Page 41 of Conquest

“The dreaded Carrie beast, also known as Kenny’s girlfriend. It’s an obnoxious animal that should be destroyed for the sake of humanity’s eardrums.” Jesse went to his door and kicked it closed. “And I’m not ready to deal with it yet.”

As he moved to walk past his bed, Evan snagged him by the belt and pulled him toward him. “You said you wanted me alone.”

Jesse ran his fingers through Evan’s newly cut hair. “And you told me to get ready.”

“Well…” with quick movements, Evan clasped his arms around Jesse’s waist, lifted, and tossed him to the bed. Jesse landed on his back, laughing. Before the bed had stopped bouncing from the impact, Evan was braced above him on both arms. “I’ve changed my mind.”

Jesse caught Evan behind his head and pulled him to his lips, transferring the joy he felt through the kiss.

“Hey!” Kenny yelled from the other side of the door. “Are you ready?”

Jesse slowly withdrew from the kiss. Without taking his eyes from Evan’s, he called out to Kenny, “No. You guys go ahead. I’ll call you in a little bit and we’ll catch up.”

Kenny breathed a loud, frustrated sigh. “Fine.”

Evan stroked Jesse’s hair near his temple. “I don’t know what you’ve done to me, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you all day.”

Jesse slid his hands under Evan’s shirt and up his sides. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you either.”

“So how’d things really go? You said you negotiated for a higher advance and royalties, so Greg must’ve been treating you pretty fair.”

“Greg did at least,” Jesse mumbled, turning his head to the side.

Concern darkened the joyous glow on Evan’s face. “What do you mean? What happened?”

“Just a bunch of bullshit.” Jesse shifted to sit up, forcing Evan to climb off him. “Do you want some champagne? I’m dying to try it.” He got up from the bed and walked out of the room.

Evan followed him, catching him in the kitchen. He gently gripped Jesse’s upper arm, halting him from getting occupied with the champagne, and laid his other hand on the side of Jesse’s face. “I can see it in your face and hear it in your voice that you’re upset. Tell me what happened.”

Jesse met Evan’s eyes. Whether it was the worry he saw there or the warmth in Evan’s voice, he wasn’t sure, but he found himself spilling everything that had happened, from Tim’s accusations to his argument with Kenny, and even Greg’s comments about trying to convince Evan to come down to the studio to visit him, which looking back on he found it pretty hilarious, though if Evan did no humor entered his expression. Evan stood silent, focused on his every word while he sat on the kitchen counter delivering the events like a skilled orator.

Evan gazed down at the kitchen floor, his somber face set with a frown as Jesse finished. “Why didn’t you call me when all that happened?”

Jesse let out a sarcastic huff. “Yeah, that would’ve looked real cool. I could’ve jumped up, brandished my cell phone, and yelled, you better stop picking on me or else I’ll call my boyfriend, and he’ll come down here and kick your ass!”

Evan looked at him from under his eyelashes, one corner of his lips turned up in a grin. “Your boyfriend, huh?”

Jesse lifted his chin and gave Evan a smirk. “That’s right. I assume you don’t have a problem being called that since it basically means you’re mine.”

Evan wrapped his arms around Jesse’s waist. “None whatsoever.”

Jesse cupped Evan’s face in both hands and covered his mouth in a kiss he put all his happiness behind. As the kiss ended, Evan reached for his glass of champagne. He lifted it and paused, his head tilted to the side as he gave it a curious look.

“What’s the matter?” Jesse said teasingly. “Not used to drinking Dom from a seventy-five cent glass bought at the dollar store?”

Evan laughed and shook his head. “It’s a first.” He looked at Jesse. “But I’ve had a lot of those the past few days.” He raised his glass to him. “Here’s to you, commander of Conquest. The world is your battlefield. Now all you have to do is conquer it, a feat I have total faith that you can do.”

Jesse touched his glass against Evan’s. Both drank at the same time and lowered their glasses to bring their lips together.

CHAPTER TWELVE

The sound of jewel cases clinking together pulled Jesse awake. He opened his eyes, waited a moment for the haze of sleep to clear, then looked toward the sound and saw Evan sitting naked on his bedroom floor, flipping through his CDs.

“That has to be some kind of sickness you have,” Jesse said.

“I know, I can’t help it. I see discs and I have to know what ones they are.”

Jesse swung his legs over the edge of the bed and grabbed his iPod off the nightstand. “Here. You should like playing with this. It’s got the stuff I listen to the most on it.” He tossed it, Evan caught it. He yawned, stretching his arms over his head. “I can’t believe we drank that whole bottle of Dom last night.”