Page 11 of The Virgin
“He practically runs the place now. He’s a demon in the kitchen. It’s like he was born with a spatula in his hand. He’s worked hard to get as good as he is.”
Jonah had once asked Taylor if he wanted to do something with his life, and Taylor had torn him a new one about how ungrateful he was, how their dad had busted his ass in that diner and put Jonah through school. And how shitty it was of him to think that he was better than their dad just because he went and got a fancy teaching degree. Taylor didn’t talk to him for a week, but it got the message through to Jonah that Taylor was happy where he was, so he went from questioning his brother’s choices to defending them.
“Do you think he’d deep fry a cheeseburger for me?” Damon adjusted his hat.
“I think he’d probably drown you in the dish pit if you asked him to do that.”
“What about Oreos?”
“Have you been watching cooking shows again?” Spencer took a swallow of his beer.
Jonah found himself keenly aware of Spencer today, of how he sat, how broad he was, how his presence had made the whirlpool of anxiety in Jonah’s stomach slow to a gentle slosh.
“There was a special on carnival food.”
“Well, if you want to hop on down and ask Taylor to throw some Oreos in the deep fryer, give me a heads up so I can make sure I film your demise.”
Damon scrunched his face. “You’re the worst best friend ever.”
“I’m getting that put on a shirt,” Jonah said as he stood to check the grill. “I’ll be right back.”
He slipped into the kitchen and grabbed the ribs, and if he took the opportunity to steal a long look at Spencer when he couldn’t be detected, so what? It wasn’t his fault he’d recently become obsessed with the idea of Spencer showing him how good sex could be. It was his stupid dick and his stupid inability to be a normal person who formed normal relationships with people. He shouldn’t need a fucking marriage proposal before he got naked with someone, but something always stopped him.
Maybe if he got it out of his system, saw what the big deal was, he could go back to being a relatively satisfied person. It wasn’t like he was asking much from life. He wasn’t asking for a billion dollars, or world peace, or the moon. But, somehow, asking for intimacy seemed unrealistic.
Jonah pasted on a happy face and took the ribs outside and put them on the grill. Part of him was glad that his friends were there, but the other part of him wanted to go back to bed and lay in the dark with a stupid show that he probably wouldn’t pay attention to anyway.He only had to get through the next few hours and then he’d be able to breathe again.
Jonah took his place at the table. Each inch that separated him and Spencer was a mile of agony. He’d never ached to be held before, but it was like last night had kicked down entire walls in his stupid lizard brain and now it was all he could think about.
He was fucking doomed.
CHAPTER 6
SPENCER
Spencer stopped drinkingafter one beer. With Damon not being one to drink often, and Jonah probably still recovering from the night before, Spencer didn’t want to be the only one knocking them back. Plus, the more he thought about Jonah, the more an idea took shape in his mind. But he couldn’t bring it up in front of Damon and he certainly shouldn’t do it if he’d been drinking.
It wasn’t hard to determine that Jonah was off his game. He was quieter than usual, more withdrawn, like he was trying desperately to shore up the defenses that had crumbled last night. Damon sent Spencer a couple questioning looks when Jonah’s back was turned, but Spencer shrugged and pretended not to know anything.
At one point after dinner, Jonah excused himself to use the bathroom and Damon leaned over, whispering to Spencer while keeping one eye on the door in case Jonah returned.
“He’s acting weird, right?” Damon asked.
“I think something is bothering him.” Jonah so seldom opened up about anything that admitting even the smallest kernel of knowledge was a betrayal of epic proportions, so Spencer tread carefully.
“Maybe we should talk to him.”
“I think both of us might be too much for him. You know how private he is.”
Damon nodded thoughtfully, and he glanced at Spencer. “Did you want to talk to him, or should I?”
“I was thinking I’d take a crack at it, if that’s okay.” He needed Damon to agree to let him handle it. A flicker of possessiveness sparked to life inside him, and Spencer hoped he wasn’t transparent. Jonah had come to him last night with his vulnerability on display, and it was up to Spencer to make sure he was okay. No one else.
Whether or not Damon clued into Spencer’s sudden flare of inner caveman, he nodded his agreement. “Yeah, that sounds good. We don’t want to gang up on him.”
Damon took his hat off and scratched his head. He checked his phone and was tapping away when Jonah reappeared. He had two beers with him, and he handed one to Spencer and cracked the other one open for himself.
“There’s still that weird pineapple cocktail stuff you like in the fridge,” Jonah said to Damon.
