Page 39 of Jordan

I nodded. My dick was still hard. Having Vail close was a recipe for disaster.

“This was… interesting,” he murmured. “I forgot about being sick and why I was here for a minute.”

“You and me both. How could I think with the way he moved?”

Vail chuckled, then coughed. “Did we really kiss him with the flu?”

I shrugged. “What difference does it make? He’s the one who gave it to us, and we’re feeling better than we were, thanks to the antiviral.”

“True, but still. We should be resting.”

“In our own beds.”

“Do you wish you were home and not here?” he asked.

“Home… I haven’t felt like I was at home since I lived with my grandfather. It’s been too much moving around to feel settled.”

Vail turned so he could prop his leg on the bed and face me. “Are you happy?”

“Honestly, no. I’m in debt, thanks to trying to save my grandfather’s house. My business declined along with his health and subsequent death. Now I’m underwater, trying to do everything at once. What does it say about me that being here with the two of you is the happiest I’ve been in a while?”

“That you needed a break.”

“I should be working.”

“You have to stop every once in a while, or you’ll burn out.” He was right, but he also wasn’t in the situation I was. He could do a job he loved without the pressure of producing more faster so his income grew. I wasn’t even treading water at this point. Yes, Jordan’s money helped greatly. More was needed before I’d come close to being comfortable again.

“Did you mean what you said about you being attainable?”

Vail raked his hand through his hair. “Years ago, no. I didn’t look at you as more than my best friend’s little brother. You were too young then.”

“And now?” I had to know. His words of only minutes ago were still in my head. I wouldn’t chase a ghost of my past though.

“Now…” He took my hand in his to toy with my fingers. “Everything’s different. You’re not the same man and neither am I. I’ve been through hell and back. While I want to find someone to love again, part of me is afraid. Jordan is just… Jordan. I know what I’m getting with him. He doesn’t want to commit, but kisses like if he doesn’t, he’ll die. And the words he spoke to you, the confessions. I knew part of it but not all. I couldn’t help overhearing him. And you, Hart, I’ve taken notice of you since the moment I got here. To see Jordan on you, practically fucking you while fully clothed, it turned me on, and further reinforced where my mind has been. You’re attractive, Hart. You also have the power to really hurt me.”

“I would never?—”

“Not in the way Gil did. You wouldn’t do that to me. But in here…” He put his free hand over his heart. “In here, I could be easily shredded. It’s the only fragile part of my body left. Everything else mends when it’s broken. Not my heart.”

“Vail,” I whispered. “I’d die if I hurt you.”

Tears swam in his eyes. “I’m scared.”

I lifted my hand to cup his jaw. “You’re safe with me.”

“What about Jordan?”

“We know who he is and what he does. The question is, are we going to accept him into our lives as he is? I can’t speak for you, but even before coming here with this horrible flu, I wanted him. We’re from two very different worlds, yet I don’t want to run away. If anything, I want to run toward him.”

“It’s one thing to know what he does. It was quite another to see blood on him.”

“If we do this, if he desires us for more than sex, we’re going to have to get used to it.”

Vail shook his head. “I can look past it when it’s not in front of me.”

“But you struggle when it is.”

He nodded.

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