Page 31 of Poles Apart
Fucking hell, that felt good. He imagined it was Dom touching him, smearing his precum, making him slick. His hand kept stroking, and he squeezed on each upstroke. He reached for his balls, fondling them as his other hand slid up and down, running his finger around the tip, teasing himself to the point where he could hardly hold himself back.
In no time at all, Jacob was on the edge, so close to losing his mind. He moaned and groaned, and his hand moved faster still. His legs jerked and his toes curled. His muscles tensed as his orgasm ripped through him, and he cried out as his spunk shot over his stomach and chest. He could hardly catch his breath, panicking that Abby had heard him when he remembered she wasn’t here. Jacob was relieved that she wasn’t around but remembered how he’d felt last night about being home alone, and his mood dipped even though he’d been delirious with his orgasm.
He got out of bed, going downstairs to the shower. He needed to be ready for when Abby came home. He checked his phone and saw it was already ten, and she was due back at eleven. Colin and Lindsay were taking the children out for the day, and he’d promised to be home when they dropped her back.
After making breakfast for one, he sat in the family room eating his scrambled egg and bacon. It was a treat he allowed himself on the weekend, but he planned on going to the gym later. Abby would come along with him and swim while he ran on the treadmill and lifted weights.
He thought again about Abby leaving and realised that in no time at all, she’d be gone. Another twelve months, that would be all he’d have with her before she went off into the big, wide world. He knew she’d be fine. Even though he was sure he’d mollycoddled her, he knew she had smarts. She could cook, wash and was sensible. That wouldn’t stop him worrying, though. In a way, he hoped she’d stay around Chester and go to the university here, but he knew she needed to spread her wings and step out of his shadow.
He shook himself and tried to think of something less depressing. She’d be fine, and he would too. He loved his job and loved this house, and he’d always be here for her if she decided to return. She didn’t know what she wanted to do yet, but she was clever and could easily get into Oxford or Cambridge if she wanted to, something he had only dreamt of. The pressure his father especially had put on him had driven Jacob to rebel and ignore his wishes.
In the end, though, it hadn’t mattered. His parents were gone, and it was only the two of them. He knew that he’d done a good job raising her, but at what cost? He’d had no social life, that was for sure, and the anguish and anxiety he’d gone through… He wouldn’t change things but felt as if he’d put his life on hold.
Abby was so damn sensible, and he worried that she’d grown up too quickly. It was why he’d got the dancing lessons for her, so she could express herself in a way she hadn’t before. And the icing on the cake, he’d reconnected with Dom.
At eleven on the dot, Abby came through the door with Lindsay in hot pursuit. He should have expected it; she wasn’t going to let go of this.
“On your own?” she asked, looking around as she walked in.
“Yes, I’m on my own. Why? Who were you expecting to see?” He knew exactly who she was looking for, and he would have loved nothing more than for Dom to have stayed over, but after their talk last night, he was resigned to the fact that they would only be friends- for the time being.
“Oh, you know. Wondered if you’d had any overnight visitors.” Lindsay winked at him as Abby went upstairs to her room.
“Really, Lindsay. Could you be any more obvious?” Abby knew who he’d gone out with last night, and even though she wasn’t a child anymore, he still didn’t quite want it broadcast that he might have had someone—not someone, Dom—stay over.
“So operation ‘Get Dom Back’ is not going as well as we thought then. What did you say to him?” Lindsay looked at him pleadingly. “Are we calling it off? I had plans, loads of plans.”
“No, we’re not calling it off. We’re postponing it for a while. He has some personal shit going on at the moment, and I don’t think now is the right time to try and pursue anything with him. We had a good night last night. Dinner was great. We went to a club afterwards, and then I dropped him off at home. Maybe we’ll see how things are in a couple of weeks.”
“Fine,” she said, sounding exasperated. “We’ll do it your way but don’t stop trying. Just because he doesn’t want it now doesn’t mean he won’t want you back in the future. Anyway, I need to go. Colin’s double-parked outside.”
She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Ciao, ciao, Jacob. Until next time.”
Jacob shook his head as she walked out of the door. God knew why she kept reverting to Italian. She was about as Italian as the guy who ran the pizza shop they ordered from. Jacob had gone to school with him and knew for a fact that Gino from Gino’s pizza was actually Gary from Chester.
Jacob didn’t see Abby until much later on. He’d gone upstairs to speak to her to see how she’d got on but found her fast asleep on her bed. He guessed the kids had kept her up. He still had more work to do on the school trip, so he set up his laptop and finished off the permission slips and all the other never-ending forms he needed to get done.
As he was about to finish, a text came through on his phone. Not many people messaged him, and he knew it would either be Colin or Lindsay asking for more details about last night. Imagine his surprise when he saw it was from Dom!
He felt a little embarrassed as the butterflies in his stomach took flight, and he scrambled to open the message, hoping that it wasn’t a ‘thanks, but no thanks’ text.
Hi, it’s me. I wanted to thank you again for last night. I had a great time. See you Tuesday Dx
He knew that the little kiss at the end of the text shouldn’t mean anything. Hell, he’d been putting them at the end of his all week, just to see how Dom would respond. But seeing it now, at the end of Dom’s text, warmed his heart, and he thought that maybe they did have a chance after all.
“What are you smiling at?” Abby appeared at the bottom of the stairs as he was reading the text.
“A text. Nothing important.” He put the phone back on the table.
“Is it from Dom? What does he say? Did you upset him?” She whined as she asked the last question. “Do I have to find another teacher?”
“What? No, I didn’t upset him. Why are you all asking me that?” Jacob couldn’t believe that both Lindsay and Abby would think he’d upset Dom. “He thanked me for a great time last night and said he’d see us on Tuesday for your next lesson.”
“Oh, thank God. I think he’s great.” She looked over at him. “And I think you do too.” Her voice was gentle, and she reached out and held his hand. “For what it’s worth, I think he likes you as well.”
He felt himself colour, and he stood to go into the kitchen. “Well, we’ll see. His brother’s recovering from a serious accident at the moment, and he takes care of him. I’m trying to be a good friend right now.”
“You’re always taking care of people, Jacob. It’s in your nature. You didn’t have to come back here when Mum and Dad died.” Abby went quiet for a moment as she always did when the subject of their parents came up. “You could have made me move to where you lived, but I’m grateful that you came back for me.”
