Ink Enduring (Montgomery Ink #5)(37)

“But you’re okay that Maya and I already have?”

Border nodded. “You and Maya are one thing. You and I are another. And eventually, if things work out, the three of us are one more.” He paused. “And I guess Maya and I are still another relationship.” He snorted. “That’s a lot of relationships that have to work as one, you know? So I guess what I’m saying is that since I’m the new guy here, I want to step…slowly. Or slower than full throttle.”

Jake frowned. “You aren’t the new guy.”

“I’ve been gone for a long time, Jake. So, yeah, I feel like the new guy. I’m not saying I don’t want you, because, f*ck, Jake, I definitely want you, but…”

“But you don’t want to have sex yet.” Jake grinned. “What about a blowjob?”

Border threw his head back and laughed. “A blowjob is sex, too, buddy. But…” His cock ached, and he held back a groan. Now he couldn’t get the image of Jake’s lips around his dick out of his mind. It was a damn fine image. “Let’s see where we’re at after we talk some more. I’m honestly just making things up as I go along here, you know.”

Jake leaned forward and kissed him softly. Border held back another groan. “Let’s talk, then. Because I want to know where you’ve been and who’ve you’ve been since I last saw you. We were best friends once.”

“And now Maya is your best friend.” He paused. “I’m not jealous about that, you know. I’m glad you had her. In fact, I’m not jealous about anything you have with her. Not even a little. I guess that’s why I’m going along with this, you know? Why I think this could work. Or, at least why I’m hoping.”

“This is all so weird, and yet not weird at all.”

Border shrugged, then winced.

“Hell, turn around for me, big guy,” Jake ordered. “Let me look at that shoulder. And while you’re at it, you can tell me why you have a f*cking gunshot wound scarring up your skin like this. Because I might have ignored it for your sake when you first took off your shirt, but I’m not about to now. What the f*ck happened, Border?”

Border turned and let Jake have his back, aware there would be no more secrets between them. There couldn’t be. Though he would have to ease Jake into the life he’d lived because the whole thing was just too much for one person all at once.

“I got shot.”

Jake punched him lightly in the side before leaning forward and gently kissing the raised skin. Border sucked in a breath but didn’t move. No one had ever done that before, even in the short relationships he’d had since the wound.

It was fitting that Jake would be the first.

Jake would always be the first.

“Border.”

“I was on an assignment that went bad. The people I was protecting had enemies with bigger guns than I had. I got my people out, but I wasn’t fast enough to not end up a little scarred from it.”

Jake’s fingers traced the scar, and Border had to swallow hard so he could find a way to keep breathing.

“It looks pretty bad, Border.”

Border licked his lips. “It wasn’t as bad as it looks.”

“What did we just say about telling the truth? Because what I see looks like an exit wound. And it’s not pretty.”

“I’ve never been pretty, Jake. You above all others know that.”

Jake punched him lightly in the side again. “I never liked you pretty, you ass. But stop trying to hide what hurt you. I can handle it. You know that. I’m not some little boy who can’t deal with what’s going on around him.” He paused, and Border desperately wanted to turn around so he could try and decipher what Jake was thinking right then. Jake’s face could be so expressive if you looked just right, and it amazed him how much he’d remembered that over time. “I know I’ve been acting like I can’t handle things lately. And that’s on me. I didn’t want to handle them, but it’s not because I can’t. It’s because I knew once I did, things would change. And I guess I was afraid of the shift.”

Border leaned back into Jake’s hand and sighed. “The wound honestly isn’t as bad as it looks.” He passed over what Jake had said at the end because that was more for Jake than for him, and he knew it. Sometimes, a guy just needed to voice his thoughts and know someone would be there to listen, not necessarily there to answer. “The bullet didn’t hit bone, and they patched me up quickly. It only scarred the way it did because I didn’t have time to get to a place with a killed surgeon. The medic made sure I didn’t bleed out and that I would have full use of my arm when it healed, but that was it. We weren’t thinking of what I’d look like on the beach or anything.”

Jake kissed the scar again, and Border let out a breath. Without words, Jake began to massage Border’s neck and shoulders. Jake’s strong hands worked Border’s muscles hard, and he had to hold back the moans and groans that threatened to escape with each movement. It wasn’t lost on him that with each touch, his dick got that much harder. In fact, he was pretty sure he’d have a permanent zipper indent on his cock once this was over, and he was even wearing boxer briefs.

“We’re not talking,” Jake said softly, and Border opened his eyes.