Page 46 of Poles Apart
“Ah, you know. Sunday, lesson planning, maybe the gym if you still want to swim today, and Dom wants to carry on with what we have.”
Abby held her hand up, and he high-fived her. “That’s what I’m talking about. So, no need for ‘Get Dom Back’ then?” she asked.
“Mm, maybe more of a ‘Let’s Keep Dom’ plan. He’s happy to give us a go, but we need to take it slow, go on dates, fun dates.”
“And what’s first on your list? Are we stopping off for coffee again?”
“Yeah, I’ll be getting the coffee, but I was thinking of something more as well. Something that would make him smile.”
Jacob sat at the table with her. “Remember I said I knew Dom from way back. Well, last night when I was thinking about what I could do, I remembered I had some old photographs on my laptop. I’d uploaded them from my phone before Mum and Dad took it away from me. I was thinking I might see if I can print them out and put them together into a frame or something like that. What do you think? Do you think he’d like that?”
“I think he’d love it. Let’s get started on it now. Forget the gym. We go most weeks, and it won’t hurt to miss one. Go grab your laptop.” Before he’d even stood up, she was clearing the table. “Go, quickly. We don’t have that much time if we want to do this right.”
“Right, OK.”
He stood still for a moment, trying to remember where he’d put his personal laptop. Ten minutes later, they were looking and laughing at pictures from when he and Dom were younger. There weren’t many; a few from the first night at the party when they’d kissed, a few group ones and a handful of the two of them together that Jacob must have taken at some point. They both looked so young, and Dom’s hair was his natural mousy-brown colour. He looked so different but still beautiful, his green eyes staring into the screen.
By far his favourite was one with Dom staring into the camera, his face model-like. Jacob was looking at him, his face in profile. It would have been plain to anyone looking at the picture how he felt about him. This was definitely going in the collage Abby had started. Jacob was lucky that with the schoolwork he had to do, he could print in colour on photographic paper, and by the time they were done with it, it was almost time to leave for Abby’s dance lesson.
“Shit, we’d better get a move on. We need to get a frame for this and our coffee too.” They both rushed upstairs to get ready and managed to arrive at the lesson with about five minutes to spare.
Jacob had managed to get a frame and a bag to put it all in, and as they entered the studio, he was again blown away by the beauty of the man standing before him. He walked over to Dom, handed him his coffee and placed a slow kiss to his lips. Dom uttered a small sound of surprise but didn’t pull away, melting into the kiss.
“Eww, gross. Can you stop doing that?” Abby pretended to gag, and they both laughed, resting their foreheads together.
“Hi,” Jacob said softly.
“Hi,” Dom replied, placing another soft kiss on his lips.
“I brought you a gift.” Jacob handed the bag to him. “I hope you like it.”
Dom frowned at him, a puzzled look on his face. “For me? A gift for me?” He opened the bag and slowly pulled out the frame. The bag dropped to the floor, and Dom put his hand to his mouth, his eyes filling with tears as he looked at the photos Jacob had used.
“Oh my God. Where did you get these?” He ran his fingers over the images, and his finger lingered over the photograph of the two of them, Jacob’s favourite. “I can’t believe you’ve done this…for me!” Dom grabbed Jacob by the back of the neck and pulled him in for another kiss.
“If I thought you were going to do this all lesson, I wouldn’t have helped.” Abby stood with her hands on her hips. “Are we going to dance, or are the pair of you going to smooch all afternoon?”
They pulled apart again, laughing at her words.
“Thank you. I can’t tell you how much I love this.” He put his gift on the table, then walked over to his sound system, ready to start the lesson.
Jacob sat in his usual seat and watched as his boyfriend put his sister through her paces. He couldn’t believe Dom had agreed to give them another chance. He was under no illusion that what had happened on Friday could easily have derailed any plans they had to be together. He hoped his gift showed Dom how much he cared even if he couldn’t yet say those three words he was dying to say out loud.
At the end of the session, Abby was again exhausted, and Dom was gloriously sweaty. Jacob wanted to lick it from his skin. Dom glanced over at him and, seeming to read his intention, licked the sweat from his upper lip. If Abby hadn’t been there, he was in no doubt that he’d have stripped him bare and licked every drip and dribble from his skin.
He really needed to get himself under control and looked away from the temptation before him, but Jacob didn’t want his time with Dom to end so soon. He hadn’t had enough time with him, and he hadn’t even asked how his brother was.
He turned back towards them both but couldn’t help looking at Dom again. Fucking hell, this guy was definitely sent to tempt him.
“Hey, do you fancy going out for something to eat with Abby and me? Maybe your brother would like to come if he’s up to it?”
“You wouldn’t want me to come out with you with me being all sweaty, would you?” The glint in his eye told Jacob what he thought about that statement. “I’d need to go home and shower first, but I’m not sure about Jordan. He’s better than he was but still struggling, and anyway, I think his girlfriend is coming around tonight.”
“Girlfriend? I didn’t know he had one.”
“Yeah, me neither until last night, but apparently he does.” Jacob thought Dom sounded a little off and wondered what had gone on between him and his brother, but he wasn’t going to ask about that now.
“How about it then? Can we count you in?” Jacob winked at him.
