5. Jake #3
Right now, it was the food, and Jake couldn’t pretend not to be jealous of the attention.
Allen chewed thoughtfully, eyes flicking down, then up again, as if gauging whether Jake liked his meal. The tiniest smile tugged at his mouth before he looked away, and it was ridiculous how something that small could feel like a punch to Jake’s ribs.
Jake leaned back in his chair and pretended to study the décor, but really, he was just trying to get a handle on himself. He didn’t know when admiration had turned into something deeper, but it had, and there was no point denying it now.
When they left the restaurant after finishing their meal, Allen didn’t fuss when Jake took his hand while they walked to the car. Any other night, he would have insisted that they stay and stroll along the boardwalk, but it was snowing and bitterly cold, and Jake was exhausted.
“Thank you for dinner,” Allen said once they were in the car. “It was delicious, and the private room didn’t feel as weird as I thought it was going to.”
Jake grinned and nodded, forgetting to use his words to answer.
But Allen didn’t seem bothered by the less-than-stellar communication. He was too busy blowing his warm breath onto the passenger side window and drawing hearts in the condensation.
Jake’s pulse skittered, his heart aching at how cute his soon-to-be-husband was.
No words were spoken between them until they arrived back at Allen’s apartment, and he directed him into a spot reserved for the car he didn’t own. Jake had been so fixated on their date that he had forgotten about what part came next and what awaited him inside Allen’s apartment.
Allen seemed nervous, too. He wasn’t talking anymore, and his movements were jerky and awkward as he led Jake into his building and up the stairs to his door.
The building only had three floors, and Allen lived on the top one. The structure wasn’t rundown by any means, but it was an older place, and lacking good ceiling height. Jake had to duck to make it through Allen’s doorway, which didn’t go unnoticed.
“Whoa.” Allen kicked off his shoes and took a few steps back, eyes trailing over Jake’s body. “I knew you were big, but Jesus.”
He wasn’t wrong. Compared to Jake, Allen was tiny. The beautiful man barely reached his chest when they were standing beside each other.
“Right,” said Allen, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “I’m going to take a shower and get ready. You can…I don’t know, go through my bedside table and try to find a condom that’s big enough to fit.”
Allen was making a lot of assumptions, but he wasn’t wrong.
Jake didn’t want to ruin the night after it had been going so well, but he hated the thought of Allen showering and washing away Riley’s comforting scent.
He didn’t need to have sex. He would prefer if they didn’t have sex, but he didn’t know how to say that without upsetting Allen to the point of getting kicked out.
Jake made a mad scramble to take his boots and jacket off, so Allen would be less inclined to push him out the door, and set his gaze on him. “Bed.”
Allen swallowed, and he took another step backward. “Listen, I know you’re new at this, but trust me, prep needs to happen before we do the sex, or it won’t be fun.”
Jake shook his head and moved forward, chasing Allen when he continued to walk away. “I like how you smell.”
“That’s not what I mean—”
“I want to kiss you.”
“Not until I brush my damn teeth, you—”
“I need to trace every line of your body with my tongue until I have you begging me in that pretty voice of yours,” Jake said, following Allen into the only room that was inside the small apartment.
Allen was stuttering through a garble of words that made no sense in any language, his skin flushed red, and his shoulders heaving as he walked right to the edge of his bed and fell onto it.
“You have no idea how badly I want you, Allen,” Jake said, heart hammering at the thought of taking anything that Allen was willing to give him, but he wanted to make sure he knew it wasn’t all he wanted.
“If sex is the only reason that you want me to stay, then we can do that,” Jake continued. “But sleeping beside you would make me just as happy.”
Allen’s mouth had been slightly hanging open during his speech, but it snapped shut the second Jake finished talking. “Sleep?”
Jake nodded.
Allen looked away from Jake to stare at his bed. “Will you even fit?” he murmured.
The bed was small, but Jake would make it work. “Please?”
It was nearly impossible to see Allen’s expression in the dark room, but the heaviness of the silence spoke loud enough for Jake to hear.
“Alexa, turn the lights on,” Allen said, and Jake squeezed his eyes shut right before the room erupted into brightness that would put the sun to shame.
“Shit, sorry.” Allen was suddenly standing in front of him, and Jake pried one lid open so he could see what kind of face he was making.
He was greeted by the sight of a flustered, adorable Allen, and Jake wasn’t good at reading social cues, but he was positive that he wasn’t in trouble.
“I don’t know why the fuck I’m doing this,” Allen groused, pinning his bottom lip between his teeth hard enough to turn it white before he spoke again. “Do you need to wash up before we go to sleep? You can shower or brush your teeth—I have a spare toothbrush.”
Jake was so relieved that he could have melted onto the fake hardwood. “No.”
Allen’s gaze tipped downward, and his shoulders slumped. “Fine. Get on the bed and I’ll join you in a second.”
Jake stepped aside so Allen could leave, smirking when Allen shot him that woeful look—like he was genuinely mourning the loss of whatever easy, no-strings thing he had wanted to build between them.
Not wanting to give him a chance to change his mind, Jake tugged his shirt off, stripped down to his briefs, and got under the blankets of a bed that was far too small for him.
He didn’t care. No matter what way he looked at it, this was a win.
Christmas. Allen was going to be his boyfriend by Christmas.
True to his word, Allen returned a few minutes later. He hadn’t showered, but the damp curl to his hair suggested he’d at least splashed water on his face. The powder-pink silk pants he was wearing caught the soft lamplight, shimmering with every movement.
Jake had been pretending to scroll through his phone, but his attention shifted the second Allen stepped into the room, and his throat went dry.
Allen wasn’t wearing a shirt, and Jake’s eyes were drawn to the pale pink of his nipples, enjoying the way they matched what he was wearing.
Shuffling over to the bed, Allen lifted the blankets and joined Jake, rolling onto his side to keep his back facing him.
“Alexa, lights off.”
The room was cast into darkness, and Jake heard Allen take a deep breath.
“Are you sure you don’t want sex?”
Chuckling, Jake tucked his phone under the pillow and curled himself around Allen’s body.
He tangled their legs together, sliding his bare thigh between Allen’s silk-clad ones.
When they were so close that it was impossible to tell where Jake began and Allen ended, he inhaled the intoxicating scent of his two favourite people in the world and groaned.
“Sleepy…” he mumbled, and it wasn’t a lie. “Smell good…”
Jake knew he wasn’t making any sense, but he was too far gone to care. He was aware of Allen’s voice vibrating against his chest, but he couldn’t make out his words as sleep took hold.
Tomorrow, he would do whatever Allen wanted.
Tomorrow.