by Anna Martin
“Oh, get over yourself,” Jared said and snatched a fry from the top of the mountainous pile.
Adam sniffed and took the Dr Pepper, not waiting for Jared to offer him the choice between the two cans. Under the table, where no one could see, Jared bumped their knees together. Adam said nothing, didn’t react at all other than the gentle bump back. They were in this together.
“God, you two are disgusting,” Clare said, sliding into her seat next to Chris with a large protein shake travel mug full of a suspicious green liquid. The mug had a straw attached, and Clare flipped it up and took a delicate sip of the concoction.
“I think they’re adorable,” Ryder said from across the table. “What are you drinking?”
“Kale and cucumber juice,” Clare said, not missing a beat. “I want to lose three pounds.”
“Now, that’s disgusting,” Adam told her. He dunked two fries into ketchup and ate them with relish.
“So, are you two, like, a couple now?” Ryder asked.
Jared looked at Adam and shrugged. “Sure. If you like.”
“What about Dylan?”
Clare’s voice was far, far too innocent for Jared’s liking. He plastered a serene, slightly confused expression on his face, and looked to Ryder like she might know what Clare was talking about.
“What, Dylan my tutor? What does he have to do with anything?”
Jared added a little laugh to the end of the sentence and knew instinctively this was a conversation he’d have to have with Adam at some point. Full disclosure. No more secrets.
“Oh,” Clare said with a little shrug. “I thought you two were all cozy close, that’s all.”
“Sure. We’re friends. Adam’s my boyfriend. Sort of how like you’re friends with Chris, right?”
There was a silence, broken by a snort of laughter, then Adam hit Jared on the arm and asked him something about chipping a soccer ball to get some power behind it.
That night, Adam ordered dinner from a Thai restaurant across the bridge, and they sat in his living room, eating on the floor with the food spread on the coffee table in front of them. Jared had a moment of seeing what their lives could be like in this relationship, what possibilities were laid out ahead.
At school, or outside this little suite of rooms, their relationship was visible but understated. No one apart from the two of them needed to know what things were like when they were alone. It was evenings like these when Adam let his guard down and laughed. Jared didn’t see him smile like that except when it was just the two of them, and it filled his stomach with something other than chili heat.
After dinner they crashed on the sofa, snuggled together watching something mindless on TV, then decidedly not watching it.
“Okay, however much I’d like to stay here and make out with you all night, I’ve got a study session with Dylan.”
Adam pouted and tugged on Jared’s wrist when he rolled to his feet. “Stay here. I’ll tutor you.”
“You need to study yourself,” Jared told him.
“Don’t turn into my mother, for God’s sake.”
Jared smiled, leaned in, and kissed Adam’s nose. “I’ll see you in the morning. You can even pick me up, if you like.”
“Jared.”
“Hmm?”
Sitting up suddenly, Adam twisted around and braced his feet on the floor.
“I don’t know if I like you seeing Dylan.”
Jared laughed. “Why? He’s been tutoring me for months.”
“I know. I just….”
“And he’s your friend.”
“Ryder said she thought you two were dating,” Adam said in a rush, then looked guilty about it.
With a big exhalation, Jared sat down on the coffee table. “Did she,” he said grimly.
“Yeah. Look, I don’t want to be a jealous boyfriend because I know we’re good. But… was there something between you?”
Jared thought about the night with the curry and the kiss, the sweetness and possibility that neither of them had spoken about since. Their tutoring arrangement and friendship had survived that one night when things had looked like they were on the brink of change. Whether Jared’s relationship would, was another question.
“We went on one date,” Jared said, unable to lie. The foundation of this relationship was too rocky for him to add lie onto lies. “It was great, we didn’t have sex, and he’s still helping me with my classes.”
“I don’t want you to see him anymore,” Adam said stubbornly. Jared reached forward and took Adam’s hands in his, bringing them to his lips for a soft, careful kiss.
