Page 39 of Fish Out of Water

All the times that Robbie had hurled vitriol at him or brushed him aside had made sense up until now. Robbie despised him. Robbie hated every second he was around him. That was the beauty of their relationship. What did it mean now when Robbie had been having the same thoughts as Jake all along?

“No, no, this isn’t supposed to happen.”

“You wanted to hook up when you first got into town, didn’t you? Hot hate sex, or something? You said it would be great.”

“Yeah, but that was before I really got to know you. I was bored. I was desperate. I wasn’t thinking clearly. I?—”

Robbie had him against the wall of the building in a flash. The cold, hard brick scraped against his back, sending a shiver down his spine. If he really wanted to, he could have pushedRobbie away easily in his turn to reject the man. But Jake was sick of trading rejections back and forth. Now, finally giving in to that pesky idea constantly needling the back of his mind, he felt like he was doing something right.

The fleeting sweetness of oranges hit his tongue before it disappeared, and then all he could taste was Robbie—the same Robbie as that night when he was drunk, the memories flooding back to him clear as ever for the first time.

Robbie’s hand moved down his waist, down the front of his jeans. He inhaled sharply as Robbie bit down on his lower lip. It didn’t quite hurt, but it certainly wasn’t what he expected from Robbie Eaton. Then again, he hadn’t expected Robbie to make the first move either, especially not after he’d been practically yelling at Jake a minute ago.

Maybe he didn’t know Robbie very well after all. Maybe this was his chance to finally put all those questions—those aching, persistent questions—to rest.

10

SEX ON THE BEACH

Before Jake could even get the fly of Robbie’s trousers undone, Robbie pulled away, apparently coming to his senses.

“What the fuck was that?” Jake asked.

“I’m sorry,” Robbie panted, brushing his usually immaculate hair, now tousled, out of his face. “I don’t know what got into me.”

Jake blinked. He could still hardly believe what Robbie—cold, stuck-up Robbie—had just done. “Okay, but why stop now?”

“Are you insane? Anyone could see us out here. It’s an alley outside a gay bar, for Mier’s sake.”

Jake shrugged. “Exactly. How many people’ve fucked out here before? Dozens? Hundreds? You’ve gotta relax, Robbie. No wonder you’re so miserable all the time.”

“No.” Robbie shook his head, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. “This was a mistake—a terrible, terrible mistake. I’m sorry, Jake. I let the alcohol get to my head.”

“You had two watered down drinks.”

“It’s because I’m tired, then. It’s late. My judgement’s impaired. I should never?—”

“What if I told you I liked it?”

Robbie looked back at him. “Seriously? You really are desperate.”

“Or maybe we actually have something between us, and if we don’t do something about it, it’ll never go away.”

“It might,” Robbie said, scratching the back of his head. “We could wait and see.”

Jake’s cock was still tight in his pants, straining against the fabric as he examined the man in front of him, shadows from the alleyway obscuring most of his face and body. There was still enough light for him to get glimpses of Robbie, though, and those glimpses revealed flushed cheeks, bright eyes, and an unmistakable longing in the slight furrow between his brows.

“Making out with that guy in the bar worked better than I thought it would.” Jake rubbed his hands over his arms, shivering in the cold that was finally getting to him.

“You bastard,” Robbie muttered. “You knew exactly what you were doing.”

“Of course I did. I like teasing you; you know that.”

“We have to ignore whatever we may feel for each other,” Robbie insisted again, making his way down the cobblestone alley slowly now, giving Jake plenty of time to keep up if he wanted to. “It’s the only way.”

“Hot and cold,” Jake said. “It’s not just me, is it?”

Robbie didn’t answer. He kept his arms hugged tightly around his chest, his head down.