by Anna Martin
After that, Jared stopped thinking. He didn’t consciously turn off his brain, that seemed to happen on its own as Adam squirmed and writhed and rocked their bodies together, teasing and tormenting as they learned each other.
Jared buried his fingers in Adam’s short hair, anchoring them together and kissing him like the world was about to end. With a trembling burst of tension, Adam came, his lips pressed hard against Jared’s. As the warm heat spread across his belly, it was all Jared could do to hold on, to kiss back and to make it good for his partner, to share in this short, glorious moment of blessed release.
As Adam gave one last, heaving shudder and stilled, dropping his head to press wet lips to Jared’s neck, Jared let go. He kissed Adam’s shoulder and dug the fingers of one hand into Adam’s ass, squeezing tight as his cock used the slick come sliding between them as a warm lube, just enough slick to make it mind-shatteringly good.
Then he sighed, wrapped both arms around Adam’s waist, and clung for a while.
“I believe,” Adam murmured as Jared started to fall asleep under the dead weight of his partner, “we are currently becoming glued together.”
Jared snorted and buried his nose in the sweet skin between Adam’s neck and shoulder.
“I’m a bit scared to move, to be honest.”
“There’s a real danger of my pubes being ripped out,” Adam agreed.
Then they were giggling, then they were kissing, and Jared thought it might all be okay after all.
Chapter 18
There were two days left after New Year before they had to be back at school. With Hadley off somewhere, and Adam’s mom back in Paris, they holed up in Adam’s bedroom suite and hid from the world.
Messages pinged through to their phones fairly regularly, and Jared turned his off halfway through the first of January, not wanting to see or talk to anyone else.
The Hemlock house was a sanctuary, a place he’d always felt welcome and at home, despite everything that had happened there. Adam’s bed, the scene of pretty much all their highs and the lowest of lows, became somewhere sacred again. It was theirs, and that was all that mattered.
“I have homework to do,” Jared lamented as the afternoon sun started to sink behind the tops of the trees. It was only four in the afternoon. They’d been out of bed, down to the kitchen to make breakfast-for-lunch, then back up to sprawl on Adam’s bed. Wearing nothing but loose pajama pants, Adam’s head was on Jared’s stomach, the perfect angle for Jared to gently run his fingers through the getting-too-long hair.
“Me too. I didn’t want to waste time when my mom was home doing assignments.”
“All of my stuff is at my house. We’re going to have to go out.”
“No,” Adam whined, burying his face in Jared’s flat stomach. “You can’t make me.”
“All right, I have to go out,” Jared corrected. “You can stay here if you like. But you won’t get to go to that frozen yogurt place you love on the way back….”
Adam sniffed, pretending to be annoyed. “You could always bring an ice cream back for me.”
“You’re so spoiled,” Jared said, laughing as he bent to dig his fingers in Adam’s ribs.
Squealing in indignation, Adam squirmed away from the tickling fingers and tried—and failed—to kick Jared in the shins. With a firm slap to Adam’s ass, Jared heaved himself off the bed and started to hunt for his jeans. His clothes had been tossed all over the place, and it took a moment to locate them.
Not wanting to put on day-old underwear, Jared stole a pair from Adam’s drawer, where Calvin Klein boxer briefs in black, white, or gray were lined up neatly. No other underwear dared to creep in. Shaking his head a little in disbelief, Jared grabbed a gray pair and pulled them on, then swiped a pair of socks.
“Are you going to steal all my clothes?” Adam asked in a low voice, his breath a hot wash over Jared’s shoulder.
“Not all of them,” Jared said. He suppressed a shudder.
He ignored the hands that were dancing over his sides, whisper-light and teasing, begging him to go back to bed and play for a few more hours. Adam’s closet was ridiculous, but thankfully, someone had organized sweaters on the left-hand side as he walked in, and he snagged the first one he saw.
“Jared,” Adam whined. “Don’t leave me.”
