Riding With Brighton(39)
“That’s the thanks I get for getting you off?”
“I was really looking forward to thanking you for getting me off before your friends showed up. Fuck,” he says, looking down. “At least it’s your shirt that got ruined and not mine.”
“I liked that one too. Especially when it was on you. Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.” I pull him up and lead him down the hall.
“You mind if I take a quick shower?” he asks when we’re in the bathroom, and I’m a little surprised by how comfortable he is here with me. How comfortable he seems to be with all of this.
“Go for it.”
“Thanks.” He strips off the dirty shirt, and I can’t help but run my eyes over his naked torso. The kid really is built to perfection. My body is toned, but in order to get a body that tight and defined, you gotta work on it. I’m staring at the gorgeous V the lines of his pelvis make before dropping off into his jeans. I’m thinking I really want to bite it, when Jay clears his throat.
I give him an innocent smirk. “Towels are in the cabinet. I’ll leave you a shirt on the counter.”
“Thanks,” he says, unbuttoning his jeans.
I turn around before I get sucked back into the visual of him and leave the bathroom, closing the door behind me.
When I head into my room, Shaw and Molly are lying on my bed. He’s got an arm wrapped around her, and she’s resting on his chest. I love the two of them, but their perfect relationship always made me a little bit envious. When I told Jay that I had seen all stages of true love, I was thinking of them. I watched them fall in love and, really, it was a beautiful thing. They’re the kind of couple I want to be part of. They respect each other and they’re passionate about each other. They’re best friends and together, they’re better than they are apart. They, along with Nico, who’s sifting through my music, all stare at me expectantly.
I can’t keep the goofy smile off my face.
“I told you,” Nico says, turning to Molly and Shaw. “He’s totally into him.”
Molly sits up. “But it’s Jay Hall. I mean, let’s just forget about the fact that he’s straight for a second and think about it. What the hell could you possibly see in Jay Hall?”
I shrug and go to my drawers, pulling out a shirt for Jay. “He’s not who you think he is.”
“Oh, bullshit,” Molly starts in, but I don’t hear her rant as I leave the bedroom to deliver Jay his shirt.
Very purposefully, I keep my eyes away from the shower and set the shirt on the counter and then leave.
When I walk back in my room, Shaw’s telling Molly, “He’s always seemed cool to me and how can you judge him? It’s not like you’ve ever talked to him.”
“He’s the most popular kid at our school and the only way to get there is to climb… while stomping on everyone else as you go.”
“Or by being good-looking, athletic, and nice,” Shaw tells her calmly.
I join Nico and start pulling out any of my new music that I think he’ll like. He absently chuckles at the conversation taking place behind us.
“He dated Collette Kennedy. You have to be a total idiot to date that bitch. I mean, come on. You know how this is gonna go down, right, Brighton? It’s going to be Matt Connors all over again.”
Matt’s one of the closeted assholes who used my services for a day before turning all barbaric on me. I only told them about him because he moved a few months later. I’m not an asshole. The other three guys who have come to me don’t need to get so paranoid and defensive—it’s not my job to out anyone.
“Did he seem like he was trying to deny what was going on with Brighton when we basically caught them postsex?”
“We didn’t have sex,” I interject.
“Fine,” Shaw says. “Heavy petting or whatever was going on.”
“Heavy petting? What is this, 1950s sex ed?” Nico laughs.
“The point is… it was pretty clear that he wasn’t embarrassed about being with Brighton.”
I hear the shower turn off, and I don’t want Jay walking into this discussion. So I turn around and tell Molly, “Can you please give the kid a break? He’s had an extremely long day, he’s got a lot of shit going on, and I’m serious—he’s not who you think he is.”
“Is he even gay?” she mutters.
“Yes, he’s gay. And he’s not ashamed. But this is literally his first day coming out, so don’t be a bitch to him.”
She sighs. “Do you like him?”
“Yeah, I do. A lot. So if you can’t be nice to him, then you gotta go.”
“Fine,” she mutters. “I’ll give him a chance. For you.”
“Thank you,” I tell her with a smartass grin.
Chapter Nine
Jay
I ONLY had a minor freak-out when I was in the shower. It was quickly replaced by the memory of Brighton jerking me off. I’ve never seen anything like that. When I’m making out with girls, I have to close my eyes and come up with visualizations to get me off so I’m obviously not staring at their hand. I’ve imagined Brighton’s hands on me plenty of times, but I just saw it. That shit really just happened. And trust me when I say that there is a world of difference when you have your own equipment to practice on when it comes to giving hand jobs.