Page 19 of Home Between Homes

Jack’s chin dropped to his chest. If he wasn’t already so red from the cold, his cheeks would probably be burning right now.

“Let’s just leave it at that, shall we?” I chuckled and pushed myself to my feet. “How about some fresh clothes?” I asked, nodding toward the stairs. I wanted to relieve him of the burden of his unplanned revelation, but I also couldn’t wait to change into some dry pants. Everything I was wearing was quite wet, thanks to all the snow that had melted in my car, soaked my clothes, refroze as we walked through the blizzard, and was now melting again.

I led him upstairs, and he followed me quietly, sucking on his lips. Out of the corners of my eyes, I saw him make several faces as if he was debating something in his head, but then he shook it one last time with a deep sigh, settling whatever was on his mind.

“Do you want to take a shower?” I asked as I searched my closet for sweatpants that were loose enough to fit him.

“Maybe in half an hour. We should get used to the temperature first, or we’d probably burn ourselves.”

I found the gray pants I was looking for and handed them to him. “Here you go.”

“Thank you.” He slipped out of his jeans without hesitation. My eyes were drawn to his dark blue designer boxers. They highlighted his buttandhis package.

Heat rushed to my cheeks. I probably should’ve looked away, but this was like the continuation of his story. As if all the dirty things I had imagined yesterday were about to become reality. “You’re not shy, are you?”

“What?” He looked up, knitting his brows as he followed my gaze down to his bulge. “Oh God. Sorry. I didn’t think… yeah.Iwasn’t thinking.” He quickly pulled up his sweatpants, but his bulge got caught in the waistband for a moment, revealing even more of what was hidden underneath. “I, uh?—”

“We’re just men here. Don’t worry.” I pulled off my shirt, revealing my snow-white chest. “See, nothing to be ashamed of.” I unbuttoned my pants and pushed them down. His eyes moved slowly with them and settled on my crotch.

Jack chuckled. “You’re not a shy one either, huh?”

“Let’s consider this a cosmic payment for what we’ve been through.” I turned to the recliner and picked up the black jogging pants I had worn this morning. I bent down and stepped into them.

His eyes still lingered on me, but when I turned my head toward him, they darted to the ceiling.

I guess I wasn’t the only one who was wondering where this was going.

SIX

SPICE

Whenever I go somewhere,I like to bring a variety of clothes, usually a little more than I expect to wear. I want to have options because sometimes I crave baggy pieces that help me feel snug, and sometimes I need the fabrics to hug my body tightly. The clothes I had given Jack were the loosest and biggest I had, and yet the sweatpants looked like a skinny fit on him, while the shirt was so short that the hem didn’t quite reach the waistband of the bottoms. As a result, he exposed his waist whenever he moved: when he walked down the stairs in front of me, when he bent down to pet Maggie, and when he stood up again to make his way to the kitchen. Whenever his skin showed, my attention was drawn to it, as if his groin and my eyes were two magnets attracting each other.

He didn’t seem to notice how this made my heart pump like crazy, and my dick react in a way that was all too obvious in the tight jogging pants I’d put on ten minutes ago. The heat spread from my groin all over my body, which would have been a warm welcome after everything if the sweatpants he was wearing hadn’t revealed that he wasn’t reacting the way I was.

So, I excused myself and went to the guest bathroom. I needed to calm down at least a little. When I closed the doorbehind me, my dick was throbbing, and my heart was pounding harder than when we were out in the storm. If I had wanted to, I could have sprayed my cum all over the bathroom floor in seconds. But this wasn’t the time to hide in the bathroom and masturbate. If anything, this was the time to get back out there and take advantage of the opportunity we had been given.

I stepped to the sink and put my hand on the faucet but stopped when I saw myself in the mirror. I was not a pretty sight. My skin was as red as if I had stayed in the sauna too long, which was ridiculous since I had just come in from the cold. I had deep circles under my eyes as if I hadn’t slept in ages. At least the well-fitting black joggers and my favorite brown hoodie, which proclaimed “Love is love” in bold letters, made me look somewhat respectable. Nevertheless, I got undressed again. I needed to freshen up.

After washing my face, torso, and crotch (I didn’t want to be too optimistic, but you never know) and applying some lotion, I still looked red but much more alive. I ran my fingers through my hair to get it in place. It was as good as it was going to get, but at least I felt more like myself again.

I went back out and found Jack sitting on the floor with Maggie cuddled up on his lap.

Jack smiled at me, and if my face wasn’t already red, my blush would have been very visible. “She’s so warm. Want to take my place while I freshen up, too?”

The image of takingMaggie’splace instead popped into my head, but it was quickly erased when Jack’s stomach rumbled so loudly that even Maggie looked up.

He wiped his hand over his forehead. “Sorry.”

“Cuddling will have to wait, then. I have to make lunch instead.” I walked past him to the refrigerator, turned on the under-cabinet lights that bathed the kitchen in a warm yellow glow and opened the fridge.

“But take it easy,” Jack said. “It doesn’t have to be fancy.”

“Any allergies or things you don’t like?”

“I’ll eat anything.”

“Dog biscuits it is.”

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