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Everyone laughed, except Konrad, who Jasper couldn’t bring himself to look at but could feel staring at him.

“And a few hiccups notwithstanding, that’s how I ended up with my boyfriend. Because Hiyori gave someone the benefit of the doubt even when I couldn’t. And I never said thank you for that.” Jasper lifted his glass to her. “No matter how many reasons I’ve given you since we met, you’ve never given up on me. You make me better. You make me brave. So thank you, Hiyori. For everything.”

Hiyori threw herself at him, and he met Konrad’s gaze over her shoulder. Konrad was looking at him in that way again, with an emotion Jasper couldn’t identify, even as he felt it course through his own blood in response, like his heart recognized what his mind couldn’t.

twenty-two

Jasper didn’t plan on getting drunk, but someone brought out whiskey at some point, and James wanted someone to do shots with. Konrad, Lawrence, and Amara all took up the mantle of designated drivers so their respective partners could cut loose. River and James lived in the same apartment building and decided to split the cost of an Uber so they could get drunk together.

Hiyori was the first one to surpass tipsy and arrive at the destination of completely wasted. “I’m just saying, Konrad would slay a French manicure,” she said, gesturing at Konrad for emphasis, who’d just brought out a tray of fancy-looking finger sandwiches.

James laughed. “Babe, I’m not disagreeing, I just don’t think he’d let you anywhere near him with a bottle of nail polish.”

Jasper grinned at the memory of doing Konrad’s eyeliner in Vegas, realizing his coworkers had the same perception of Konrad he’d once had, that he was all stuffy and traditional. If the eyeliner hadn’t dissolved that notion from Jasper’s mind, Konrad’s eagerness to bend over for Jasper to fuck him later that night had finished the job.

“I attended an all boys private school in Denmark, James,” Konrad said, standing next to Jasper’s chair and idly massaging the muscle between Jasper’s neck and shoulder. “I’ve submitted to far more outlandish whims from those with far less innocent intentions.”

Lawrence almost spit out his finger sandwich, and Jasper dragged Konrad down to kiss him, raising a middle finger to River’s obnoxious catcalls. It wasn’t Jasper’s fault he was a touchy drunk. More than touchy—he wanted to drag Konrad into the back of the restaurant and show him some truly less than innocent intentions.

He bit his lip as Konrad pulled away and Konrad whispered for his ears alone, “Behave.”

Fuck, Jasper wanted to find out what would happen if he didn’t.

Konrad more or less carried him out of there when they all parted ways. Hiyori thanked them all for the millionth time, telling them all how much she loved them as Amara ushered her out of the restaurant. Lawrence princess carried Shariah out, prompting her to roll her tongue in a rrrrr sound and squeeze one of his biceps. Jasper could relate—more than once he’d wanted to just bite Konrad’s arms, they were so big. And his chest, god, Jasper just wanted to suffocate in it.

He hadn’t been this drunk in a decade.

Konrad was a very good driver, so Jasper had every confidence he could get them home safe even with a few minor distractions. Those distractions consisted of Jasper being halfway over the console, groping Konrad’s thigh, sucking on his earlobe the way he knew drove Konrad insane.

He let his hand wander up Konrad’s thigh until he could feel the result of his attention, and he squeezed it with a low groan. “Remember in Vegas, when I got drunk and came onto you?”

Jasper’s drawl was heavy when he was drunk and he loved the way Konrad shivered as he spoke into his ear. He’d always hated his stupid accent, but Konrad had such a thing for it that Jasper had no choice but to start appreciating it.

“I do,” Konrad breathed, reaching out the window to put in the code for the gate.

“I wanted you to fuck me so bad, sweetheart. Not nicely. I mean hair-pulling, name-calling fuck me, like you were trying to fix my fucking attitude.”

The car lurched with how hard Konrad shifted into park in front of the house. He unhooked his seatbelt, and Jasper rubbed his cock up and down through his ivory slacks. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you didn’t. It meant a lot to me that you’d said you would take care of me if I got drunk and actually did. But now that you know I want you when I’m sober, god, Konrad, please fuck me.”

Konrad got out of the car so abruptly that Jasper would have fallen into the driver’s seat if not for the console digging into his waist. He was still reeling from the sudden absence when the passenger side door was jerked open and Konrad hauled him out of the car. Konrad gathered him up and carried him up the front steps, into the house, even committing the cardinal sin of not taking his shoes off at the door to march Jasper directly upstairs to the bedroom.

Jasper harassed him the entire way—kissing his neck, flicking his earlobe with his tongue ring, his cock throbbing with every sharp intake of breath he got for his efforts.

Konrad put him down and backed him toward the bed, stopping when Jasper hit it, teetering just on the edge of losing his balance.

“You absolute fucking menace,” Konrad said as he wrenched Jasper’s cardigan off.

Jasper whined. Hearing Konrad curse did truly unholy things to his cock.

Konrad made equally quick work of his shirt, and once his boots were unlaced and tossed aside, Jasper swallowed as Konrad stripped him of his pants. Nervous anticipation unfurled in his stomach at the thought of what he was wearing underneath them. It wouldn’t have been comfortable to wear all day, but he’d changed in the tiny bathroom at Blackwing before they closed up and he’d taken Hiyori to her surprise party.

Konrad pulled Jasper’s jeans down and froze. Thank god Jasper was drunk or he’d be panicking at the lack of a clear reaction, besides Konrad standing back up in front of him. Currently, the most he could muster was a tentative glance up at Konrad’s face to gauge whether or not he should start feeling embarrassed.

The panties were black lace and boyshort cut, not dissimilar to boxers, if boxers stopped about an inch short of covering his ass. They clung to his upper thighs and his erection, the piercing in the head of his cock creating a tiny bulge in the lace. Beyond that he wore black and blue striped socks that came to just above his knees.

Long fingers curled under his chin, then a thumb forced its way between his lips. Jasper opened to it with a gasp that turned guttural as Konrad pushed further, deeper, until Jasper choked quietly, his watering eyes never leaving Konrad’s.

“Good boy,” Konrad said, still fully dressed as he stared down at Jasper. He watched Jasper’s cock twitch through the panties and his eyes darkened. “My good, pretty boy. Look at you.”