating through the wall from Xavier’s room.

“Wait. Are you not in there?” I point to the source of the screams.

“If I am, I’m really talented at throwing my voice,” he says.

“I’m confused.” I shut our door. “Is X cheating on you?”

Benny sits up and pouts. “Babe, ohmygod, you’re so cute! No! We’re not together. I figured you knew that.”

“When did that happen?”

“Always? We were never together. We’re friends with bennys. Get it?” He winks.

“How does that even work? Like, how do you not catch feelings?” I ask.

He purses his lips. “Well, I mean, feelings are weird.” He props his body against the wall and kicks his feet over the ledge of the bed. “Let’s put it this way: If X were to propose marriage tomorrow, I would probably say yes because, hello, have you seen him? But yeah, no, we’re just having fun. We’re both on the same page with that.”

“You’re still into Rhett, aren’t you?”