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“I’m just wonderful like that,” Dream says with a little grin. “Now, you two enjoy your dinner. I’ll be back to really get this party started.”
I should be concerned about what he means about ‘getting the party started,’ but I’m too focused on the man sitting next to me. “I can’t believe you arranged all this.”
As usual, Jeb shrugs off my appreciation. “Better hurry up and eat,” he says. “Tell me if it’s as good as the stuff you used to get back in New York.”
I take a large spoonful and the flavors burst on my tongue. “It’s really good.” I take another sip. “Almost as good as Ima’s.”
Worry lines crease his forehead, which I immediately want to smooth with my fingertips. “Does this,” he says, motioning to the table of food, “bring up sad memories for you?”
“Actually, the opposite,” I reassure him. “It helps me remember the good times I had with my family, and not just being caught up in an endless loop of the pain of losing them.”
I want to tell him that without him coming into my life, I’m not sure I would have ever reached the point where I could think of my family without being crushed by their loss. That him dragging me kicking and screaming into his larger-than-life adventures had made me start living again.
But I know he doesn’t want that from me. What we have is supposed to be fun and easy. A summer of sex and adventure as we rob and road trip across America.
I can’t let Jeb know it’s so much more than that for me.
Instead, I take a spoonful of the soup and hold it out to him. His eyes light up. For once, it’s me feeding him.
“Hmmm.” He lets out an appreciative groan that makes my cock twitch in response. He knows it, too, by the wicked gleam of his eyes. His foot finds mine under the table, and he rubs my ankle, which I would have never guessed was an erogenous zone, but his attention to it has my blood pressure rising.
Dinner is fun and flirty, and just as we’re finishing our meal, Dream comes back carrying a chocolate cake with a lit sparkler burning in the middle of it. Jack Navarro and a bunch of people I’ve never met before trail behind him as they all sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to me.
Jeb takes hold of my hand, probably because he’s afraid I’ll bolt under all this attention. I grip him back tightly.
They finish the song, and I manage a stammered thank you to everyone gathered around the table.
Noting my emblazoned face and the panic I couldn’t keep from my eyes, Dream pats my shoulder. “I know we are an overwhelming bunch, but we're pretty awesome. Just give us a shot.” He says and then introduces me to the group of people who include several of Jack’s family members, including his mother, Corina, and Abe, the man who was so kind to make the soup for me. When I thank him, he waves me away. “Gotta take care of another New Yorker, especially since I’m in the land of Cubs fans,” he says, kicking off a spirited sports debate that leaves me clueless.
Dream notices my total lack of knowledge on the subject the group is arguing about. “I couldn’t care less about the World Cup, either,” Dream tells me.
Jack sighs. “It’s the World Series, baby,” he corrects Dream, and then returns to his conversation.
Dream rolls his eyes. “Whatever,” he says and slips into the booth and sits next to me. “I’d rather talk to you and listen to how much you love my illustrations.”
I laugh, and we spend at the next few hours talking about the graphic novels he illustrates and some of the artistic choices he made to try to bring Dario’s words to life.
“Speaking of, I stashed these here earlier,” he says, reaching behind the booth to pull out a paper bag and handing it to me. I open the bag, and there is the first book in Dario and Dream’s new series that won't be released for two more months. My mouth falls open and then I see Dream’s autograph—as well as Dario’s.
“I invited him here today, but—” Dream bites his lip frettingly. “He’s not always good at leaving his house.” He brightens. “Maybe next time you two are in town, you can come with me to his place for a little visit. I really think you two would vibe with each other.”
I excitedly agree, and it’s not until after the impromptu party is over and Jeb and I are back on the street in front ofDolcethat I realize there won’t be a ‘next time’ that Jeb and I are both in Chicago.
Summer is hurtling toward fall, and between our hijinks and the rest of the crew’s efforts, we have almost enough links in the evidence chain to frame Leland Banks. Too soon, Jeb will be on to his next adventure, and I’ll be searching for my next hate group to target.
I ignore the deep ache that the realization causes in my heart. I refuse to waste the time I have with Jeb by focusing on how letting him go is going to wreck me.
“What do you want to do now, birthday boy?” Jeb asks, his hand circling around my neck and causing me to burrow into his touch.
The answer comes to me immediately.I want Jeb inside of me.The need to share that closeness with him is even stronger now that I’ve realized how little time we have left together.
I open my mouth to answer him, but a sudden shyness comes over me. He has never suggested anal sex to me before.Maybe he doesn’t want that with me?I’m so new to sex that I’m unsure how to ask him for this.
“I want you to take me to a bar,” I tell him. “I want to have a drink now that I’m of age.”
“I know just the place to take you.”
Perfect.
