Page 90 of Make the Play
“You would let me tackle you in bed?” Emerson asks.
Jason has to physically move Freddie’s giant head so he can see Emerson. “In case it wasn’t clear before, you can do anything you want to me.”
“Anything is really vague, Jason.”
“Yeah, it is,” Jason acknowledges, rubbing Freddie’s belly so he doesn’t get jealous. “Full disclosure, I don't exactly know what I like with another man, but I’d like to find out…with you, in case that also wasn’t clear. We can go at whatever speed you want. Although, I think you unlocked a new kink for me tonight. I’ve never been on the bottom and not going to lie, I’m enjoying this very much.”
“I can’t tell if you’re teasing or serious,” Emerson admits, holding his plush tightly.
“I mean it. I like you on top of me, but I’d like you under me or beside me too. I just like you, Emmy. Whatever that looks like for you. Incidentally, we’ve spent a lot of time talking about what I like and I appreciate that you care but this—” he pauses, waving at the small space between their faces, “this is two people. Not just me. So what you like matters too.”
“I have a list,” Emerson blurts.
“A list,” Jason echoes. “This like your list of questions?”
Emerson nods. “I started making a mental list after you kissed me, and I realized I was allowed to think about touching you.”
If Jason were a peacock, his feathers would be spread wide. As it is, he pushes his chest up, ignoring the way Stella and Freddie paw at him in favor of focusing on the part of the conversation where the man of his dreams just admitted to making a mental list about all the ways he wants to touch Jason.
“What’s at the top of your list?” Jason asks. “I know you put them in order of preference.”
“How do you know that?” Emerson questions.
“Because I know you,” Jason answers, delighted that Emerson is close enough for him to lift his head and kiss the shock off his face. His tongue slips into Emerson’s mouth in a kiss that’s more of a promise than a tease. When he finds his neck aching from the awkward position, he drops his head to the floor and grins up at Emerson’s flushed face.
“I can’t think when you do that.”
“Should I stop?” Jason asks, running his thumb over the side of Emerson’s neck.
“No,” Emerson groans. “Just, can we change first? I’m tired of this suit. I want to be comfy. Then…then I’ll tell you about my list.”
“Can being comfy include cuddling in bed?” Jason questions, eager to get up off the cold, hard floor but not at all ready to lose the feeling of Emerson’s body against his own like this.
“Yes,” Emerson confirms, slowly rising off Jason. He stands, towering above him in his pretty green suit, his boutonniere now crushed and his hair in disarray. He looks rumpled, his plush clutched to his chest and his stare unblinking. Jason wants to crowd him into his bed and never let him go.
“Are you going to get up off the floor or just stare at me?” Emerson asks with a slight cock to his head.
“The view is damn good,” Jason tells him, “but shit I feel thirty. This floor is hard.”
“I’m sorry,” Emerson apologizes.
“I told you it’s fine,” Jason assures him, rolling onto his hands and knees before rising. “Why don’t we get changed and get the dogs settled, then we talk about that list of yours.”
“If you don’t like the ideas, you can tell me.”
“I know,” Jason says, and he does, finding that honesty is easy with Emerson. He never has to second guess himself and it feels good to be so secure in knowing whatever Emerson says he means. “Same goes for you.”
Emerson opens his mouth then closes it, fingers twisting in the worn fabric of his plush shark. “What if…what I like isn’t what you like?”
“Then we figure it out, together,” Jason tells him, reaching for Emerson’s other hand, hanging loosely at his side. “You and I are a team, remember?”
“Team,” Emerson affirms.
Giving Emerson’s fingers a squeeze, he takes the first step towards the bedroom, pleased when Emerson automatically falls into step beside him. The pitter patter of paws on the floor lets him know Stella and Freddie are following too, and Jason can’t help but feel damn good that they all trust him.
He still might not be sure what label to use for his sexuality, might not even know exactly what to call the thing growing between him and Emerson, but the fact that it exists at all is enough for him right now. Whatever is happening between them feels right in a way none of his past relationships ever have, and Jason wants it—wants Emerson.
17EMERSON
