Page 12 of Jace's Secret
“I’ll put this in the sink,” Garrett says and disappears back into the bathroom. Jace flops to his side, lying down on the couch. Garrett washes his hands and then stands in the bathroom's doorframe, leaning against it as he stares at Jace. “I was married for a long time. And I don’t have a lot of time for relationships. I’ve not explored as much as I want to.”
Jace sits up. He sorts out the pillows on the couch for something to do and picks up the stuffed elephant that fell to the ground. It’s a replica of the one Garrett got him when he turned twelve. When Jace looks back at Garrett, he’s looking around the apartment curiously. Like a police detective looking for clues.
“Can I give you my number?” Jace asks. “In case you want to explore a bit more?”
Garrett looks into Jace’s bedroom, the door ajar. His bedside lamp is on, bed made, and that means every stuffed animal Garrett ever bought him is arranged on the bed.
“Do you have kids?”
“No. I’m twenty-four and gay as the day is long.”
Garrett looks at the floor, brow furrowed. “You’re twenty-four,” he repeats. He doesn’t sound happy about it. “And your name is… Jack.”
Jace swallows, unable to meet Garrett’s gaze. He needs to confess. He’s scared too, and he isn’t sure why. There’s no way Garrett could have guessed, is there? And is it really so terrible?
“I have to go.” Garrett heads to the door and then stops, taking his phone out. “Did you want to give me your contact information? Name and phone number?”
And there’s something in his tone or maybe his body language, but Jace knows that if he says yes, Garrett is going to run his information. And then he’s going to know.
“You already know my address,” Jace says hoarsely.
“I didn’t pay attention. I won’t pay attention when I leave, either,” he says, voice flat. “We can pretend I haven’t been here. But going forward, if you want to see me again, then you should tell me your name and number.”
Jace is frozen with indecision. What will Garrett say when he figures out who Jace is? What will he think when he’s sure that Jace has kept all of his stuffed animals and clearly has some bizarre hero-worship crush on him? Why didn’t he put the stupid animals away? Why did he lie about his name? He should have told Garrett the truth earlier.
Garrett reaches into his pocket and takes out a card. He sets it down on the coffee table and steps back. He hesitates at the door, as if he’s thinking of saying something. What could he possibly say?
He doesn’t.
He leaves.
And Jace lets him.
6
Three weeks later, Garrett makes it to the conference room two minutes early for the Monday morning meeting. Which means he has time to grab a cup of coffee from the break room. It’s one of those little pod machines that he kind of hates. Everyone wants to save the world, but they don’t want to inconvenience themselves in the slightest.
And here he is, no better than the rest of them, because he is going to have one, anyway. He sighs heavily and pushes the button to start the machine.
“You know, if there’s ever anything you want to talk about, I’m here for you,” Ralph says, sneaking up on him.
“Wait until I’ve got my coffee. Give me time to have three sips in quiet and then I’ll be ready for the full Ralph experience,” Garrett says. Because Ralph is a lot.
Garrett slept well for a change. Well, until 5 a.m. when he woke up and couldn’t stop thinking about Jack. Or whatever the boy’s name is.
Technically, Jack is a man, but there was so much about him that was young and almost innocent that it’s impossible not to think of him as a boy no matter how many times he reminds himself that Jack isn’t illegally young. Just inappropriately so.
And how ridiculous is it to think of Jack as innocent when the first meeting was getting a blow job and the second was a random hookup? Innocent young men don’t wander the streets wearing a butt plug.
His name might be Jack. Garrett has nothing but a hunch to tell him otherwise. He could have run the boy’s address, but that would have been unethical, so he hadn’t. And Jack hasn’t called him. So, it’s over.
The end.
It’s probably for the best. While it was definitely the best sexual encounter of his life, it was also the strangest. Jack’s willingness to be debauched had made Garrett so fucking hard that he’d taken the boy at his word that he was prepped. He’d fucked him without a condom. Which isn’t something he’d ever thought he’d do, especially if he was going to have gay anal sex. Which also isn’t something he’d ever thought he’d do.
God damn, the boy had been tight. The experience had been so affecting that Garrett now fists his dick tighter when he’s jerking off, imagining Jack’s hole.
Which is pretty pathetic considering it was a one-night stand that occurred weeks ago. And the way Jack had made a mess of his jockstrap, touching himself furtively, as if he couldn’t help it. That shouldn’t have been so fucking arousing, either, but it was.
