Chapter Eleven
Jesse stretched his arms high over his head and looked at his watch. “It’s already past seven. That took forever.”
Kenny stood beside him, rubbing his forehead. “My brain hurts.”
Jesse tossed his arm around Kenny’s shoulders. “But we did it! I told you never to lose faith in me!”
“We have to go out and celebrate! I can’t wait to call Carrie and tell her.”
Jesse rolled his eyes. “Does she have to come?”
“What do you think? She’s my girlfriend. Besides, this is a perfect excuse for getting laid.”
“You shouldn’t have to use excuses. You should just be able to say, ‘I’m horny, satisfy me,’ and get results.”
“And that’s why your relationships never last beyond a night.”
Jesse leaned toward him, speaking in a singsong voice, “Not anymore.”
He felt Kenny’s shoulders tense under his arm and saw the joy in his countenance wither.
Anger welled up inside him. Even after hearing from Greg that Evan had nothing to do with the meeting, Kenny still believed he had slept with him to get the contract.
He dropped his arm from Kenny’s shoulders and dug in his front pocket for his cell phone. “I’m calling Evan.”
Kenny’s expression turned apprehensive. “Is he going to go out with us?”
“If he wants to.”
Kenny opened his own cell phone and turned away from him.
Jesse glared at the back of Kenny’s head while listening to the phone ring. On the fifth ring, Evan answered with, “Hey, gorgeous. How’d things go?”
Evan’s warm greeting and the sound of his voice extinguished Jesse’s irritation at Kenny. “We got signed! I even got us a higher advance and had our royalties bumped up a couple points!”
“That’s wonderful. Congratulations.”
“Thanks! I guess I really can quit my job now.”
Evan laughed softly. “Yeah, that’d be a good idea. Listen, I hate to cut this short, but I’m kind of in the middle of something. Are you heading back to your place now?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll see you there in a little bit then.”
“Alright. Later.” Jesse snapped his phone closed and spun toward Kenny.
Kenny closed his phone and headed up the sidewalk. “Let’s get going. The sooner we get home, the sooner we can party!”
The earlier tension between them vanished on the ride back to their apartment, with excited conversations of what it’d be like to record and tour.
When they arrived home, Jesse let Kenny shower first, then claimed the bathroom, showering and making sure every part of his body was perfectly washed and groomed for Evan.
He stood in front of the mirror in a pair of jeans, working on his hair.
As he finished, a knock sounded on the apartment door.
Jesse sprinted out of the bathroom and slid to a stop at the door. Taking a deep breath to steady his rapidly pounding heart, he flung open the door.
His lips graced in a sensual smile, Evan brought one arm from behind his back and held out a bottle of Dom Perignon. “Congratulations, gorgeous.”
Jesse ignored the champagne and hurled himself at Evan, slamming into him in a rough kiss.
Evan stumbled back, trying to catch his balance and not drop the champagne. He laughed through the kiss. “Miss me?”
Jesse kept his arms clamped around Evan’s neck. “You have no idea how much.”
“I can’t say I’m not happy to hear that.” Evan held up the bottle of champagne. “Now are you going to let me in, or should I drink this stuff straight from the bottle in the hall like a bum?”
Jesse took the champagne and let Evan inside. “You’d be one high society bum to be drinking this.” He closed the door and turned around as Evan took off his Yankees cap. “You got your hair cut and highlighted.”
Evan shook his hair out with his fingers, now shorter in the back, falling to the middle of his neck, layered, and staggered sharper around his face to pull out his refined features.
Gold and copper highlights streaked through the natural chestnut color.
“That’s where I was when you called. The guy doing my hair was so nervous about screwing it up, his hands were shaking.
Sorry I had to cut our conversation short, but I was afraid my being on the phone would distract him even more. ”
“It looks wonderful. It’s just like when you were performing.”
“Yeah, I’ve always liked it like this.”
Jesse set the champagne on the card table that acted as a kitchen table and walked toward him, his eyes locked into Evan’s, his lips lifted with a mischievous smirk.
He wrapped one arm behind Evan’s back and reached up with his other, taking a fistful of Evan’s hair behind his head.
“I’m glad you didn’t get it cut too short. I still have something to hold on to.”
Evan grinned and moistened his lips with the tip of his tongue. He brushed his fingers down Jesse’s bare chest, moved to kiss him, and paused when Kenny walked into the room. “Hey, Kenny. Congratulations on the contract.”
Kenny glanced at them standing chest to chest, embracing each other, and sped toward the kitchen. “Thanks. Are you going out with us?”
Evan looked at Jesse. “You’re going out?”
“I meant to ask when I called if you wanted to join us, but if you don’t feel like it, we could do something else.”
Kenny stared at Jesse in disbelief.
“I’ll go,” Evan said. “Where?”
“We haven’t decided yet,” Kenny said.
