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Jax shrugged. “Like what?”
“Oh, I dunno … like why you hauled ass away from the oily professor just now. Or why the sexy dude was glaring at you like he’d happily murder you.”
“Oily professor?” Jax glommed onto that. “What makes yousay that?”
“He was eyeing you like the finest New York steak, and you barely gave him the time of day.” Jim paused, then asked, frowning, “Is he the guy who was harassing you?”
Jax chuckled. “No. That guy is my age. Gordon … happened earlier, when I was still astudent.”
Jim’s eyes bugged out of his head. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying, bro?”
“I don’t know what you think I’m saying, but it’s probably not as extreme as you’re imagining. He just had a bad case of the wandering hands. Google him … you’ll see all the stories. Just know, they’re probablyall true.”
“Dad, can we go on this one?”
Jake came and tugged at his father’s hand. Jim looked down to see which one the boys wanted to tour and nodded. “Wait just a minute,” he said and turned back to Jax to add, “We’ll finish this conversation later. Come on, before they cause an internationalincident.”
Jax nodded, grateful for the reprieve, even though he knew it was short-lived. He’d have to come clean to his friend about Noah. The question now was how would he keep Jim from finding out that the feelings he had buried for so long werenot dead?
Chapter 4
Noah
He had thought he’d be over Jax by now.
“Sorry!”
Noah sidestepped the man carrying the toddler while the woman walking beside him pushed a stroller with an infant asleep under a parasol. The man nodded absently, listening as his son asked for whatever treat they were passing by. He kept walking, trying not to think about why he had stopped to stare at Jax who had been with another guy and a couple of boys. Why hadn’t he thought about the fact that the man would be here at the parade? For Pete’s sake, this event was one of the highlights of the summer season in town, so whywouldn’tJax be there? The town thrived on the income that the three-day festival brought with the increase in visitors who spent a lot of cash.
He should never have stopped to look, but the sight of the man he still loved—even if he’d never admit that to another living soul—drew him like a magnet. What had Jax thought when their eyes had met? Had he been as poleaxed as Noah had been? They were bound to meet again before Jax left to wherever he was headed, and Noah needed to figure out how to deal with that. He wanted to avoid the other man as much as possible, but he also wanted to get his attention, get him talking, tell him everything he’d kept in his heart for the past ten years while he’d made a name for himself as part of the acclaimed Barrington String Quartet.
Making a snap decision, because he knew thinking too hard on it would send him running again, he turned back but Jax had gone. He was determined to find him this time, though, so he made his way methodically through the crowd, enjoying the warmth of the sun on his face and arms. He’d always been a sun-lover and today it seemed the heat was loosening the chains that he’d wrapped aroundhis heart.
The crowds around him made his body hum with a kind of excitement he usually only felt when he was preparing to perform. And since he hadn’t done that in months, he was hard pressed to understand why that was. Surely it couldn’t be because he’d seen Jax again? He’d run away the first time they’d bumped into each other, and he’d been determined to keep his distance, but now he was almost impatient to find him again. Which made no sense whatsoever. The parade was winding down, but there were still a few floats left. Hopefully, Jax and his companion would still be around watching it.
Had he moved on? Was that guy his husband? The thought filled Noah with renewed pain, after his meltdown a few nights earlier. He had thought he’d be over Jax by now, but if the way his body was reacting was any indication, he’d been fooling himself for the last ten years. And even the anger that still simmered in him languished behind the other more pressing ones that had been bombarding him since that fateful meeting on the jogging path.
A cheer rose up from the crowd to his left and he turned to see what all the fuss was about. A performer on stilts was juggling and making balloon animals which he was passing out to the children gathered around him. Moving closer, Noah scanned the group and found the man he was looking for smiling down at one of the boys who had been with him earlier. The child said something that made Jax laugh and then, as if he sensed he was being watched, he looked up and their eyes met a second time.
Holy Mother of God!The impact of those dark eyes on him remained as potent as they’d ever been, overlaid by a flash of pain that Noah could well understand. Noah unglued his feet from where they were stuck to the ground and walked to where his former lover stood, never taking his eyes off him.What the hell am I gonna say to him?Drumbeats of tension pulsed in his chest, and he knew that his sucking in air like a drowning man had nothing to do with the escalating temperature of the summer day.
“Noah! Hi.”
Jax’s awkward greeting pulled Noah’s lips into a reluctant smile.Well thank fuck! At least he’s as lost for words as I am.He was sure he could do betterthan that.
“Hi. I saw you and your…” Well, maybe hecouldn’tdo any better because was he really going to low-key fish for information about Jax’s marital status?
“My best friend Jim and his kids.”
Jax’s smile widened as though he knew Noah’s secret, but he only turned to his friend and made the introductions.
“Jim Bell, meet Noah Santiago, a formerstudent.”
Noah refused to let that hurt. Jax hadn’t lied, and maybe it was better for the two of them if he didn’t offer up any further information about how they knew each other. Besides, he shouldn’t be wanting Jax to introduce him as anything else. Too many years of silence had passed between them for there to be anything other than professional interest. And even though they had been lovers before Jax had painfully yanked the rug out from under him when he’d ended their affair, no one else needed to know how far along that forbidden path they hadtraveled.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Bell,” he said, summoning up a smile.
“Same here, Mr. Santiago. And just Jim, please.” Jim Bell’s wide grin was infectious as he turned to the boys standing between him and Jax. “These two are my boys, Jake and Jude. Say hello, boys.”
