Page 15 of Finally
“We’re making an olive oil cake.”
“Do you think it has chocolate in it?” he asked.
“We can only hope.” Gray set his phone down and held his arms open. “Come here.”
There was no way to read that body language as anything other than an invitation for a hug, so Jack quickly scooted closer and leaned into Gray’s chest. When strong arms wrapped around him, he took a deep breath and relaxed.
“There you go,” Gray said, voice quiet and calm. “Feel better?” He rubbed Jack’s back.
“Uh huh. Sorry.”
“For what?”
Embarrassed at his teenage-like behavior, Jack said. “I don’t know.”
“Are you freaking out because of my boyfriend suggestion?”
In reaction to being caught, Jack’s heart rate spiked. He tilted his head back and met Gray’s gaze.
“Do you want to tell me which part freaked you out?” Gray pushed his fingertips against Jack’s nape, pressing out the tension.
“I don’t know,” he said truthfully this time. Gray hadn’t suggested anything Jack didn’t want or hadn’t thought about. He had merely put into words an idea that normally lived in Jack’s head. He laid his cheek against Gray’s chest and considered the question. “I think it’s mostly that I don’t understand the parameters of the offer.”
Instead of laughing at his tendency to focus on minutiae or rescind his offer because Jack made everything too complicated, Gray gently brushed his fingers through Jack’s hair and said, “Fair enough. Let’s iron out the details.”
“Thank you.” Jack curled his arm around Gray’s waist and held onto him.
“Talk to me about the parts that are on your mind and we can drill down on them.” In typical form, Gray had identified the issue, wiped away the noise, and was breaking it into parts that made everything seem simple.
In his professional life, Jack usually was able to do the same thing, though it took him a bit longer and made him endlessly anxious because he worried about making the wrong decisions and hurting his staff. Gray, on the other hand, was even-keeled at work and at home. His decisiveness and confidence made him the best sounding board, which was why Jack relied on him when he needed to talk through his toughest decisions. This was personal, not professional, but the structure of their discussion was familiar, which put Jack at ease. He thought through their earlier conversation so he could articulate his questions.
“Dating can mean different things to different people,” he said, choosing his words carefully. “What does it mean to you?”
Gray opened his mouth and then snapped it shut with a frown. “That is unexpectedly difficult to answer.”
“It is?” Jack sat up. Gray was one of the most competent people Jack had ever met. Very little was difficult for him and Jack had asked a seemingly softball question.
“That depends. Are you asking about my history with other people or are you asking about us?”
His concerns had been squarely related to what Gray was offering him, but now that the topic had been raised, Jack realized he wanted to know about Gray’s past boyfriends. They’d been close friends for two decades and that had ramped up in recent years, and yet, they never talked about the men they dated. That was in part because there was very little Jack could bring to the table when it came to that topic. He’d had one failed relationship ten years earlier and he had rarely gone out with anyone since then, so there wasn’t much to say about his love life, and he wasn’t qualified to give useful advice. Not that Gray asked him for advice related to men. In fact, Gray never discussed his own love life, probably because their friends frequently gave him a hard time about his many escapades. The last thing Jack wanted was to make Gray feel like he was piling on.
Before Jack could answer his question, Gray said, “Maybe it isn’t actually that difficult.” He drew in a deep breath. “I don’t date, Jack. Haven’t in a very, very long time.”
“But…” Jack frowned, thinking of the stories and jabs their friends had made over the years. “Everyone says you—” He stopped talking, not wanting to repeat the words he wished their friends didn’t say.
“Have golden arches over my bed?” Gray tilted one side of his lips up in an almost smile.
Jack flinched. He was being overly sensitive, but he didn’t like when people talked about Gray’s sex life, even if it was good-natured teasing.
“They’re not wrong, but if that’s what’s worrying you, I can assure you, now that we’re finally doing this, that’s in the past. I’m all in on monogamy.” He reached forward, picked up Jack’s hand, and rubbed his thumb back and forth over hiswrist. “Which brings me right back to your original question.” He grinned. “First off, let’s be clear that the parameters of our relationship can be whatever you want them to be.” He curled his free hand around Jack’s nape. “When I imagine being your boyfriend, it’s a lot like what we have right now.” Gray jerked his gaze down to their joined hands resting on Jack’s upper thigh. “Except ramped up.”
“We already talk almost every day and we see each other all the time.” Jack looked at Gray’s hand and fought the urge to slide it up a few inches. “And we’re, uh, a lot touchier than I am with our other friends.”
“Exactly.” Gray leaned forward and kissed Jack’s forehead. “Let’s do more of that.”
Chapter 5
As Gray made his way across the restaurant to the table where his friends were seated, he immediately noticed the tension in Jack’s posture. He knew from their conversation earlier that day that work had been relatively calm, which meant the cause of Jack’s stress likely was from their friends harassing him about a new set up or about the two of them dating. Gray’s instinct told him to rush over and save Jack from the conversation, but instead, he stopped a couple of tables away and thought that through.
