Chapter 27 Joe
“I haven’t seen you around before,” a friendly, very male voice drawled from my left. I startled, the champagne flutes I’d chased down sloshing. Some splashed on my shirt, and I had to bite back a groan. I’d gone almost the whole night without spilling.
“Yeah,” I swiveled around, still clutching the drinks. Jason was…somewhere. We’d been together up until five minutes ago. He’d told me he had to run and talk to someone, and I’d offered to get us drinks.
The man who’d spoken was dressed the same as everyone else—including me. Black and white. Not a hair out of place. He was shorter than me. But…most people were, so that wasn’t necessarily alarming.
“This is my first time,” I admitted.
“That’s what I figured.” His grin was wolfish. I couldn’t tell if it was…genuine or not. If he was like Jason’s mom, trying to figure out if I had money. Or…god. I dunno. This stuff was where I struggled.
Be nice, don’t embarrass Jason.
“Well, nice to meet you,” I said, still holding my flutes.
“It really is,” he purred. His eyes dragged over my shoulders, then down my body. I wouldn’t have recognized the look for what it was, if I hadn’t seen Jason give me a similar perusal. I stiffened, eyes widening.
Was he…
Was he hitting on me?
“If you don’t mind me saying so, you’re gorgeous,” he flirted. I did, in fact, mind. “A pretty guy like you shouldn’t be left alone.” He was definitely hitting on me. “I’m going to dance with you,” he told me.
My hackles raised.
“Ah—” I didn’t know how to say Hell No in a way that wouldn’t get me thrown out. “I—”
“He’s not interested.” Jason’s voice snapped from behind me. Rather than jumping—because he was the second person to sneak up on me—I relaxed. I’d never heard Jason sound that way. Authoritative and cold. Not soft and sweet like he was with me. No. This Jason was downright icy.
I…was embarrassed to admit my dick outright twitched.
“Jason Harker,” the man said, eyes widening. “He’s yours? I didn’t know.”
“He’s mine,” Jason agreed. He stepped in front of me, crossing his arms. “Which I know you know. You’ve been eyeing us all night.
” He had? “And Joe is clearly holding two champagne flutes. What did you think you were doing here? Hitting on my date?” He laughed without humor, and again, my dick twitched.
“He’s mine” kept replaying on repeat in my head.
It was…god.
No one had ever claimed me before.
Seeing this hard edge to Jason was really just…wow. I licked my lips, suddenly grateful that we were about done with the party for the night. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could take this without begging him to shove his tongue down my throat and embarrassing the both of us.
“You know what they call that?”
“I…” the guy stumbled.
“Tacky, Maurice.” Jason’s words were like a whip crack. I stared at the back of his head, at the slightly thinner fluff on top, still perfectly styled. At the mole on the back of his neck. I nearly spilled the flutes again, he was so overwhelmingly hot.
“Tacky?” Maurice echoed, looking so offended you’d think Jason just told him he’d eaten the last slice of pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving. “You—”
“Goodbye, Maurice.” Jason cut off his spluttering, turning around to face me. His nostrils flared, lips pressed into a thin line. His eyes were dark, possessive. I’d never seen him so…so…
I shivered.
The ice in Jason’s eyes melted away as he studied me.
Maurice left, dismissed with no small amount of shame.
“You okay?” Jason asked tenderly. “I’m sorry he bothered you. Maurice is a major pain in the ass. He used to do that to Mary, too.”
“Did you tell him she was yours, too?” I asked, a roaring in my ears that I could barely hear through. Jason blinked. For a moment, he didn’t speak. His eyes searched mine. One of his hands came up, maneuvering around the champagne flutes so he wouldn’t knock one free as he cupped my cheek.
“No.” He said that simply, but god, that word carried a weight I couldn’t name.
“So, I’m the…the…”
“The only person I’ve ever been possessive over? Yes.” Jason’s thumb slipped down to stroke my lower lip. “Does that bother you? I can turn it off—”
“No.” I shook my head. “I want to be yours.”
Jason groaned. His thumb pulled my lip down, releasing it with a thwap. “Keep talking like that, and I’m not going to take you dancing before we head upstairs.”
“Do we have to dance?” I asked. “I don’t…I don’t know how. Maybe upstairs is better—”
“You don’t know how to dance?” Jason looked surprised. “What about homecoming? I thought you said you went.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t dance.” I squirmed at the reminder.
“Do you want to learn?” Suddenly, Jason looked eager. I nodded. “Buckle up, buttercup. You’re in for a treat.”
Forty minutes later, Jason and I were spinning around the dance floor.
