11. Jake
Jake
We make it to the hotel later than I planned, but I needed to get some sleep after my shift.
There’s just enough time to get checked into our room and freshen up a little before heading down to the rehearsal dinner.
I’m technically not in the wedding, but my cousin wanted me there.
It’s more of a family get together than anything else.
Lena wanted me to be her man of honor. But I refused. At the time, I wasn’t sure if I could make it, and I didn’t want to ruin her day. Besides, watching her walk down the aisle and say her vows is all I care about.
Check in is a breeze, and after just a few minutes we’re heading to the elevator to go to our room. When we’re inside, Victor leans into me and whispers, “This place is nice. Ritzy.”
“Yeah. Lena’s the only daughter and her parents wanted to make sure it was a wedding for the ages. Lena would’ve been just as happy with a cookout in the backyard.”
Victor laughs and bumps his shoulder into mine. “She sounds like my kind of girl.”
Thank God he’s gay or I’d be worried about his crashing the wedding, professing his undying love to the down-to-earth woman in the wedding dress.
Before I know it, we’re at our floor. It doesn’t take long to find our room. I swipe the key, push the door open, and step inside. Then I stop dead in my tracks.
“What is it?” Victor asks from behind me.
I let out a sigh, my eyes not moving from the bed. The single bed. Not the two queens like I booked but one king size bed. I step further into the room, letting Victor come up beside me.
I know instantly when he sees the issue. His eyes move from the bed to me, and the corner of his mouth lifts.
“Two beds,” I say, mostly to myself. “There were supposed to be two beds. I don’t want you to think I set this up and lied to you.”
“No, I don’t think that,” he quickly answers as he rolls his suitcase over to the dresser.
“Well,” I say, clearing my throat. “I can sleep on the floor. Or the couch should pull out into a bed, so I can sleep there.”
“No,” Victor says sternly.
I look at him, eyebrow raised, confused about his sharpness.
“No? Oh, I get it, I can go down and see if they have another room since there's just one bed.” I turn to head toward the door. Our weekend is not starting on a good path.
“Jake, that’s not necessary. Just like you sleeping on the floor or on an uncomfortable couch isn’t necessary. We can share the bed. It’s more than big enough for the both of us.”
My stomach flips. He says it so casually, like sharing a bed with me is the most normal thing in the world. But it isn’t.
I swallow, trying to control my emotions. “Yeah. Okay. As long as you don’t have a problem with it.”
But inside, absolutely nothing about this feels casual.
Sharing a bed with Victor excites me in a way I don’t even want to admit, while it simultaneously scares the shit out of me.
I’ve never moved this fast before with a guy.
Usually, I take my time. We talk on the phone and then go out on numerous dates.
That is before I even let them know where I live.
But with Victor, I’ve broken all the rules.
And I’m oddly okay with that. In fact, I wouldn’t care if we moved faster.
Victor’s different, and I can see myself with him long term even though I barely know him.
“I’m going to use the bathroom real quick, and then we can head down to dinner.” I check the time on my watch. “I apologize in advance for any embarrassment my family may cause.”
Victor shakes his head and laughs.
“Is this okay to wear?” He looks down at his clothes; jeans and a nice button up shirt, much the same as what I’m wearing. “Or should I add a jacket? I brought one.”
“Nope, it’s perfect. Lena said to keep it casual. Just give me a minute.”
I shut the bathroom door behind me and take a deep breath. I didn’t really need to use it. My anxiety is spiking and I just needed a couple moments alone. Deep breaths. That’s what I need. We’re sharing a room. I knew that. Nothing new. But the bed? That’s so much more intimate.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
There’s a knock at the door, then Victor’s voice drifts through. “Are you okay, Jake?”
“Yeah.” I take one more breath, plaster a smile on my face and open the door. “Ready for the madness to begin?”
“Maybe.” He laughs, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. I don’t know what takes over me, but I step into him, pulling his arm down, taking his hand in mine and kiss him. Soft, but forceful at the same time. His hand slips around my waist as he melts into me.
“Careful, or we’re not going to leave the room,” he mumbles into my mouth.
I pull away, my eyes still on him. He’s right. All I want to do is rip his clothes off of him and make him mine. Claim him in every way imaginable.
“Let’s go.” I don’t release his hand as I make my way to the door, Victor following close behind me.
It doesn’t take us long to make it to the banquet room where the rehearsal dinner is being held. Laughter floats out of the room, mixed with the clinking of glasses. The party has already begun.
The room is full. My family gathered in groups, drinking, talking and having fun celebrating my cousin and her soon to be husband.
Lionel is an amazing man and the perfect fit for Lena.
While she is wild and outgoing, he is calm and reserved.
The perfect ying to her yang. She gets him to loosen up while he reins her in when needed.
"Come on," I tell him, gripping his hand tighter. "I want you to meet Lena."
He smiles and we make our way across the room. I spotted Lena the second we walked into the room. She’s standing off to the side with a couple of her bridesmaids and my parents.
Here goes nothing. Not the ideal way to introduce him to my parents, but if they don’t like him, at least they won’t make a scene.
“Jakie-poo!” Lena squeals when she sees me heading toward her. She practically runs into my arms, hugging me tightly. “I’m so glad you’re here,” she whispers into my ear.
When she pulls away from me, she looks over to Victor.
