Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 46699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 233(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 233(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
“Baby,” Jared croaked out, kissing Gabe’s brow and then his cheek, his breath unsteady and ragged.
Gabriel smiled—Jared hadn’t called him that in years. “Missed you,” he whispered, closing his eyes and leaning eagerly into the touch as Jared kissed his face. “So much.”
“I know,” Jared said, trailing his lips across Gabriel’s cheek and inhaling deeply. He seemed to be faring no better than Gabe: just as hungry for touch. And God, he’d been hungry for this. So hungry that at times it felt as though the need was gnawing a hole inside his soul.
Gabriel sighed as Jared kissed the corner of his mouth, then the other one. His lips parted. “Say you love me.”
“Selfish little thing,” Jared said, but his voice was filled with so much affection that Gabriel felt warm to his toes.
“Say it,” he demanded, burying a hand in Jared’s hair. It had grown longer than Jared normally wore it.
“I love you,” Jared said hoarsely, nuzzling into his cheek. “Love you.”
Gabriel smiled, feeling more than a little giddy. “See, you’re mine,” he whispered. “Not his.”
Jared went rigid. Then he swore under his breath, stepped away from him and glared. “What is this all about, Gabe? You’re like a goddamn dog in the manger! I’m not your possession. I have Oscar now—”
“You said you love me. You just said it!”
Jared’s jaw worked. He shook his head. “It changes nothing—”
“Why?” Gabriel growled. “You don’t need him! You love me, and I love you—”
“Stop saying that,” Jared snapped. “You don’t love me.”
Gabriel laughed. “Thanks for informing me. Maybe you can tell me why I feel so shitty without you, then.”
Sighing, Jared ran a hand through his hair and turned away. “I don’t know what you’re doing here. There’s no fucking point. You have your life, your family, your son. There’s no place for me in your life—actually there never was—”
“There is.”
“Not the one I want,” Jared said quietly. He sounded tired. “You can’t give me what I want.”
“And Mone can?”
“Yes, he can.” Jared looked at him. “I don’t love you like a brother or a friend. I want things.”
Gabriel’s cheeks turned warm. “I know,” he said, a bit awkwardly. “I’m not an idiot. I get it.”
“No, you don’t seem to get it,” Jared bit out. “I want to kiss you. I want to kiss you everywhere. I want to leave hickeys all over you. I want to push you under me, spread your legs and put my cock in you—”
“Stop that!” Gabriel said, flushing.
Jared laughed, a bitter, harsh sound that cut right through him. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I meant.” And before Gabriel could say anything, he left.
Chapter 10: Proposition
It felt like the dinner dragged on forever.
Jared was half-tempted to leave early, but he didn’t want it to seem like he was fleeing from Gabriel—that was how it would be interpreted by his cousin and Christian. Not to mention that would arouse Oscar’s suspicions. It was bad enough already that Oscar was bewildered by Gabriel’s presence and wouldn’t stop talking about him: Oscar was a little star struck. It would have been funny if it weren’t Gabriel.
Gabriel.
Jared looked at the other end of the table. Gabriel was looking down at his plate with a deeply contemplative expression on his face. What was he up to?
Realizing he was staring, Jared forced himself to turn away.
He found Alexander studying him intently, a small frown between his brows. Christian whispered something in his ear and Alexander’s frown disappeared. Alexander smiled wryly at his boyfriend and shook his head, touching Christian’s neck with his fingers. Christian grinned at him.
Jared averted his eyes. Sometimes watching Alexander and his boyfriend was more than a little uncomfortable. He was happy for his cousin—he was the one who had told Alexander to go for it—and yet…
Jared’s gaze fell on another couple, seated opposite him: a stern-faced dark-haired man and a startlingly handsome blond guy. He didn’t know them all that well, only their names: Derek and Shawn.
“Don’t be such a party pooper,” Shawn told the other man, rolling his eyes. “It wouldn’t hurt you to put on a smile once in a while.” He smiled widely at his stern-faced partner. “See? It’s not that hard.”
Derek gave the blond an unimpressed look, but the way his dark eyes lingered on Shawn’s smiling face betrayed him. The couple seemed odd and mismatched, but at the same time, perfect for each other—just right.
Against his will, Jared’s eyes were drawn to Gabriel again.
This time he found Gabriel looking at him already.
Gabriel gave him a significant stare and inclined his head toward the door.
Pressing his lips together, Jared shook his head. He’d already said everything there was to say. There was nothing to talk about anymore. And if Jared was entirely honest, he didn’t trust himself to be alone with Gabriel and keep saying no. His resolve was non-existent when Gabriel looked at him with his big green eyes and whispered his name. Jared had thought—hoped—Oscar’s entrance into his life had changed it, but he was wrong. The moment he’d seen Gabriel in the kitchen, Jared’s first urge was too push Oscar away, as though he’d been caught cheating, which was ridiculous. Gabriel was nothing to him, never had been and never would be. Jared had a boyfriend now, and his boyfriend’s name wasn’t Gabriel. His boyfriend’s name was Oscar.