“I’ve got a session with my trainer at the gym tonight. You’re working?”
Kyrone nodded.
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? Meet me after work?”
Kyrone kissed Jared’s neck. “Or I could meet you for lunch and we could go and get tested? If you still want to,” he added. It might not have been the best moment to bring it up again, when Jared was reeling from his encounter with Jag and probably raw, but as selfish as it was, Kyrone needed to feel some form of commitment. He needed to know he hadn’t lost Jared, that they were still a couple with a future together.
Jared smiled. “I do. I’ll text you in the morning when I know when I’ll be able to take a break.”
“Okay.” He sat and then pulled Jared into an upright position.
“You’ll give those things to Jag?” Jared asked. “And my message?”
“Yeah.”
Kyrone was worried about the effect they would have on Jag, but he wasn’t going to put the weight of that on Jared’s shoulders. His lover was trying to do what was best for Jagandhimself, and no one could ask more of him than that.
“Are you sure you don’t want to talk to Jag yourself?” Kyrone asked.
Jared shook his head. “I can’t, Ky. I’m sorry if that makes me a coward.”
“It doesn’t.” Kyrone brushed Jared’s hair behind his ear. “Go take a shower. I’ll make you some breakfast—something healthy, I promise. I can’t have you going to work on an empty stomach, can I?”
Jared chuckled. “Thank you.”
“For?”
“Making me breakfast.”
“I haven’t done that yet.”
“True.” Jared cocked his head to the side. “Thank you for not treating me like a freak. It means a lot.”
“You’re not a freak,” Kyrone assured him. “And even if you were, you would bemyfreak.”
Jared smiled. “I like the sound of that.”
Kyrone curled his hand around Jared’s slender jaw. “Me too,” he whispered. “Me too.”
* * *
Arriving at the club early was always a weird feeling. Although it was used for pole fitness classes during the afternoon, it was always empty by the early evening, when it entered a sort of Twilight Zone where it was silent and empty before the staff arrived, the lights and music were turned on, and the customers started arriving. During that time, the dancers were allowed to turn up and practise routines or formulate new ones with their various dance partners. Michael encouraged them to keep the routines as fresh as possible, which was one of the reasons why they weren’t always in the same groups of three, no matter how well they worked together. If asked, Michael and Mac were always willing to help with choreography, which had been a godsend when Kyrone had first started working at Heaven and Hell.
Kyrone wasn’t there early to practise. He wanted to see Jag before anyone else arrived.
He saw Michael first, standing in the doorway to the changing room, leaning against the frame. When he saw him, he nodded to Kyrone and then used his head to gesture into the room. Although Michael didn’t move, there was space to slip past him. Jag was using one of the practice poles. He’d worked up a sweat, even without the hot stage with spotlights beaming down on him, so he must have been at it for a while.
“He’s working off some pent-up emotions,” Michael said quietly.
“You’re worried about him?” Kyrone asked.
Michael scratched his chin. “Yes, but there’s not much I can do except be there. How’s Jared?”
“He says he’s okay.”
Michael raised an eyebrow. “But is he?”
Kyrone sighed and scuffed the sole of his boots against the floor. “I hope so, but I haven’t known him long enough to be sure.”
