He chuckled. “You’re not making me do anything. I’m offering.” This he could handle. Jacob hated being out of control, which made him fall back on statistics, facts, and acting like an ass. James had seen that part of him too many times to count. Now Jacob could show James something positive about himself.
“Can you even bake a cake?” James questioned him suspiciously. “Don’t you have people who do that for you?”
Jacob set the package he’d brought James on the clean corner of the counter.
“What’s that?” James asked.
“I bought you something,” Jacob confessed.
“Why?”
“Why are you making me a cake?” Jacob retorted.
James huffed. “I might have overreacted last night. You were very nice to help calm me down and get me inside. Also, I really don’t want to get kicked out of the apartment. I could stay with friends. Probably. But Scott likes it here.”
“Why would I kick you out?” No, that wasn’t important. It was ridiculous but not important. “Never mind. Please believe me that I have no intention and would never kick you out of the apartment. This is your home for as long as you want to live here.”
James’s entire body seemed to relax. Like he’d been holding himself stiff. The boy’s lips even twitched. “That’s good to know. I am sorry. I acted like an asshole and you didn’t deserve it. You were more of a friend than a landlord. So thanks.”
“And the kiss?” Jacob hadn’t meant to ask. He’d promised himself. It was impossible to forget how soft James’s lip had been. How right James had felt on his lap. There had been dreams in which the two of them had gone much further than a simple kiss.
The boy’s face burned brighter. The red flush going down his neck.
“My apologies,” Jacob said quietly. “I did not mean to bring it up.”
“You sound so proper,” James replied. “It was a kiss. I’m sure you’ve kissed plenty of men.”
“Is that so?” Jacob lifted a brow. He enjoyed James challenging him. The brat was strong in the boy. Just Jacob’s type. Damn, and Jacob was trying to convince himself to get over his little crush. He couldn’t stop himself though. This was friendlier than they’d ever been to each other. Jacob needed to push just a bit. “Do I seem the type to go around kissing every person that I run into?”
James snorted.
“Or is it all the people that I have in and out of my house,” Jacob teased.
James dropped his chin. “That was rude. I’m sorry.” When he looked back up, his eyes held frustration. “I don’t know why I always let you push my buttons.”
Jacob couldn’t explain as he had the same question. The tension on his side was from attraction. James just didn’t seem to like him. Not that he wanted to start that conversation. They were getting along. “I will attempt to resist antagonizing you. But the gift is my apology to you.”
“You have nothing to apologize for,” James said. “I was the asshole this time.”
When it was normally Jacob who was the asshole? Had that been what James meant. “I crossed a line—”
“Oh please!” James rolled his eyes. “Not this again. It was just a kiss!”
“I need you to know that I would never take advantage of you or a situation like that again.”
“Fine, fine. We’re both just sorry-ass—”
He cleared his throat while scowling at James. “I don’t think you should finish that sentence. We’re trying to get along, remember?”
“That might be harder than I imagined.”
Or maybe James saw it as some sort of foreplay. Maybe he needed someone to challenge him? Now was not the time to think about that. This was his chance to show James that Jacob could be nice. That Jacob wanted to spend time with him. They did have things in common. “Now, about this cake,” Jacob said.
“I…made a mess,” James said, lowering his eyes back down to the counter.
“Nothing that can’t be cleaned up,” Jacob assured him. “Do you have a recipe you were trying to follow?”
James pointed toward a tablet on the counter.
