Page 87 of Fish Out of Water

“Bye, Carson.”

Jake hung up the phone, lids heavy, and pressed it to his chest. “Holy shit, Robbie, you’re insane,” he muttered, giving Robbie his free hand to help him up. “That was so fucking reckless.”

“You liked it,” Robbie said, his eyes twinkling. “You were so fucking hard when I started going down on you again.”

Jake looked away. He was aware that his cheeks were bright red, and there was nothing he could do about it. He ran a hand over his forehead, as if he could wipe away the heat. “I’ll never forget it,” he said, “I can give you that much.” Robbie’s smirk faded, and as Jake pulled his underwear back up and slipped his phone back into the hoodie pocket, he cocked his head slightly. “What is it? I know you’re still upset about the bookstore, but?—”

“Stay, Jake. Stay here; don’t leave when your aunt’s house sells.”

“What about your parents?”

“Fuck them.”

“Won’t it cause issues between you?”

“We’ve already got issues between us. They used their lawyer to inform me about the bookstore, for Mier’s sake.” A slow, almost cruel smile spread across his face. “Besides, I would give anything to see their faces when they find out we’re a couple.”

Jake swallowed hard.Spite. No good relationship was based on spite—not spite for each other, and certainly not out of spite for someone else. “I can’t do that, Robbie. It wouldn’t be fair to you. Or to me, if I’m being honest.”

“Would you stay if it were different?”

“What do you mean?”

“If my name and family didn’t factor in.”

“How should I know? You’d be an entirely different person then.”

“Just…” Robbie ran his hands through the sides of his hair. He always did that when he was getting flustered, and Jakehad never seen him do it around anyone but him, and maybe his parents. “Forget about them for a minute. Tell me honestly, would you stay if the circumstances were right?”

Jake’s brows knitted together. He squeezed his eyelids shut. His eyes watered and stung from the pressure, but he didn’t open them yet. He couldn’t.

“I don’t know,” he muttered. He opened his eyes again, blinking away the blurriness so he could see Robbie’s perfect, pained face. “My honest answer is that I don’t know. I think maybe—how should I put this? I think you’re being just a little bit rash. I know you want to hurt your parents, but you’re only going to end up hurting both of us instead, and it’s not going to give you the life you want.”

“No,” Robbie said, “I can never have that. But you could have the lifeyouwant.” He took Jake’s hands in his own, nails clawing at Jake’s skin with a kind of despair Jake had never felt in him before. “Stay with me. We can make it work. We can go anywhere in the world if you want, and never look back.”

“What about the house, Robbie? And the inheritance, and the history you have with this town?”

“Weren’t you the one who originally told me to let it go if I would be happier somewhere else?”

“Yeah, but that was before I knew you as well as I do now. You can’t just give it up and walk away.”

“Yes, I could. I’d give it all up to be with you. I love you, Jake.”

Jake’s stomach dropped.The rule. “You’re only saying all this because you’re upset, and I get it. But now’s not the time to be making decisions like this.”

“So I should let my parents continue making all my decisions for me? Would that be better?”

“What? No.”

Robbie dropped Jake’s hands. “They’ve already fucked my life up here beyond repair. Soon enough I won’t have anything left to stay for—except you.”

“That’s not a reason to say you love me.”

“What if I actually mean it?”

“Well, you don’t, so it doesn’t matter.” Jake brushed past Robbie, making for the storeroom door. He opened it to a warm, oppressive store that was the exact opposite of the fresh air he needed.

His jeans weren’t nearly dry enough to put on, but he jammed himself into them as best he could, shivering as the cold, damp denim clung to his skin and ripped hairs out of his legs.