He should leave before anyone in the house woke up.
Fuck.Jurgen.
There was no way he could explain why he’d ignored Jurgen’s request to leave Sam alone.And he had an inkling that Jurgen wouldn’t quite see the “getting to know him first” thing the same way Ian had.
Why had he done that?He’d never just ignored a request from Jurgen like that.It was totally out of character.Things had just ...gotten out of hand.Sam had been in that hot tub, looking nervous and, well, cute, and then he’d reacted so perfectly when Ian dropped his towel.As if he could’ve come just by looking at him.
Ian turned his head, looking one more time at Sam.He snuffled, rubbing his nose in his sleep, then sighed and rolled over.
Hell.
Okay, he probably needed to think about this.Come up with an explanation for Jurgen.Staying here, waiting for Jurgen to get up and plan out an ambush, was probably a bad idea, though.Best course of action was to get out of bed before anyone was up, get out of here, and head back to the city until he came up with a reasonable explanation.
That was why he needed to leave.To think.
He refused to listen to the little voice inside spouting off opinions about running away and bad decisions.
Of course, Jurgen was in the kitchen reading the paper and drinking coffee.When Ian walked in, pack over his shoulder and carrying his shoes, Jurgen pointed at an empty cup waiting for him on the counter next to the coffee pot.
Ian winced, accepted the inevitability of having a conversation with his cousin, and filled his mug.He probably deserved whatever was about to happen.
“So,” Jurgen said once Ian sat down next to him.
“So,” Ian returned.He sipped his coffee.Jurgen smiled.Ian cleared his throat.“Sorry.I mean, what can I say?”
Jurgen shrugged.“Nothing.”He turned back to his paper.“Have a good time last night?”
Aw, fuck.“Yeah,” Ian said.“Thanks for inviting me.”He sipped again.
“Sounded like you had a good time.”
Ian closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.“Just say it.”
“You fucked Sam.”
“Sort of.”Not that Jurgen would care about the gray areas.
“I told you to leave Sam alone.”
“Yes.”He met Jurgen’s eyes.Jurgen didn’t just look angry, he lookeddisappointed.“I’m sorry,” he said again.
Jurgen threw down the paper and stood up.“Don’t apologize to me.”Ian thought he wanted more coffee, but Jurgen headed toward the hallway instead.“You should probably get the hell out of here.You start that new job on Monday,” he added before he hit the door.
Aw, fuck.They’d never talked about Sherri—Ian’s single failure at a relationship in the past, the one that had pissed Jurgen off so totally—but for the first time Ian felt like he wanted to try.He had a good relationship with his cousin most of the time, except when it came to this.
“Listen, I get that you’re still pissed about Sherri.”Jurgen stopped in the doorway, so Ian kept talking.“But it was seven years ago.I was a fucked-up kid.I wasn’t trying to use her, I really thought ...”
“Thought you could be straight?”
“I thought it might be a mistake.Maybe Iwasstraight.I liked her, I even loved her, but not—you know—like that.”
Jurgen sighed and turned around, folding his arms across his chest.“You haven’t been serious about anyone since then.”
“You’ve never been serious about anyone until Nik.”
Jurgen stared at him a long time.“So what are you trying to say?”
He wished he knew.“Just, maybe I’m trying to figure some shit out.”
