Page 422 of Seasons of Love
“Make sure you rest. But yeah, the thought of you two here making out is going to keep me hard all day.”
Griff gave me a victorious smile and turned to kiss Jake. Then they settled back on the sofa with Griff leaning against Jake in the same way he’d leaned on me earlier.
Maybe not so unsurprisingly, the only jealousy I felt was that I couldn’t spend the day with them.
I gave them each one last kiss and left.
Tomorrow morning. That was as long as we’d need to wait to make sure Griff was fully recovered from his concussion.
We could wait that long, couldn't we?
13
JAKE
“Dad, call the police. We have a stranger in the house,” Gabe shouted from my bedroom door. Uncle Frank had gone for a walk with Jessie, so I knew there was no one else in the house.
It had been a week since the earthquake and Griff’s injury. Six days since Mal, Griff, and I acknowledged our attraction for each other and decided to explore it.
Not that anything had happened, which was both frustrating and a relief.
Despite Griff’s rapid recovery, things at the resort had become too busy, and as soon as he could be home on his own, both Mal and I increased the number of hours we spent at work. Especially since Trey had returned to Colorado a few days before.
Okay, so there had been a few intense make-out sessions every night, but even without talking about it, we’d all silently agreed we didn’t want our first time together to be rushed.
I’d also slept at their place every night, which was likely the reason for my cousin’s little theatrics.
I closed the chest drawer, turned around, and leaned on it.
“Oh, it’s my big bro!” he exclaimed with ridiculous exaggeration. “I’d almost forgotten what you looked like.”
“And somehow, you didn’t forget where my room is or where I keep my shirts.” I pointed at the gray shirt he had on. One I’d picked up from a store next to the college campus last year.
He shrugged and walked inside the room, throwing himself on my bed and sitting cross-legged.
“So, are you going to tell me what’s going on with you? Or do I have to guess? And you know that I have a very colorful imagination…” He let his words hang.
“Nothing’s going on. It’s been very busy at the resort.”
“I know. Dad’s been glued to his computer, trying to figure out a way to keep the resort open while we repair the west-side building.”
Gabe played with the hem of his jeans, where they were a little worn and fraying, his face changing from playful to serious.
“What’s the matter?” I asked, sitting on the edge of the bed next to him.
He looked at me, but there was none of his usual demeanor. As much as it frustrated me to see Gabe sail through life as if he had no worries or responsibilities, sometimes I wondered if it was just for show.
Gabe had never had any problems opening up to me, but even I couldn’t deny that between finishing my masters, working at the resort, and keeping my mind occupied with Griff and Mal, I may have neglected our relationship a little.
“I think I want to move back home,” he said.
“It’s a hell of a commute to Berkeley,” I said, joking, but stopped when I saw Gabe’s pained look. “Hey, you know you can talk to me, right?”
He took a deep breath and leaned back on the headboard of my bed.
“I spoke to my advisor, and he said I can do most of my classes remotely. I don’t want to quit,” he blurted. “I just don’t want to go back there.”
“Did something happen? You loved it out there. All the parties, the guys…the girls. What changed?”