“Get dressed and”—Jared pulled the sweater over his head and grinned when his head popped out—“you can come with me.”
Adam pouted.
Jared kissed the thrust bottom lip. “I won’t be long.”
“Okay, okay. I’m coming,” Adam grouched. He flounced into the closet, and Jared sat on the edge of his bed to pull socks on, silently amused at getting Adam to back down, maybe for the first time in his life.
They took Adam’s car for the short journey to collect the few pieces of homework and some clean clothes. While Jared shoveled things into a duffel bag, Adam sat in the middle of his bed and bounced up and down using the power in his ass and thighs. Jared wondered if it was uncomfortable for him to do that, but apparently not, because he seemed to be enjoying himself.
When everything he needed for the next couple of days was packed, Jared pounced onto the bed and pinned Adam neatly to it. Adam immediately went pliant, lifted his hips, and angled his face for a kiss.
They settled on the pillows nose-to-nose. It was unusual, being in this bed rather than the one they were used to. After a few moments, Jared flipped to the other side of the bed and settled down again.
“Wrong way round,” he said in muttered explanation.
Adam grinned. “It was weird for me too. I just didn’t want to be the first to crack.”
“You said crack.”
He got a shove on the arm for that.
“Tell me what you’re thinking,” Adam said, brushing his fingers over Jared’s cheek.
“I don’t trust you yet,” Jared said cautiously. “I know that’s probably a horrible thing to say, but you should probably know….”
“I don’t blame you. I haven’t exactly given you a hundred reasons to think I’m the most trustworthy man on the planet. I’m not.”
“You’re not mad?”
Adam sighed and wriggled on the bed. “My mom always told me it was smart not to trust people. We live in a society which sort of demands we fall in love with someone, and they automatically have this key to your heart and soul, and that’s how it’s supposed to be. But that’s bullshit, you know? If you love someone, it’s probably healthier to not trust them for a while. I fucked up, Jared. I fucked up and almost lost everything, so if I have to earn your trust, that’s okay. I’ll prove it to you. Give me time.”
The arrogance now was charming, and Jared squeezed Adam’s hand gently. “Time is good. I’ve got that.”
“Well, yeah. For now. Where did you apply to college again?”
The sudden change of topic made Jared falter for a moment, then he reeled off the list of his top choices. Adam nodded, then looked out the window over Jared’s shoulder in silent contemplation. Jared decided not to push. If Adam was thinking about college, which was still nine months away, then he was serious about the two of them together. And that in itself was unnerving. Too soon. It was too soon to think about that yet.
On Monday morning Jared woke to the sound of his phone vibrating with a message. He’d fallen asleep with it still in his hand, and at some point during the night it had become lodged under his pillow.
Sleeping apart from Adam was still a little weird, and he couldn’t deny he missed the warm, lithe body wrapping around his to nudge him into wakefulness. Jared fumbled for the phone and unlocked it to discover his alarm was due to go off in only two minutes.
He rubbed his tired eyes and opened the message. It was from Adam.
Will pick you up. Be ready.
Then, as an afterthought, a second message buzzed through.
xoxo
Jared grinned and sent a quick “okay” back, then rolled over to sprawl on the bed, starfished in the middle. Tod
ay was going to be interesting, to say the least.
He considered snoozing for a while but the brightness of his phone had woken him, and he scratched his belly lazily for a few minutes, wondering what the reaction to their public coming out would be. In the past few days, he’d had a few text messages come through from Mia, Chris, and, to his discomfort, Dylan, but he hadn’t replied to any of them yet. Dylan, he’d have to reply to. They needed to set up his study schedule for the New Year.
No one outside the two of them and the girl on the counter at FroYo Express knew about their fledgling little relationship, and they weren’t going to hide it. That felt right, somehow. It wasn’t something shameful or scandalous; they were just two guys giving this thing a try.
