“God-fucking-dammit,”Jacesaid.
“You liked that a lot, didn’tyou?”
“Are you kidding? That was amazing. I can just imagine what it’d be like to have a cock inthere.”
“Well, you still owe me that,” I said,winking.
He laughed. “Yes, I do. Gonna give you my V-card.”
“Your V-card? Well, at least your booty V-card, but I’ll gladly takeit.”
“Yes, you shouldtakeit.”
We kissed again. I hadn’t meant for it to last very long, but I took my time, worshipping his mouth. His lips felt so good against mine, and I loved the way his breath hit my face. When he managed to pull away from me, he leaned back and gazed down at me, and I couldn’t stop smiling. I was cocky, knowing all that he’d let me do withhim.
“Thank you,” Jacesaid.
I winced, surprised by the comment. “For?”
“For taking my mind off all that stuff we brought uptonight.”
“I should be thanking you for taking my mind off everything. I’ve been in such a fucking crazy state of mind all day, making probably way too big a deal out of shit from so long ago. It helped to enjoy this with you.” And I was relieved to know I could provide him with a similar sense ofease.
He started to roll off me, and I rolled with him so we lay on our sides, gazing at one another, much longer than we’d done in the past, but it was nice, neither of us talking, just being present, knowing so much more now about oneanother.
“How are you feeling?” heasked.
“In this moment?” I was trying to becheeky.
Apparently Jace wasn’t letting me get away with it, because he said, “I’m being serious, Dax. About everything that’s going on. With what happened with those pics and with everything we talkedabout.”
“Better. It all just blindsided me. Haven’t had much time to process it.” Although, messing around had lightened my mood a bit. Helped me thinkstraight.
“Just like with my shit, it’s in the past,” Jace said. “We can sit here beating ourselves up over it, or we can move on. Trust me, I know I’m not holding Lil’ Donnie Gibson right now. I’m holding sexy, confident, cocky-as-hell DaxMunro.”
I laughed at his words, but he was right about that…he was right about a lot of things whenever we chatted. Although, that was likely part of what made him fit for his job. He could handle insanity, find a way to focus in some of the most difficult, life-altering situations I couldimagine.
“Admittedly,” I began, “it’s been a bit of a struggle to remember I’m not that confused kid anymore. I know who I am these days. It’ll be annoying as fuck to have to hear the name again, but I have a whole life I’ve built for myself that has nothing to do with that.” I inspected Jace’s expression. “What about you? How do you feel about everything we talked about, with yourpast?”
“I’m never going to be able to look back on any of that and feel good aboutit.”
“That’s not how I meant it. Are you okay with this endorsement deal and being this image other people have of you…like you have your wholelife?”
He shrugged. “It’s not like I’m living a lie. I am who I am, and no, I don’t wear my heart on my sleeve all the time, but I don’t think I’m a bad person because ofthat.”
“No, you’re not that, Jace. You’re a really awesome person, but it has nothing to do with you being easygoing. It has to do with the way you look at the world and the way you care aboutothers.”
“Eh, I’m alright, Iguess.”
“You’re better than that, but I’ll let it slide this time. I have too much other shit to figure out before tomorrow.” And boy, did Iever…
“Don’t make it too complicated, though. If you don’t want to be in the spotlight again, just tell Hacksmore that. He might be annoyed, but it’s not up tohim.”
“That’s the easy part,” I said. “I already know I’m not going to use this for publicity. I don’t want us running around, pretending there’s something here that justisn’t.”
“You really think there’s nothing here?” He arched a brow before offering a suspiciousglare.
“Not what I meant at all. There definitely is. I’m having a lot of fun, and I really like you,Jace.”
