Chapter 6
6
MALACHI
If my best friend found out I fucked his brother, everything would turn to shit. Not only was I certain Jesse would drug me and cut my dick off while I was sleeping, but he would never speak to me again. At least, that was what I assumed, because if I were to find out he was fucking my sister, I would do exactly those things. It was bro code, and I went and broke it by falling hard for Jasper. So hard that I was sneaking around kissing him, getting matching tattoos with him, blowing him, and now reserving a hotel room for the night so I could fuck him.
Who was I?
I wouldn’t have said I was in love with him, though I certainly had love for him. I cared so much about him not only because I was attracted to him, but because I’d known Jasper almost his entire life. He was funny and smart, could whip up gourmet meals, and was an amazing person. I never thought any of what we were doing would happen.
But I was happy.
However, in the back of my mind, I knew if the band and I made it to the live auditions for The Band Showdown and then won, everything would change.
Except, I couldn’t keep my hands off of him.
We lay in the middle of the king-sized hotel bed after we cleaned up and slipped on our boxers. I pulled him closer to me and traced my finger over the moon tattoo on his wrist. When I glanced at the clock on the nightstand, I saw it was almost midnight.
“Where do your parents think you are?” I mumbled against his shoulder, and kissed it lightly.
“My friend, AJ’s. The plan was to go there after the after-party.”
“And stay the night there?”
“Yeah.” He nodded.
I rose up and rolled until I was on top of him. “So, we get to stay all night like this?”
His grin matched mine. “If you want.”
“Hell yeah, I do, but are you hungry?”
“I could eat.”
I reached over and grabbed my cell from the nightstand. Pulling up the delivery app, I scrolled through the options.
“We could order pizza or Chinese, or maybe even room service?” I suggested.
“Whatever you want, it’s cool with me. I ate before the dance, but I kinda worked up an appetite since then.” Jasper grinned.
I had too. “Fuck it. Room service will be faster and after we eat, I can have my way with you again.”
We stared at each other for a beat, more than likely both of us thinking we could wait to order food, but I cleared my throat and went to get the menu. Jasper was probably too sore to fuck again, but I had other ideas.
We flipped through the small menu and settled on burgers and fries, but when I called, I was told they were closed for the night.
“Room service ended at 10.” I blew out a breath.
“Belle’s is open twenty-four hours,” he said about the diner where he worked. “We can get it delivered.”
“Yeah, but the best chef isn’t working tonight.” I grinned at him.
He snorted a laugh. “I just prep the food mostly.”
“Still my favorite chef.” I winked. “But okay, let’s get it delivered.
After I placed the order for burgers and fries, we leaned against the headboard and I flipped through the TV channels.
“So, how was the dance?” I asked, not finding anything worth watching on the limited number of stations.
He lifted a shoulder. “It was okay. Nothing too exciting.”
“Did you dance?”
“Of course.”
“With another dude?”
Jasper cut his eyes to me. “With my straight friends. Are you jealous?”
“No, not really. I mean, I would have loved to have danced with you.”
“Do you wanna dance now?”
He asked as though he were joking, but the thought made me happy. “Yeah, let’s dance.”
“Really?” he gasped as I slid off the bed.
I went around to his side and held out my hand. “Yep, really.”
“But there’s no music playing,” he protested.
I cocked my head slightly. “Do we need any?”
I knew I could easily play something on my phone, but that wasn’t what I wanted to do in that moment.
He shook his head and took my hand. I led him to the open space at the end of the bed and sang the lyrics to an older song my parents played often. It was their wedding song, and I had no idea why the song came to me while I had Jasper in my arms, but since I loved the raspiness of the singer’s voice, I went with it.
“What song is this?” Jasper asked as I sang about how, if he looked into my eyes, he would see what he meant to me. If he searched his heart and his soul, he would find me there and he wouldn’t have to search anymore.
““Everything I Do” by Bryan Adams.”
“I like it. Keep going,” he said as we swayed side to side, only dressed in our boxers.
And I did. I sang all the words while we moved together. I twirled him a few times, and as the song ended, I kissed him.
“I guess it’s true,” he said when we pulled apart.
“What’s that?”
“You can sing the panties off of chicks.”
I snorted a laugh. “I’ve never sung that song to anyone else.”
“Yeah, well, I bet you could sing the alphabet and it would work.”
Jasper pushed me back until my legs hit the end of the bed and, without another word, he pulled my boxers down. I sucked in a small breath, watching as he sank to his knees and looked up at me with his intoxicating blue eyes.
He fisted my hardening dick, giving it a few pumps before licking the crown. “You taste so good.”
