Gray took a bite of the eggs, which were fluffy and perfect, then munched down on the toast. Jameson watched with a smile as he fed himself, the perfect balance of food hitting the exact right spot. “Maybe things are calming down,” Gray said. “Maybe you could even get out of the house more, if you wanted. You know, people are way more accepting of gay celebrities today, too.”
Jameson froze in place, and Gray immediately realized he had said the wrong thing. He’d had too much coffee before a proper breakfast and then gone and shot his mouth off, and he fucking hated it when he did that. “Sorry,” he blurted. “I didn’t mean anything by that.”
Although Gray was aware the guy had sucked his thumb the night before. That wasn’t really a thing that straight men did, so why pretend?
Jameson placed his hands flat on the counter and summoned that look he got sometimes, this smile that Gray now knew was totally fake. A second passed while he breathed, and Gray died a little bit inside looking at him, but then Jameson nodded, and the look faded. “It’s complicated,” he said.
“Why?” Gray asked gently. He wanted to say a million more things, but he kept his mouth shut. He knew this conversation was a big fucking deal for Jameson, and it made him feel warm and funny that he got to be a part of it at all.
“If I could just come out of the closet quietly, I wouldn’t care at all. But every part of my life has been in the public eye since I startedWest Town. I had to share everything, including the death of my parents. It was all out there, like I was just a story for people to use.”
Gray tightened his jaw. “I always hated that celebrity shit. I remember now, when those pictures of you at the funeral were in the newspapers. It pissed me off.”
Jameson pushed his coffee away. “I need to have something that’s mine,” he said, determination rising in his voice. “Something the rest of the world can’t take from me. If the tabloids found out I was gay, what’s to stop them from being cruel? They might even be mean enough to take down theWest Townfranchise—I’ve seen it happen. And they definitely wouldn’t give me the space to date and find a relationship for myself. Why would I put myself through that?”
“I probably wouldn’t,” Gray admitted. “It sounds like hell.”
Jameson used his toast to dab up the runny egg on his plate. “I can’t believe I’m talking about this with you,” he said with a soft laugh. “We did make you sign a contract, right? You can’t sell your story to a newspaper?”
Gray frowned. It only made sense for Jameson to want reassurance, especially after sharing something so big, but still, he wished the guy didn’t have to doubt him. “I’m not a gossip,” he said, an edge of defensiveness in his voice.
“I know,” Jameson said. “I guess I trust you for some reason.”
Gray grunted. He suddenly felt awkward and shoved the last of his eggs in his mouth so he wouldn’t have to talk.
“I take it you’re out? With the security company,1 I mean?”
Gray nodded. “Yeah, my guy Raiden is bi, and Horatio is gay. We made our own little family, you know?”
“But it’s your actual uncle who owns the security company, is that right?”
Gray felt a little uncertain how he should talk about his life with Jameson, but considering how much the guy was opening up to him, it felt wrong to hold anything back. “My mom’s brother, yeah. I’m close with my mom, too, although she doesn’t live up here with us. Truth is, they both were on my case to take some of this security work. With my guys back in Albany, we kind of get ourselves into trouble sometimes.”
“You said that the other day. Like what kind of trouble?”
“Hopefully, nothing involving a submarine.” Jameson tilted his head to the side, then squinted at Gray. “Like my uncle says,” he tried to explain, “we kind of get a Robin Hood complex sometimes, you know what I mean?”
“You steal from the rich?”
Gray thought about trying to sugarcoat it, but there wasn’t really a better spin for grand theft auto anyway. “Basically, yeah. Specifically, rich people who are assholes. Like, major assholes.”
Jameson laughed. He was surprised, Gray could tell, but not in a bad way. It was more like there was a lick of something fiery behind his eyes. He stood up, then stepped close to Gray to take his plate. The smile playing on his lips pulled some filthy fantasies from the back of Gray’s mind, and he had to spread his legs a little wider to accommodate his thickening cock.
“Will you tell me about it sometime?” Jameson asked, taking the plates to the sink. “I imagine you’ve got some stories.”
Gray grinned. “Depends. Can I see you in that makeup again?”
Jameson dropped the plates into the sink. When he turned back to Gray, his eyes were dancing. “Yeah? You thought I looked nice?”
“No. I thought you looked fucking beautiful.”
Jameson blushed, then looked down at the ground. Gray felt flush with desire. He couldn’t believe that someone like Jameson would act shy, let alone shy for a guy like him. Gray wasn’t anything special, so why the hell did he get to see the most beautiful man in the world blushing for him?
With a blush like that, all the worries from that morning seemed like distant whispers. Jameson needed to hear that he was beautiful, and there was no way in hell Gray was going to sit there and not say it.
“Why do I trust you more, now that you’ve admitted you’re a thief?” Jameson asked.
Gray laughed. “I don’t know, but I’m not complaining.”