With supreme effort, Jared dragged himself out of bed and across the hall to the bathroom. His morning routine was familiar, and he worked through it quickly, washing, shaving, and dressing without thinking too much about anything. Mornings had never been his thing.
By the time he made it downstairs with his messenger bag, he heard a car pulling up outside. Adam was early.
“I’m just going to make breakfast,” Jared said, answering his phone on the first ring. “Do you want anything?”
“I ate already,” Adam said. He sounded tense.
“Piece of toast? I’ll put peanut butter on it for you….”
“Bitch, please,” Adam muttered and hung up. Jared laughed as he quickly shoved three slices of bread into the toaster and checked over the contents of his bag to make sure he had everything for the day.
He ignored the “hurry up” message from Adam and slathered peanut butter over all three pieces of bread and shoved one in his mouth, shouldered his bag, and lightly jogged to the door.
Adam looked pissed off. A few months ago, it would have worried Jared to see him with the perma-scowl on his face. Now he was fairly sure it was nothing to do with him and certainly nothing personal. From his small fleet of cars, Adam had picked the sleek black Audi to drive this morning, and despite Jared’s desire to psychoanalyze his boyfriend’s choice of vehicle, he couldn’t be bothered. It was too early.
He slid into the car and shoved the satchel between his knees, passed Adam one of the pieces of toast and leaned over to press a quick, sticky kiss to his cheek.
“Thanks,” Adam said drily.
“You’re welcome, darling.”
Jared munched in contented silence as they made the short journey to school, the familiar sights of the island whizzing past them. Adam ate while he drove, then reached over and put his hand on Jared’s knee. That was the only way Jared knew he’d been bouncing it, full of nervous energy. He wiped his hands on his pants and laced their fingers together.
Adam didn’t say anything at all, seemingly concentrating on pulling into the huge school gates and into his unofficial parking space.
“You ready for this?” Jared asked, reaching for his bag.
Adam quirked an eyebrow. “We’ll soon find out.”
They got out of the car smoothly, and Jared leaned against the hood as Adam walked around. Plenty of kids were milling around waiting for the bell, and pretty much every one of them looked over at the two men who had shared a ride.
“I need to go to the office to check about my college application,” Adam said quietly, words only Jared could hear.
“Okay. I’ll see you in a bit.”
Adam nodded tensely and took half a step away. Jared stopped him by leaning in and pressing a quick, chaste kiss to his lips.
There.
Done.
The hard mask on Adam’s face melted into a warm smile, and he licked his top lip almost unconsciously when Jared pulled away. He nodded, then his eyes hardened again, and he strode off in the direction of the office.
Jared pocketed his phone and headed for the main steps of the school, aware that if people hadn’t been watching before, they certainly were now.
A general air of expectation followed Jared around most of the morning. Younger students watched him in the hallways, as if expecting him to drop his immaculately pressed trousers and bend over right outside the French lab and be thoroughly fucked by his boyfriend. The fact that his boyfriend wasn’t anywhere in the vicinity didn’t seem to matter all that much.
Jared took a leaf out of Adam’s book and held his head high, ignoring everyone else as if they were beneath him. Since he didn’t actually believe that, Jared thought he probably didn’t carry it off with the same pizazz Adam did, but it was worth the effort. Kids moved out of his way, probably sensing he wasn’t about to step around them.
All their morning classes were apart anyway, and it was only when they got to the period before lunch—gym—that they were reunited.
For some reason Ms. Allison had let them out of French a few minutes before the bell, so Jared arrived to an empty locker room and had the chance to change quickly and be out on the field for soccer practice before anyone else wandered in. That was good. He used the extra time to run a few laps on the field, warming up since it was fucking freezing outside.
“This is not a winter sport,” Lewis yelled at Coach as the rest of the class piled out of the locker room.
“Looks like Rawell disagrees with you,” Coach said smugly.
Jared crossed the soccer pitch and came to a stop with his hands on his hips, breathing slightly heavier than usual.
