Jameson released a slow, steady breath. “Sure, Gray,” he said. “See you tomorrow.”
Once Gray was down the hallway, Jameson fell back against the couch. His heart sank into his stomach; then his stomach sank to the floor. He grabbed a pillow and pressed his face against it as he considered screaming. Emotions surged through his muscles, and when he pressed his lips together, he could still feel Gray’s thumb and taste his skin. He felt horny and frustrated and happy and sad, all at the same time.
“Fuck,” Jameson groaned, then tossed the pillow aside. He might not have gotten a kiss at the end of it, but Jameson was never going to forget that date.
Gray
Gray wokeup to his phone ringing and four missed calls from Raiden. He rubbed his hand over his face, then swung his legs off the side of the bed, hit a few buttons, and called back.
“What the hell?” Gray grumbled. “What’s wrong? Why are you up before noon?”
“Couldn’t sleep,” Raiden answered. “Horatio and I need you to settle an argument.”
Gray smiled to himself. He’d always been the default leader of their group, and he was glad the guys were still thinking about him, even while he was off working for the security company. “What’s up?”
“Just a yes or no,” Raiden said. “Could Horatio and I build a submarine?”
Gray stood up. His boxers were bunched up his leg, and he had to tug them down. “A submarine,” he repeated flatly.
“Like, could wespecifically, like us two, build a submarine? Remember that Horatio is the best mechanic you’ve ever met. And it’s actually not hard to find a design online.”
Gray wandered through the house, still yawning. “Can you back it up a little bit? Why do you want to build a submarine? We live in Albany.” He arrived at the kitchen and went straight to fumbling with the coffee.
“It’s just one idea,” Raiden said. “Because of this guy we met at the bar the other night.”
“This guy?”
“He’s going to move a bunch of fentanyl through next week, bringing it down the river on the way to Manhattan. Bragged about it and everything, the dipshit.”
“So you want to what, intercept him on the river?”
“You see? The submarine doesn’t even have to work for that long. Just like a short-term submarine. A river submarine, not an ocean submarine.”
Gray grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl, then leaned back against the counter as the coffee machine gurgled. He grunted. “Raiden, I need you to promise me right now that you’re not going to try to intercept these people with a homemade submarine. It’s very important to me that you promise, right now, not to do that.”
There was a slight pause, and Gray heard Raiden breathing heavily and probably grumbling under his breath. “You don’t think I can build a submarine,” he said, like it was an accusation.
“I think you can build a submarine,” Gray answered. “I just really don’t think youshouldbuild a submarine.”
“He says he thinks I can build it!” Raiden yelled away from the phone. “You owe me fifty bucks, Horatio.”
By the time Gray convinced Raiden to just call the authorities on this one, he was into his second cup of coffee, and when he hung up the phone, he was finally awake enough to remember the night before.
“Oh,” he said, the whole thing landing on him at once. “Fuck.”
Desire stirred in some deep part of Gray. He dragged himself into the bathroom to get ready for another day and tried to wrestle that desire down, knowing it was a bad fucking idea. It was why he had to run away the night before. No matter how beautiful Jameson looked, and no matter how much Gray felt certain that the guy needed him, he needed to keep his dick in his pants.
He was going to get himself fired. He was going to miss an intruder because he was ogling at Jameson’s ass or jerking it in his bedroom again and thinking about his soft lips. Jameson’s whole life was going to be ruined because of him, and for what? Like Gray could possibly be good enough for one of the most famous actors in the world?
But then, in the shower, his brain raced over that moment in the parlor and the way Jameson’s lips had felt, closed like a velvet kiss on Gray’s thumb.
He groaned, then rubbed at his cock, gripping it by the base while the water beat down on his chest. Jameson was always hot, but with makeup on and that glint in his eyes, he made Gray crumble, he was that on fire. It was like something new came alive in him, something that Gray could touch and feel for himself.
Something that needed room to play.
With a grunt, he sprayed his load, then finished washing himself up. Whatever he was doing, he needed to give Jameson and himself both a little bit of time. He’d feel like shit if Jameson did something he regretted, and Gray knew that the little bit they had shared was a big deal. The treat Gray had gotten in the parlor was enough to make him sweat through the sheets, and he was going to leave it at that for now.
But coffee in the morning? That was still on the table. And when Gray spotted Jameson on the back porch, looking over the yard, he yanked his jacket on and stepped into the spring chill to catch a glimpse of that smile.
