Jack glanced at the clouds gathering in the distance. He wanted to protest. To tell Ed that no, they should definitely do dinner first, but…. “Ten minutes. Then head back before it rains.”
They sat next to each other, staring out at the cars on the road. Jack rubbed his palms over his jeans. “You had a big day, yesterday?”
A breath funneled out of Ed. “Yes.”
“Does it have anything to do with why you picked me up?” From Harrison grounds.
“Yes,” Ed whispered over his cheek. “My parents know.”
Jack closed his eyes. He’d suspected as much. His whole body coiled tight, waiting for Ed to continue.
“I got upset when you left. Mom looked at me and asked what happened between us, and I froze. I just froze, and she came forward and hugged me. Said I didn’t have to say anything, but that whatever I wasn’t saying, she and Dad loved me anyway.” Ed pinched his brow. “Those words unleashed everything I’ve been holding back. I told her I was gay. Told her you were my boyfriend. Told her everything about you because finally I could share it. Could tell someone about this amazing guy I’d met and how insanely happy I am and how that freaks me out, and how I was upset because I couldn’t just ask you to stay. Because when you left all I could imagine was you taking someone else to your formal. The thought made me feel sick and hurt and jealous, and I hated it.”
Ed trembled as he spoke, his voice cracking at the end.
Jack threw his arms around Ed and embraced him. Ed breathed heavily against his neck, grip tight on Jack’s back, like he wanted to pull him even closer.
Ed’s admission complicated his life, but this tender thing between them mattered. He couldn’t take someone else, knowing how that made Ed feel. He wouldn’t.
Jack pulled back. “I wish it didn’t matter where I kiss you.”
“I wish it didn’t matter either.”
“You picked me up tonight.”
“Baby steps.”
Ed drove them back to the frat house. Jack handed Ed the helmet. “Thanks for taking it slow on the way home.”
Jack bumped Ed’s shoulder, peeking at him, and Ed laughed softly and bumped back—
A crowd of hollering guys stumbled out the front door, and they stepped onto the lawn rather than be bowled over. Jack shrugged and tried to laugh it off. He wouldn’t be missing much if he left.
But Marcus would miss this.
Dad would have been disappointed.
Lightning blinked across the sky. Less than three counts and thunder rumbled over them, followed by the clouds opening. Rain had the guys swearing and racing down the path.
“Ed?” someone called.
Jack stilled, Ed doing the same at his side.
Two guys ducked out of the frat house and into the rain, opening umbrellas. Jack recognized the smaller one. Chem Ben, a year below him. Guess the other was a friend.
“Hey, man,” the other guy said, eyeing Jack.
“Hey, Cole,” Ed said, tight and short. He subtly moved away an inch as he explained, “Cole works with me.”
Cole nicked his head in hello. “Good to see you have a life outside work.”
Ed moved another inch and gestured to Jack, voice stuttering. “This is my… this is my cousin, Jack.”
The lightning and thunder hit at the same time, and Jack used it as an excuse to drag Ed to the porch, waving Cole and Ben off on Ed’s behalf.
The guys raced down the path to wherever they were heading for the night, and when they were alone, he stared at Ed. “You okay?”
“Fuck.” Ed looked behind and around him, then increased the distance between them and lowered his voice. “He’s my boss’s son. This is too real. I can’t….” He shook his head and then whispered, “Sorry, Jack.”
With that he jogged through the rain to the bike he’d borrowed for their date.
Jack chased after him. Rain pounded, hitting his face and soaking under his jacket. His shoes squelched as he splashed through a puddle. “Ed!”
Helmet in his hands, he turned.
“It’s okay,” Jack said.
“No, it’s not. But I’m going to make this up to you.”
Jack stroked the seat of the motorbike to stop from reaching out for him. “You called me your boyfriend tonight. Did you mean it?”
“Yes.”
Jack released the breath he’d been holding. “Then you’ve just made it up to me.”
“It’s not enough.”
Jack flashed his boyfriend a smile. “In that case, follow me in my Jeep?”
One town over, Jack parked his Jeep in an empty parking lot outside an Italian restaurant. He grabbed a small bag he’d stowed under his seat and hopped out. Immediately Ed was at his side, helmet dangling from his finger.
Quickly checking they were alone, Jack pressed Ed against his car into a soft, stolen kiss. This kiss echoed their first one, charged with desire but also an undercurrent of nervousness.
Jack glanced over the restaurant at the motel behind it. He steered Ed toward the flashing neon sign lighting up the sidewalk. “Did I tell you how much I like you calling me your boyfriend?”
Jack booked them a room—one right at the back of the motel on the first floor. No sooner had they shut the door behind them than Jack dropped the key and his small bag to the floor.
Dredges of dim light from the balcony came through the cracks and faded edges of the curtains, and Jack fumbled as he stripped Ed and himself of everything covering them.
Jack stepped on his jeans, clutching Ed’s forearms for balance as he kicked them off into the puddles of clothes around them. Ed’s outline was darker than the shadows of the room, and Jack sucked in his breath at the impressive body he had. How packed his muscles were, how proudly erect he stood. Ed grasped his shaft and slowly pumped it, and Jack swelled to full mast.
Every touch they had shared so far ignited Jack. Sent him spinning into new realms of pleasure. How would it be for Ed to take him? He enjoyed the burn of having a guy fuck him from time to time, but he’d never craved it. Never clenched his ass so impatiently, like he was doing now.
Jack kept his eyes on Ed languidly touching himself as he picked up the bag he’d dropped and tossed it onto the bed.
“What’s that?” Ed asked.
Jack pulled Ed into a kiss, stepping his toes over Ed’s, jamming their cocks together. “Supplies. I put some in the Jeep after our night in the back seat. Just in case.”
Ed breathed heavily over Jack’s shoulder. “Good thinking.”
Jack licked the shell of Ed’s ear. “Your turn to pass tonight.”
Ed’s muscles undulated as he groaned. Jack slipped his hand between them, gripping Ed’s cock. God, how good it felt pulsing and throbbing in his palm. How good it would feel rocking in and out of him.
Jack rubbed his leaking head against Ed’s stomach. “Kiss me.”
Ed surged into a wet kiss, pushing Jack back toward the bed. They tripped over the room’s only chair, and Ed’s strong, warm arms caught Jack around the waist, steadying them. Laughs skipped between them, feather soft over kiss-swollen lips.
Ed maneuvered them the last steps to the bed and they fell onto it. Jack hit the soft mattress, Ed landing with a delicious weight on top of him.