Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 58003 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 290(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58003 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 290(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Jude hoped Shawn wasn’t freaking out too much and that things weren’t going to be weird between them.
He was playing Mario Kart with Jez and Mac in the living room when Shawn came in with a plate of food.
Jude tensed, searching Shawn’s face for any embarrassment or discomfort.
Shawn didn’t meet his gaze. “Alright,” he said as he made his way over to the table.
“Hey, Shawny,” Jez said cheerily. “How’s it going?”
Jude and Mac added their greetings too.
“Pretty good, thanks.”
Shawn sounded fairly chilled, so Jude relaxed a little.
They carried on with their game while Shawn ate. Jez and Mac filled the silence with their usual teasing and trash talk. Honestly, they were like a pair of giant kids when they were gaming. The way they got all competitive and pissy with each other was like a weird form of foreplay.
“Hey, you wanna play, Shawn?” Jez asked. “You can join in the next round if you’re done eating.”
“Sure.”
Shawn joined them on the sofa when he was ready to start. Jude budged up next to Mac to make space for Shawn beside him. It was cosy, their knees and elbows bumped, and he was very aware of the warmth of Shawn’s body in all the places they touched.
They played a few rounds, and by then it was clear that Jez and Mac heckling each other was definitely foreplay.
“Hey!” Mac yelled. “That’s cheating.”
Jude looked over and laughed when he saw Jez steering one-handed, his other hand in Mac’s lap as their on-screen characters raced towards the finish line. At that point Mac’s kart went over a cliff into the water.
“You wanker!”
Mac tossed down his controller and straddled Jez, who tried valiantly to carry on playing, but with Mac blocking his view, it was impossible. His kart plunged off the track too. Shawn zoomed past them both to win the race. Jude was too busy laughing at Mac and Jez to care.
Mac had Jez’s hands pinned and was trying to look cross with a wriggling, laughing Jez. “You little shit,” Mac growled.
“Yeah. But I’m your little shit.”
Mac’s face softened further. “It’s a good thing I love you.”
The sexual tension between them was palpable, as well as the affection. It turned a twist of longing in Jude’s chest like a key in a door. It must be nice having a relationship like that—they were so obviously crazy about each other.
Jez gave Mac a dirty grin. “Take me upstairs and I’ll make it up to you.”
“For fuck’s sake, you two,” Shawn complained. “Can you just stop?”
“Oh, sorry, Shawny. Are we being too queer for you again? Offending your delicate straight sensibilities?”
“It’s not about you being queer,” Shawn said gruffly.
“Are you sure?” Jez’s voice had an edge to it. “Because it usually is.”
Jude felt an unexpected surge of defensiveness on Shawn’s behalf. “Give him a break. He apologised for that. Anyway, I’m queer as fuck and I don’t need to see this either. You’re just rubbing our poor single noses in your happy togetherness.” He kept his voice light.
“Oh.” Jez deflated. “Yeah, well. We’re gonna take this to our room anyway.” He pushed at Mac, who climbed off him and then gave Jez a hand and pulled him up. “Come on, babe. Night, guys.”
“Night,” Jude and Shawn said in unison.
Shawn sighed when the door closed behind them. “Thanks.”
“No worries. You wanna play some more?”
It was good doing something normal with Shawn. Hanging out like friends was easing some of the tension in Jude’s chest. He was glad that things weren’t weird, despite what they’d done together the night before.
“Yeah.”
They set up a two-player race and focused on the game for a while.
Jude was still aware of Shawn beside him. Neither of them had moved despite having more room on the sofa now, and Jude liked the feeling of Shawn sitting close. It made him feel warm and contented, and a little horny, if he was honest, because it was difficult not to think about Shawn naked and desperate. But he managed to keep a lid on it and not embarrass himself.
After several games, Shawn started to yawn and eventually put down his controller. “I need to head to bed soon.” He flopped against the back of the sofa.
Jude turned around and shuffled back to sit against the arm of the sofa with his feet up, putting a little distance between them, but now able to see Shawn’s face as they talked. “Long day at work?”
“Yeah. And I didn’t sleep too well last night.” Shawn flushed as soon as the words were out of his mouth.
“Lots on your mind?” Jude asked casually. A sexuality crisis did that to a guy.
Shawn gave a sheepish smile. “You could say that.” He looked down at his hands, lacing his fingers together and squeezing till they cracked. “So I, um, I want to do it again. If you do? The webcam thing.” He added the last few words as an afterthought, as if he were worried that Jude might not understand.