CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Nick

 

I didn’t know whether I was coming or going. Jeo had told me—well, practically told me—he loved me. At least the early stages of love. I think? I kept second-guessing things. What if Jeo only thought he felt something but didn’t really? What if he started missing having any sex partner he wanted? What if the whole Daddy/boy thing got old, and he realized it was all just a novelty?

“What’s going on with you?” Tony asked.

I stopped tapping my pencil on the table and looked up to find him standing beside my desk.

“Huh?”

“One minute you’re grinning from ear to ear and another you’re looking like you’re going to vomit.”

“Oh, nothing. I’m just feeling a little restless this morning.”

The elevator dinged and when the doors opened, a member of security approached carrying a basket of white daisies mixed with red roses.

“Nick Chambers?”

“Over here,” Tony said, and the man placed the basket on my desk. When he’d left, Tony looked at me. “Flowers? Wow. They’re from Jeo, right?”

I looked at the card and nodded. Just his name and a heart beside it. My own heart went crazy.

“Tony,” Cane said from the doorway of his office. “Is it almost lunchtime?”

“Somewhere in the world,” Tony said, smiling. “You should’ve eaten breakfast. I’ll go down and make you a sandwich.” He turned to me. “Come with me?”

With a last, lingering look at my flowers, I followed Tony to the elevator.

A few minutes later, we entered Tony and Cane’s quiet apartment on the ninth floor. The layout was a lot like mine but with a larger living area and master suite.

“God, it’s so nice living here,” Tony said, loosening his tie on his way to the kitchen. “I miss the guys, but having privacy is so great. We can make all the noise we want, and we don’t have to listen to Blaze and Lake going at it in their room. You wouldn’t think it, but Lake’s a screamer.”

I laughed. “Oh, my God.”

“Yeah, when he gets really worked up, he doesn’t hold anything back. I don’t even think he realizes it, and fucking Blaze walks around looking proud as punch.” Tony chuckled as he opened the bread. “Want a sandwich?”

“Make me one and I’ll eat it at my desk later.”

Tony rummaged in the refrigerator.

“I’m always telling Cane to eat breakfast, but most of the time he doesn’t.” He put some lunch meat on the counter. “Oh, I forgot to tell you, we’ve got people looking at the apartments, so you might see some around.”

“Cool.”

“Okay, now let me hear all the details. I know something’s up, but Jeo sent you flowers, so it couldn’t be bad.” He glanced at me. “Unless he’s trying to make up for something.”

“No, he didn’t do anything wrong.” I couldn’t stop the smile spreading across my face as I told him about what Jeo had said the night before.

“I knew it! Oh, my God,” Tony crowed. “So why all the restless squirming this morning?”

“I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop.” When Tony made an exasperated face, I continued, “Let’s face it. Jeo’s never been in a serious relationship, right? So, maybe he just thinks he’s getting serious about me. He’s used to sleeping with whomever the hell he wants. Sooner or later he’ll get bored with me.”

Tony shook his head. “You’re just not going to let yourself enjoy this, are you?”

I grimaced. “I’m trying.”

He took some sandwich bags out of the drawer. “You’re the only person Jeo has ever dated exclusively, but you still think it’s a fluke. Well, I for one think you’re it for Jeo. So what I want to know is, now that you guys are getting serious, how’s that going to work? He has to live at Rainbow House, and you don’t want to move into his tiny apartment.”

“Sheesh, you’re getting ahead of yourself. I dated Royce a couple of years, and we never moved in together.”

“That wasn’t the same thing at all, and you know it.”

Tony was right about that. Royce and I were casual from the get-go, even if we weren’t seeing other people. I never even thought of moving in with him. Besides, we agreed neither of us wanted to do our Daddy/boy dynamic full time. With Jeo, the kink was leaking out of the bedroom and into our daily lives more and more lately, and I liked that. Plus, I wanted to be with him all the time.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

Tony bit into a pickle and passed the jar to me, watching as I fished one out. “I can’t believe you actually thought he didn’t have feelings for you. So obvious.”

