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Micah stared at their entwined hands. “When I came out, he was the only one who didn’t treat me any different.”
“He’s a good guy.”
“The best.” Micah finally looked at him again. “So are you.”
“Yeah, well. You don’t really know me.”
Jake could tell Micah was going to say something sweet, which made his stomach squirm, so he got up from the bed and held his hand out for Micah, who took it, letting Jake help him up.
They wrapped towels around their waists and gathered up their clothes from the night before. Jake was behind Micah as they descended the stairs to see Alex leaning against the wall, a shit-eating grin on his face. He could practically see the crude comment forming in Alex’s head, so he threw Alex a warning glance just as the fucker opened his mouth. The grin faltered, then was replaced with affection as Alex glanced at Micah, then back at Jake. He nodded, shrugged, and held up a backpack.
“I brought you a change of clothes,” Alex told Jake, then looked at the boat. “Mikey, what do you say we take this bad boy out today?”
“Don’t you guys have plans?”
“Eh. Whatever. I think Jake would appreciate a little more motion on the ocean.”
Jake laughed. “You’re a pig, you know that?” He turned to Micah. “Has he always been like this?”
“Pretty much.” Micah laughed too, and Jake felt the last of the tension dissipate. “But yeah, if you guys want to, that’d be great. I’ve been so busy with rehearsals and the show, I haven’t gotten out much this summer.”
They headed for the house, where Micah showed Jake to a guest room on the second floor so he could shower and change, then fixed him breakfast.
Growing up in San Francisco, the son of a partner in a prestigious law firm, with friends whose parents were also in the top income bracket, Jake had been inside many multimillion-dollar homes. There was something about Micah’s house, though, that spoke of old money, family legacies, and puritanical East Coast moral codes. He couldn’t imagine Micah—beautiful, exuberant Micah—growing up in this house with its proper blue-and-white decor.
The house Jake grew up in was very modest in comparison, a 1900s row house in the inner Richmond, bought in the mid-’70s, just after his older brother, Brandon, was born. His mother had always been fixing up something or redoing one of the rooms. In the years after she left, his dad had managed to keep up with repairs on the exterior, but nothing inside the house changed.
As his dad’s drinking had gotten worse, the house descended into squalor. In the months Jake had been away at school, it had gotten even worse, and nothing Jake said made a difference. He’d tried to fix the place up after getting home in June, but his dad went ballistic and told him to leave it alone. It was one of the reasons he’d gratefully accepted Alex’s offer. The other reason had been the chance to see Micah again.
As he watched Micah move around the cavernous kitchen, Jake thought about what Alex had told him the night before, about Micah’s family and how they didn’t acknowledge his sexuality. And then he thought about the uninhibited way Micah approached sex once he gave himself permission to let go. Damned if Jake didn’t want to see more of that side of him, and he was grateful all over again for Alex’s invite.
Micah
After breakfast, Micah tracked down Gail, while Jake did laps in the pool. Alex had included Jake’s swim gear with the clothes he’d brought, assuming Jake would want to take advantage of the pool to get in a workout. Seeing Jake in that tiny Speedo almost made Micah swallow his tongue. He excused himself to go ask Gail to pack them a lunch to take on the boat, much to Alex’s amusement. As he left the kitchen, he flipped his best friend a one-finger salute, which only made Alex crack up more.
Micah found the housekeeper polishing the silver in the dining room, a never-ending task that was usually the maid’s responsibility. His parents had taken most of the staff with them to Bar Harbor, leaving Gail at the Oyster Bay house to take care of Micah. While he resented the implication that he couldn’t take care of himself, he was grateful for the company. The house was too big to be comfortable, especially since he’d never actually been alone in it before. There’d always been someone with him from the time he was born—nannies, maids, the housekeeper, gardeners, chauffeurs, not to mention his sister and his parents.
After making his request, there was nothing left to do but go outside and watch Jake finish his laps.
Alex was reclining on a lounge chair, a mug of coffee on the table next to him. He waved Micah over, but Micah was pretty much frozen in place. Watching Jake’s powerful arms cut through the water reminded him of what it had felt like the night before—Jake’s body moving beneath him, muscles rippling as they’d made their way back to shore through the cool water… Micah shivered with the memory.
“Quit drooling, and get your ass over here,” Alex called to him.
Micah dropped onto the lounge next to Alex, never taking his eyes off Jake.
“I guess you like my birthday present.”
Micah had turned nineteen over the Fourth of July weekend, but Alex had told him his present wouldn’t be ready for another month. Even though he’d had an idea of what Alex’s present might be, it had still been a shock to see Jake in the audience the previous night. And then to have Jake’s body beneath his hands, to feel Jake’s climax… Micah shivered again and tried playing it cool in front of Alex. He failed miserably at containing both his smile and the blush suffusing his face.
“It’s one of your better ideas,” Micah said, suppressing another shiver as he thought about the way Jake had made him feel that morning. Fuck. The sight of his cock in Jake’s mouth, Jake’s lips stretched tight around him… well, great, now Micah was hard.
“Good. I like you happy.” Alex’s words interrupted the pornographic images running through Micah’s mind.
“I am,” he said.
Alex nodded, watching Jake complete a lap and do a neat flip turn, then rise to the surface and start back for the other side. “I told him last night, I don’t get what it is between the two of you, but as long as he doesn’t hurt you or you him, it’s none of my business. But you have to know, going in, Jake’s not a relationship guy.” Alex faced him, waiting until Micah looked at him before he spoke again. “I lived with the guy all last year, and he’s only talked about himself a few times. He never says anything about his family. I get the feeling his parents aren’t together, but I still don’t know if he has siblings.”
“So? Lots of people have shitty relationships with their parents. It doesn’t mean anything.” Micah found himself resenting the way Alex was talking about Jake, especially since Jake had talked about himself the night before. They’d talked about lots of things. Personal things. Things Micah wasn’t going to mention if Jake hadn’t talked about them with Alex. Although, a small voice nagged at him, Jake hadn’t exactly talked about his family. True, but still, he wasn’t going to let Alex see that his words were sowing doubt in Micah’s mind, nor let them color his memories. “I mean, my parents aren’t exactly great, you know? And I don’t go around telling everyone all about it. You only know because you’ve seen it.”
