Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 55627 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55627 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
“Is that really the translation of the lyrics?”
“It is.” Gray grazed his lips across Jack’s jaw and over to his mouth.
Unable to hold himself back, Jack wrapped his arms around Gray’s shoulders and leaned into him as he deepened the kiss.
“Mmm, Jack.” Gray rubbed his palms across Jack’s wrists, forearms, biceps, and shoulders. “You’re an amazing kisser.”
“I am?” Jack asked breathlessly. Since Gray had proclaimed himself to be Jack’s boyfriend in an effort to shield him from their meddling friends, he had become even more physically affectionate than usual, but Jack didn’t have a firm handle on what that meant and whether Gray truly wanted a relationship with him or if he was doing Jack a favor.
“The best.”
He searched Gray’s face but saw nothing other than sincerity. “I didn’t know that,” he confessed.
Gray winced and closed his eyes.
“You okay?” Jack put his hand on Gray’s chest. “What happened?”
“Nothing.” Gray shook his head and opened his eyes. “I’m fine.” He smiled at Jack. “Let’s go inside and continue this on a soft surface.”
“Okay.” Jack could feel his cheeks stretching from the size of his smile. He walked toward the door and Gray went the opposite direction toward his car.
“I need to grab my bag.”
“You have it?” Jack asked, surprised. “When I saw you here before me, I figured you’d changed your mind about tonight. How did you stop at home and get here this fast?”
With his hand on his door handle, Gray looked over his shoulder at Jack and frowned. “Changed my mind?”
“You didn’t get your things. Or I thought you didn’t get your things.”
Instead of answering right away, Gray reached into the car, put his laptop case over his shoulder, and then took out his weekender bag. “Jack?” Gray said as he walked toward him.
“Yes?”
“I’m not ever going to change my mind.” He lifted the leather bag. “I packed this before the class because I had every intention of smooth talking my way here afterward.”
“You don’t have to smooth—”
“But even if I hadn’t thought ahead and didn’t have my clothes and toothbrush, I’d still want to be with you.” He cupped Jack’s cheek with his free hand and looked into his eyes. “Do you understand?”
“Yes,” Jack said, realizing he sounded silly. “In a world of Grindr and Tinder, the whole overnight bag thing is outdated, huh?” If he had been with anyone other than Gray, Jack would be embarrassed, but Gray knew him so well that all he could do was laugh and shake his head. “I swear I’m not completely out of touch. I know people go home with dates and hookups all the time, and they probably don’t treat the situation like a weekend getaway.”
“No, you don’t understand.” Gray sighed. “But you will.” He wrapped his arm around Jack’s back. “Come on, let’s go inside.”
The mood had shifted and not in a good direction. “Did I say something to offend you?”
“’Course not.” Gray opened the door and waited for Jack to walk into the house before following him.
“I know I’m being awkward about all this.”
“You’re not awkward,” Gray said with a chuckle.
“Okay, I know that’s not true.”
“Fine, maybe you’re a little bit awkward, but it’s endearing not offensive.” Gray threaded his fingers through the back of Jack’s hair, brushed their lips together, and then said, “We have a few hours before dinner. Do you have work to do?”
The familiar topic calmed him. “I always have work.”
They walked together through the mudroom. “Same. How about we get our laptops, get cozy on the couch, and unwind?”
“You are the only other person I know who would view working from home on a Saturday afternoon as relaxation time.”
“As long as we’re on the TV room couch, it counts as relaxing.”
Laughing, Jack shook his head. “I need to do something about the furniture in my living room. Nobody ever wants to go in there.”
“It was nice of you to give that up-and-coming designer a job, but”—Gray scrunched his nose and shook his head—“that furniture is medieval.”
“He decorated for his Instagram, not our comfort. He’s young. He’ll learn to find a middle ground.”
“Like I said, it was nice of you. As usual.” Once they stepped into the walkway that ran the length of the house, Gray braided his fingers with Jack’s and said, “I’m going to put my things away.” He lifted his overnight bag as he spoke. “Where do you want me to put it?”
The panic that had dissipated moments earlier returned in the face of that decision.
“Jack?”
“Uh huh.” His heart hammered against his ribs.
“I can sleep in your bed”—he turned his chin to the left—“or I can sleep in the guest room” —he turned his chin to the right. “There’s no wrong answer and no rush.”
Gray was offering to stay in his room, and he had mentioned sleeping together while they were in the cooking class. Jack hadn’t been the one to bring it up. That could mean Gray wanted to spend the night with him. On the other hand, he could be doing Jack a favor, which was definitely something Gray would do and just as definitely something Jack didn’t want. Since Gray had come up with the Boyfriend Plan a couple of weeks earlier, Jack had done a lot of thinking. By all accounts, Gray slept around so Jack figured he wouldn’t mind sleeping with him if he asked. But Jack had already lived a version of that life. He hadn’t wanted obligatory sex with Jaime when they’d been together, and once that was over, he had promised himself to never be in that position again.