Chapter Three #2
The apartment. James was inside his apartment. Sitting on the couch that he’d just spent a week sleeping on. Home. Safe. He repeated the words silently.
“That’s right. Relax into me.”
James didn’t fight Jacob’s urging. Laying his cheek on Jacob’s shoulder was natural. Comfortable.
“I’m so sorry you had a bad night,” Jacob told him.
Yeah, it had been bad. So bad. James wasn’t sure how he would ever face his co-workers or go back to the fire station ever again.
“It amazing what you do,” Jacob said. “I never thought about how it would affect you though. I know you try so hard to be there for everyone. To be the strong one.”
The words didn’t make sense. Not that James cared about that. The shirt under his cheek was soft. Jacob’s voice was low and soothing. Burying his face between Jacob’s pecs, James took a deep breath. Woodsy spice drifted into his nose.
“I got you,” Jacob said.
He could close his eyes now. Instead of seeing the car accident from earlier, James just listened to the gentle tone of Jacob’s voice. The words didn’t matter. There was no shouting, or screaming, or scent of gasoline and burned rubber.
Better.
This was better.
“You’re like a little kitten rubbing against me.” Jacob’s deep chuckle warmed him.
“Not kitten,” James muttered. “Superhero.” He wanted to be a superhero.
Maybe it was too big of a task though. He hadn’t saved anyone that night.
In the movies, superheroes didn’t lose the innocent people that they were sent to protect.
And they always got the girl. Not that James wanted a girl or anything. Were there gay superheroes?
“You are a superhero,” Jacob told him.
Without lifting his head, James snorted.
The fingers in the back of his hair tightened. “A true-life superhero. You run into burning buildings and save cats from trees.”
James shook his head. “Never saved a cat.”
“Yet,” Jacob told him. “You haven’t saved a cat yet. You will. It’s part of being a firefighter, right?”
That would be cool.
“And I know that Scott thinks of you as his very own superhero,” Jacob said. “I’d bet Michael would agree.”
James lifted his head.
Jacob smiled at him. “Should we run a poll?”
“No.” That was silly.
“If you don’t believe me, we might have to. We can set up a couple of jars at the coffee shop and let your customers vote,” Jacob suggested.
His customers would love that. They were kind of crazy. Feeling better, James carefully extracted himself from Jacob. Well, this ended up being an embarrassing night. Not only had James made a complete fool of himself but it was witnessed by his landlord. Yeah. That was not a good look.
Clearing his throat, James scooted over. “Sorry about this.”
“There is nothing to be sorry about,” Jacob responded.
James didn’t believe that for one second. Jacob was being sweet to him but that wouldn’t last. It never did. James knew that this moment would bite him in the ass later.
If James was going to pay for this weakness later, then he might as well go all-in. “Why are you being so nice to me?” he questioned.
“What?” Jacob jerked back like he’d been slapped.
James waved his hand between them. “Getting me inside isn’t your responsibility.”
“I’m not an asshole!” Jacob exclaimed. “You were struggling and I offered you a helping hand.”
It was more than that. At first Jacob had accused him of being drunk. Once he realized that James was exhausted and out of his mind…he’d been more than a helping hand.
James knew that he’d been in shock.
Now that he could think straight, he wanted to apologize.
He should really call Josh and let his friend know that he was okay.
Was he okay? James wasn’t sure. Instead of apologizing, James dipped his head. “Thank you. For the help.”
Jacob gave him a rare smile. Just the tilt of his lips but it transformed Jacob’s face.
Made the man appear younger. Especially wearing the university sweatshirt and faded sweatpants.
He could be just another student that Scott spent time with.
Not the stern professor who was always scowling at James.
Without thinking, James leaned forward and pressed his lips against Jacob’s.
Jacob stiffened before moaning and grabbing the back of his head.
James pushed harder.
Jacob licked his bottom lip and James opened for the tongue that seemed pretty insistent.
The first swipe of Jacob’s tongue over his had James shuddering.
How long had it been since he kissed anyone? James had been concentrating all his attention on work and taking care of his twin. Just this small amount of attention and his cock was hard and raging.
