Jake glanced down and fear slashed across his face like a dagger.He shoved the pamphlet deeper into his pocket and jumped from the bench.Blair knew this time Jake wouldn’t sit back down with a simple plea.
Without forethought, Blair reached out and put his hand on Jake’s biceps.Jake froze.
“No, please.Don’t go.”Blair swallowed.He didn’t want to invade Jake’s privacy, but he also knew from experience that newly diagnosed people needed to know they weren’t alone.“I didn’t mean to pry, but I recognize the pamphlet because I have one too.I’ve been living with HIV for over a decade now.”
Jake’s eyebrows shot to his hairline.“Over a decade?But you’re—You’re just a kid.”
“I’m actually thirty-six.”Blair shrugged and offered a smile.“But thank you for the flattery.I’ll take it.”
Blair swore he could see every wheel in Jake’s head turning as Jake stared down at him.Jake exhaled so deep Blair was sure he had no breath left in his lungs.His shoulders dropped along with his head.
“Okay.”
Jake lowered himself to the bench and sighed.Silence stretched between them again.Not so much uncomfortable, but charged with an intangible energy.That gut-deep feeling that something was about to happen—good or bad remained to be seen, but a change was on the horizon.
“Go ahead,” Blair spoke softly, as though speaking too loudly might scare Jake off.“You can ask me anything.”
Jake turned fully toward him and studied his face in the low light of early evening.He pursed his lips.
“Over a decade?”Jake repeated.
“I was twenty-two when I was diagnosed,” Blair said, remembering that day and feeling much like he was sure Jake was right now.“I was a bit of a partier, let’s say.Thought I was invincible and nothing bad would ever happen to me.Turned out I wasn’t immortal after all.”Blair smiled, but he knew it was a weak attempt.“It took a while to get my viral load stabilized, but once I finally accepted this was my life now, I took my health more seriously.I’ve been undetectable for years now.”
“You look so young and healthy,” Jake said, then winced, as though he’d said the wrong thing.
“Youthful comes from good genes and healthy comes from a good lifestyle.”Blair took a sip of his tea.“You can live a full and happy life with HIV, just like anyone else.But you do have to take care of yourself.Stick to your medication regime, get tested regularly, eat healthy, exercise.And luckily for you, these days you only need to take one pill a day.When I was first diagnosed, I had to take two.Treatments are always improving.”
Jake scraped his hands down his face.“I just never thought this would happen to me.Especially at forty-three.”
“It can happen to anyone, anytime,” Blair said.“And you could have had it for years before showing any symptoms.”
Jake raised an eyebrow at that.His tone haughty when he said, “I’ve been married—wasmarried—for sixteen years.”
“And yet, here you are.”
Jake stared at him and then slumped back on the bench.“And here I am.”His next words were a whisper.“I don’t know what to do now.”
“Now, you come with me.”Blair stood and held his hand out.
Jake frowned, gaze bouncing from Blair’s open palm to his face and back.“Where?”
“Somewhere that will be good for you,” Blair implored.
Jake stood and placed his hand in Blair’s.Even though they’d been sitting outside in the cool evening with a chill breeze coasting off the water, his skin was warm and soft, and his hand fit perfectly in Blair’s.Blair gave him a squeeze of reassurance.
“Come on.”Blair gave a little tug.“I just have to stop in the coffee shop and grab my salad.”
Confusion etched across Jake’s face, but he didn’t say anything as he let himself be led by Blair.
THE BEFORE JAKE would have never let a near stranger lead him somewhere unknown with an ambiguous “somewhere good for you.”As if said stranger had any idea at all about who Jake was and what would or wouldn’t be good for him.But the After Jake, oddly, trusted Blair.He didn’t have any concrete reason to trust Blair—or not to—but something in his gut said to follow.So he did.
He waited in the main café area of the Bliss Beans coffee shop that he vaguely remembered being in earlier, while Blair disappeared into the back.When Blair returned, he had one of those large eco-friendly salad bowls in his hand.
“This is a broccoli salad I made for the meeting tonight,” Blair said, lifting the bowl.“Once a month, we have a potluck dinner to share healthy recipes you can make on a budget.”
“We’re going to a potluck?”Jake frowned as his nerves jangled.“I’m not sure I’m up for that.Even if I had something to bring.”
“You’re with me, so you don’t need anything.”Blair stopped in front of Jake.Wavey brunet hair framed a guileless elfin face that was impossible to distrust.There was a quietness in his rich brown eyes, and a softness to his voice that soothed Jake’s anxiety and left him feeling ...safe.“You don’t have to stay for dinner either.It’s a low-key thing, and we don’t eat until after.”