I smiled, happiness curling in my gut.

My phone buzzed and I opened the group text.

“Morgan’s reminding all of us we have a rehearsal for the talent show tonight.” I put the phone down. “I wish you and Cane were going to be in it.”

“We’re pretty talentless,” Tony said. “Unless you want me to get up there and paint while Cane knocks some heads together.”

I laughed. “Guess that wouldn’t work. Maybe the two of you could have sex. That would be entertaining.”

“I’m sure all the families there to support the LBGTQ community would love that,” Tony said dryly.

My phone buzzed again.

“Morgan says he’s been able to pull in donations from several businesses.”

“That’s great! Man, he’s certainly come a long way over the past several years. He’s so young, but he runs that big company and still manages to teach dance.” Tony took a sip of ice water. “I heard Zeke’s going to perform with him.”

“Yeah, I’m dying to see what he does.”

“Me too.”

When we finished eating, I sent a quick text to Jeo thanking him for the flowers and telling him I’d see him at rehearsal.

The rest of the workday sped by, probably because Cane kept piling stuff on my desk, keeping me busy.

 

****

“Zeke and Morgan’s act has become some kind of big secret,” Jeo told me when I’d settled down beside him in the auditorium to watch Dante and Matteo practice before it was our turn. “I think he just doesn’t want anyone to see him in tights.”

“I doubt he’s going to wear tights,” I said. “Although I wouldn’t mind seeing that.”

Jeo gave me a side glance. “You wanna see Zeke’s junk in tights?”

I shrugged. “I’d deserve to get my gay card taken away if I didn’t.”

Jeo frowned, and I laughed, ridiculously pleased that he was jealous. But then I remembered Jeo seemed sensitive about being older than the other guys in the club. So I laced my fingers with his and said, “His ass isn’t half as nice as yours.” That was true—in my opinion, anyway. I leaned nearer to him. “You look really sexy tonight, Daddy.” I lowered my voice to a purr. “I can’t wait to dance with you.”

He’d taken off his jacket and wore only a tank with his jeans. I bit the muscle at the top of his arm before bringing our clasped hands to my mouth and kissing his knuckles, glad to see him relax into the seat.

“I didn’t know Matteo was going to sing,” I said after a moment. “Is he any good?”

“Yeah, he always dominates karaoke night at the Slick Whistle.”

Dante started playing his guitar, and I turned my attention to the stage. When Matteo began to sing, my eyes widened. He really was good. Like, sign him up for The Voice good.

When our turn came around, Jeo and I took our places onstage. Erik had choreographed a scene where I’m sitting at table reading when Jeo comes in and coaxes me into dancing with him as the song progresses. For the show, I planned to dress sexy-nerdy.

We were going really well until we got to the part where, mid-step, Jeo bends and I roll over his back. It’s usually an easy move, but this time I must started off wrong because pain lanced through my side, and I stumbled out of the roll and onto my ass.

Jeo knelt beside me as the music stopped and Erik rushed over.

“What did you hurt?” Jeo looked concerned.

Feeling like an idiot, I tried to get up but winced at the pain and sank back down. “My side. Or maybe my back. I’m not sure.”

Erik felt along my back and side, asking me questions until he finally said, “I think you’ve just pulled a muscle. Get some ice on it as soon as you can, and later use heat. See a doctor if it doesn’t start to feel better tomorrow. But you’re done rehearsing for a while. Good thing you guys have the whole routine down.”

Shit. The talent show was in two weeks. But Erik was right: we had our routine down pat.

Jeo helped me up off the floor and down the steps from the stage.

“Matteo!” Jeo called to his friend. “You come here with Dante?”

“Yeah. We rode over in the SUV. You okay, Nick?”

I nodded. If I stood a certain way—kind of bent sideways and crouched like an old man—the pain wasn’t as severe.