“Don’t use me as an example,” he said, any emotion stolen from his voice due to breathlessness.
“In Europe they play when there’s snow on the ground,” Coach said. “Warm up. Go!”
The fact that Jared was already warm didn’t seem to mean anything. They ran drills for a half hour or so, then split off into a match, Jared in goal, as usual. It was too late now for him to convince the school to get their shit together and put a school team out, but he was considering which colleges had an intramural soccer team he might be able to join in the fall.
College applications were firmly on his mind as he rocked from foot to foot on the frozen solid ground, waiting for the ball to come back down this end of the pitch and attempting to stay warm while he did. Dylan had helped him put it all together, and his grades were strong now and predicted to continue rising. Ivy League was a possibility, although a slim one. Jared hadn’t given up hope yet and was praying that having New Harbor Academy next to his name would be enough to swing any decisions his way.
A freezing, drizzling rain had started to fall by the time Coach blew his whistle again and sent them to the showers. The fact that he’d been put on the same team as Adam, and Adam’s skills as a forward were coming along rather well, meant Jared hadn’t done much through the forty-minute game, and he was cold. More than cold. Fucking freezing.
“Shit,” he murmured, pulling the goalkeeper’s gloves off and pinching at his almost blue fingertips.
Steam was already pouring out of the showers, and he stripped the rest of his clothes quickly, grabbed his towel, and ducked under one of the shower heads that gave off a decent spray.
Jared hissed at first, the boiling hot water like a million pins into his cold cold cold skin, and he grit his teeth hard, waiting for his muscles to warm through and start to relax. There was mud on his knees and up his arms, and he watched the first flakes swirl down the drain before scrubbing at the dirt.
“So, Rawell,” someone shouted over the noise of thirty-something pounding showers. Jared groaned internally. This probably wasn’t going to end well.
Jared looked up and pushed wet hair out of his face.
“Who takes it up the ass, you or Hemlock?”
A burst of appreciative snickers followed, and Jared rolled his eyes. He’d barely spoken to Adam since they got to school, apart from a few shouted directions on the soccer pitch. They were keeping a distance from each other in the showers and locker room by mutual, silent agreement, not wanting to invite this very kind of confrontation.
Across the tiled shower room, Jared saw the muscles in Adam’s back tense.
The appreciative snickers turned to laughter, and Jared turned around, determined to end this now before it got even bitchier. He finished washing himself off quickly and ducked out of the spray, wrapping the towel around his waist and heading for the locker room before anyone could interrupt.
They didn’t. Jared wasn’t sure what it was—his put-down of Lewis Fisher’s stupid comment, the aura of regality Adam wore like a crown, or if they were actually starting to respect Jared in his own right, but no one said anything to him as he dried off and dressed in his uniform, the air thick with the smell of adolescent aerosols.
By some coincidence, Jared found himself at the door at the same time Adam shouldered his bag and sauntered across. Because he could, and because they were heading in the same direction anyway, Jared threw his arm around Adam’s shoulders and kissed the damp hair on the side of his head.
“You okay?” Adam murmured, reaching up to lightly grasp the hand on his shoulder.
“Yeah. I’m good.”
If Adam cleared the hall on his own, and kids moved out of Jared’s way, the pair of them together drew looks and gasps and full-on staring as if they were the fucking king and queen of England. Adam’s the queen, Jared decided, and smirked to himself as they walked into the cafeteria.
“You want anything?” Jared offered as he pulled his arm back and took a few steps toward the lunch line.
“Um… get me some fries?”
Jared took that the “please” in that sentence was silent and nodded before moving off to join the line. Unlike some people he didn’t cut in, content to wait for his double serving of fries. He picked up two sodas and his habitual apple, and held the bright blue tray high above the other kids as he weaved between tables and stuck-out legs.
“I sincerely hope you’re not expecting me to share those,” Adam said as Jared dumped the tray in front of him.
