He reached out and tilted Jason’s face up to meet his gaze. “I swear to you, I’m not seeing anyone, and I’m not interested in anyone else.” Which was far more than he’d intended to say, so he moved on swiftly. “Tell me, how come everyone in a small town knows everything about everyone else? Isnothingprivate?”
Jason grinned suddenly. “You’re kidding, right? It’s not just that everyone knows everyone else’s business—everyone has an opinion on it. When Sam redecorated the diner, I swear every person in town turned up on the doorstep, even those who’d never been there before. And every single one of them let her know what they thought of her choices.”
“Can’t be easy, cooking for such a bunch of critics,” Riley said. “How’d you learn to cook like that? Your mom?”
Jason swallowed hard and turned onto his back, his gaze locking onto the water stain above them as if he could will himself elsewhere. “She passed away a few years back.”
“Ah, shit, Jason—I’m sorry.” Sorry she’d died, sorry he’d asked. Fuckingfantasticsocial skills there, Riley. “Your dad?”
“Took off before I was born.”
He said it like it didn’t matter. Like it was just a fact, like saying that it had rained yesterday. But Riley caught the way his fingers clenched into the sheets and his jaw tightened, as if bracing himself for pity or some well-meaning platitude.
Riley grappled for words, swallowing down the first ones that came to mind. “That sucks,” he said eventually.
Jason blinked as if he hadn’t expected that. Then something in his shoulders eased, very slightly. “It did,” he admitted.
Riley chewed his lip, wondering what topic he could raise that wouldn’t be a bear trap.
“This is so much better than some places I’ve stayed.” It was a neutral subject to break the newly awkward silence. Or so he hoped. “This one place—I swear, I had to clear the roaches out of the tray before I could even shower.” The fact it had been the only apartment he’d been able to afford didn’t need mentioning.
“And then there was this motel where I’m pretty sure the carpet had its own ecosystem. The pink bedspread was older than I was, and the way it clashed with the orange flocked wallpaper—God,I wanted to put my eyes out. And the walls were hung with pictures of creepy-eyed, staring children.” He shuddered at the memory. “I lasted almost two hours before I bailed to sleep in the car.”
Jason stared at him, wide-eyed. “You’re kidding. Why wouldanyonestay there?”
“My guess is, they rented the rooms by the hour. I really should have done my homework before booking in.” Except,it had been the only place he’d been able to afford. Almost like there was a pattern to his life or something.
“Then there was the one with pink plastic flamingoes.Insidethe room.”
A spurt of laughter escaped Jason. “Don’t tell Mrs. Carmichael. She’d probably love the idea.”
Riley rolled over, propping himself on one elbow. The shiny motel bedspread bunched thinly beneath him, and Jason’s warmth was a contrast to the air-conditioned chill. An inexplicable fondness filled him as he took in the way Jason’s eyes were sparkling with humor, that old sorrow wiped away.
As he returned Riley’s gaze, Jason’s eyes dropped briefly to Riley’s lips, and he flicked his tongue out to moisten his own. Riley was fairly sure Jason didn’t know he’d done it. He wasverysure Jason had no idea what effect that had on Riley.
He leaned in and kissed Jason. The problem was, once his lips had met Jason’s again, he didn’t want to stop.
They kissed for hours, or maybe days, touching one another in a way that wasn’t just about sex. At least, not from Riley. He needed to know everything about Jason’s body, to imprint it on his memory so that, when he left here, he’d know how Jason tasted, and he’d be able to remember every last detail—the scar on his side, the mole on his left kneecap and the way the hairs on his forearms raised when Riley nibbled his neck. He wanted to remembereverythingabout Jason.
He wasn’t supposed to feel this way. He wasn’t supposed to want more than Jason’s body, but he did. He didn’t know when it had happened, only that it had.
Jason’s fingers curled at the nape of his neck, drawing him closer. Jason gasped like a startled bird when Riley licked the hollow of his throat, unfurling an inexplicable fondness deep inside Riley.
And then they lost themselves again, mouths hungry and slow, bodies moving together. The world outside ceased to exist—only Jason’s warmth, Jason’s hands, Jason’s breath against his ear.
Riley let himself fall.
* * *
He drifted up from sleep, aware he was being held and how good it felt. Almost like home. And then he came fully awake, sourness in his throat as he realized just how fucking delusional he was. But when he looked at Jason, asleep beside him, his mouth slightly open as he breathed softly and easily, he couldn’t resist pressing a kiss to his temple.
It caused Jason to stir and open his eyes slowly. He looked disoriented for a second, but as his eyes cleared and he looked at Riley, he smiled that smile again, the one that left Riley defenseless and helpless.
“Hey,” he said softly to Riley. And then he looked around the room. “What time is it? I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”
Riley reached for his phone. “Almost eight,” he said, surprised at how late it was.
“Shit!” Jason said, and disentangled himself abruptly from Riley. “Shit,” he said again, getting out of bed and hunting for his clothes.