“Will you take my bike to the clubhouse? I’m gonna drive Nick home.” Jeo tossed his keys to Matteo, who caught them.

“Sure, man.”

Jeo helped me outside.

“You’re going to let Matteo drive your bike when you didn’t let me?” I teased as we slowly walked to my car.

“Matteo was born on a bike,” Jeo said.

“Damn,” I muttered. “I can’t believe I hurt myself.”

“You’ll be okay. Like Erik said, you just need to ice the muscle and take it easy for a while. I once pulled the fuck out of my back in a fistfight. Laid me up for a three days, but after that I was fine.”

By the time we got back to my place, I was miserable and struggling to hide it. But Jeo must have seen through me, because he swooped me up and carried me from the elevator into my apartment and to my bed.

“I’ll get you ibuprofen and some ice,” Jeo said.

My phone vibrated, and I groaned as I fished it out of my pocket to see a text from Tony.

You okay? Heard you got hurt.

That was fast. Tony and Cane hadn’t even been at the rehearsal.

I tapped out a reply, holding the phone directly above my face, so I wouldn’t have to move. Yeah, just pulled a muscle.

A few seconds later, Tony replied, Take tomorrow off.

Best boss in the world, I typed back, even though technically Cane was my boss. Tony and I both knew he’d do whatever Tony wanted.

When Jeo reappeared with a bottle of water and a bag of ice, I momentarily forgot I’d hurt myself and tried to get up, resulting in a streak of pain down my back.

“Easy,” Jeo said. He sat on the edge of the bed and handed me two ibuprofen, which I dutifully swallowed.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“For what?”

“For messing up. Now we won’t be able to rehearse again until right before the show. You think I should go to the doctor?”

“If it’ll make you feel better. And it wasn’t your fault.” When I opened my mouth to argue, he pointed at me with a stern look. “Don’t argue with Daddy.”

I smiled. “Or what? You’ll spank me? When I’m injured?”

“I’ll think of something,” he said, lying down beside me. “We know our routine. It’s gonna be fine.”

Pain relievers always made me sleepy, so I shouldn’t have been surprised to suddenly find the room dark and Jeo gone. Had he gone home? I was pretty sure this was an on night for him at Rainbow House.

“Jeo?”

I heard footsteps in the hall, and he appeared in the doorway.

“Thought you’d left,” I said, pleased that he hadn’t.

“I called Gabe and switched nights with him.”

I blinked. “You didn’t have to do that!”

“What are you gonna do, lie here in misery, unable to even go take a piss? Come on. Besides, I want to stay. Now, are you hungry? Because I was thinking about ordering Chinese.”

A warmth spread in my chest that threatened to produce tears. “Sounds good to me,” I managed to say.

When was the last time anyone had taken care of me? Royce had been great, but the few times I’d gotten sick, I’d stayed at home, and he’d never done more than check on me by phone. He’d certainly never changed his plans so he could be with me.

And I hadn’t thought a thing of it. That was the way we’d operated. We were seeing one another, but although we were exclusive, we weren’t—what? Emotionally involved? I guess that was it.

If Jeo were hurt or sick, I’d definitely want to take care of him. Because I loved him.

My heart fluttered.

Maybe Jeo really did love me. Maybe the feelings he’d admitted to really were that strong.

When Jeo disconnected from ordering the food, I’d surreptitiously wiped away my tears, but I couldn’t help asking, “Can I have a kiss, Daddy?”

Jeo smiled. “Of course.” He leaned over the bed, and I tried to convey all my feelings for him with my mouth, clinging to him when he eventually pulled away.

He pressed his forehead to mine. “That was nice, boy.”

I slid my fingers through his thick hair. “Thank you for rearranging your plans so you could be with me, Daddy.”

“I told you, I wanted to do it,” he said. “You don’t have to thank me.”

My breath caught in my throat. “Still. Thank you.”

Jeo chuckled and carefully crawled onto the bed, snuggling with me until the security guard knocked on the door with our food.