Thirty-Six
Alex
I let out a low whine into my pillow when the soft beep of my alarm echoes through the silent room. I quickly switch it off so it doesn’t wake up Blaine.
He has a week off from games with it being All Star weekend; for some reason, he declined his invite. When I asked him why, he simply shrugged and said he had better things to do. With how sore I am, I’m starting to realize what he meant.
Standing under the hot spray of the shower, I close my eyes and relish in the warm sensation seeping into my bones. It’s been snowing for over a month now, and Blaine has been non-stop complaining about the cold.
I’m about to pour some shower gel into my hands when the shower door opens, and Blaine appears through the steam. His eyes are small and sleepy, and his face has sleep lines from the pillow.
“Morning, baby.” His voice is thick and raspy, and the sultry sound goes straight to my cock.
He steps under the spray with me, wrapping his arms around my waist and pressing his face into the crook of my neck. The heat of his morning erection warms the crease of my ass as he pulls me flush to his chest.
“I’m sorry, did I wake you?” I ask, tilting my head back slightly to lean against his shoulder.
He shakes his head, pressing a kiss just below my ear.
“No, I’m gonna come in with you today and help you out.”
Surprised by his admission, I turn around in his arms and wrap my hands around his neck.
“But… It’s your week off. Don’t you want to relax and have some downtime?”
He shakes his head again, his eyes blink slowly, still heavy with sleep, and takes my lips in a gentle kiss.
“No, the only thing I want to do is be with you, and I don’t think kidnapping you will gain me any points with your brother.”
We laugh.
While Jacob’s definitely warmed up to him, Blaine continues to make an effort, showing my brother that he isn’t like the jerks he knew in high school or the idiots I dated back in college.
“I figured I’d come and help out. I was an awesome cake server person last time. It’ll be fun,” he says.
I’m at a loss of words. There’s so much emotion bubbling in my chest: gratitude, adoration, love.
I whisper “thank you” before kissing him again. His hands glide over my body, moving down my lower back and squeezing the globes of my ass.
“We don’t have time for that,” I murmur against his lips. “Jacob will kill us both if we’re not there at five.”
He takes a step back and grabs the loofah, squirting some shower gel on it before handing it to me.
We manage to keep our hands to ourselves in the shower and then get dressed in contented silence. Blaine makes us some coffee to go, and when we’re just parking outside of the shop, we see the light flicker on.
The bell chimes above the door as we step inside, and I walk over to greet my brother with a hug.
“Good morning… I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” he says to Blaine.
“Mornin’,” Blaine returns the smile, shoving his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants. “I’ve come to help out; hope that’s okay.”
Jacob’s eyebrows rise slightly in surprise. “Oh, thank you, you didn't have to.”
Blaine shrugs, “Nowhere else I’d rather be than spending time with Alex and maybe getting some of those delicious raspberry ripple cupcakes.”
Jacob chuckles with a shake of his head. “I’m sure we can sort something out.”
I laugh when Blaine fist bumps the air. “Let's go get you an apron.”
Jacob heads into the kitchen while I find a clean apron for Blaine, and once he’s tied the strings behind his back, he twists his baseball cap backward and whispers gleefully, “Did you see that? I think he likes me.”
I laugh, pinching his ass. “Keep up the good work, big boy. You’ll win him over soon enough.”
Fetching my own apron, I lead Blaine into the kitchen, where Jacob’s already starting on the cake mixture.
“What do you need me to do?”
“How good are you at measuring? Want to help me get started on the cookies?” I ask.
Blaine looks a little apprehensive but nods. “Can’t be hard, right?”
Jacob scoffs.
“I’ll show you,” I say.
He follows me to the sink to wash our hands, then I retrieve a bowl from the shelf, along with the ingredients we need.
“I tend to mix a batch of cookie dough, then split it into portions before adding the different mix-ins, so we use the same cookie dough base, but I’ll add milk chocolate chips to one, white chocolate to another, M I can practically hear the cogs in his brain turning. “Yeah?”
“Anyway…” Nate looks at me with a wide smile on his face, blissfully unaware of the confused state he’s left Blaine in. “You haven’t been in the gym this week. I expect you to be there tomorrow or there’s going to be trouble!”
“Sorry, it’s been a little crazy recently.”
I’m not going to mention the exercise I’ve been doing with Blaine—the bedroom kind.
“I’ll take partial blame.” Blaine puts his arm around my shoulder, tucking me into his body. “I’ve been holding this one hostage whenever I can, and we’ve been… busy.”
Nate smirks and wiggles his brows, his mind clearly going to the gutter.
But I’m not going to correct him.
Because he’s exactly on the mark.
* * *
Over the next few days, Blaine becomes a permanent fixture in the shop. He either comes in with me in the morning and leaves just after lunch to head to the gym or comes after he’s been there already.
But today he’s spending the day with Boomer, as Colleen allowed him to take the puppy home for the day. He’s been blowing up my phone with endless photos, videos, and texts wishing he could have a dog of his own.
Not having him here today has been a blessing in disguise since one of our ovens has stopped working and we’ve just found out it’s out of warranty. It’s just another thing we’ll have to find the money for.
Trying to distract myself from it, I wipe down one of the tables and glance up at the sound of the bell jingling above the door, freezing when the last person I expected to see walks through the door.
“Ethan, hey.”
