Amazingly, my classes were some of the first to fill up semester after semester, which was a great source of pride for me. I tried to be engaging as I educated my students about lost civilizations and cultures. I tried to relate to them and show how learning about our past prevented us from making the same mistakes in our present and future. Gray said my classes filled up so quickly because guys and gals both wanted to sit and stare at me while I lectured like they did in theIndiana Jonesmovies. I found that hard to believe but was flattered nonetheless that he’d compared me to my childhood hero.
I missed my best friend, but I was really happy for him. Chase would be moving into his house the following weekend. Gray had asked me to help, and I’d happily agreed, even though I’d have to suffer through face-sucking and schmoopy banter for hours upon hours. I had made a solemn vow to myself to never call a lover baby or babe.
My mind chose that exact moment to remind me I’d yelled Jag’s name a time or two the previous night. I closed my eyes, and a vision of Jag on his knees in his shower floated behind my lids. I’d said a lot of incoherent things while he’d worked my cock with his wicked lips, tongue, and even his teeth. It was the slight scrape of his teeth over the sensitive head of my cock that had me coming all over his swollen lips and chin. Jag was like every porn fantasy I’d ever had and some I hadn’t been creative enough to think up. I’d matched him blow for blow judging by my sore scalp.
My body began to respond to the memories of Jag pulling my hair and a strangled sigh escaped my lips before I could stop it. Gavin looked over his shoulder and gave me a knowing wink, which I answered with a fierce enough scowl to scare almost anyone. Gavin shrugged casually and turned back to his work, which allowed me to return to Jagworld, which was way more fun than Disney World.
My legs had been almost too weak to hold me up by the time we finished our shower, but I wasn’t the only one with spaghetti limbs. Jag collapsed unceremoniously onto his bed and lay there in a naked sprawl while I found my clothes that had been scattered about the room. By the time I’d redressed, Jag was sound asleep, soft snores escaping through his parted lips. There was something vulnerable about him at that moment, and it tugged at my heartstrings. Maybe that was why I brushed aside a lock of hair that had fallen across his brow with my fingers or why I covered him up with his comforter, unwilling to leave him naked and exposed. I regretted leaving him at all, which was a feeling I’d never had with anyone else.
Jag scared and thrilled me in equal measures. He threatened my balanced life, and instead of running away, I wanted to return to him. I yearned to uncover the secrets this complicated man hid behind the beautiful façade he showed the world. It didn’t take long to recognize the keen intelligence reflected in his eyes, and it was impossible to ignore the sheer sexiness of the man. Both were things he wanted the world to see, but I needed to know the secrets he kept hidden.Needed?Oh, hell no. Only danger awaited me on that path. I’m talking booby traps far worse than anything Indiana Jones ever faced. Jag would just have to remain an unsolved puzzle.
My cellphone vibrated on my desk with an incoming text message from my errant best friend.
Pizza, beer, and baseball at your place?
It was the first time he’d reached out to me in weeks unless it was to ask for help moving Chase’s stuff the following Saturday. I really wasn’t bitter about it, but it was taking me longer to adjust to his absence than I thought it would.
You’re on!I wasn’t about to question why he was suddenly available. I was just glad to hang out with him.Time?
I’ll be there at 7:00 with the pizza and beer.
Damn straight you’re bringing the pizza and beer. Looking forward to it.
Gray was as punctual as ever when he arrived at my house with a pizza box in one hand and a six-pack of Corona in the other. Luckily for me, Gray would only drink one or two beers at the most since he’d be driving home, which left the others for me.
“Long time no see,” I said in greeting as I shut the front door.
“I’ve missed you too,” was Gray’s simple but heartfelt response. “Where’s Indy?” He was referring to my fearless attack pug who happened to be snoring in his dog bed beside the fireplace, totally unaware we had a visitor.
“He’ll come running the minute he smells the pizza.” I led the way to my kitchen and pulled some plates out of the cabinet. “I was surprised to get your text, but I’m glad to spend time with you.”