I groaned at his words and threaded my fingers through his dirty blond hair, guiding his head as he engulfed my length. My knees felt as though they were going to give out, so I slowly sank until I was sitting on the bed. Never once did he take his greedy mouth off my cock as he moved with me. Instead, once I was seated, he went faster, sucking and bobbing as his hand worked my base at the same time.
“Fuck, that feels so good,” I praised, watching as his mouth slid up and down my shaft. “If you don’t slow down, I’m going to come down your throat any second.”
He looked up at me with hooded eyes and mumbled around the tip. “Do it.”
My balls tightened at his demand and within seconds, I was shooting my jizz into his warm, wet mouth. He swallowed it all and once I was spent, he sat back on his heels and wiped his lips with the back of his hand.
“Damn. I’m so glad I got this hotel room for us.” I reached for him and he grabbed my hand.
“Me too.”
Pulling him up, he got onto the bed beside me and I hooked my leg over his hip as we lay face to face. Without thinking or caring about how I had just come in his mouth, I leaned forward and kissed him. He opened and our tongues swirled together, giving me a taste of my cum. Fuck, it was amazing.
He was amazing.
I was about to slide down his body so I could make him come with my mouth, but there was a knock at the door. It was time for actual food.
A few hours later, the alarm on my phone went off an hour before I needed to check out of the hotel. We hadn’t slept much. After we’d eaten our burgers and fooled around again, we finally fell asleep. I was pretty certain by the time we fell asleep, the sun had started to come up, which was just a few hours ago.
“Already?” Jasper groaned.
“We have an hour, but yeah,” I replied as I shut the alarm off.
“Well, I know what I’ll be doing today.” He rolled onto his back.
“Sleeping?”
“For sure.”
I sat up. “The guys and I are practicing at your house.”
“Of course you are.” He chuckled.
“What? You don’t want me there?” I teased.
He looked up at me. “I’d rather you be in my bedroom than the garage.”
“Trust me.” I leaned down and kissed him. “I’d like that too.”
“Maybe tonight you can sneak in after everyone goes to sleep?”
“I can do that.”
We both climbed out of the bed and started to get dressed.
“Do you need a ride home?” I asked, stepping into my jeans.
“Actually, my car is at AJ’s. Can you drop me off there?”
“Sure.”
Once in my Jeep, I cranked the engine, and “Cardigan” by Taylor Swift was already playing on the satellite station. I started singing the lyrics as I reversed out of the parking spot in the hotel’s garage and headed toward the street.
“I had no idea you liked Taylor Swift,” Jasper stated.
“What’s wrong with Taylor Swift?” I grinned and looked over at him.
“Nothing. Go on.”
I did as he wanted, singing softly about a first love and the first heartbreak that went along with it, and when the song was over, he said, “Wow. I know you have an amazing voice, but damn, it really is beautiful.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m so used to hearing it with the rest of Surrender, but listening to you sing like this, just you and the music playing quietly, it’s ... different.”
I chuckled. “Well, maybe I’ll have to serenade you more often.”
“Maybe you should,” he replied with a grin.
As we approached AJ’s house, I slowed down and pulled over a few houses away. “Here we are.”
Jasper unbuckled his seatbelt. “Thanks for the ride.”
“Anytime.” I smiled, leaning over to give him a quick kiss. “I’ll see you back at your place later, okay?”
“Definitely. Looking forward to it.”
I watched him get into his car, then I sighed happily and drove off, Taylor Swift’s voice still playing in my head. I was on a high after the night we’d had and I wished we could be together every night. Just me and Jasper, but sadly, it couldn’t be that way.
I was belting out the lyrics to “Bent” by Buckcherry as we jammed out in Jesse’s garage. I tried not to think about Jasper being inside the house asleep in his bed and the fact I wanted to walk inside and crawl in next to him.
As the song ended, I grabbed my energy drink and finished it. After the night before and this morning, I felt like I needed five highly caffeinated beverages to survive until it was time to go home and climb into my own bed. I had no idea when that would be, because I was honestly counting down the minutes until I could sneak into Jasper’s room again.
Jesse grabbed his phone off the coffee table and plopped onto the beat-up sofa. I assumed he was texting with Olivia until he said, “Guys …” We all looked at him. “We did it. We made it to the live auditions in LA!”
All of us jumped up, screaming and celebrating with bro hugs and huge ass smiles. Holy shit, we were going to California!
“When do we leave?” Elliott asked.
Jesse looked back at his phone and then said, “Right after the new year.”
That was in a few weeks.
“That soon?” I questioned.
“Yeah, man,” he replied. “We’re about to have a crazy few months, at least. More if we fucking win.”
“ When we win,” Silas stated. “We’re fucking winning.”
“Hell yeah!” Elliott and Silas high-fived.