“Dylan is one of the few friends I have outside of school. No, he’s the only friend I have outside of school. I’m not going to give him up, baby. And he’s your friend too.”
Adam sniffed.
Heart aching, Jared leaned in and kissed him, taking the plump bottom lip between both of his and cupping Adam’s cheek in his hand. This was a kiss of solid reassurance, a silent, physical “I love you.”
“I’m going to go to my study session now,” Jared said when they broke apart. “I’m going to call you before I go to bed, and you’re going to come pick me up in the morning and give me a ride to school. I really need you to trust me.”
For a moment, Adam squirmed, then all the air left him in a whoosh, and he nodded.
“Yeah. Okay.”
“Thank you.”
As he drove to Seattle, Jared wondered if “thank you” was a weird thing to say. Strange things were happening between them now; the intense emotions were starting to mellow and mature, leaving the passion intact and something a little more worldly holding it all together.
Chapter 19
As promised, when he got back from his study session with Dylan, he called Adam. If nothing else it was to prove he could be trusted.
“Did you know Dylan had a boyfriend?”
Adam laughed. They had connected via Skype so they could see each other. Adam was already in bed. Jared would recognize those sheets anywhere.
“Why, Mr. Rawell. You’re turning into a gossip hag.”
“His name is Eli, and he’s part of the LGBTQ society on campus. Did you know Dylan was gay?”
“Only because Ryder told everyone. I think she was trying to set me up with him at one point.”
“Straight people logic?”
What Jared meant was the assumption two gay people would be instantly compatible on the basis of their sexuality alone. Adam’s responsive grin told him he was right.
“Yeah. Exactly.”
“Adam?”
“Yeah?
“I’m really glad you didn’t decide to date Dylan.”
“Jared?”
“Yeah?” he answered with a laugh.
“I’m glad you didn’t date Dylan too.”
Being apart like this, even for one night, seemed weird now they were used to spending so much time with each other. It wasn’t that Jared couldn’t sleep alone; he didn’t want to.
“Hang on,” Adam said. “I just got a message.”
He was using his iPad rather than his phone for this conversation, leaving the latter free for text conversations. When his face reappeared, Jared couldn’t quite read his expression. It was happy, sort of, and… excited?
“What?” Jared asked, then smiled unconsciously as a slow, broad smile spread across Adam’s face. “What’s going on?”
Adam turned back, full of childlike enthusiasm. “My mom’s coming home.”
Since Adam already knew Hadley, or knew her in the way everyone in this town seemed to know each other, they hadn’t yet dealt with the meeting-the-parent/guardian situation. Jared was fine with that. They both lived pretty independently anyway, so it wasn’t like he felt he needed Adam’s mom’s approval.
She had been home for a short visit over Thanksgiving, Jared knew that much, but it was a long trip from Paris, and she didn’t make it often. They were too close to finals for Adam to be able to go to France, too.
&n
bsp; Apparently Ms. Hemlock had sent her son a text just before leaving Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, letting Adam know she’d get a taxi to the house. It would be late at night when she got home, and Jared assumed there would be some emotional reunion.
“I’ll go home,” he said, wriggling out from under Adam’s legs.
“Don’t.” Adam’s hand shot out and wrapped around his wrist. “Please stay.”
“You’re going to want to spend time with your mom,” he said gently. “Neither of you are going to want me in the way.”
“I want her to meet you,” Adam said stubbornly. His face softened, and he leaned in to kiss Jared carefully on the lips. “I talk to her about you all the time. She really wants to get to know you.”
“You told her about me?”
“Of course.”
“Oh.”
“Come on,” Adam said, turning the TV off and pulling Jared to his feet. “She’ll be here for a week at least, so if you want to have noisy sex, tonight’s the last night we can do it.”
Jared laughed and blushed. “Oh, god.”
“Remember that phrase,” Adam said with a cocky grin. “I’ll have you screaming it later.”
