Page 45 of Second Shot

He’s quiet for a few moments, then he sighs. “I’d never do that. God, Caldwell. You think I’d fuck some other dude in front of you? That’s gross. Disrespectful.”

“Well, how would I know? You were talking to him forever.” I clench my teeth. “He kept touching you, and you didn’t seem to mind it.”

He lets out a shaky breath. “Look, I was only talking to him because I felt like I kind of had to.”

“I’m not following.” I frown.

“The guys have noticed how close we’ve become. A few of them have made jokes, and it made me nervous. I only spent time with that guy because I was worried about us becoming locker room gossip.”

I ask skeptically, “So, you weren’t planning on hooking up with that guy?”

“Fuck no. You really think that poorly of me?” He scowls, and he starts walking again.

I hurry to catch up. “Wait up, Jacobs,” I say breathlessly. “I didn’t know. How would I know?”

He ignores me and keeps walking fast, turning into the parking lot of our motel. I trot after him, feeling relieved he wasn’t into that other guy, but stressed out that he seems upset with me. When we get to our room, he tugs out his keycard and lets us into the small room. The room smells like gym socks and stale cigarette smoke as we enter.

I close the door, and let out a surprised gasp when Jacobs’ immediately pins me up against the wall. His face is inches from mine, eyes glittering with frustration.

“I can’t believe you think I’d bring some guy back with me. Don’t you know how much I like you, Ryan?”

My heart races when he says that. I love hearing it, but it’s hard to believe. “You could have anyone,” I say hoarsely.

“So? What about it? So could you.” he scowls at me. “Would you have rather I let you go home with that bartender chick?”

I shake my head. “No. I was just… jealous.” I’m embarrassed to be so candid, but he did say he likes me a lot.

Some of his anger fades away and he relaxes his grip. “I have no interest in fucking other guys. At least, that’s how I feel right now. I’m not saying that won’t change, but at the moment, you’re the only one I want.”

I can’t believe my ears. I stare at him as if he’s speaking a foreign language. Gabe just said he only wants me. That can’t be right.

His eyes flicker. “Does that scare you?”

I shake my head. Maybe it should scare me, but all I feel is relieved. Happy, even. I spent the last part of the evening jealous, picturing Gabe in bed with that other guy. But Gabe doesn’t want him. He wants me.

“I really thought you were into that guy,” I say, stomach churning. “And it was fucking killing me.”

He smiles. “Yeah?”

“He was so pushy.” I scowl. “I thought he was going to fuck you right on that damn chair in the bar.”

Gabe chuckles. “He might have, if I’d been into him.” His smile fades. “But you’re no innocent. You seemed pretty chummy with that bartender.”

I shrug. “I mean, yeah, she was hot. But I was only flirting with her because you were flirting with that other dude. I’d rather have you.”

“All right.” He lets out a harsh breath. “We need some ground rules for whatever this is we’re doing with each other.”

I wrinkle my brow. “What does that mean?”

“Well…” He grimaces, rubbing the back of his neck. “I know this thing between us is really new, but I’m not okay with you fucking other people. I’m not going to lie. It would bother me if you sleep with someone else right now.”

“It… it would bug me too if you did that.” I avoid his gaze, cheeks hot. “But I don’t have the right to tell you not to.”

“How about I give you the right?” He laughs nervously. “How about we just don’t fuck other people for now? If one of us decides we want to sleep with someone else, we should talk about it first. Okay? I mean, we’re not usingrubbers, so it’s kind of only fair to communicate about that stuff.”

“Okay,” I say breathlessly. “I like that idea.” I can hardly believe what’s happening. Gabe wants to be exclusive with me. That’s like a fucking dream come true.

“You sure it’s fine with you? I don’t want to come off controlling or anything.” He shifts uneasily. “But I needed to be honest with you.”

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