Page 13

“The black and white episodes were better,” Jasper said, pulling the blanket off the back of the couch. He laid it across his lap and offered Konrad the other side. It was terribly domestic, watching Konrad sit on his couch, arranging his half of the patchwork quilt over his own lap. Jasper wasn’t used to sharing his space with anyone, but it almost felt natural with Konrad.

Jasper started nodding off after about three episodes. Not for lack of enjoying their time together, but perhaps because of it. Jasper didn’t usually sleep well, but as irrational as it would seem once he was sober, he felt safe with Konrad there. Like the man could somehow shield him from the nightmares that so often awoke Jasper in a cold sweat.

He didn’t remember falling asleep. He remembered fighting against his eyelids as they tried to pull down, but apparently he lost.

The marathon was still playing when he opened his eyes. He could have believed he’d only dozed momentarily, but his head was sideways, and he felt rested. He’d pulled the blanket all the way up to his shoulders at some point. He yawned, almost letting his eyes slip shut again before he realized what he was leaning on.

His head was on Konrad’s shoulder.

Embarrassment crawled hot and thick up his throat. His weight was pressed against Konrad’s arm, his head on his shoulder, and his curls were probably all up in Konrad’s face. “Sorry,” he muttered groggily, trying to sit up.

The arm he was leaning against lifted and settled around his shoulders instead, leaving him to lie against Konrad’s side. “Sleep, Jasper.”

There were so many reasons that was a bad idea. It made Jasper a terrible host, and it left him vulnerable in a way that made it feel like a garden of needles was growing under his skin, the points breaking through from the inside as they blossomed into anxiety. He had no intention of doing as Konrad said. He was only going to close his eyes for a second and then get up.

Konrad smelled amazing. Under the cologne, he smelled of rosemary and woodsmoke. Refined but real.

As Jasper drifted off again, he thought he felt a nose press against his curls.

Jasper woke up again in his bed. He rubbed his eyes and found daylight streaming between the blinds. He sat up, finding himself covered with his blanket, still fully dressed from the night before. The evening came back in pieces. Dinner… drinking a little too much moonshine… Andy Griffith. Then he fell asleep on Konrad.

He didn’t remember making it to his room.

Did Konrad carry him to bed?

“Konrad?” he called out. They’d both been drinking; maybe Konrad had crashed on the couch.

Jasper wandered out into the hallway. The house was quiet, and when he ambled into the kitchen, he found last night’s dishes washed and laid out to dry on a towel. The quilt was folded neatly across the back of the couch. Konrad’s dessert was on the counter, and Jasper hoped he wasn’t offended they hadn’t eaten it. They’d gotten a little sidetracked.

The ceramic dish acted as the paperweight for a note, written on a piece of paper torn from Jasper’s legal pad. The elegant handwriting was too pretty for the yellow paper.

Jasper,

I apologize for not thanking you for dinner before leaving, but I did not wish to disturb your sleep. Thank you for a lovely evening.

Yours,

Konrad

Of course he didn’t just send a text like a normal person. Jasper looked down at the note, at the picturesque signature at the bottom.

Yours.

It wasn’t literal, Jasper knew, but it still made his fingers feel a little less steady. He started composing a text, and then decided just to call. Konrad answered on the second ring.

“Hey,” Jasper said, folding the corner of the note, then unfolding it. He kept doing so while he talked. “Sorry for crashing on you last night. I just wanted to make sure you got home safe.”

“No apology needed, and I did. I was thinking it’s my turn to host you next time.”

“You always host,” Jasper said, smoothing the corner that now had a distinct crease.

“I meant at my home. Are you available Saturday?”

Oh.

“Yeah. I can be.”

“Then please consider your Saturday evening to be spoken for.”