Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 43759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 219(@200wpm)___ 175(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 219(@200wpm)___ 175(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
hard in the sm all hours, with his cock aching as m uch as his heart. When
he brought him self off, his head was full of Mac, and as he lay panting in
the darkness after com ing, he felt em pty and unsatisfied.
The Friday after Jez had called things off with Mac, he was planning
on try ing to build som e bridges. He was hoping the others would go out,
so he could ask Mac to watch a film or play Mario Kart or som ething. He
wanted to get back to a new sort of norm al between them because the
uncom fortable avoidance was m aking him m iserable.
Jez hung around in the living room with Mac, Shawn, and Mike after
dinner, waiting for the others to head out for the night. Dani was away
again, and Josh was upstairs, presum ably getting ready to go out as he
usually did.
Shawn’s phone buzzed, and he grinned when he read the text.
“Katie and Jess—our squash partners from last weekend—are going
to be in the union bar tonight for happy hour, along with som e of their
friends. Sounds good to m e. Are y ou in, Mike?”
“Sure.”
“What about y ou, Mac… Jez?” Shawn asked. “Surely it’s about tim e
y ou rem inded y our dicks what they ’re for.”
His voice was teasing, the tone light, but Jez’s stom ach lurched. True
to his word, Shawn hadn’t said any thing to any one as far as Jez knew. But
the im plication in his words felt like a veiled threat, an acknowledgm ent
of the power he had over them .
Mike chuckled, but Mac kept his ey es glued to the TV. Only the
tightening of his hand on the arm of the sofa betray ed him .
Jez tried to ignore the hot flush of anger that swept through him .
Rising to the bait would only m ake Mike suspicious.
“Yeah, okay.” Mac’s voice was level. “I’m up-to-date with all m y
assignm ents for once. I reckon I deserve to get out.”
Jez’s heart sank. Of course Mac wouldn’t want to stay in with him
again, not after avoiding him like the plague all week.
“Gem m a m ight be there,” Mike said. “She’s been asking after y ou
ever since m y birthday. What about y ou, Jez? You gonna j oin us for a
change?”
Jez’s gut clenched at the m ention of Gem m a, but he shook his head.
“No. I’m still skint, rem em ber, especially since I lost m y j ob at the
café.”
“Not even for a couple?”
“No, sorry.”
There was no way Jez could face an evening of watching Gem m a
hitting on Mac again. He gave up try ing to finish the food on his plate,
abandoned it, and left, passing Josh on the stairs and accidentally
shouldering him as he hurried past to get to the privacy of his room .
“Hey. Are y ou all right?” Josh put his hand on Jez’s arm , m aking him
pause. Josh was dressed to go out in skintight indigo j eans, a leather
j acket, and a T-shirt that would have been low enough at the front to show
a lot of cleavage if he’d had one.
“Bad day.”
Josh squeezed Jez’s arm before releasing it. “I hope it gets better.”
Not much chance of that, Jez thought, but he replied autom atically,
“Thanks. Have a good night.”
Tucked away in his room again, Jez went back to reading. It was the
only escape from his m iserable thoughts. As he read he was occasionally
distracted by the sounds of doors banging and footsteps on the stairs as the
others got ready to go out. When all was quiet, Jez decam ped to the sofa
with a cup of hot chocolate and half a packet of biscuits. It was all he felt
like eating. He pulled a blanket over his knees and lost him self gratefully
in his book.
He wasn’t sure how m uch tim e had passed when he heard the sound
of the front door. His heart started pounding with anticipation: m ay be it
was Mac back early ?
God, please let him not have brought a girl back.
He listened for the sound of voices, alert and tense. When Josh cam e
in, alone, Jez relaxed. “Hey, what are y ou doing back already ?” It was
only half nine, according to the clock on the DVD play er.
“I was tired.” Josh sat on the sofa by Jez’s feet.
He did look exhausted. There were dark shadows under his ey es that
Jez hadn’t noticed earlier on the dim ly lit staircase. Jez’s ey es tracked
down, his attention drawn to a vivid m ark on Josh’s neck. He’d obviously
got lucky before heading hom e. Jez flashed back to the m em ory of Mac
and him kissing in the bathroom at the club j ust a couple of weeks ago.
That had been such an am azing night. Jez had felt like they ’d been poised