Beautiful Days (Jason Of The Valley Book 5)

by Jason K. Melby

  "Was it even worth it? Would you trade Douglas and Ronny in for your old life?" Cynthia looked over to her husband as he was already piling on slices of pizza for him and his son.

  "No. Not a chance. I wouldn't mind visiting it once in a while though."

  "I'll always see you as that skinny blonde who lived above me."

  "Thanks. Tell me you got double cheese."

  "At the end of the table."

  Mike was there as well as Ken and Adam, who also brought Smidgen. Ken seemed rather upbeat which pleased Adam, but it was clear there was something going on that he wasn't telling.

  "What's got you all smiling?" Mike asked as Ken took a bite of his pizza.

  "What's not to be happy about? My friend is back with his boyfriend. I've got my own dream boat to call my own and we're all together."

  "There's something else going on. What's up?"

  "There is one thing. I wanted to tell Adam along with everyone here. I have a job interview tomorrow." Ken said and everyone gave a round of applause.

  "Why didn't you tell me?" Adam asked.

  "I just wanted to make the announcement in front of everyone. I don't usually have such good news."

  "So what's the job?"

  "That's kind of the great part. It's in advertising."

  "What?"

  "I found the job posting and I sent in my resume and they called today."

  "But you don't have any experience or training."

  "No, and they don't care. I killed it with the cover letter and they want to talk to me about the job; which pays an insane salary, by the way."

  "Really?"

  "Oh, yeah. We'll keep Smidgen in diamond studded flea collars for the rest of his pampered life."

  "Or, we could think about adopting. I mean, if we're both working, we may be more attractive candidates."

  "You really want this."

  "I do."

  "Well, if I get the job, I don't see any reason we can't move forward."

  "Really?"

  "Really." Ken said and Adam slipped his arms around him and pulled him into a kiss, which earned another round of applause.

  As the evening wound down, everyone was sitting around the living room chatting and sipping on wine. Jason felt the need to walk so he picked up a couple of plates and took them into the kitchen where he found David packing up plates of pizza to send home with everyone. Jason crept up and slung his arms around his waist.

  "Whatcha doing?" Jason asked.

  "Setting up some leftovers for the others to take. I think we over ordered."

  "I can't believe this. You're back. We're back. I feel good."

  "I'm glad."

  "I mean, it's a little hard to get that image out of my head, you and that guy in the bathroom, but I'm going to work on that."

  "Just don't worry about that. One time deal."

  "Oh, thought you may want to know, Mike informed me that he reported it to the police. He says Jeff is being held before trial."

  "Trial?"

  "He drugged you. I don't know what kind of sentence he'll get, but at least it's some bit of vindication. Right?" David pulled free from Jason, turned to face him and threw his arms over his shoulders.

  "I really don't care. It's over. I just want to focus on us. We have a life to build."

  "We do," Jason said with a smile and then they kissed. Matt appeared from the living room and announced himself with a carefully placed cough. Jason and David broke apart. "Matt. Sneaking up on us?"

  "Sorry. Just wanted to make sure everything is good with you two."

  "Everything is great." David said.

  "I'm glad. I also wanted to let you guys know I finally found a place. A found a nice little house in Sherman Oaks. Signing the papers tomorrow."

  "Wow! Congrats," Jason said as he hugged Matt. "Hey! I have an old bottle of wine that I don't think I'll ever get around to drinking. How about it for a housewarming gift?"

  "Wine is always welcome. Thanks."

  "Great. I'll go get it." Jason said as he ran off. Matt then turned to David who went back to packing up the pizza.

  "Thanks by the way," David said. "It was really big of you to investigate that whole thing for me. I realize there may have been an issue with it for you since Jason is your ex."

  "True. I wasn't really crazy about helping you two get back together."

  "I'm sorry?" David asked as he turned to Matt.

  "Don't get me wrong. You two are great together and I'm glad it worked out, but I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a part of me that kind of hoped you two would have broken up."

  "You want him back."

  "We have history."

  "The way he tells it, there was a time you didn't even want anyone to know you were dating."

  "That was a long time ago."

  "It sure was. And now he's with me. Now, why don't we change the subject before this gets anymore awkward?"

  "Then I should probably say this first," Matt said as he leaned closer to David. "If you ever do anything, drugged or not, to hurt Jason, I will be here to put you back in line. You got that?" David then turned to Matt and straightened up, forcing Matt back.

  "I appreciate that, but I assure you, I have no intention of hurting Jason. And if I should, it'll be between me and him." Matt looked deep into David's eyes and he sensed another Alpha dog deep within him. He smiled.

  "Good. Welcome to the family."

  "Okay!" Jason sang as he returned to the kitchen with the bottle of wine. He noticed the odd posture between David and Matt. "Is everything all right?"

  "Everything is fine," Matt said as he took the wine from Jason. "Thanks for the wine. You should come by some night for a drink."

  "Yes," David said as he slid next to Jason. "We should come to see your new place."

  "I guess I'll join the others." Matt turned and walked out to the living room. Jason turned to David and shot him an accusing look.

  "What was that?"

  "Nothing. Matt was just telling me how happy he is that we're together again."

  "That wasn't the vibe I was picking up."

  "Do you really want to know?"

  "Not tonight. No."

  The party dwindled down by eleven and by eleven fifteen everyone was saying their good byes and headed toward the door. Cynthia and Douglas had to get back to put Ronny down for the night and Adam and Ken were anxious to begin making plans for their future family.

  As Matt came up to Jason to bid him good night, he leaned closer and whispered in his ear.

  "Walk with me." He said. Jason followed Matt out the door and a few steps down the walking path. Jason knew when Matt had something on his mind. He always acted as though he had something inside of him that he was trying to let free, but didn't quite know how to.