A few months of us in LA, while Jasper’s back in Boston. The realization hit me hard. There would be no sneaking around. No kissing. No touching. No seeing him every day, and I knew deep down I was going to miss him like crazy.
“You good?” Jesse clapped me on the back.
“Yep.” I nodded and plastered on a smile, despite my internal thoughts. “Just can’t believe it.”
“Well, fucking believe it! We need to go tell everyone.”
Tell everyone … Tell Jasper.
Shit.
“Let me get my parents over here so we can let everyone know together.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket.
“I’m going to head home and share the news with my parents,” Silas stated.
“Me too,” Elliott said.
Our friends left, and I dialed my mom.
“Hey, honey,” she answered.
“Hey. Can you and Dad come down to Jesse’s?” I asked.
“Is everything okay?” she questioned.
I nodded and looked at Jesse with finally a genuine smile. “Things are amazing. We have news.”
She gasped. “You made it to the live auditions?”
“Just come over.” I chuckled.
“We’ll be right there.”
I hung up and followed Jesse into his house.
“Fam,” he yelled. “Come to the kitchen!”
“What’s going on?” his dad asked, coming into the room.
His mom was right behind him, but I didn’t see Jasper. He was probably sound asleep with earplugs in, so he couldn’t hear us practicing. I didn’t blame him.
“You’ll find out in a second. We’re waiting for Mal’s parents, and where the hell is Jasper?” Jesse questioned.
“In his room,” Mrs. B replied. “Does this mean Surrender is going to LA?”
Before Jesse could confirm we were, there was a knock on the front door.
“I’ll get it,” I said.
“I’ll go get Jasper.” Jesse walked down the hall toward his brother’s room while I went to the front door.
“Well?” Mom asked as I swung the door open.
My face still had a huge ass smile on it, but I didn’t confirm their suspicions. “Just come in. We’re waiting on Jasper.”
Mom and Dad stepped into the house and followed me into the kitchen, where Jesse’s parents were still waiting. Jasper finally emerged from his room, his tousled hair and sleepy eyes a stark contrast to the excitement buzzing around us.
“So?” Jesse’s mom questioned.
Jesse and I shared a quick look and then we said together, “We’re going to LA!”
The room erupted in cheers and congratulations with hugs for my friend and me. When my eyes locked with Jasper’s, he gave me a tight smile and I knew he was thinking the same thing I was: Would there still be an us?
We stepped together and hugged.
“Congrats,” he said.
I didn’t want to let him go, but I did and moved a step back. “Thank you.”
“We leave the first week of January,” Jesse said to whomever wanted to know.
“You leave that soon?” Jasper asked.
I nodded. “Guess so.”
I was pulled away and into a hug by his mom. When I broke free of her, Jasper had disappeared. I slipped down the hall to his room, knocking softly before pushing the door open to find him sitting on the edge of his bed.
“Hey,” I said softly, my heart breaking with the pain radiating off of him as I closed the door behind me.
Looking up, his eyes met mine. Without a word, I crossed the room and sat beside him, our shoulders touching as we stared down at the hardwood floor in front of us. And though we didn’t speak, the silence between us spoke volumes, a bittersweet reminder that the months we had secretly shared were coming to an end.
As the minutes ticked by, I wished for nothing more than to freeze time, to hold on to that moment, but my dream was always to make it big and this was the break Surrender needed. I couldn’t jeopardize it for whatever was between me and Jasper.
“I really am happy for you,” Jasper finally whispered.
“I know.”
“But it didn’t hit me until now that you’d be leaving for a few months.”
“Me too.” I placed my hand on his knee.
“But you have to go.”
“I do.”
The room felt suffocating as we sat there, coping with reality. I could hear our parents and Jesse down the hall, still on a high, as they talked about LA and what was to come.
“I wish …” Jasper’s voice trailed off, his gaze still on the floor in front of us.
“I know,” I whispered. “But maybe we won’t even make it past the live audition.”
He snorted. “We both know that’s not true. You guys are amazing.”
“But we don’t know how the competition will go.”
“True, but something is telling me this is going to be your big moment.”
I swallowed. “Me too.”
I turned slightly and brushed my fingers against his cheek. I was seconds away from kissing him, but then I heard Jesse yell, “Malachi! Where did you go? We’re going out for steak and lobster to celebrate!”
With a heavy sigh, I stood. “I better slip out before your brother finds me in here.”
“Guess I need to get dressed for dinner too.”
“Yeah. We can talk more tonight, okay?”
“What is there to talk about?” His gaze finally lifted to mine. “We’ll just have to see what happens, right?”
“Right.” I blew out a breath.
“But no matter what, I’ll miss you.”
I reached for him, making him stand, and wrapping my arms around him. “I’ll miss you too.”
Without another thought, I kissed him so he knew I meant it.