As they continued to kiss, and hot damn the professor could fucking kiss, James pressed closer and closer. He threw a leg over Jacob’s lap to straddle him.
Their cocks brushed and it felt so damn good.
Jacob ran his hands down James’s back and squeezed James’s ass hard.
Fuck yes!
James gave a little buck of his hips while sucking on Jacob’s tongue.
Jacob’s moan was long. Just like the cock that James felt against his own. Jacob’s cock. The man that James always thought hated him—
Wait!
What the fuck was he doing?
James jumped off Jacob’s lap like he’d been burned.
With his chest heaving, James stared at Jacob.
Jacob’s eyes were wide. His mouth red and swollen.
James had just made the biggest mistake of his life. Now the asshole was going to kick him out or something. James didn’t have enough money to go out on his own. He’d been saving. Had tried. Fuck! He had messed up so fucking bad.
“James,” Jacob said, standing.
“Get out,” James ordered. He had no power here and they both knew it.
“I didn’t mean to—”
James shook his head. “Is this my apartment? Do I rent it from you? Is my rent paid for the month?”
Jacob nodded. “Of course.”
“Then get the fuck out.” James couldn’t catch his breath. One bad decision and James was sunk. Worst night ever.
“I’m going,” Jacob told him. “I just want to make sure you are okay.”
“I’m fine,” James lied.
“Okay.” Jacob’s shoulders slumped. “Have a good rest of your night.”
“Yeah.” James had no idea why Jacob was even listening to him. The man was leaving so that was all James cared about. He waited until the door had closed behind Jacob before running over and locking it.
He hit the lights and had the room falling into blackness. Just like all his hope. He had no idea how he was going to explain this to his brothers.
James’s temples began to throb as his stomach soured. He ran to the bathroom, barely making it before throwing up in the toilet. He slumped back against his wall and winced. Some superhero he made.
* * * * *
Jacob
“Hello.”
Jacob tightened his fingers around his cell.
“Jacob? You there?”
“He kissed me,” Jacob said quietly.
“Need more information than that.” His brother’s voice held amusement.
“He kissed me!” Jacob said louder.
“Have you been drinking?” Jesse demanded. “Are you safe? Where are you? You should know better than going out on New Year’s Eve.”
Jacob wanted to roll his eyes. “Don’t be a dick. I’m at home. I’ve had one glass of wine.” Actually, he’d only had half a glass before he’d heard James pull up on his bike and went to investigate.
“Then start making sense,” Jesse said.
“James kissed me,” Jacob repeated for the third time.
His brother chuckled. “That’s who I was hoping you were talking about.”
“Don’t laugh at me,” Jacob grumbled.
“It is New Year’s Eve. Was it a kiss at midnight?” Jesse asked.
Had the kiss been at midnight it would have been easier to forget. Jacob would never be able to stop thinking about the way James’s lips had felt on his. Forceful and desperate. He just started to respond when James had pulled away and jumped off the couch.
“Jacob,” Jesse said loudly.
“It wasn’t a midnight kiss,” Jacob admitted.
“Why don’t you start from the beginning,” Jesse ordered.
Looking out the window above the kitchen sink, Jacob tried to see into the window or door to the apartment. James had turned off the lights inside the apartment, making it impossible to see anything. He forced his gaze away and turned to lean against the counter.
The clock above the stove showed it was past six in the morning. Damn! “Sorry. I didn’t realize how late, early, it was. I didn’t mean to wake you. Is Lake still asleep?”
“We haven’t been home long. Lake is taking a bath,” Jesse said.
“Did you go to a party?” Jacob asked. Until Lake came into his brother’s life, Jesse spent all his time at work. Now Jesse was always heading somewhere, it seemed, with Lake by his side.
“If you want to call the boys having a playdate a party. They did end up with a sugar high from juice boxes and cupcakes,” Jesse answered. “I’m hoping a long hot bath with help settle Lake down.”
“Sounds like the best kind of party.” Jacob wasn’t being sarcastic. Little playtime always put a smile on his face. Even if Jacob preferred his boy’s regression older than Jesse preferred.
