I head back to my work at the stovetop. “I was gonna make omelets this morning if you wanted one,” Ioffer.
“Omelets. Oh really? The many talents of EricWestright?”
“Very many talents,” I assure him, glancing over my shoulder to make eye contact with him while simultaneously reminding myself how wildly inappropriate thisis.
I was pleased after our talk last night. Finally, we had a chance to ease that tension I’d created when I pushed him away, as well as clarify we’re both on the same page: that despite being physically attracted to one another, we realize we can’t do anything aboutit.
But a conversation can’t change how attracted I feel toward him, especially as he sits, resting his elbows on the bar, his thick biceps and triceps bulging, on full display. I’m sure he didn’t think about it before stepping out of the bedroom, but a part of me feels like he’s not wearing a shirt just to tormentme.
“Did you boys have a good time after I went back home?” Iask.
“Just more drinking,” Jesse assures me. “At least I actually brought him home with me thistime.”
“I can hear you talking about me,” comes from behind the door of the master bedroom before it opens and Ty walks out. He gives Jesse a foul expression, clearly teasing him. Then his eyes scan the bar before zeroing in on the ibuprofen. “Ahhh, there she is. Exactly who I need to see.” While he slides onto the stool beside Jesse, I pour him his own glass ofwater.
“I’m making omelets. You guys both wantone?”
“That would be wonderful,” Tysays.
“I’m curious to see these mad omelet skills you have,” Jesseadds.
I can hear the playfulness in his tone, one I’ve become familiar with even within our relatively brief interactions. Toobrief.
I like the way he pushes my buttons, and it only makes me wish I could push some ofhis.
I wish I could shake those sorts of thoughts. Our conversation last night should have killed any hope I had of doing anything with him, but I can’t still the primal impulses that leave me desperately wanting his body against mine, something I’m assured of by the way my dick shifts in my jogging pants. Just need to remind myself to stay turned toward the stovetop so that neither of them catches on, especiallyTy.
“You want some coffee?” Jesse asks Ty, hopping up and heading to the counter opposite Ty, to the coffee maker, which already has a full pot onit.
I turn to him. “Oh, I can getthat.”
“No, no, I gotit.”
His eyes drift down to my crotch and then meet mine. His lips are curled slightly upward, as though he knows he’s responsible for the bulge. It’s just an instant that we exchange a look, one that’s surely too quick for Ty to catch, but as Jesse turns toward the cabinets and pulls out coffee mugs, I turn to Ty and see him scrolling on his phone. I’m relieved because if he saw me, he might be wondering why I’m blushing. I turn back to thestove.
After Jesse pours himself and Ty coffee, they share a little about their adventures the night before, surely PG-ing it down for Ty’s oldman.
I feel a lump form in my throat as I decide to ask something that’s been on my mind since before either of them got up. All through my jog earlier, and through the shower after I got back, I kept imagining how to say it so that it would soundcasual.
“You guys wanna go hiking today?” Such a simple question, yet so fucking desperate because what I’m really asking is:Ty, do you want to spend some time with me?Something I hope hewants.
“Oh, that’ll be really cool,” Jesse says, but Ty appears to be mulling it over, as though he’s not sure he wants to spend the time with me. His hesitation is the reason why I kept playing over and over again in my head how I would bring it up…or if I evenshould.
“There’s a really cool, secluded area where I typically go hiking, and there are beaches farther back,” I add. “It’s not really well known by the tourists, so I thought it’d be cool to go hiking back there and maybe catchup.”
Ty’s expression relaxes. I hate that it’s like this. That my own son is reluctant to spend time with me and has to think twice whether that’s something he even wants. I understand his reasons, and he has every fucking right to struggle with this, but it’s been a constant tug-of-war with him since we first met one another. I feel like I’m pulling as hard as I can, but his pull against me is twice as strong, dragging me to the ground, into the mess of a life I’ve made formyself.
“If Jesse wants to go, I’ll go,” Tysays.
I catch Jesse’s reaction as he side-eyes Ty, then glances at me. We exchange a silent stare, not nearly as erotic as when he was heading over to pour coffee for him andTy.
I’m curious how much Jesse knows about my estrangement from my son. What has Ty toldhim?
Surely he can’t think I’m a complete asshole. Otherwise, I don’t imagine he would have been so willing to roll around in the sack with me. And at the same time, that was only chemistry. That was us acting off pure, uninhibited lust, not thinking logically. Hell, he could totally think I’m this bastard of a guy and still have done all that withme.
“Yeah, I’d really like to go,” Jesse says. “It sounds like it’d be fun. Secluded beach, a little hike. How long is thishike?”
“Not more than forty-five minutes,” I tell him. “I would say closer to twenty, but I have had some friends here who were a bunch of slow asses, and because they were drunk, it took them about an hour to get to the end ’cause they needed to take breaks every fiveminutes.”
