Page 108 of Point of Contact

Jesse flushed in pleasure at the praise, getting up to follow Trevor back into the house when the oven timer dinged. He sat down at the table, Trevor serving him a huge slab of homemade lasagna, along with a Caesar salad and garlic bread hot from the oven.

“Some good old-fashioned comfort food,” Trevor said, refreshing both their wine glasses. “Thought maybe you needed it.”

As they ate, they chatted about everyday things, the weather, politics, something funny Jesse’d heard some customers say. He enjoyed the sight of Trevor’s open, easy smile, the sound of his deep laugh.

When they’d eaten their fill, Trevor refused Jesse’s offer to help clean up. “Nope. You just relax.”

So Jesse finished off the wine, almost cross-eyed with fatigue when Trevor at last led him to bed. They slid naked between the sheets, and Trevor encouraged him to lie on his belly while he straddled his hips and gave him a long, slow back rub.

The lights were dim, the bed soft, and Trevor’s fingers were firm and soothing on the sore, tense muscles of his shoulders. Jesse floated on a pleasurable haze and woke with a start, chagrined to realize he’d fallen asleep and several hours had passed. Trevor was now stretched out next to him, his breathing deep and even.

Jesse turned on his side and feathered his lips over Trevor’s bare shoulder, smiling when he opened his eyes and blinked at him sleepily.

“I’m sorry for crashing on you,” Jesse whispered, brushing Trevor’s hair away from his forehead.

“Nope,” Trevor rasped, yawning so big his jaw cracked. “Mission accomplished. Feed you, relax you, and get you to rest.”

“Mmm.” Jesse leaned down to kiss him. “You take such good care of me.”

Trevor’s eyes were warm. “I’m glad you think so, because I’m really trying.”

They shared a few more soft kisses, and then Trevor put his head down on Jesse’s shoulder. “You have to work next weekend?” he asked drowsily. “Do you know yet?”

“I doubt it, after all these extra hours I’ve been getting. Why?”

Trevor scratched his nails lightly over Jesse’s chest, toying a little with the hair there. “Well, my friends Lyle and Bill are having a dinner party on Saturday night and I was hoping you might want to go with me.” He launched into an explanation of who Lyle and Bill were, a lawyer and a fellow accountant, a couple who’d been his friends for years.

A lawyer. An accountant. Jesse tensed. “Why do you want me to go?” he asked tightly. “I don’t know these guys.”

“Well, yeah, but that’s kind of the point, isn’t it?” Trevor sounded confused. “You getting to know them. I thought as far as social occasions go, this’d be the perfect opportunity for me to introduce you as my new boyfriend. It’s just a small party at their home, nothing overwhelming.”

His new boyfriend. Suddenly, Jesse could picture how it’d be—a room full of educated men, all affluent, probably well-traveled...and him, a former Army grunt and present-day bartender.

Jesse set his jaw. “No, thanks.”

Pushing up to one elbow, Trevor looked down at him in bewilderment. “But why? I want you to meet my friends.”

It was a perfectly reasonable request, but at the thought of it, anxiety surged through Jesse, making his stomach roil. Pushing Trevor away, he climbed out of bed and stalked toward the kitchen, heedless of his nakedness. When Trevor finally joined him, belting a black silk robe around his waist, Jesse was leaning against the counter guzzling a bottle of water.

Before Trevor could say anything, Jesse burst out, “You know how it’s gonna be, right? I’m not going to have anything in common with any of these guys, nothing to talk about, so basically all I’ll be doing is sitting there looking pretty.”

“What?” Trevor’s mouth dropped open. “That’s not true!”

“It is. You know what they’ll all be thinking,” Jesse plowed on. “That you found a young, dumb piece of ass to console yourself with after Carl dumped you. They’ll think I found me a daddy, someone whose money I can spend when I’m not at the goddamn gym or tanning booth.”

Trevor was gaping at him in shock, and Jesse’s lips twisted, even as his brain was yelling at him to shut up, to stop pushing away the best thing that had ever or would ever happen to him. But he couldn’t stop.

“They’ll compare me to Carl. What was he, a doctor or something?”

“An environmental engineer.” Trevor’s voice was almost inaudible.

“There you go. You went from that...to this.” He waved one hand down his body. “And they’ll laugh at you for it.”

He spun away from Trevor and braced his hands on the counter, breathing hard, anguish churning through his gut as he waited for Trevor to throw him out.

After a moment he heard the rustle of fabric as Trevor moved up behind him. “Do you really care that much about what other people think?” he asked softly. “Or is it that you think I do?”

Jesse snorted. “I’m just being realistic.” He tightened his fingers on the edge of the counter. “I don’t have a college education. I’m not outgoing, or sophisticated, or witty. I’m liable to drop F-bombs at the dinner table, and if someone asks me what I do, all I’ll be able to talk about is the best way to clean an M4 or, even better, how many shots of gin are in a martini. They’ll all fuckin’ pity you,” he finished harshly, jumping when he felt Trevor’s hand come to rest in the middle of his back. “Don’t—”