“I wish you could see what I do—a sweet guy who would doanythingfor the ones he loves, because he is good and caring and the best kind of human being.”
“Yeah?” he rasped and buried his face against my chest.
I held him tight, hating he thought he was stupid and silently cursed his father for tearing him down. Dragging my fingers into his hair, I wanted to fix that part of his life, erase the abuse he’d suffered at the hands of his parents. All I could do was say, “I love you, Jere.”
He nodded against me, kissed my collar bone, and said, “I love you too.”
When he looked at me again, tears were lodged in the corner of his eyes. As long as I could remember, he’d only cried a handful of times, mostly when he thought no one was paying attention. I wanted to gush about how adorable he was, be the strong one for once and prove to him how worthy he was. I figured I’d have a lifetime toshowhim.
Our takeout arrived and we sat in bed cross-legged and enjoyed our Chinese food. Jere fumbled with the chopsticks, sending little drops of barbecue pork sauce splooging his chest.
“Here,” I said and crawled over to him where I licked the sauce off his body. Then I showed him how to properly use chopsticks.
“This is nice. I like this, Danny. Can we stay in sleazy hotel rooms and fool around then eat greasy food sometime again?”
“Absolutely,” I said, glancing at the stained carpet and the peeling wallpaper. “I think the sleaze factor is what makes it exciting. It would also be nice to one day stay in a five-star hotel, like on the lakefront, and relax in a jacuzzi after a long fuck. That is something we can save for, maybe put a few bucks away every week.” I stabbed my noodles with chopsticks. “I wished I wasn’t broke.”
“Being with you is all that matters. I don’t need expensive hotel rooms to be happy,” he said, leaning in to kiss me with greasy lips.
“You say the sweetest things.”
He tipped his chin up. “How sweet of you to say.”
We shared a laugh. “Did you enjoy everything we did tonight?”
He furrowed his brows and pursed his lips. “I don’t think enjoy is a strong enough word. I really liked fulfilling your fantasy.”
“Oh, believe me, so did I.” I was quiet for a moment as I turned over my next words in my mind. “I wouldn’t have done that with anyone except you.”
His eyes twinkled with male satisfaction as he chewed his food.
“Likewise, if there is something I can do for you, I want you to tell me.”
“I like everything we do.”
I pushed the noodles around in my carton, my hand starting to ache from use. “I know, but is there anything that gets you off? Like a specific fantasy that hits those secret places I talked about before? Like, how I was reduced to a mess tonight?”
He frowned and scratched his chin. “I’m a simple man, Danny. I know what I like, what I want and that’s you, in any andeveryway. I don’t need to explain why.”
I blew out a big breath. “No one says as much as you do in so few words.”
“That was an entire book for me,” he said with a wink.
We finished our food and discarded the remains in the trash. Time wound on and I had no idea how late the hours was as we lounged in bed, the television a soft hum in the background. We fell asleep, woke up, kissed, and fooled around throughout the night. I’d never get enough of Jere, because he was myeverythingand I was greedy when it came to him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Jere
I held up a clothing hanger for Danny’s inspection, the shirt covered in a clear bag. It was black silk and embroidered in navy thread with some sort of flower. Subtle, but classy. He’d look great in it.
A wide smile creased his cheeks, his eyes brightening. “Ohhhh yeah, that’s the one.”
I glanced at the label—it was something I couldn’t even try to pronounce. With the fund-raiser tonight, he wanted to look good, and we’d been going through his boxes, searching for the right ensemble. He’d chosen a pair of J. Crew slim fit jeans and pebbled leather sneakers the color of cognac. It was my opinion he was going to be gorgeous tonight and I couldn’t wait to see him all dressed up. Besides the few photos he’d texted me over years, I hadn’t gotten to see what he looked like, all suave and genteel.
“I splurged on it after receiving my first paycheck from the firm. I wore it once, and never again. It’s intimidating wearing designer art pieces, makes you too self-conscious, always thinking about ruining it.” He accepted the hanger from me and ran his fingers across the silk hem. “I’d like to wear it one more time before I sell it.”
“Sell it?” I asked.
