Page 19 of Jonathon, After All

Schönbühel would be the last time Leo would ever experience that kind of control in his relationships and his sex life. The power that came with being the Margrave of Hessen had vanquished most of Leo’s personal freedoms, ironically. Living in the public eye at the whim of a board of directors made it difficult to experiment. He couldn’t risk a potential partner reacting poorly and announcing that Leo was a sexual deviant.

“Jonathon understands much more than most people give him credit for,” Leo said to Markus, returning to Central Park and his many, many regrets.

He was surrounded by trees and nature, at least. They must have found the center of the park because it felt like the city was a thousand miles away, he couldn’t see any buildings or hear the traffic. Leo filled his lungs and quieted his thoughts, thinking only of Jonathon and all he had learned in the weeks they had spent together, smiling as he turned toward 72nd Street and the Olympia.

“He won’t have gone far from Muriel. He’ll be hiding somewhere close by, with lots of light.”

Seven

The children had returned to 8B and Jonathon found that they were both quite pleasant young people. In fact, he was rather taken with the youngest Ashby. She had Riley’s big blue eyes and his warm smile, offering Jonathon her hand for a proper shake.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Jonathon. I’m Luna Ashby and I’ll be seven in four months,” she informed him.

“But she’s already brilliant at math! She’s gonna catch up with me soon,” Milo piped up. He was also a charming child and Jonathon was glad his parents had insisted that Milo stay home with them and finish high school with his peers, despite being a genius. Milo was shy and had hidden behind his sister and Riley at first, but he immediately opened up and seemed excited to have a new roommate.

Despite inhabiting Milo Ashby’s bedroom while he was away for the weekend, Jonathon wasn’t sure what to expect of the young genius or if they would have anything in common. Milo was seventeen and already an intern with NASA, but he teased and doted on his sister and seemed like an extremely typical teenager. Not that Jonathon had any experience with children, having barely been one himself. He certainly hadn’t been exposed to other children as a child or a teenager.

Thankfully, Jonathon and Milo hit it off immediately.

“I’ve seen you around, but you’re usually with your aunt and I do my best to be invisible whenever I see her, so I’ve never said hi,” Milo said, making Jonathon chuckle.

“She is very handy at repelling nice people, but you shouldn’t be afraid of Muriel. She’s more fun than you’d think and actually likes when people stand up to her. Aunt Muriel hates having her ass kissed.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Milo said as they walked back to his wing of the apartment. “Did you check out the gaming area? I don’t really play, but Dad makes sure I have the latest games and downloads all the new expansions,” he said as he unpacked his bags.

“I am not at all a gamer, unless you count the solitaire I play on my phone. But I left it downstairs so no one could track my location,” Jonathon informed Milo as he climbed the bunk bed’s ladder. “I’ve spent most of my time studying your ceiling and enjoying all the natural light during the day. I like that little projector and all the stars and planets. Far more entertaining than my room and the hotel ceilings I usually stare at.”

There was a sad frown from Milo as he handed Jonathon the remote and leaned against the top bunk’s rail. Riley had said that Milo had switched to using the bottom bunk when he turned fourteen and had a growth spurt so Jonathon had set up camp on top.

“My other dad, Riley, said that you needed someplace to hide while you healed. He said a prince broke your heart.”

Jonathon nodded at the galaxy above his head. “That’s the gist of it. Although, I had a hand in it as well. It wouldn’t have gotten broken if I hadn’t given it to someone careless.”

“Did you know he would be careless?” Milo asked and Jonathon shook his head.

“No. Leo was the perfect gentleman in every way. I seduced myself.”

“How do you…?” Milo’s face scrunched and he shook his head. “Don’t tell me. I barely know anything about…intimate stuff and dating, but it’s already more than I want to know. And the more I learn, the more confusing it gets.”

“That’s a good idea,” Jonathon said. “Live in ignorance for as long as you can. I don’t know what women are like, but you’ll never know peace once you let a man into your life.”

“Noted,” Milo said, nodding slowly as if he was making a mental note. “I don’t understand women, or other men for that matter. But it doesn’t make sense to me, why anyone would turn their lives upside down and sacrifice their peace when everything’s so much simpler and calmer when you’re on your own.”

Jonathon snorted in agreement. “I have no clue and I would have opted out if I had any way of knowing what I was getting into. But it was over the moment we first met, inevitable with a man like Leo von Hessen.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” Milo whispered, his brows pinched as he chewed on his lip.

“No, it wasn’t,” Jonathon said sadly. “I knew I would be his from the very first moment and that I’d let him have me any way he wanted. All he had to do was say the word.”

Milo’s face twisted and he recoiled. “But…why? When I’m around other people… All I do is pray they don’t violate my personal space,” he said as he gestured at the invisible barrier around him and shook his head. “I’ve never understood why touching is necessary.”

“I didn’t either, until Leo. And I’ve let a thousand men touch me since, hoping it would feel the same or better, so I could forget him,” Jonathon said, causing Milo to recoil.

“That sounds terrible.”

“It was. It still is,” Jonathon said with a sigh. “And I did it to myself. I could see that Leo was trying to do the right thing. We flirted for close to a week and I had tried to kiss him, but Leo shut it down.”

Jonathon thought about sharing the details of their first “almost” kiss, but changed his mind. He didn’t think Giles and Riley would appreciate it or that Milo would particularly enjoy the story, but Jonathon’s face burned as he recalled his frustration and the morning he made his move. The suspense and Leo’s indecision were killing Jonathon so he decided to finally do something about it the next time they were alone.

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