“It was fun,” Jesse replied. “Lake wore the fancy ballroom dress I got him for Christmas. He was beautiful.”
Jesse’s words filled Jacob with love and warmth. “I don’t want to keep you from your boy.”
“No,” Jesse growled. “Lake is fine. Now tell me everything. And start at the beginning this time.”
As Jacob filled Jesse in on the events from the night, it helped him process everything as well. He’d been a dick. Thinking that James had been drinking even though he’d known the boy had been working.
Luckily James didn’t seem to remember that. He’d been too busy freaking out about the kiss. And kicking Jacob out of his apartment.
“Well.” Jesse was trying to hold back his laughter. Jacob could tell. He knew his brother better than anyone else in the world. “It could have gone better.”
“No kidding.” Why had Jacob thought that his brother would be helpful?
“But,” Jesse drawled. “At least you know that James is attracted to you.”
“He was vulnerable,” Jacob argued. “That was why I stopped the kiss in the first place. It didn’t mean anything.”
“It meant something to you,” Jesse corrected. “And I think it meant something to him.”
Of course it meant something to Jacob. It was obvious that James had a bad night, wasn’t quite himself, and Jacob couldn’t blame the boy for needing comfort.
Something terrible had happened. It wasn’t Jacob that James had wanted.
James was all alone after a rough shift.
No matter how much Jacob’s heart wanted to claim the boy for his own, he knew better.
As soon as James had come back to himself, he’d rightly kicked Jacob to the curb.
“Are you listening to me?” Jesse demanded.
“No,” Jacob lied. He’d heard it again and again. Especially over Christmas. Now that Jesse was happy and settled down with Lake, Jesse was intent on Jacob getting a boy of his own. Like it was something that Jacob hadn’t already tried on his own.
“Yes you are,” Jesse told him. “You’ve got your foot in the door. Now what are you going to do about it?”
“Did you hear the part where I said he panicked and kicked me out of his apartment?”
“Of course he freaked out,” Jesse said. “He kissed the man he thinks hates him.”
“I don’t hate him,” Jacob practically yelled.
“I know that. You know that. The boy does not know that,” Jesse said. “You just told me how you accused him of being drunk when you knew he was on shift at the firehouse.”
Jacob groaned. Not one of his finer moments. “I was worried he’d ridden that death trap home while drunk. He could barely stand!”
“Because he was exhausted,” Jesse pointed out.
“He needs to get rid of the bike,” Jacob grumbled.
“And when you’re his Daddy, you can tell him that. So make it happen.”
If only. Jacob had tried and failed so many times.
“Think about it this way,” Jesse said. “You have the several days with him without having to worry about school or his brother. Take advantage of it.”
His brother’s words echoed the same thought he’d had himself. “We’ll see.”
“Stop seeing and show the boy what he’s missing,” Jesse ordered. “Lake wants more friends.”
“The boy isn’t a little,” Jacob pointed out. The statement rang untrue to his own ears. He’d seen when James had been dancing in his cape. Heard when James admitted to wanting to be a superhero. He was utterly perfect.
“Doesn’t have to be little,” Jesse said. “Lake is friends with everyone.”
“That’s because your boy is a sweetheart,” Jacob said. “Not sure how he ended up with an asshole like you.”
Jesse laughed again. “My baby loves me and thinks I’m perfect.”
Yeah, Lake was totally in love with his brother. And his brother doted and spoiled Lake the way that the sweet boy should be. “Get back to Lake. I’ll talk to you later this week.”
“You better have made progress,” Jesse warned.
Jacob wouldn’t commit. “Good night.”
“Happy New Year,” Jesse told him. “I love you.”
“Love you too.” Jacob disconnected the call before tossing the phone onto the counter next to him.
He turned to stare back at the apartment.
James had looked shocked after the kiss.
He hadn’t looked disgusted. Was Jesse right?
Was this Jacob’s chance? Only one way to find out.
He needed to romance the boy. Maybe a special gift was in order.
Picking up his phone, Jacob went searching for overnight delivery.