Page 68 of Poles Apart
They’d taken a taxi into town so Jacob could have a drink. Dom had to admit he was starting to like slightly tipsy Jacob. He was fun, and slowly but surely, his inhibitions were falling away. He’d never been one to shy away from PDA, but Dom found he was a little more tactile now. There was no end to the sweet touches to Dom’s hands or face, or the slow finger he kept trailing along his arm. It was loving and tender, but it was driving Dom insane. The need to take Jacob was intensifying with each sensual touch.
Fuck! He leaned over to Jacob, whispering close to his ear, “I can’t wait to get you home. The things I want to do to you, the places I want to lick you, make you come with my tongue. Jesus, Jacob. How about a quick visit to the bathroom before we leave?”
Jacob’s eyes widened, and he nodded, no words passing his lips.
They stood quickly, a knowing look in their eyes as they moved towards the bathroom. Just something to take the edge off, that was all they needed, but as Dom went to push the door open, it was stopped from the other side.
He looked over at Jacob, and they smirked, knowing that somebody had had the same idea. They both knew what was probably happening on the other side. They put their hands on the door and pushed, the door giving way as they stepped inside.
The sight before them shocked Dom to the core, and he was pretty sure Jacob was feeling the same way. There on his knees, in front of a muscled, tattooed mountain of a man, was Noah Wilkins’s dad. It was obvious what had been happening, and he struggled to get to his feet, his erection very evident to all.
“Well, what a turn up for the books,” Jacob said with a smirk. “So, tell me,Mr Wilkins,is this the reason for the homophobic comments? Are you so deep in the closet you hate those that have what you want for yourself?”
Dom stared at the guy as he turned all shades of red, his fists clenched.
The man-mountain he’d been blowing finally tucked himself away with a quick, “I’ll leave you to it,” and walked out of the bathroom, leaving them face to face with the wanker who’d caused Jacob so much grief and worry over his job. Dom was tempted to say something but knew he needed to leave this to Jacob to deal with.
“It’s not what it looks like,” Wilkins stammered. “I was just…”
They all knew it was exactly what it looked like, and no amount of excuses was going to get him out of this. He knew it too.
His shoulders sagged, and he sighed, all the fight draining from his body. “Look, I’m sorry. I know what I did was wrong. What I said was wrong, but I didn’t know what else to do.”
Dom looked over at Jacob, not knowing what he’d see on his face. He saw compassion and understanding there, and he remembered back to what Jacob had told him. About how before he came out, he, too, had been in denial, and that was exactly what this guy was. He was so proud of Jacob, he was tempted to haul him in for a kiss, but he restrained himself, waiting to see how the rest of this would play out.
“I should fucking knock you flat for the things you’ve said and done over these past few months. Almost costing me my job and making me out to be this dirty piece of shit that you’d scraped from the bottom of your shoe. But you know what? I’m not going to worry about that anymore. I know my job is safe because you’re going to withdraw your complaint. You’re going to explain that you’ve had a change of heart and tell them that you were wrong.
“And then you’re going to decide what you want to do. You’re living the biggest lie of all right now, and I know this because of this guy”—Jacob gestured to Dom—“I realised that all this is worth it. He was the one that made me see that I needed to be true to myself. How could I expect anyone to respect me if I couldn’t respect myself?”
Wilkins looked defeated and deflated and hung his head. “I’ll withdraw the complaint first thing on Monday,” he whispered, “ but please, don’t tell anyone yet. I need to work this out in my head before I tell my wife, and I suppose I’ll need to tell Noah too.”
Jacob nodded as he finally looked at him and stepped aside as Wilkins threw open the door and walked out, the door slamming behind him. Dom looked over at Jacob to see him shaking, his fists clenched.
He moved in front of him and took his hands in his. “Are you OK? What do you want to do?”
Jacob didn’t say anything for a moment, but in time, he managed to speak. “I’m good. A bit of a shock, you know?” His voice wavered as he spoke, and Dom wasn’t surprised.
He rubbed his arms. “But it’s a good shock, right? You can get your job back if he drops the complaint, and then you can go back to teaching.”
“Yeah, I suppose I can. I’ll need to call Jodie Monday morning. I know I’m going in anyway, but I’ll call her first thing anyway.” He shook himself as if to shake off the thoughts and finally looked Dom in the eyes.
“Let’s go and enjoy the rest of our night, though, but first I need to take a leak and then we can go.”
“Me too, and I’m starving even after all that food we ate earlier.” He reached up to kiss him on the nose and gave his hands one final squeeze.
Five minutes later and they were on their way to the restaurant, both of them smiling and laughing now, the surprise of seeing Wilkins on his knees had passed. Jacob seemed lighter. Dom hadn’t realised how much the threat of losing his job had been weighing on his mind.
When they reached the restaurant, they were seated in a small alcove off to the side. It was dimly lit with an air of intimacy about it, a small candle burning in the centre of the table casting a soft glow around them. The waiter handed them menus and smiled at them both.
“Can I get you gentlemen something to drink?” He looked pointedly at Jacob, giving him a flirty look.
Dom coughed and brought the waiter’s attention back to him.
“We’ll take a bottle of the Merlot, please, and I’ll let you know when we’re ready to order. Oh, and can we have some water for the table too. Sparkling and chilled.”
He was not having a waiter flirt with his man when they were on a date. That was not on at all. The waiter smiled tightly and walked away, writing in his notebook. Dom followed him with his eyes, making sure he’d gone and finally turned back to Jacob to see him grinning.
“I love it when you go all possessive.” Jacob reached across the table and stroked his cheek. “But the colour green should only be reserved for your eyes. I’m no one’s but yours, Dom. You should know that by now.”