Since they’d become an “official” couple, sex had definitely become a regular activity. It seemed like more of an extension of what they’d been doing before—making out every night once they crawled into bed, touching each other shamelessly, and finding their pleasure in each other’s touch.
Fucking each other took time and infinite care and a patience they didn’t have most nights. Pain was a constant threat when they went all the way, no matter who was on top. So sloppy blowjobs, grinding on each other, and mutual hand-jobs were actually preferred to penetrative sex. On his own, Jared was still experimenting with his fingers, the image of the boy he’d found online almost burned into his retinas. He wanted that. Adam was helping.
That night, Jared lay back on a pile of pillows with his arms above his head and let Adam do pretty much whatever he wanted to Jared’s lower half. It was slick and hot and wet and twisting; fingers and tongues, and slow, easy kisses in between.
Adam pressed one finger, then two into Jared’s ass, slick lube making the pressure good in all the right ways. He petted and stroked and teased the raised nub of Jared’s prostate, drawing out the pleasure until Jared was a keening, begging, sobbing mess. Then he sucked just the head of Jared’s cock into his mouth and flicked his tongue over the most sensitive spot, and Jared twisted the sheets in his hands and howled as he came.
That night they clung to each other in sleep, holding their relationship together with strong arms and insistently gripping fingers.
Juliette Hemlock was pure class.
She greeted Jared by clasping his hands in both of hers and kissing his cheeks, once on each side. Despite a transatlantic flight and very few hours’ sleep, she was calm and beautiful and fresh-faced, wearing grey cotton slacks and a tailored, peach-colored blouse.
“Mom,” Adam said, and launched himself into his mother’s arms.
“Oh, sweet boy,” she murmured. Jared stepped back, feeling this moment was too intimate to intrude on.
Adam had woken much earlier than usual and tumbled out of bed, waking Jared as he went to the bathroom. While he was gone, Jared forced himself into wakefulness, checking the clock and groaning a little when he saw it wasn’t yet eight in the morning. Still, he dragged himself out of bed and pulled on long pajama pants (his own; he’d broken the habit of wearing Adam’s too-short ones) and a long sleeved T-shirt. The last thing he wanted was to meet his boyfriend’s mom with an air of “we had sex last night” hanging around him.
“You can smell the coffee too?” Adam asked, appearing from the bathroom rumple-headed. “She brought it back with her. I’d recognize that French roast anywhere.”
Jared grinned and passed him to use the bathroom, splashing cold water on his face to wake himself up. He was nervous, for sure, especially when he was meeting Adam’s mom so early in the morning. Even though she knew about their relationship, there was a difference between knowing and having it thrown in her face.
He needn’t have worried.
After kissing her son’s hair and squeezing him tightly for a few moments, Juliette let him go and returned to where she was fixing breakfast.
“Please, have a seat,” she said to Jared. “Make yourself at home. I’m so happy to meet you at last. Adam’s been telling me all about you now for months.”
“Mom,” Adam said with a pained expression.
Jared grinned and took a seat at the island, watching Juliette preparing fruit at the same counter Chris had made them pancakes after the party. That seemed like forever ago now. When they were both settled, Adam leaned in and kissed Jared’s shoulder. It was like he was saying “we don’t have to hide here.” That was nice.
“How was the flight?” Jared asked.
“Oh, I’m used to it now,” she said airily. “Flying is awful, really, but I splurge and get a flight that has those lovely pod beds so I can sleep the hours away. It’s the time difference that really gets me. I’ll be terribly jet-lagged for a few days. Darling, could you fix some coffee for us please?”
She directed the question to Adam, who slid to the floor and selected huge mugs for the coffee, making his mother’s first, then his and Jared’s.
When Juliette was done, she served big plates of waffles and fresh fruit: strawberries and blueberries and melon, all neatly prepared and arranged on the plate. She sat opposite them at the island and, like this, Jared could see how closely Adam resembled his mother.