It’d taken me a while to get the feet right.
I’d stomped on his a few times, but I’d always been a fast learner.
Jason was patient, too. He knew just how to talk, slow and sweet, demonstrating with his body and his words so I could follow his lead.
The crowd thinned as the night wore on so we had more room to move. The donation pool had already been announced, and Mrs. Harker was gone. So this…this was just for us.
Leisurely spinning around the dance floor.
In front of everyone.
Staring at the way the spiky locks of gray-brown hair on Jason’s head were escaping their gel as he sweated.
It was a reminder. A reminder of the man I’d fallen for back in Belleville.
The same man who was holding me here, surrounded by opulence, but rejecting it because it’d been a cage rather than a home.
“That’s it, Joe-by,” Jason murmured as we swung round and round and round. “You’re a natural, baby. Good with your hands and your feet, huh, sweetheart?”
I ducked my head, pleased.
“Sweet thing,” Jason purred. “Look at that flush. You like that? That I know how clever and good you are? That I’m proud of you?”
My insides squirmed.
“I’m going to spin you now. Ready?”
“Ready.” The spins were my favorite part. Jason didn’t know how to do anything but lead. And even though I felt kinda silly because I was…way bigger than he was—and we were both dudes—and he was throwing me around like I was a chick at prom, I loved it.
I loved it.
The only other time I’d been to a dance had been homecoming. We’d sat on the bleachers the whole time because I hadn’t known how to dance and she hadn’t really wanted to be there in the first place. When she kissed me, I’d been so full of spiked punch I’d thrown up.
This wasn’t anything like that.
Wasn’t awkward or weird or uncomfortable.
It was fun.
Jason spun me in circles. I grinned when we came back together. He was breathless. Sweat at his temples. So goddamn handsome. His eyes. His crows feet. The little lines that were permanently etched into his cheeks from all his smiling.
Just looking at him made me melt.
“Again?” I requested.
Jason laughed. His head fell back, throat bared, laughter escaping. “Again?” he said, when he’d gotten ahold of himself. “Anything you want.” He spun me out a second time. Then back in. Then out again. Over and over as giggles escaped me.
I tried not to be loud.
But the harder I laughed, the brighter Jason smiled.
Spinning me so much I got dizzy from it. When we came back together, I let him hold some of my weight, head swimming.
“You’re precious,” Jason said, swaying us back and forth, his arms looping around my waist. “You know that? So goddamn precious, Joe.”
I could hardly get a full breath in. My cheeks hurt from smiling. “So are you,” I echoed. I recalled the way he’d danced horribly with Marybeth and couldn’t help but wonder if he’d been pretending to be awful, just to make her laugh.
Probably.
Always looking out for everyone else.
“Lovable,” Jason replied. “That’s what you called me the other day.”
“Cause you are,” I flushed. “Really…really lovable.”
His eyes looked wet all of a sudden, this sheen to them that made me worry he was about to cry. “You mean that,” he said softly. “I can tell.”
“’Course I mean it.” I frowned, confused. Jason hugged me tighter.
“You said you would’ve been my friend if we were kids,” he added. There was something fragile in his eyes now. Brittle as paper-thin glass. “After seeing this…is that still true? Would you have been my friend, Joe?” He was careful with his words. Careful to look for reassurance.
Testing me, the way I’d thought he was.
“Yes,” I said with no hesitation.
Jason made a sound like he’d been shot. He dropped his head down, hiding it in my chest. Hiding from me. And I let him. Because…I loved him too much to force him to perform. And for some reason, he was bound and determined to keep his vulnerability from me.
He squeezed me, our feet stilling. Around us, the dregs of the rest of the couples kept spinning, but we held still.
Still.
Still as that day I’d held the magpie.
Still as the day I’d seen the deer in my yard.
Still as nature, and time, and all the things that kept going long after we were gone.
Jason held me for a long time. So tight I worried my bones might crack. I didn’t complain. Just buried my head in his hair and let him have what he needed. When one of his hands slid down to grope my ass, I knew he was feeling better.
His head tipped back, a smile on his lips.
Pushing my ass back into his hand, I studied him, heart skipping a beat.
Like magic, we were on the same page.
“Can we go back now?” I asked, voice husky.
“We can.”
Jason and I didn’t pretend to be anything but eager as we practically sprinted out of the ballroom, our hands laced together as we raced through the lodge, dodging opening doors and lingering people chatting in the hallways. It felt like we shared a smile then. A heartbeat. Every breath.
On the elevator ride up, we kept beaming at each other, fingers interlocked, suits askew.