Chapter 3 #2
Jared thought for a second, then his mind lit up. “Ian can do it. He drove with me today. He can ride to your house after work and I’ll drive him back afterward.”
“Wait, you’re planning on staying with me?”
“I can work from there and watch to make sure you don’t die in terrible pain at the same time.”
“You don’t need to do that.”
“I know. But what are friends for?”
Knowing how protective this man was of his bike, Jared said nothing while he waited for an answer. He knew that no matter how good of a rider Ian was, Dylan wouldn’t let just anyone touch his baby.
“Okay.” He sighed, finally understanding he had people to rely on when he wasn’t at his best.
Clumsy step after clumsy step, they finally made it to Dylan’s apartment—fuck the broken lift.
It was just a thirty-minute drive, but that had been enough for him to go downhill. The soft shade of red colouring his otherwise deadly pale and sweaty face ratted him out.
“Where do you keep the thermometer?” Jared asked as Dylan dropped onto the couch, arms folded over his eyes.
“I’m fine. You can leave.”
Huffing, Jared gently knocked Dylan’s knee with his. “Stop fighting it. Unless you tell me there’s someone else who can look after you, I’m not leaving. And just so you know, I’m a pain in the ass of a nurse.”
Jared knew the chances of someone being able to come were less than zero.
Dylan didn’t get along with his brother, and he hardly ever reached out to his parents for help.
It was his way of keeping some space, as they were already clingy enough.
He’d literally said once that he was a parent to his parents, and they weren’t old enough to need so much care.
As for his friends, they were probably working.
There was no way they could drop everything and watch over his feverish ass.
Dylan chuckled, the strength almost visibly leaving his body. “Cabinet, above the sink.”
“Roger that.”
Jared headed into the bathroom. After scanning the shelves for a minute, he found the thermometer and some Paracetamol. The man would need it.
When he returned to the living room, Dylan was in the exact same position as before. If it weren’t for the way he was struggling to breathe, Jared would have thought he was actually dead.
He shook his head and left everything on the coffee table before going to the kitchen for a glass.
“You should go to bed.”
“I’m fine here.”
“At least undress?” Jared said as he poured some water.
No answer.
He raised his head to see if his friend had passed out, only to be met with the cheekiest of grins.
“You’re just dying to see me naked, huh?”
“What?” Jared’s eyes bulged out of their sockets.
Dylan cracked up like a madman, arms wrapped around his stomach and all. “The look on your face,” he hollered between uncontrollable laughs and coughing.
“The fuck?” Jared mumbled, snickering.
“Can’t blame you,” Dylan said. “I’m hot as fuck.”
Jared snorted. “You are, but you’re also sick as fuck.” He left the glass of water on the table and handed Dylan the thermometer. “Put it on.”
“Why don’t you put it in me?”
“You sure would like that.”
“You have no idea…”
For a moment, the world stopped rotating, frozen in the intensity of Dylan’s blues as they stared at each other.
The man was sick—clearly delirious—his body temperature most likely boiling and disintegrating all his brain synapses.
However, the blunt meaning of his words didn’t go unnoticed. Deep down, Jared didn’t even want to ignore it, nor did his dick. The possibility of turning this man inside out as they both came all over each other was too alluring. So much so that he’d felt an unwanted throb in his jeans.
You’re in a relationship, for fuck’s sake!
Just thinking about crossing that line was beyond wrong. If his boyfriend ever heard any of the thoughts floating around whenever Dylan popped into his mind, his already low self-esteem would go to shit.
“Shut up,” he snapped, slapping the thermometer on Dylan’s chest.
“Okay, okay…” he grumbled, still snickering, but did what he was told and tucked it under his armpit.
Once Dylan had calmed down, a heavy silence filled the room for a few seconds.
“I’m sorry about the other day.”
Jared glanced at him from the coffee table, where he was sitting with his arms crossed.
“I mean, not the dry humping, but putting you in that position.”
“It’s alright.”
“I don’t know what got into me,” Dylan continued. “I’ve seen the way you look at me, but I also know how much you love Paul.”
Jared winced. He did love him, but hearing Paul’s name on Dylan’s lips after their make-out session was nauseating.
“And you’re so young…”
“I’m not.” He scowled, feeling more annoyed than he should at that statement.
He was younger than Dylan, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a man completely aware of what and who he wanted.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to force you into that position.”
“You didn’t force me to do anything.” Jared sighed. “Wanting to do something and being able to are two entirely different things…”
He could have lied, or at least kept his mouth shut, but he didn’t care about anything right now. Besides, what was the point of lying? It wasn’t like Jared hadn’t been super obvious when he kissed him back.
And honestly? It felt great to get that off his chest.
“So, are we cool?” Dylan’s eyes were glassy, clouded in a way that showed he wasn’t a hundred percent conscious of the conversation.
“The fact that I brought you home should be a hint at that, no?” Jared replied anyway.
“True.” Dylan chuckled, eyelids closing as if they weighed a ton.
The thermometer beeped. Of course, Dylan had a fever. It was so high Jared wasn’t sure how he hadn’t combusted yet.
