Page 45 of Conquest

“Yeah.”

Jesse stood up and pulled Evan into a kiss. As Jesse’s tongue glided into his mouth, Evan tightened his hold on him, pressing Jesse’s hips against his.

Jesse caressed Evan’s cheek, then turned to pack his Chicago Bears duffel bag. Once finished, he left Kenny a note and they headed out of his building to where Evan had parked his Escalade.

Evan stumbled to a halt, a shocked cough slipped from his throat at the sight of it. The SUV sat stripped to the frame on the front end, mounted up on cinderblocks with the wheels and tires gone. The seats were missing and the instrument panel had been torn apart. Evan took a halting step toward it, then paced around it.

Jesse saw something on the SUV’s roof and pointed to it. “What’s that?”

Evan pulled it down. “My CD wallet.” He flipped through it. “Oh, how nice. They took the time to look through and only steal the ones they wanted.”

Jesse bit his bottom lip to keep from busting out in laughter. Brandon turned his back to Evan and rested one hand on Jesse’s shoulder, squeezing it as he struggled to keep his laugh under control.

“Well, we have pretty classy thieves here on the South Side,” Jesse said.

Evan glanced up at him. “I told you this was a bad neighborhood.”

“You did say it was your beater, though.”

A slow smile spread across Evan’s lips.

Brandon faced around, chuckling with each word he spoke. “If you need to go anywhere, Evan, I’d be happy to take you. I got my motorcycle parked up the street. You can ride behind me.”

Jesse jabbed his elbow into Brandon’s ribs. Brandon’s breath shot out of him, and he lost the last bit of control he had over keeping his laughter in check. Evan shook his head, chuckling softly as he pulled out his cell phone to call for a tow truck. Jesse took a seat on the steps to wait.

Brandon sat down beside him and leaned close to his ear. “Hey, is he really that good in bed?”

Jesse looked at him with a smirk that gave Brandon his answer.

Brandon huffed and reclined back on the steps. “Lucky little slut. It’s not fair. So you were really at his house? What’s it like? Is it a big ass mansion?”

“Yeah, it’s awesome,” Jesse said, and began filling Brandon in on details.

Evan finished his call and sat down on the step behind Jesse with his legs on either side of him.

During the hour it took for the tow truck to come, Brandon dominated the conversation by asking Evan questions, and Jesse noticed how Evan would deftly turn the topic away from himself and back to Brandon. When Brandon asked what Evan had been up to for the past three and a half years, Evan simply said traveling and talked about a few of the places he’d been. Then Brandon queried Evan as to what it was like being on tour, and Evan answered it wasn’t much different from being a stage actor in a traveling troupe and swung the dialogue back to Brandon’s acting career.

Listening to him, Jesse had to admit Evan’s mastery of conversation was impressive, if not a little unsettling. Evan was always honest in the answers he gave, but he didn’t give more than he had to, and now sitting back and paying attention made him realize all the more that Evan had been doing the same thing to him. Before, he’d been hurt by Evan’s refusal to open up to him, now his determination strengthened to get Evan to trust him.

When the tow truck arrived, Jesse overheard the conversation between Evan and the driver, the driver commenting how in his experience, insurance companies didn’t usually pay up unless there was a police report. Evan shrugged and told the guy to take the Escalade away.

Jesse stood as Evan returned. “Aren’t you going to call the cops?”

Evan shook his head. “The paparazzi have a knack for sniffing out stuff like this. I’ve been doing pretty good at staying below their radar for the past few years, I don’t need to send up a signal flare by reporting this. If I did, the next thing you know, there’d be articles in every tabloid about me being a burned-out has-been trolling bad neighborhoods looking to buy crack and a hooker.”

“But what about the insurance?” Jesse asked.

“It’s not like I need their money. Tomorrow we’ll go shopping for a Cayenne. Right now, I can’t even think I’m so hungry. It’s closer to lunch than breakfast. Let’s go get some food.”

Jesse and Brandon glanced at each, both in disbelief. Jesse could hardly fathom purchasing a vehicle the cost of an Escalade, let alone shrugging off the loss like it was a pair of ten-dollar sunglasses. He took a breath, doing his best to comprehend Evan’s reasoning, and focused on Evan’s food comment.

“If you’re that hungry, then let’s go to Uno’s. I guarantee you’ve never tasted anything so good in the world.”

Evan stepped close to Jesse and nuzzled next to his ear. “But I’ve already tasted the greatest thing in the world.”

Brandon watched Jesse glow under Evan’s attention and the affectionate way Evan whispered to him. Having never seen Jesse look or act in such a way with anyone, he was more than a little surprised, but he also couldn’t shake his concern about Evan. He noticed the way Evan gave virtually no information about himself, and though he played along as if oblivious, it made him uneasy that Evan was hiding something.

Brandon came out of his thoughts as Jesse walked away with Evan’s arm around his shoulders. He left them at Jesse’s truck and hopped onto his Suzuki motorcycle, leading the way down side streets and short cuts to get to Ohio Street and Uno’s. He headed in before them, as it was easier for him to find a place to park his bike, and put his name on the waiting list.