Chapter 4
Peter was smart enough to wait until the semester ended before putting his plan into motion. He didn’t need the stress of trying to seduce Tony with the expectation of total and utter heartbreak to interfere with trying to pass a handful of very important classes. So as the days passed, Peter tried his hardest to ignore every distraction that was thrown his way. Then finals were over and Peter couldn’t work up the courage to do anything. It took him three days to come up with a solid plan. He was always a lot more relaxed when he drank. That could help.
He started by raiding the cabinet in the kitchen. He’d never touched Tony’s stash for everyone before, because he didn’t want to push his limits with Tony and the illegal under aged drinking he’d been doing. But now it seemed like the best option. If he went out, he didn’t want to take the chance of getting drunk enough to sleep with the first hot piece of ass that crossed his path. He was a man on a mission. He grabbed a bottle of the hardest liquor he could find. Normally he was a fruity drink kind of guy, because if you’re going to be paying for it then it might as well taste good, but now he didn’t care. He just wanted to get loose enough to make a fool of himself.
Nearly the whole bottle was gone before Peter started feeling anything at all, and for once he wished he could get drunk like a normal person. He also wished he could have a normal crush on someone obtainable and preferably his own age, but that was a recurring thought and dwelling on it wouldn’t do him any good. Peter waited until he could comfortably laugh over nothing before he got up to find Tony. The first place he checked was the lab, and it wasn’t a surprise that it’s where he found him. The man was always there, tinkering with something or another. Peter had even spent a lot of time in there with him before they stopped talking. Now just being with him was uncomfortable.
“Hi, Mr. Stark.” Peter grinned. Even in his drunken stupor, he was still nervous.
“Hey kid.” Tony looked up at him, frowning when he saw the bottle in Peter’s hand. “You drinking my stuff now?”
“Ha. I forgot to leave this in my room.” Peter replied, taking the very last swig before placing the bottle on the bench next to him, nearly missing it in the process. “You got any more hidden in here?”
“I’m not actively providing you with it. Your Aunt would kill me.” Tony wasn’t looking at him anymore, and that made Peter’s stomach turn. He wanted those beautiful doe eyes on him at all times.
“What May doesn’t know about can’t hurt her.” Peter stumbled his way closer to where Tony was hunched over a table, working on something small enough that Peter couldn’t focus on it properly enough to see what it was. “Besides, when have you ever cared about under aged drinking?”
“I care when I’m the one responsible for keeping you safe while you’re under my roof.”
Peter couldn’t help but notice the way Tony’s hands twitched around the metal pieces he was holding. There he goes, treating Peter like a kid again. He had to switch the conversation before they started fighting over something stupid.
“You always keep me safe, Mr. Stark.” Peter attempted to flutter his eyelashes in the way that most men seemed to like, unsure if it came out as sexy as he planned or not because of the alcohol in his system. If the nervous laugh that came out of Tony’s gorgeous mouth was any indicator, then Peter figured the scientist had at least a vague hint of what he was trying to do.
“It’s my job to keep you all safe.”
Which is probably the worst reply Tony could’ve given him. Peter was going to have to kick it up a notch. Too bad it was hard enough to try and flirt with Tony, much less do it with a fuzzy mind.
“Well, I appreciate all that you do for us.” Peter reached out and let his fingertips brush over Tony’s arm. “For me.”
Peter’s heart stopped with the clanging of the piece of whatever Tony had been working on as it fell to the table below. Then Tony was stepping back, fast.
“Anytime, Kid.” The word was clearly emphasized and a total slap in the face to Peter. Then Tony was gone, walking out the door, mumbling something about making an important phone call to Pepper about Stark Industries.
Well...It was effective. Peter had tried, but clearly it wasn’t enough. Tony seemed like he was picking up what Peter was putting down, but he had expected...more. He was going to have to try a lot harder to get rejected.
The second time Peter tried to flirt with Tony was two days later. Again, Peter made sure he was all hopped up on liquid courage before making his move. This time, he tried a different technique. A v-neck shirt and his tightest skinny jeans. Not to toot his own horn, but it was one of his best outfits. Peter knew that for a fact based solely on how many guys and girls tried picking him up while he was wearing it. He didn’t expect Tony to have those same kinds of feelings, but he figured if he wore this and did a little ass shaking, maybe Tony would finally snap and tell him to back off.
As soon as Peter sauntered into the kitchen Tony was up and headed for the door. With a wobbly hand, Peter grabbed onto the grease stained shirt in front of him and pulled the older man back. When Tony gave him a once over, Peter blushed, then reminded himself he was trying to get over his crush, not fuel it with stupid sex scenarios.
“Mr. Stark, I’m glad I caught you. I wanted to tell you something.” Slowly, Peter was cornering Tony.
“Of course.” Tony sighed, looking everywhere but at the pale skin in front of him. That must mean Peter’s plan was working. Time to kick it up a notch.
“But, that was before I had a few drinks.” Peter shrugged, putting a hand on Tony’s arm. It was a lot more muscly than he had imagined, and he was already enjoying himself more than he should’ve been. “I can’t really remember it now.”
Tony wiggled out of Peter’s grasp, and sidestepped him, heading for the door again. “You can always come find me when you remember what it is, Kid.”
Peter could feel the pout on his face. He knew it was a good thing Tony kept calling him ‘kid’, because it was one step in the right direction. That didn’t mean he had to like it though. “Well, I think it had something to with us.”
“Us…” Tony said the word like it was the equivalent of an atomic bomb. Peter took a breath to steady himself, letting the alcohol take control. He’d thrown himself on countless people at clubs and parties before, it shouldn’t be so difficult to do it now. All he had to do was not think.
“Yeah, us.” Peter toyed with his bottom lip a little, as if deep in thought. Tony’s eyes were glued to it. “Me and you, Mr. Stark.”
The silence was dizzying. Peter leaned forward, ready to touch Tony more, only to find the man bolting toward the door. Peter was getting closer to his goal. It was a shame he had started to enjoy it. The idea that Tony might actually be interested flickered through his mind for a fraction of a second before Peter was shoving it down with the rest of the things he refused to think of. Tony didn’t like Peter, he was just uncomfortable with a drunk Peter flirting with him. That was the whole point, to finally get the object of his affections to crush his unrealistic hopes and dreams once and for all.
But maybe that was the issue. Peter was drunk when he approached Tony. He was also a flirty drunk, unable to keep his hands to himself more often than not. From what Peter knew of Tony’s past, not that the man ever got trashed anymore, Tony was also a flirty drunk. Maybe Tony thought Peter was trying to make a move just because he had too much to drink. In a weird way, Peter guessed it would probably be easier to run away from those advances rather than tell Peter off and possibly make him cry over it. Why have a horribly awkward conversation if Peter might not even remember it in the morning? His stomach sank as the realization set in. If he wanted Tony to finally take this serious, he was going to have to do it without being drunk.