He gives me a small smile, his eyes searching the store. “Hey, Alex. How’s things?”
“Uh, good, thanks?” It comes out as a question. “Blaine’s not here today; he’s got Boomer for the day.”
“I’m not here to see Blaine, I’m here to see—” He doesn’t get to finish his sentence as my brother appears from the kitchen, and a boyish smile appears on Ethan’s face.
Jacob’s eyes widen when he spots him, and then his cheeks flush slightly.
“Hello, Ethan,” he says shyly.
What the heck?
I’m so confused right now. How does Ethan even know Jacob? I’m pretty sure they’ve only met once when Ethan came for the team event, as Jacob doesn’t come to any of the games, and I don’t recall Ethan coming in here.
Ethan closes the distance to Jacob, cupping his elbow with his hand, and says something I can’t decipher.
“Is... everything okay?”
Because what the fuck is going on right now?
Jacob looks around Ethan’s large body and sighs. “Alex, let's take a seat.”
He goes to the door, flipping the “closed” sign before sliding into the booth next to Ethan, folding his hands in his lap.
“Jacob…” I prompt when my brother doesn’t speak.
Jacob goes to open his mouth, but Ethan raises his hand to stop him.
“Alex, a couple of weeks ago Blaine came to me wanting to know how he could help you out, given the financial difficulty both you and your brother are dealing with. I know the team activity helped somewhat, but it hasn’t cleared it all.
..” He turns to Jacob and gives him a small smile.
“I could see how much it meant to you; this bakery, everything you’ve built, and I wanted to help…
Blaine’s too close, I get it but I’m like an outsider, in a way. ”
“What do you mean, help?”
And finally, my brother speaks up.
“Ethan has kindly offered to pay off our debts, and we’ll repay him monthly—”
“Without interest,” Ethan interrupts.
“Without interest,” Jacob echoes. “It’s an amount that allows us to live and breathe a little easier and also means we don’t have to worry about how we’re going to pay for the oven to be fixed.”
My mind races. Not having the huge monthly outgoings will help significantly, and we’ll be able to hire some more staff to help, but there’s something in my gut that is wondering— why?
I know Ethan’s a good guy, but it’s a lot of money to give to your teammate’s boyfriend.
“What do you get out of it?” I ask him.
Ethan leans forward, resting his forearms on the table. “Honestly? Being able to give back and help someone in need means more to me than the money sitting in my bank account. I know what it’s like to struggle.”
Well, color me speechless.
“And with the repayment plan we’ve agreed on, we’ll be able to look into hiring more staff…” Jacob gives me a reassuring smile.
I search my brother's eyes, because while this is an incredibly generous thing Ethan is offering to do, I want to ensure Jacob is happy.
Financial issues are secondary; my brother's mental health and happiness are what’s important to me.
He was bullied profusely in college by jocks, and I know it still comes back to haunt him, even now in his late twenties.
“As long as you are happy with all of this,” I say, looking him in the eye so he knows what I mean.
The smile he gives me is genuine, and he nods. “I promise you, I wouldn’t have accepted Ethan’s offer if I wasn’t comfortable.”
I nod, understanding, then look at Ethan. “Thank you for your kindness; I really appreciate it.”
Ethan flashes me a bright smile, one that would have knocked me off my feet if I wasn’t already sitting down. “No problem; I’m happy to help. Anyway, I gotta go…” He looks at my brother as he stands. “Let me know if you need anything, okay?”
Jacob nods with a smile. “Thank you.”
Ethan says goodbye, but the heated look he gives Jacob makes me question what his intentions really are.
When the door closes, I lean forward on the table. “Are you sure about this?”
“I think we’d be stupid to turn down an offer like that.” Jacob sighs, running a hand through his perfectly styled hair. “I can tell he’s different, that he’s got a good heart. It’s not my story to tell, but he understands our situation more than you realize.”
“Is there something in writing to protect you? Not because I think Ethan will screw us over, but there’s a lot of money involved.”
He nods. “Yeah, there is. Even though this is a business agreement, he is a good guy, Alex.”
“I know that.” I grumble.
I chew on my bottom lip, not sure how to put into words how I’m feeling. I’m nervous because I care. I’m protective because I want him to be safe. On the other hand, I’m so relieved that this burden is going to be lifted.
“Plus, seeing you and Blaine together… This is going to give me the chance to have that for myself. I’ve put dating to the back of my mind, throwing myself into work, but I wanna meet someone.
I wanna have what you and Blaine have.” His smile is sad.
“I know it took me a while to warm up to him, but I’m so happy you’ve found someone who worships the ground you walk on.
Those guys from college weren’t worthy of you, they didn’t appreciate what an incredible person you are, but Blaine…
I think he’d walk through fire just to tell you he loved you. ”
I look down at my feet, trying to hide my heated cheeks because he’s right about Blaine, but he can’t just distract me from the bombshell he’s just dropped on me.
“So, you and Ethan, huh? Since when did you start talking?”
Jacob picks up a napkin and begins to fold it over several times, his teeth buried into his bottom lip. “He came in after the event and we’ve been texting a little here and there.”
My eyes widen. “What?”
“Don’t make a big deal out of it.” He glares. “We’re just friends.”
“Sure.” I smirk. “And suddenly it coincides with you being ready to date again?”
He hides his face in his hands, but not before I catch his grin.