“Chase had dinner plans with JJ, and I didn’t want to sit at home alone.” Gray piled a few slices of pizza onto his plate and grabbed a beer, and the reason for his visit clicked into place. I wasn’t sure what upset me the most—the fact that I was now Gray’s backup plan when Chase was busy or that Chase was spending time with Jag. My thoughts turned a little bitter, but I refused to let irritation ruin my night.
“Well, let’s kick back, catch up, and watch some ball.” I tried to keep my voice modulated so as not to give away my inner frustrations. I reached up into another cabinet and pulled down an ice bucket I kept for nights like tonight when we’d be too lazy to want to make a fridge run. I thought I might down my four or five beers in record time.
“That came out wrong, Miller.” Gray put his hand on my shoulder and stopped me from walking to the built-in ice maker on my refrigerator. “I didn’t mean to make you sound like a substitution or afterthought. I don’t feel that way at all, and I’m very glad to relax at your house, knock a few beers back, and devour some greasy pizza. I’m only pissed aboutwhoChase is having dinner with, not that I’m not with him.”
I accepted his apology with a nod, and he released me. “I think you need to let this thing with JJ go, Gray,” I told him after I filled the bucket with ice and submerged the beers in the cubes. “Chase is crazy about you, but if you keep harping on him about a relationship that ended a long time ago, you’ll push him away.”
Gray puffed out a frustrated breath before he said, “I trust Chase completely, and that will have to be enough because JJ isn’t going anywhere. Chase said he’s JJ’s only family, and he won’t turn his back on him just because I’m insecure.”
I hated to hear that JJ didn’t have any family of his own and not just because he was irritating my best friend. I had a mother, father, brother, sister-in-law, a gorgeous niece, and a precocious nephew I adored with all my heart. I cherished every moment spent in their company and couldn’t imagine going day to day without them in my life. Damn if Gray hadn’t just handed me another piece of the Jag puzzle, making me want to solve it even more. Was that the reason for the vulnerability I saw in him after he fell asleep?
“That is outta here!” Gray yelled as one of the Nationals players hit a home run. Indy barked happily as if he knew what was going on. I knew better. The little scamp was hoping someone would sneak him a celebration pepperoni.
Gray got too caught up in the game to notice he’d rocked my world by bringing up Jag, and I hoped to keep it that way. I meant what I’d said to Jag. No good would come of Gray and Chase learning about the night I shared with him. It was probably a good thing it wouldn’t be happening again. The thought wasn’t as comforting as I had hoped, and I found myself reaching for my beer instead of the pizza since I no longer had an appetite.
JJ
Chase’s dinner invitation was a huge surprise, but the news he had shared with me was even more surprising. We had exchanged texts quite a bit, and I’d seen Chase and Gray at Ava’s wedding, so I knew things were going really well for them. Still, moving in together was a huge step.
“I never thought I could find this kind of happiness,” Chase said, staring off into space. “I knew it happened for other people, hell, I’d even helped set some of them up. I just didn’t think it was meant for me.”
“I knew.” My words captured his attention, and he turned his soulful brown eyes on me. “I always knew you were meant to find this kind of love, just like I knew I could never be the one to give it to you.”Whoa!I had never really planned on delving into the reasons why Chase and I hadn’t worked out, even though he deserved more of an explanation than I had given him then or was willing to tell him now.
I knew Chase almost better than I knew myself, and I didn’t think he could handle the truth of what had happened during Christmas break all those years ago that had ruined our burgeoning relationship. I couldn’t take the chance that he’d somehow blame himself when all the responsibility rested on my shoulders. He had forgiven me for breaking his heart, we’d moved on, and I needed that to be enough. “You were meant for Gray, and he knows how to treat you the way you deserve.” I smiled as I thought about Gray’s sappy West Coast effort to win Chase back, although he had never lost him. Chase had belonged to Gray since the moment their eyes met, regardless of the horrible circumstances of that meeting. “I’m very happy for you.”
“You’ll always be part of my life. You know that, right, J?” I could tell he was trying not to get too emotional because he paused to choose his words. “You never really explained what happened all those years ago, and I never pushed you. I found a way to accept what you were willing to give me, and I moved on, but I’m not sure you did.”
