Page 22 of Bonus Game
Allen shifted slightly, his cheeks continuing to burn as they gazed quietly at each other. He knew he would have to talk first if he wanted Jake to answer questions, but he wasn’t used to being so direct with someone all the time.
But eventually, curiosity won out.
“Have you…” Allen hesitated, tracing an absent line along Jake’s collarbone. “Have you ever kissed guys before?”
Jake let out a small breath that might’ve been a laugh, his thumb brushing lazy circles over Allen’s arm. “Yeah,” he said. “A few times.”
Allen made sure to keep his expression unreadable, but the urge to scowl was immense. He had no right to feel jealous, and he wasn’t sure if he did—it just…bothered him.
“So, this part isn’t new to you,” Allen said, clarifying.
Jake’s soft smile wasslowlyturning into a playful smirk. “Not new, exactly. But it doesn’t usually feel like this.”
Allen’s brow furrowed. “Like what?”
Jake’s hand left Allen’s arm to rest over his own heart. “Painful,” he said, curling the hand into a fist. “Not the bad kind. It’s like the swooping feeling I get when I jump.”
Something inside Allen stuttered. He swallowed hard, unsure how to respond to that without giving too much away. Instead, he rested his hand over Jake’s heart, feeling the steady rhythm beneath his palm.
“You’re sweet,” he whispered.
Jake’s arm tightened around him. “And you’re everything.”
At this point, Allen’s heart was beating so fast he was about to have a brain bleed. Jake had to be a wizard or something because he was casting a spell on him with his simple but confident words.
It was impossible for Jake to feel this strongly for him. They had only been in the same vicinity together three times. Love didn’t happen that quickly—it wasn’t realistic.
But the way Jake was looking at him, the way he kept brushing his fingers through Allen’s hair and gazing longingly at him, made him think maybe he was wrong. Maybe lovecouldhappen that fast, but Allen was just too jaded to comprehend it.
“Do you want me to leave?” Jake asked, his longing look twisting guiltily.
“No,” said Allen. “You’re tired, and I have the day off. Go back to sleep, and I’ll make us breakfast when we get up.”
Jake squirmed and turned his head away, looking even more guilty than before. “I don’t want to ruin your day off. Having me here makes you uncomfortable.”
“Did I say that?”
More squirming.
“No.”
Allen tucked his head under Jake’s chin and squeezed his eyes shut. He was awkward when it came to cuddling because he wasn’t practiced at it, but if he pictured Jake as a tree and clung to him, that would work, right?
If Jake noticed anything, he didn’t comment on it. Allen’s acceptance had shifted the subtle tension in the room, and he quickly embraced him like he was scared Allen would change his mind.
In hindsight, not having sex with Jake wasn’t the worst outcome. Allen couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept so well—and when he woke two hours later, he felt like a completely new person.
His skills in the kitchen were nothing short of disastrous on a good day, but he managed to put eggs and toast together for them, and Jake ate two helpings with the kind of wide-eyed enthusiasm that could power a city.
“Riles wants to hit the ice in an hour,” Jake said as he sat beside Allen on the couch. He had just finished his meticulous clean-up of the kitchen against Allen’s request, scrubbing dishes, counters, and even sweeping the goddamn floor.
Allen looked up from his book and dragged his gaze over the vision of the man sitting across from him, who was lifting his feet onto his lap to rub them. God, he was massive. He was going to need a bigger bed, couch, table, chairs,apartment?—
“I don’t think I can fit you,” said Allen.
The hands rubbing his feet went still, and Jake slowly locked eyes with him, his cheeks stained a bright red. “Fit?”
Replaying the words in his head, Allen gasped when he realized how sexual it sounded. “In my apartment, not my ass!”