They both had the same light brown hair and fair complexion, and though Adam’s eyes were smoky gray, his mother’s were soft green. Their bone structure was the same: high cheekbones and a full bottom lip that seemed prone to pouting more than smiling.
Juliette smiled a lot more than her son and waved her fine silverware around demonstratively as she ate, laughing when Adam related gossip from New Harbor that Jared neither listened to nor understood.
“Is that charming Frenchman still taking you out?” Adam asked when he was done with his breakfast, pushing the plate away. “Guillem?”
Juliette blushed a little and tried to wave his question away. “Oh, forget him.”
“You clearly haven’t. He was nice, Mom.”
“He still is,” she said, relenting. “He’s very charming and wants me to move to Paris permanently.”
“What did you tell him?”
“I told him,” she said, then paused to wipe her lips on a napkin and push her plate away too, “that I have another man in my life, and although he is doing remarkably well on his own, I couldn’t possibly consider a permanent move anywhere until he is safely tucked away at college. I’m going to come home, darling.”
Adam raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Really?”
“Yes. I’ve been gone longer than I intended. I never meant to abandon you, and the project is in its final stages. They can cope without me.”
“But you love Paris,” Adam said.
Under the counter, Jared knocked his knee against Adam’s in what he hoped was familiar reassurance. Adam knocked his knee back.
“And Paris isn’t going anywhere. Plus, I’ve heard all sorts of tales of mischief that you’ve been up to while I’ve been away. You clearly still need your mother around.”
“Mom,” Adam whined again. She grinned.
“I’ve arranged to go for cocktails with Ms. Saunders so we can fully catch each other up on what’s been going on around here.”
“You know Hadley?” Jared said, interrupting.
“Of course, dear,” Juliette said with a perfectly cat-like grin. “She’s a fellow New Harbor rebel. How could I not know her?”
“I’ve got a feeling this won’t end well for us,” Jared stage-whispered to Adam, making Juliette laugh.
“You two make a lovely couple,” she told them. “I do hope things work out for you.”
Jar
ed watched with amusement as Adam’s cheeks flooded with color.
One of the first things Adam’s mom did when she came home was to dismiss the housekeeping. Even without the familiar sounds of movement through the house, it seemed warmer somehow, more full of life as Juliette took charge of her home once again.
Adam and Jared disappeared after breakfast to change, and Jared took a few moments to thoroughly kiss his boyfriend before pocketing the keys to his truck.
“I’ll see you soon,” he said, kissing Adam again for good measure.
“You don’t have to leave.”
“I know. But you haven’t seen your mom in ages, and you should spend some time with her. It’ll be good for the both of you.”
“Love you,” Adam murmured. They were still unfamiliar words, rarely spoken.
“Love you too. See you later.”
Later turned out to be much later. Although Adam called late that night to talk for a few minutes before they went to bed, they didn’t catch up with each other again until Tuesday in school. Juliette had yanked her son out of school on Monday, calling the administration team and telling them she was taking him to the doctor for reasons she wouldn’t discuss. Adam sent Jared a text and said they spent the whole day shopping in Seattle, then drove out to the coast for dinner.
Tuesday nights meant extra study sessions, so he didn’t get to see Adam that evening, and by Wednesday he was starting to feel a strange sort of jealousy towards his boyfriend’s mother for taking him away.
“Mom invited you and Hadley to dinner on Friday night,” Adam said as they walked the hallways of Harbor Academy on Thursday. “Hadley has already accepted, so you might as well.”
Jared laughed once. “Yeah, okay. Do I need to dress up?”
“If you want,” Adam said with a shrug. “I think it’s only the four of us, so you don’t need to go overboard.”
“Okay,” he said and kissed Adam’s temple before splitting off to go to his class.
Juliette had said the dinner party would be a quiet evening for parents, guardians, and young lovers to get to know each other a little better. Jared had wondered how on earth the compassionate, funny woman was Adam’s mother. She seemed far too sensible to have birthed such an erratic son.
