Page 46 of Conquest

As the hostess called his name, the door opened with Jesse bouncing in at Evan’s side. They followed him to their table, and after ordering an appetizer of pizza skins and a deep-dish pizza with extra sausage and pepperoni, Jesse took a quick sip of his soda and excused himself to go to the restroom.

Brandon watched Evan smile at Jesse as he departed. Slowly, Evan brought his gaze to him. He met Evan’s eyes peering out from under the pulled down rim of his Yankees cap, amazed at their radiant beauty. He had been a fan of his since Evan’s first music video nine years ago and now he sat across from him in his favorite restaurant. If that wasn’t enough to blow his mind, Evan being his little brother’s new partner was, and that’s what dampened an otherwise fantastic moment for him.

Evan leaned back in the booth and stretched one arm across the top. “Well, we’re alone now, so get it off your chest.”

Evan’s astute perception came as no surprise to Brandon. One thing he had noticed about him was that those beautiful eyes of his were incredibly sharp, never missing the most subtle nuances around him, but at this moment, there was a coldness to them he found disquieting. Most men he knew would seek his approval and friendship if they wanted to be with Jesse, yet Evan sat with an air of detachment as if he couldn’t care less whether or not he liked him. Brandon glanced behind him to check for Jesse, then looked back to Evan, deciding he needed to make it clear to him that he wasn’t about to back out of Jesse’s life just because Evan had stepped in.

“I’m going to start this off by saying that I don’t have anything against you personally. In fact, from what I’ve seen of you so far you’re pretty cool, but you’ve gotta understand, Jess is my top priority. I’ve been watching out for him since the day he was born. I was there for him when he needed someone to talk to about the things he was feeling toward other guys. I was there for him when he kissed his first boy and freaked out about it later. When our father kicked him out like he did to me, I took him in and took care of him. And I’m the one who made sure no lowlife losers took advantage of him because they thought he was nothing but the hottest piece of ass to walk through the club door that night.

“I know how things work. You meet someone, hook up for a weekend or a few days, then move on. If he’s just a passing fling for you, then don’t lead him to believe you want something more. You have to understand one thing about him, Jess is ruled by his emotions. And from what I’m seeing, he already looks like he’s damn near smitten with you. So I just want to know what you want from him.”

Evan’s lips lifted with an amused smirk. “You mean, since you’ve already made it clear you think I’m a man whore, you want to know that I want more from him than just his ass, is that right?”

Evan’s condescending tone broke Brandon’s patience. He leaned forward on the table, his voice dropping to a growl as he glared into Evan’s eyes. “You may think you’re big shit sitting there with your arrogant little rock star attitude, but to me, you’re just the lucky one who beat out seventy-five percent of the gay populace of Chicago that would give their right nut to get him in bed. And I don’t give a rat’s ass how fat your bank account is, how many Ferraris you own, what your mansion looks like, or what celebrities have sucked you off, none of it proves to me you’re good enough to be with my brother.”

Brandon finished and stared at Evan, waiting for his retaliation.

Evan took a sip of his soda and casually glanced around the restaurant. “If you’re waiting for me to say something like, wow, Brandon, I’ve never been talked to like that before and now I really respect you, and then see me change from being the arrogant little rock star to a warm and compassionate person, then we’ll keep sitting here until one of us kicks it because that’s not going to happen.” He brought his eyes to Brandon’s, all amusement vanished from his expression and voice. “I don’t respect you for having the balls to stand up to me, and I can assure you, I was arrogant long before I ever stepped foot in a recording studio.”

He chuckled, his countenance shifting once again to light and nonchalant. “But I do respect the love you have for Jess and feel in your debt for acting as a barrier between him and so many men, so if there’s anything I can do to pay you back, let me know.”

Before Brandon could retort that Evan’s dancing around every question was really starting to piss him off, Jesse slid into the booth at Evan’s side, sitting so close there was no space between them.

“What’re you guys talking about?”

Evan raked his fingers through the back of Jesse’s hair and toyed with it. “Just how grateful I am to him for being your gallant protector.”

Jesse lightly kicked Brandon under the table. “Even though you made me want to choke you sometimes, considering how things have worked out, I’m pretty grateful, too. Thanks, jerk-ass.”

Brandon let out an indiscernible grunt for a response as he sipped his soda, feeling an even greater unease. Evan’s fortifications against showing his true self seemed impenetrable and he fiercely guarded his emotions. He wondered if Evan’s walls would be too much for even Jesse to breach.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Jesse waved to Brandon from the front porch as his brother coasted toward the gates. When Brandon passed through, Jesse turned inside, shut the one front door, and leaned back against it smiling at Evan, who was closing the gates from the security keypad by the door while watching the small monitor screen so as to open the second gates for Brandon.

“Thanks for letting him come over,” Jesse said.

“I could tell when we finished lunch that he wanted to spend more time with you. And I don’t want you to thank me. While you’re staying with me, I want you to look at my house as your house. If you want Brandon to come visit, then invite him whenever you want.”

“You might regret that. We’re used to hanging out together whenever we can. Even though our schedules would conflict with how I had to work during the day and he had his rehearsals and theatre stuff, on top of his performance nights and my gigs, we always made time for each other, and if we couldn’t get together, we called each other every day just to see what was going on.”

Evan finished at the keypad and faced him. “You guys really are close.”

“He’s always been there for me. When I would get in trouble and our dad would go on one of his rampages, Brandon always stood up to him to get the heat off me. He’s my best friend, even more so than Kenny.” Jesse chuckled. “We might bicker a lot and call each other names, but it’s how we show our love.”

Evan lowered his gaze. It had been years since there’d been anyone in his life he could count as a best friend. The closest was his former guitarist, Jerry Jeffries, or JJ as everyone called him, and when he’d been making albums they were pretty close, but since he quit performing he had only seen JJ twice, called him a handful of times, and sent a few letters. The only person who he considered a true best friend had been his father.

“Ev?”

Evan raised his eyes to Jesse’s questioning face and summoned a smile for him. “The last thing I want is to come between you two. Is he seeing anyone right now?”

Jesse’s countenance deepened from questioning to concerned. “Not anyone serious. Is everything okay? Just now, you looked kinda sad.”

“Sad?” Evan said in a doubtful voice with a forced chuckle. “Well, I am out a brand new Escalade. Wouldn’t that make you sad?”

Jesse averted his gaze, his voice came soft. “But, you’ve gotten that look before, and it makes me feel like there are things you’re thinking or feeling you don’t want to talk about. I guess I can understand since we haven’t known each other that long, and everyone has things they’d rather keep to themselves, but,” he brought his eyes back to Evan’s, “I know I feel safe telling you everything about myself and I want you to feel the same way. I’d never betray anything you confided in me. I swear it on my life and music.”

Evan opened his mouth to speak, then closed it without a word. He dropped his gaze from Jesse’s, blinking rapidly a few times, and shifted his stance backward, then forward again, looking as though he wanted to flee but not knowing how.