“So you’re the one who snagged my favorite cousin’s heart?” she asks.
“I think it’s the other way around.” He smiles and she quickly steps forward, hugging him tightly. “You better take care of him.”
“I will,” he says, winking at me. I can feel my face heating up from his words.
“Victor, now that Lena’s met you, these are the most important people in my life. My mom, Mary, and my dad, Earl.”
“It’s very nice to meet you. You have an amazing son.” Victor extends his arm, shaking both of my parents’ hands.
“It’s nice to meet you too. It’s been so long since Jake’s brought anyone to a family affair. You must be special.” My mom smiles at me and I can’t help but return one to her.
“So what do you do, Victor?” my father asks.
“I’m an accountant. I have my own business. Employee of one,” he laughs. “My goal is to keep growing my clientele so that I can open my own firm and hire some employees.”
“Jake, I need to talk to you real quick. Victor is in good hands with your parents.” Lena takes me by the arm and drags me across the room.
We step just outside the door, away from the noise. She turns to me with a huge grin on her face.
“He’s so cute, Jake.”
"Who?" I know the answer but I love messing with her so I play dumb.
She gives me a stern look, a small growl creeping from her mouth.
"You know exactly who. The hottie that you brought to my wedding.”
“Yeah, he is cute.”
She hooks her arm through mine and we start to walk down the hallway away from the banquet hall.
"How did you meet? I need all the details.”
"At a coffee shop.”
"That's it? Where’s the details? I meet people at the coffee shop all the time, but I don’t bring them around my family. Nor do I look like a love sick puppy around them. I’ve seen how you can’t take your eyes off of him. Now spill.”
“Fine.” I stop, holding my hands up in the air. “I’ll tell you. Let’s just sit down here.” We head toward the bench on the wall in front of the window.
"Okay, so the shop was crowded. I was sitting alone, playing a game on my phone when he stepped up and asked to sit down. There was an open spot at my table, so he sat down. We started talking, and it just went from there."
Her face is beaming as she reaches out and squeezes my hand. "That's so freaking adorable. It’s something out of a romantic comedy."
All I can do is shake my head. This girl and her fucking sappy-ass movies. “Please don’t embarrass me and tell him that. We’re still new and I don’t want to scare him away.”
“So who made the first move?”
“I really don’t know. We just started talking and well, I guess he did, because he flirted with me. And I asked for his number.”
“So things must be going good since you brought him here.”
“They are. I’m not sure why I asked, other than I didn't want to be away from him this weekend. We’ve only had another coffee date and then we had an early dinner at my place before work the other day.”
“So instant love?”
“I don’t know if I’d call it love yet, but Lena, I really like him.”
“I’m so happy for you.” She reaches up and wipes a stray tear from her eye. “You deserve all the happiness in the world and I have a good feeling about him.”
“I do too.”
“Okay, so tell me, has the psychotic person stopped sending you gifts?”
I nearly choke on air not expecting her to ask about that.
“Nope, still there.”
“Seriously?”
"Yeah, but I decided I’m not accepting anything else. Told the probie he could have anything that came and I didn’t want to see it. Yesterday was the first day I went without anything."
"It’s about time. Maybe they're finally backing off."
"Maybe. Or the probie did what I said and took it for himself. So hopefully when I get back, there won’t be anything waiting and I can put the last four months behind me and move on from it.”
“We should be heading back. I’m sure my parents are looking for me and we need to rescue Victor from yours.”
We stand and head back to the room. When we step inside the door, I see Victor still where I left him with my parents.
“Jake.” I turn my head to see Lena smiling again, one that tells me she knows something. “You really like him.”
I glance back over at him and he gazes up, catching my eyes on him and smiles.
“Yeah,” I say quietly. “I really do.”
“Maybe the next time we get together it’ll be for the two of you. At your wedding.”
Wedding. Me and Victor. Somehow the thought isn’t scary, but inviting.
“Can I have my date back?” I jokingly ask my parents when we rejoin them. I place my hand at the base of Victor’s back and he steps closer to me.
“Only if you promise to bring him around more,” my mom says. She likes him. I can tell.
“Absolutely.” Then I move my gaze to Victor. “If he’s okay with it.”
“I am. Your family is amazing. I may already have plans with your father to go watch a ballgame. Seems his son isn’t really into sports.”
“That, I’m not.” I laugh. “Please take my place so I don’t have to endure the agony any longer.”
We all laugh, and all fear for this weekend melts away.
“Victor was telling us how he’s going to be an uncle in just a few short weeks.”
“I think I’m more excited about the birth than my sister Nellie. My parents have bought every baby item at the store. They're so excited to be grandparents.”
My mother smiles. “Yeah, we keep waiting for Jake to make us grandparents. We can’t wait until he and his partner adopt or have a surrogate. Maybe he’s finally found the person to spend the rest of his life with.” My mother winks and my father clears his throat.
"Mom." I groan.
She laughs. "What?"
"You can't just say things like that."
"Why not? I think it's a perfectly reasonable statement."
Victor slips his arm around my waist and rests his head against me. “Your parents are so cute.”
“Please don’t encourage them.”
I don’t deny what my mother said though, because I’ve been thinking the same thing. When you find the one, you just instinctively know and that’s how I feel about Victor.
That he’s the man I’ve been waiting for my entire life. Why take it slow? I’m ready to toss that to the side and hit the ground running.