Chapter 27 #2
“I missed you,” he said as he looked up at Cal, the truth ripping out of him like a belch he hadn’t felt coming. He nearly begged pardon to go with it, but Cal’s reply came first.
“I’ve missed you, too.”
Jesse grinned down at his shoes. Cal curled a finger under his chin, lifting his face back to where it had been before, if not a little beyond.
Jesse swallowed, throat working against the strain of the bend in his neck.
Cal searched his eyes, attention flicking to his mouth once, twice.
Jesse felt absolutely certain he was about to be very publicly kissed.
But he wasn’t. Cal moved his hand to Jesse’s cheek instead, brushing his knuckles over where his sunburn had finally faded into a smattering of freckles.
“Would you care to dance?” Cal asked.
He was stiff at first as he got used to moving in a space that didn’t belong entirely to them, but soon Jesse felt Cal loosen under his hands, both of their bodies finding the familiarity of what it was to dance as one.
There was no question that all of their rehearsal hours had made Cal a better dancer.
But even Jesse was grateful for the lessons he’d learned, the new skills he’d gained, and the strength he’d built up that he never would have managed from delivering letters.
After the conversation with Monty, Jesse had been waiting for this moment all week.
When the band switched to something faster, Jesse reached for his magic, drawing it up from his toes and letting it wash through him.
He wanted to show Cal what music made him feel when he wasn’t forced into a set choreography.
What he felt when he could move the way his magic wanted him to.
He hadn’t danced like this since that last night in Mrs. Nelson’s basement, two thousand miles and one life changing adventure back east, and it felt incredible.
Even better were the moments when Cal’s hands were on him, brushing down his arm, pressing into his hip, gripping his hand during a spin, or supporting him during a dip.
The stamina they’d gained over the last month had them dancing until Jesse’s hair was damp with sweat, clothes clinging to him in all the worst places, but he didn’t care.
All that mattered was the magic burning up his legs and soaking in every moment of being in Cal’s arms.
Sometime after midnight, the band stopped playing and Jesse clung to Cal, arms wrapped around the taller man’s neck as he tried to catch his breath. Cal held him through it.
“You should have some water,” Cal said, his own voice dry and in need of a drink.
Jesse’s voice was even rougher as he put his lips against Cal’s ear and whispered, “Take me home.”
* * *
They took the stairs to the fifth floor as quietly as they could. Thankfully, the hallway was as empty as the stairwell had been, and Jesse was able to unlock the door and let them inside his apartment without anyone noticing who had graced the building with his golden presence.
Once the door was closed behind them, the reality of the situation began to settle.
Jesse didn’t have much to begin with, so he wasn’t worried about Cal discovering any messy habits, but there was still a moment of regret over the hasty way he’d made his bed that morning and the pile of dirty clothes waiting to be sent out and laundered.
“This brings back memories,” Cal said, his voice still low to match the late-night silence around them.
“Make yourself comfortable, if you can,” Jesse told him. He’d decided on the ride back that a shower was nothing short of necessary if he wanted to actually enjoy whatever was to come. “I’ll be right back.”
“Wait.”
Jesse turned around and his face was captured, Cal’s hands cradling his cheeks as he pressed a soft kiss to his lips.
“I’ve been wanting to do that all night,” he murmured.
Jesse couldn’t bring himself to admit all the things he’d been wanting to do since their last kiss.
But just as he’d been doing all week, he let himself think about them as he took the hottest, fastest shower he could manage.
He imagined finishing what he’d started, seeing Cal through to however much satisfaction Jesse could give him.
He tried to imagine letting Cal do the same, albeit with far less promising results.
Still, he’d been trying to keep reminding himself of Monty’s advice to relax. He could do that.
He emerged from his tiny bathroom in a cloud of steam to find Cal sitting in the chair at his desk, jacket folded neatly over the back of it but otherwise still clothed.
Jesse squeaked out a laugh.
“I feel very underdressed.”
Cal was still looking at him, seeing him, in the undershirt and shorts he’d tossed on before his skin was completely dry.
“We can fix that,” Cal said.
By the time they made it to the bed, several springs inside the thin mattress squealing in protest under their combined weight, Cal had lost all but his underwear and argyle socks. Once those were gone, Jesse had nowhere to look but the obvious.
“Maybe you should go first this time,” he offered, watching as Cal stroked himself as naturally as scratching an itch.
“I think we need to talk before we get started.”
“It feels a little late for that,” Jesse said, gesturing to the third member of their party in Cal’s right palm.
“It’s never too late. That’s what I’m trying to get at.”
Cal put his hands on Jesse’s knees, which were bent up to his chest, and trailed them down his shins to the tops of his feet. They still tingled from hours of magic coursing through them. He rubbed at Jesse’s ankles as he spoke again.
“I care about you. That includes your mind, your heart. Your wishes and desires. If you’re not comfortable with this, then we don’t have to do it.”
“I want to,” Jesse said, suddenly more sure than he had been for several days. “I want to make you feel the way they talk about in the movies.” He reached for the hem of his undershirt and pulled it off over his head. “Please.”
“But what about you?”
Jesse didn’t have an answer to that question. All he knew was that being close to Cal made him feel good, so that’s what he did. He moved onto his knees and straddled Cal’s lap, tilting Cal’s face up to meet his kiss.
It didn’t take long for Cal’s hands to start roaming, sliding over Jesse’s shoulder blades, down his back, along the outside of his thighs.
All of those places felt fine. Nice, even.
The gentle kisses he pressed to the side of Jesse’s neck pulled a shaky sigh out of him.
But the moment Cal dipped any lower, Jesse started to feel uneasy.
“Lie back,” Cal instructed. “Get comfortable.”