“We could stay here, or go back to your place,” Jesse suggested.
Evan raised one slender eyebrow. “Are you trying to get me alone?”
Jesse lingered his lips a fraction from Evan’s. “Maybe.”
Evan gave him a light slap on the butt. “Go get ready to go out.”
Jesse sighed in defeat and released his hold on him. He walked into his bedroom and went to his dresser to flip through his shirts. His bed creaked behind him, and glancing over his shoulder, he saw Evan lay back on it, propped up on his elbows with his legs hanging over the side.
“My closet is bigger than this,” Evan said, gazing around the room.
Jesse grinned at him. “Wait until my record sales surpass yours, then we’ll see who’s got the bigger closet.”
“My my, aren’t we setting high goals for ourselves?”
A knock on the apartment door forced Jesse to turn his eyes away from him, then Carrie’s squeal of, “Baby! I’m so happy for you!” broke through the apartment.
Evan snapped his head toward the door. “What the hell is that?”
“The dreaded Carrie beast, also known as Kenny’s girlfriend. It’s an obnoxious animal that should be destroyed for the sake of humanity’s eardrums.” Jesse went to his door and kicked it closed. “And I’m not ready to deal with it yet.”
As he moved to walk past his bed, Evan snagged him by the belt and pulled him toward him. “You said you wanted me alone.”
Jesse ran his fingers through Evan’s newly cut hair. “And you told me to get ready.”
“Well…” with quick movements, Evan clasped his arms around Jesse’s waist, lifted, and tossed him to the bed. Jesse landed on his back, laughing. Before the bed had stopped bouncing from the impact, Evan was braced above him on both arms. “I’ve changed my mind.”
Jesse caught Evan behind his head and pulled him to his lips, transferring the joy he felt through the kiss.
“Hey!” Kenny yelled from the other side of the door. “Are you ready?”
Jesse slowly withdrew from the kiss. Without taking his eyes from Evan’s, he called out to Kenny, “No. You guys go ahead. I’ll call you in a little bit and we’ll catch up.”
Kenny breathed a loud, frustrated sigh. “Fine.”
Evan stroked Jesse’s hair near his temple. “I don’t know what you’ve done to me, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you all day.”
Jesse slid his hands under Evan’s shirt and up his sides. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you either.”
“So how’d things really go? You said you negotiated for a higher advance and royalties, so Greg must’ve been treating you pretty fair.”
“Greg did at least,” Jesse mumbled, turning his head to the side.
Concern darkened the joyous glow on Evan’s face. “What do you mean? What happened?”
“Just a bunch of bullshit.” Jesse shifted to sit up, forcing Evan to climb off him. “Do you want some champagne? I’m dying to try it.” He got up from the bed and walked out of the room.
Evan followed him, catching him in the kitchen. He gently gripped Jesse’s upper arm, halting him from getting occupied with the champagne, and laid his other hand on the side of Jesse’s face. “I can see it in your face and hear it in your voice that you’re upset. Tell me what happened.”
Jesse met Evan’s eyes. Whether it was the worry he saw there or the warmth in Evan’s voice, he wasn’t sure, but he found himself spilling everything that had happened, from Tim’s accusations to his argument with Kenny, and even Greg’s comments about trying to convince Evan to come down to the studio to visit him, which looking back on he found it pretty hilarious, though if Evan did no humor entered his expression.
Evan stood silent, focused on his every word while he sat on the kitchen counter delivering the events like a skilled orator.
Evan gazed down at the kitchen floor, his somber face set with a frown as Jesse finished. “Why didn’t you call me when all that happened?”
Jesse let out a sarcastic huff. “Yeah, that would’ve looked real cool. I could’ve jumped up, brandished my cell phone, and yelled, you better stop picking on me or else I’ll call my boyfriend, and he’ll come down here and kick your ass!”
Evan looked at him from under his eyelashes, one corner of his lips turned up in a grin. “Your boyfriend, huh?”
Jesse lifted his chin and gave Evan a smirk. “That’s right. I assume you don’t have a problem being called that since it basically means you’re mine.”
Evan wrapped his arms around Jesse’s waist. “None whatsoever.”
Jesse cupped Evan’s face in both hands and covered his mouth in a kiss he put all his happiness behind. As the kiss ended, Evan reached for his glass of champagne. He lifted it and paused, his head tilted to the side as he gave it a curious look.
“What’s the matter?” Jesse said teasingly. “Not used to drinking Dom from a seventy-five cent glass bought at the dollar store?”
Evan laughed and shook his head. “It’s a first.” He looked at Jesse. “But I’ve had a lot of those the past few days.” He raised his glass to him. “Here’s to you, commander of Conquest. The world is your battlefield. Now all you have to do is conquer it, a feat I have total faith that you can do.”
Jesse touched his glass against Evan’s. Both drank at the same time and lowered their glasses to bring their lips together.