Page 33 of Blown

When had he grown up so much? When had stability and long-term partnership become more important to him than a good time?

Of course, with Jake, he had the potential for a long-term partnershipanda good time. The same things that made Jake a headache and hard to deal with also made him fun. Yes, the man needed professional help, but didn’t everybody in some way? As far as Rafe was concerned, Jake’s problems were minor compared to some of the shit he’d seen in his day.

What if he and Jake married, Jake got the visa and then the passport that he craved so badly, and instead of parting ways once the ink was fully dry, they stayed together? They could have a partnership in every sense of the word. Their work coincided so perfectly, and the joint English countryside project they were working on had incredible potential.

They could be partners in every sense of the word.

With a slow intake of breath, Rafe realized that was what he wanted, not nights of cheap hook-ups with guys he liked but could never see himself spending the rest of his life with. His party days were over, and it was time for something more.

“Attention Rafe.”

Rafe blinked and dragged his eyes back to Steve. His face heated as he realized he’d been completely ignoring his date.

“There you are,” Steve said, smiling. “I know you’re exhausted after a long day, but I’m not that boring, am I?”

Rafe laughed sheepishly and lowered his head. “Sorry,” he said. “It’s not that. I’m just sitting here wondering what I’m doing.”

“I hope what you’re doing is having a good time,” Steve said, sliding his fingers through Rafe’s to hold his hand on top of the bar before Rafe could pull away. “I hope you’re looking forward to more, too.”

That was just the thing. Hewaslooking forward to more. He was looking forward to a whole different chapter of his life, the one that involved Jake by his side, come what may.

“Listen, Steve,” he said, pulling his hand away, though Steve tried to keep the contact.

Rafe didn’t get any farther. A flicker of movement from the club’s door caught his attention. He turned and sat a little straighter as Jake walked through the door, dressed in tight black jeans and a blue, sequined top that he must have taken from the clothes room. He looked radiant, even in the club’s dim light.

It only took Jake a few seconds to find him sitting at the bar. As their eyes met, Rafe’s heart started to beat twice as fast. It was not the reaction of someone seeing a friend walk into a club, it was more. Jake was so much more to him.

Everything was perfect for a fluttering heartbeat before Jake’s gaze dropped to Rafe’s and Steve’s hands twined together on the bar.

ELEVEN

“Come on, it’ll be fun,”Jake ribbed Nally as they headed back to their apartments from the family supper Robert and Janice had hosted in their apartment. He’d been a little sore after his afternoon with Rafe, in more ways than one, but he’d been able to hide all of it from the family.

“I know it’ll be fun,” Nally said, sending Jake a sideways look as they headed down the stairs. “I also think you’re looking for trouble if you think showing up at the same club where Rafe is out on a date is a good idea.”

“He’s my fiancé,” Jake said, pretending to be affronted by the suggestion. He actually was a little peeved that Nally seemed to think he didn’t have a right to check up on Rafe.

Nally laughed. “Yeah, I know, but also not really,” he said. “He’s marrying you so you can get a visa and he can get an introduction to some big deal glass artist.”

Jake nearly missed the last stair. He’d conveniently forgotten about his part of the deal, introducing Rafe to Hélène Rénard. They’d been enjoying each other’s company so much in the last couple weeks and concentrating on their English countryside idea that neither of them had mentioned Hélène in ages.

He didn’t really need a reminder that the whole marriage thing was a deal and that he would have to live up to his half of it eventually.

“Pretty please?” he asked as he and Nally started down the hall. “It’s Friday night. Either way, a night out in London will be fun. I asked Early about Cupid’s Arrow earlier, and they said it’s one of the coolest places for gay men to hang out in London.”

Nally sighed and turned to face him. “Alright, I’ll take you,” he said, then started walking toward his apartment with a different sort of “just going to collect my keys” energy. “I haven’t had a night out in ages, and if I don’t rub skin with someone soon, certain parts of me will probably fall off.”

Jake laughed, reenergized and bouncing. “What are you, twenty-one? You’re too young for anything to fall off.”

Nally snorted as he reached the door to his apartment. “Fine. I’ll chalk it up to being young and hormonal, then. Either way, there’s bound to be someone at Cupid’s Arrow who wouldn’t mind dandling me on his knee while I called him ‘Daddy’ for the night.”

Jake laughed even louder as Nally ducked into his apartment to get his keys. “I had no idea you were that sort.”

“I’m not,” Nally said with a grin as he came back out again, keys in one hand, man-purse in the other. “But I’m also not above sucking up to a grey-haired bear with a taste for twinks either if it gets me horizontal.”

Jake giggled the whole way out to the car and during the drive to London. He liked the Hawthorne family more and more with each day that passed. They were as far from what he had always thought of as family as could be. Nally was incredibly open about nearly everything to the point where if Jake wasn’t already three-quarters of the way in love with Rafe, he might have tried calling him a good boy and inviting him over to play hide the sausage.

He stopped his thoughts as soon as they started down that path. Not the bit about messing around with Nally. He was a red-blooded gay man in his prime and Nally was a beautiful, glowing twink who apparently liked to have a good time now and then. What gave him pause was the feeling of being in love with Rafe.

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