  "I'm glad you could make it." Jason said.

  "Me too."

  "I also wanted to thank you for helping to clear up this whole mess."

  "Tell David he still owes me about two hundred dollars."

  "I will. So what did you want to say?"

  "I just wanted to say I didn't like bringing you two back together, but despite that, I'm glad I did. If had asked me a month ago, I'd tell you to dump him and come back to me, but I see now he's good for you. You always seemed to come to me to hide, but David actually pushes you. He forces you out of your comfort zone, which has never been easy."

  "I guess so. I never really thought about it."

  "But if he ever makes you cry,"

  "So that was the conversation I walked in on in the kitchen."

  "Maybe. I should go. I'll see you around."

  "I hope so." Jason said as he leaned forward and brushed his lips against Matt's cheek.

  "I'm glad we're still friends, but it's kind of sad at the same time. Everything we were comes down to a kiss on the cheek."

  "I could shove my tongue in your mouth, but I have a boyfriend who gets terribly jealous." Matt looked past Jason and saw David standing at the door w
ith his arms crossed over his chest.

  "So I see. Good night, David!"

  "Night, Matt!" David returned.

  Jason walked back in and shut the door behind him. David was picking up some of the dishes that had been left out. It was quiet at last. There was no more ringing laughter of friends or the echoed recitation of stories of the old days. It was just Jason and David. Alone and nothing but the air between them both.

  "I can get all that tomorrow," Jason said as he took David's arm. "I thought we could get to bed."

  "That is a good idea." David said as he set the dishes back down. They shut the lights off as they went to their bedroom.

  Jason sat down on the bed as David proceeded to undress on the other side. As he was peeling off his socks, he noticed Jason was still.

  "Sleeping in your clothes?"

  "Oh. No. I was just thinking."

  "About?" David asked as he slid across the bed.

  "I know we already talked about this and everything, but I still can't help but see that image in my head when I look at you."

  "I understand. You want me to sleep on the couch?"

  "No. It's just going to take me some time to work through it. I just want to know if you'll be patient." David sat upright and slipped his arm around Jason, pulling him in tight.

  "Take the time. I can't imagine how it felt for you to see what you saw and I understand that it'll take you a while to get over this. I didn't expect it to be instantaneous. Just as long as you're willing to work through it, that's all I ask."

  "Thanks. And about the sex,"

  "Say no more. I'm totally willing to still have sex with you." Jason let out a nervous laugh.

  "We can work on it. Maybe a little making out might help."

  "And I'm here to help," David pressed his lips to Jason's and they melted into each other and soon Jason felt his clothes loosening. Once both men were naked, they slipped under the sheets and pressed their flesh together. The heat of David's body and scent of his flesh were comforting and arousing equally. "Wait!" David said as he pushed away from Jason.

  "What? Are you mad at me again now?"

  "No. No. I totally forget I had something to give you."

  "What?" David smiled and leapt up from the bed and ran to the closet. He pulled out his bag and rifled through it as fast as he could. At long last he pulled out a magazine and returned to the bed. He held the magazine out to Jason.

  "What is this?"

  "This is a publishing journal of note. A friend of mine is an editor and I had him do me a solid."

  "What?"

  "Just open the magazine up. I dog-eared the page." Jason pulled the magazine open and found the page David was speaking of. He scanned it up and down and then he saw it.

  "This is my book." Jason said.

  "Yup."

  "This is a review of my book."

  "Uh-huh."

  "This is a good review of my book!"

  "Pretty great, right?"

  "Wait. Before I get too happy about this, is this real?"

  "Absolutely. My friend didn't review it. He just got your book in the hands of one of their reviewers. This is an honest, non-influenced review."

  "I can't believe this. This guy really liked it."

  "I told you. You're good."

  "Wait. When did you do this?"

  "About a day after you tossed me out."

  "After I threw you out? You did this for me? Now I feel like total shit."

  "I admit, I really was hoping I could have used this as leverage to get you to let me back, but, well."

  "Well, as long as you had an ulterior motive I feel better. When did this come out?"

  "Oh. Geez. I don't know. A week ago, I think."

  "A week? This review has been floating around for a week?"

  "I guess."

  "I haven't checked my book sales in days."

  "You want to check them now?"

  "No. It can wait until tomorrow." Jason tossed the magazine aside and slid back into David's arms. They kept kissing but David felt something was wrong.

  "You're dying, aren't you?"

  "I'm sorry. Yes."

  "Fine. Check. I can wait a few more seconds."

  "Thanks!" Jason said as he got out of bed and grabbed his laptop. He fired it up and found his publisher's page. He scrolled down and his mouth fell open. "This can't be right."

  "What can't be right?" David asked as he peered over. "Holy shit!"

  "Triple digit sales? Over three hundred sales this week!"

  "That's incredible!"

  "Hold on," Jason then jumped over to the retail page for his book and was once more shocked. "Thirty new reviews. Twenty four of them five stars! Oh my God. I can't believe this. I have to read these and then I can pull some quotes. Maybe I can even start working on a second book. Maybe a series!" David then slid the laptop closed and lifted it from Jason's arms.

  "Great ideas, but not tonight. That can all wait until tomorrow." David's eyes were hungry and primal and Jason smiled at his urgency.

  "I guess it can."

  To The Reader

  Thank you so much for taking the time to read this book. This series has grown to be a very personal work for me and over the years it has been a chance for me to share my piece of the world with the rest of you. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but that’s life, right? I hope you enjoyed this book, and if you haven’t read the previous books, please check them out. I’m sure there will be a sixth volume to come in the future, so stay tuned.

  Jason Of The Valley: Beautiful Days