Rob walked into the room. He looked out the big window that faced Fargo and then the smaller one facing the L tracks. He opened the closet door and peeked inside the walk-in. Jasper could recall it being filled with black clothes.
“This was where she ended up?” Rob asked, like he couldn’t believe it.
Jasper had never known that Lacy was a daughter of wealth and privilege. He’d always assumed, and she’d never corrected him, that they both came from humble working-class backgrounds.
“Yup,” Jasper said, a little annoyed, assuming that Rob was marveling at how far down she’d tumbled.
Rob looked over his shoulder at him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that to come out like it sounded.” He stood, hands at his sides, and Jasper thought suddenly that Rob looked a little lost, a little helpless. “Was she happy here?”
“I thought so.” Did he? Did he really? Or did he not pay any mind to her despair? To the fact that she had no friends and worked at a job far below her education or intellectual capacity? Was it easier to use her as a sounding board, a wingperson, a shoulder to cry on, listening ears when he needed them? Had he ever thought to reciprocate? Suddenly, he wanted to cry. But he held it back, the lump in his throat like a tangerine lodged there.
“No,” Jasper finally said. “I don’t know if she was happy.” Obviously, she wasn’t all that happy. He hung his head, staring down at the dust bunnies gathered on the floor.
“We didn’t know much about what was happening with her.” Rob turned and made to move toward the door. “I mean, of course we knew where she was, that she was safe, that she was getting along. But she didn’t speak to us, didn’t answer calls, emails, texts. Unlike almost everyone else in the world, she had no social-media presence.” Rob drew in a breath. “It was like she vanished.”
Although a bit of sun had come out, it was as though a pall of darkness had descended upon them.
“And you have no idea why,” Jasper said. It wasn’t a question.
“Did you say you were going to make coffee?”
Relieved, Jasper led him from the room, shutting the door after them. “I did. I think we have cream and sugar.”
“That’s okay. I take mine like my heart—black.” Rob laughed, but the mirth didn’t reach his eyes.
Jasper started for the kitchen, but he turned for one more look at Rob. When he saw him sitting there on the couch, with the diffused light hitting his face just so and casting dramatic shadows, a play of light and dark, he turned back and sat down beside him again. Rob moved closer to Jasper on the couch. “Would it be weird if I kissed you here?”
“You mean here?” Jasper pointed to the tip of his nose. “Or here?” He lifted a foot and wiggled his big toe. “Or really weird if you kissed me here?” He caressed the back of a knee.
Rob smirked. “You know what I mean. Here in this room.”
“Ah—gotcha. I suppose it’s as good a place as any, but I have to warn you that Stan will be home in a couple of hours.”
“I think I can finish a kiss in that time frame.” Rob touched Jasper’s cheek. “Maybe.” He leaned in and, as his face drew near, Jasper sucked in a breath. There had been many such moments with many men late at night on this very couch, so why did this one seem different? Why did this one seem important, charged with a kind of giddy energy?
When their lips met, it was almost as though he’d touched some of the lightning they’d witnessed on the beach. Because his eyes were closed, he imagined sparks flying out from their merged lips.
It didn’t take long for desire to surge upward, like one of those waves they’d just seen down on Fargo Avenue beach. The hunger rose like a wave far out from land, building higher and higher as it closed in until it crashed against the shore with furious spray.
When they finally broke apart, Jasper was breathless and almost whimpering with a yearning he’d forgotten how to feel, what with all of the perfunctory one-night stands and online hookups in his recent past. Or maybe he’d never known what love and sexual desire really felt like, what a potent cocktail they made when combined, especially with someone new.
Had his mind allowed the wordloveto manifest?
Never mind. He returned to kissing Rob, moving on from his lips to his neck, his eyebrows, and his earlobes. When he descended farther south, he pulled away only long enough to say, “Take off your shirt.”
Quickly and wordlessly, Rob complied, allowing Jasper to concentrate on his broad, hairy chest, the nipples that protruded like pencil erasers. Jasper found himself lost in the taste and texture of Rob’s skin, attuned to the sound of his breathing, quickening, interspersed with what Jasper interpreted as involuntary groans of pleasure. His tongue circled a surprise—a heavy silver ring pierced into Rob’s left nipple. He tugged at it with his teeth, causing Rob to moan.
Jasper allowed his hand to wander down to Rob’s crotch. He found him fully hard, and Jasper chastised himself for being surprised—Rob wasn’tthatmuch older that Jasper should have anticipated anything less.
It was clear the time was right to make a suggestion. “Should we move into my bedroom?” he managed to get out beneath his hurried breaths.
“I thought we were gonna have coffee. You promised me coffee,” Rob said.
Jasper leaned back to eye him, to gauge if he was serious or not. There was a twinkle in Rob’s eye. His lips quivered in an almost repressed laugh.
“Later. Now I need something more.” Jasper pulled Rob up from the couch.
“I thought your roomie was coming home from work any minute now.” Rob followed, grinning.