“Hey, bud…” he whispered as he left the device on the table. “We need to get you undressed.” Jared pulled on Dylan’s tee, trying to make him move. “And you should also take the Paracetamol.”
“Nah, I’m fine like this,” Dylan muttered, rolling onto his side to face the other way.
Jared struggled to stop him. The man was heavier than he looked, which was saying a lot since he was built like a horse.
“No, Dylan.” Trying to move him was like pushing a truck with the handbrake on. Impossible. “We need to cool you down.”
“I’ll just sleep it off.”
“No, come on, mate,” Jared croaked.
After a couple more minutes of nonsensical rambling, Dylan grumbled and finally sat up.
He was trembling, stiffening when a chill ran through him.
Good thing he didn’t fight it this time when Jared pulled his t-shirt over his head, dried the layer of cold sweat from his skin with it, and unbuttoned his jeans.
At any other moment, Jared would have felt bad.
Being on his knees in front of such an imposing specimen and not touching him had to be some sort of blasphemy.
He, of course, feasted on the wicked beauty of Dylan practically naked.
But his intrinsic impulse to help others, especially when they were vulnerable, didn’t allow his body to react. Thank fuck.
“I’m cold,” Dylan said as he laid down again, curling up.
“I know, but it’s better this way. I’ll go get something light to cover you.”
“Thanks.”
Grabbing all the scattered clothes from the floor, Jared dumped them in the laundry hamper in the bathroom and returned to the living room.
From the basket beside the sofa, he pulled out the sheet Dylan had lent him when he’d last been here.
Jared didn’t want the man to cool down too fast, but the weather was still fairly warm for the middle of September, and he didn’t want him to get worse.
“Better?”
“Yeah.” Dylan snuggled up, hugging one of the cushions. “You smell so nice...”
Jared wanted to laugh at the cuteness of this scene, but he didn’t. He was sick, but vehemently refused any help at first. How stubborn could someone be?
“Okay... can you take this now? It’ll help with the fever,” he said, offering the pills and glass of water.
Without complaint, Dylan propped on one elbow and gulped it down, going to sleep right after.
Jared smiled to himself while looking at him, caressing his clammy, hot cheek with the back of his hand before he stood up again.
He rummaged through Dylan’s bedroom and bathroom, searching for a flannel.
He needed something he could dampen with tepid water and put over his forehead. That fever had to go.
When he finally found it and made sure his friend was all set, he let out a sigh and sat criss-cross on the floor with his laptop.
Time to work.
“Have you been there all this time?” Dylan’s husky voice startled Jared.
“Jesus! Fuck. Yeah,” he said, turning his head to look at him.
“You could have gone to my office or something.” Dylan yawned and rubbed a palm over his face.
“Someone had to make sure you were okay.”
“I’m sure your ass is hurting like a bitch from sitting on the floor.”
“I can barely feel it anymore, yeah.”
“You’re such an idiot... But thanks.”
Lifting a shoulder while fighting a cheesy grin, Jared closed his laptop and turned to face Dylan. “How are you feeling?”
“Still weak, but better than this morning.”
“That’s good.” Jared offered a smile. “Promise you will take care of yourself even if I’m not around?” he said as he stood, his back and ass definitely hurting.
“I’ll survive without you.”
Not wanting to read between the lines, Jared nodded, thankful when Ian texted him, telling him the building’s door was open and he was already coming up.
“Ian’s already here. You sure you’re gonna be fine?”
“I’m not a baby.”
“Well, you were acting like one before, so I don’t know anymore.”
“Sit and spin.” Dylan flipped him off.
“Okay, okay, you’re good enough, I guess.”
The doorbell rang, and after a brief chit-chat, Ian and Jared walked out of the apartment.
“Talk to you tomorrow.”
Two weeks had gone by since Dylan’s feverish rambling and everything had fallen back into place.
They were their usual snarky selves again, no awkwardness or discomfort. The kiss that disoriented them like a change in the magnetism of the poles was nothing but a distant memory.
Sure, the sadness of that unexplored paradise was still there, pulsing in Jared’s rib cage from time to time.
But he didn’t regret his decision. Sex and his physical urges when he wasn’t getting his fix were no excuse to cheat on his boyfriend and ruin everything they’d built over the past six years.
Paul was the one. Jared had known from the first day he saw his ginger hair and bright green eyes from across the university café. Even when he was at his lowest moments, that man radiated a light that made Jared’s heart sing like no one ever had.
He rushed up the last flight of stairs, excited to see Paul and squeeze the shit out of his tiny frame.
After working overtime the day before and things going smoothly today at work, Jared had snuck out earlier than usual.
He wanted to surprise him. Felt like going on a trip, just the two of them.
And not to visit either of their families like the last few times they'd gone away.
But then he heard it.
Beneath the clinking of his keys, as he opened the door to the house, moans resonated through the space.
The worst part? Paul wasn’t alone.
Jared’s world shattered into a million pieces, and a pain unlike anything he’d felt before crushed his entire existence.
Love wasn’t enough.
Not anymore.