Page 12 of The Virgin
“I’ll pass.” Damon tucked his phone away and stood up. “I hate to eat and run, but there’s a person I’ve been trying to connect with and they’re free, which is rare for them. So I’m going to go.”
“That wasn’t vague or anything.” Jonah rolled his eyes.
They were both well aware of Damon’s healthy appetite for sex. It served as a good excuse for him to dip out early and leave Spencer behind.
Damon smoothed his shirt down and adjusted his hat. “How do I look?”
“You’ll do,” Spencer said, pretending he cared about Damon’s appearance. No one denied the guy was attractive. His looks came to him the old-fashioned way—good genetics. His grandfather was old Hollywood royalty, gracing the silver screen with his chiseled jaw and his stylish suits. He’d been tall and lean, sort of like Damon. Spencer swore they had the exact same smile that could charm the pants off anyone.
Neither Jonah nor Spencer had ever fallen under the spell of Damon Acosta and his boyish charm, however. Spencer knew it was because Damon wasn’t his type. Now the question remained of what Jonah’s type was.
Jonah’s taste in prospective partners was hard to pin down. He rarely spoke of his dates, mostly—Spencer realized—because they never went well for him. Spencer had known it was a sensitive subject for Jonah, but he never recognized the depths of his friend’s pain until last night.
Damon bid them goodbye and made his hasty exit. Once they heard him honk as he drove away, Jonah’s shoulders slumped and some of the air seemed to go out of him. It was like the only thing holding him together had been sheer determination.
“He’s worried about you,” Spencer said.
Jonah’s eyes snapped up to meet his, and Spencer saw a flare of panic in them.
“I didn’t say anything to him about last night, Jonah. I’d never do that. I know you shared some extremely personal things with me, and I’d never betray you. But he is worried, and I offered to talk to you. He didn’t want you to think we were ganging up on you and thought one of us checking in on you would be better.”
“I’m fine.” Jonah crumbled after two seconds under Spencer’s knowing stare. “I’m fine-adjacent. Mostly I’m embarrassed about last night.”
“Don’t be embarrassed. You’re not the first man to get drunk and emotional.”
Jonah scoffed and took a sip of his beer. He was drinking it slow and cautious, probably more for appearances or to have something to do with his hands than because he actually wanted it.
“That’s not like me.”
“I know, which is probably why it needed to happen.”
“Yeah, because everyone needs to have a drunken pity party.” Jonah rolled his eyes, and Spencer nudged his foot under the table.
“Everyone needs someone to talk to, and you, my friend, don’t do nearly enough of that. Not about things that bother you. I’m glad that I could be there when you needed me. And if you let me, I can be there for you in other ways too.”
That got Jonah’s attention. His gaze snapped up to meet Spencer’s. He opened his mouth, probably to refuse or to change the subject, so Spencer forged ahead. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
“I’m going to say what I’m going to say, and you’re going to listen. You don’t have to respond, and if you ask me to never speak of it again, I won’t.” Spencer took a drink of his beer to give Jonah a chance to gather himself.
Jonah sat up straight, his hands curled around his drink. He sat rigid and tense and took a deep breath before nodding his agreement to hear Spencer out.
Great. The hard part was done. Now came the harder part—getting the words past his lips. It was a life-defining moment. The proverbial fork in the road lay ahead of Spencer. Down one path, nothing changed. Jonah stayed a virgin, and Spencer stayed out of his personal business. Spencer was okay with the status quo, but he wasn’t okay seeing his friend hurting.
“There’s no handbook for this kind of conversation,” Spencer began. “And I don’t want you to think this is pity or sympathy or anything like that.”
Jonah grimaced, and Spencer had the feeling he’d already fucked it all up. But when Jonah said nothing and motioned for Spencer to continue, it gave him hope that he wasn’t getting this all wrong.
“It’s as selfish as it is selfless, because I can’t stop thinking about how fucking great it would be…to be the first one to show you how amazing you could feel.”
Jonah’s eyes widened, and he resembled a startled, slightly hungover owl. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“You need someone you’re comfortable with. Someone you trust. I’d like to think I slot neatly into both of those categories. We’d go at your pace. Nothing you don’t want. Anything you do.”
“Anything?” Jonah arched an eyebrow.
“Within reason.”
Jonah seemed more relaxed and he leaned back in his chair. “I have to admit, I’m relieved.”
