“Um, yeah. After we left Chicago, Casey and I ended up working at this animal shelter in a small town in northern Wisconsin. The old lady who ran it let us live there for free in exchange for helping her out with the stuff she couldn’t do anymore. She left it to us when she died…well, Casey technically, since I was underage.”
Jonas studied the horse for a moment. “She never used to let me touch her either,” he suddenly whispered.
“Casey?” I guessed.
Jonas nodded and then looked at me, his eyes glistening. “After everything that happened, I never really believed I’d get here, you know? You stop hoping after a while because it’s easier that way.”
“What is?”
But Jonas just shook his head. “I’m sorry she didn’t get this, Cole.”
The words hurt, but it hurt more to see Jonas in so much pain. I wanted…no, needed to take that from him, once and for all, but I didn’t know how. I lifted my hand to palm his cheek and said, “You knew her, Jonas. Would she have wanted you to keep blaming yourself?”
Jonas shook his head but when silent tears began slipping down his face, I shifted my hand to the back of his neck and drew him forward until his face was pressed against my neck. I felt the moisture seep into my shirt collar, and before I could stop myself, I shifted my head enough so that I could skim my lips over the sensitive skin just behind his ear. “She’s at peace, Jonas. You deserve to be too.”
I felt Jonas nod against me and he stayed there for several seconds as I let my fingers massage the back of his neck where I still held him. My other hand had gone to his waist and automaticallytightened when Jonas tried to pull away from me. I felt the instant he became aware of the intimate way I was holding him, because his body stiffened and his breathing ticked up just the slightest bit. He lifted his head so that he could look me in the eye and I saw the confusion there as he tried to get his bearings. I wasn’t sure if I was afraid he’d pull away before I got my chance to finally taste him or if I would be the one who would end up chickening out, so I added just enough pressure to the hold I had on the back of his neck to urge him forward the few inches it would take for our lips to meet.
“Jonas!”
The sound of Ryan’s voice from somewhere outside shattered the stillness between us and Jonas pulled back enough that I was forced to release him. But then I heard him gasp and saw his eyes widen as he spied something over my shoulder and I knew without a doubt that we weren’t alone. And I knew without looking that it wasn’t Ryan who’d put that look of horror on Jonas’s face.
I turned just as I heard footsteps come running into the barn but my eyes bypassed Ryan and settled on Mace who was leaning against the barn doorway.
“Jonas, Izzy’s trying to open your presents!”
“Coming,” I heard Jonas say, his voice uneven as he shoved past me. He hung his head as he hurried past Mace. I followed more slowly and stopped once I was on the opposite side of the barn door.
“Cock-blocked by a twelve-year-old,” Mace drawled.
His voice was disinterested and amused but his expression said something else. I studied him for a long time before I said, “I can’t figure out if you’re such a callous asshole that you actually like fucking with his head, or if you don’t even realize that you’re doing it.”
The smug smile faded and then he was moving towards me. I was already leaning back against the side of the entryway to the barn so there was nowhere for me to go, but it wouldn’t have mattered because I had no desire to move. Maybe I’d get the fight I’d been craving. Maybe I’d get something else I’d been craving even more.
Mace stopped when his body was only inches from mine and I could feel the heat wafting off of him. I’d always thought his eyes were black, but I could see now that they were a very dark shade of brown. His lips were wide and full and slightly parted but my eyes drifted to his neck and I wondered if it would feel the same as Jonas’s…if his heat would burn my skin if I touched him there.
“He’s your first, right, Frogman?” Mace said softly but his voice was laced with steel.
“First what?”
“Your first time wondering if dick might taste just as sweet as pussy.”
I didn’t bother responding to the crude words because I knew he was saying them just to goad me into something…anything.
“Do you even know what he was, Mace? What he was forced to do to survive?”
Mace stilled at that and I saw a flicker of indecision go through him.
“That’s what I thought,” I muttered as I moved away from Mace and made my way back up to the house. I glanced over my shoulder and saw that Mace hadn’t moved from the position I’d left him in.
Chapter 11
JONAS
As far asbirthday celebrations went, it hadn’t been one of the better ones. I’d known that having Mace and Cole in the same room for extended periods of time wouldn’t go over well, since they seemed to naturally rub each other the wrong way, but in the end it hadn’t been either of them that ruined the evening for me. Nope, that was all on me. Because I’d read into something that wasn’t there. I’d twisted Cole’s offer of comfort into something it wasn’t and not only had I humiliated myself in front of him, I’d given Mace quite a show too. My only consolation was that I wouldn’t have to be around either man for much longer…in fact, I doubted I’d see Cole again anytime soon. As for Mace, I could tell just by looking at my nearly done studio that he’d be out of my life for good within a day, maybe two.
As I let my gaze take in the clean walls and newly installed floor, I let my back slide down the wall behind me and marveled that a week from now, I’d be able to start welcoming kids into the studio.
I’d gotten home from the party a few hours ago, but as darkness had started to fall, I’d found myself too restless and agitated to paint, so I’d spent the last couple of hours unpacking and organizing the supplies that had arrived earlier in the day. I was excitedat the prospect of watching kids who’d never held a paintbrush before get to experience the freedom that came with it. And I was looking forward to finally have some normalcy back in my life. Being around Mace and Cole had brought back a mess of feelings I’d thought I’d buried long ago.
