Page 55 of The Poster Boy
“Hey.” Boone shoved Jay. “Asshole.”
Boone looked over at me. “You see what I put up with? I invite him to my family home for the holidays and all I get in return is betrayal.”
I had a feeling that versions of this scene had played out before, and that I was witnessing an inside joke playing out again. It was probably one of their traditions.
Jay seemed to fit with Boone’s family. Diane and Howard fussed over him like he was one of their own, and later when Boone’s siblings made an appearance, it was apparent just how much this family meant to Jay. The youngest, an almost-out-of-high school kid named Bella, definitely had the hots for Jay, though. If it didn’t make Jay so uncomfortable, I might have been jealous of the way she constantly flirted with him.
Jay never flirted back of course. And at some point, I started to wonder if she had a crush on him at all, or if she simply liked to watch him squirm. Everyone went out of their way to make me feel like I was part of the celebration.
Come time for bed, I was a bundle of nerves. Spending the night in the same room as Jay felt like a huge step. Boone had made himself a bed on the sectional. He turned out to be one of those people who could lie down and immediately be asleep. By the time I finished brushing my teeth, Boone was snoring his ass off.
“Holy shit, I’m glad he’s out there. How do you live with that?”
“Easy. His bedroom is on the other side of the apartment.” Jay slid past me, “I’m going to brush my teeth.”
Nerves fluttered in my stomach as I shucked my clothes, all except for my briefs, and climbed into bed. I shifted positions a couple times and ended up on my back with my hands behind my head. I was trying and failing to act naturally. I knew this wasn’t some sort of romantic boyfriend getaway or anything, but a foolish part of me wanted it to be.
Ever since that first time Jay and I hooked up, I’d grown increasingly fond of him. It meant something to me that Jay had cared enough to make sure I wasn’t alone for the holiday. He didn’t have to make sure I had somewhere to go, or he could have passed me off to any other member of the team. But he brought me with him.
Jay came back from brushing his teeth and crawled into bed next to me with barely a glance in my direction.
“Holy shit, I’m tired. It was a long day.”
“Yeah. It was. It was good, though. Boone has a great family.” I thought of Diane and the kind of mom she was.Energetic. Kind. Clearly food was her love language. “So much food, though. Oh, God. And three kinds of dessert?”
“Yeah, she goes all out for the holidays. Or any other time Boone comes home. She’s always convinced he doesn’t eat enough.”
“I’m sure Clara would be happy to argue his diet with her.” Clara was the team nutritionist, and she’d been a great help to me when I set up meal deliveries after the transfer.
“No one argues with Diane.” The fondness in Jay’s voice made my chest ache when I wondered if he ever sounded like that when he talked about me. Jay yawned again and rolled over, facing away from me. “Goodnight, Marek.”
Jay turning his back to me was a bucket of water on an otherwise wonderful day. I didn’t really expect him to want to fuck me through the floor, we were in someone else’s house, after all, but it still hurt and I lay awake long after that trying not to let the sting of rejection get to me.
Chapter 26
Jay
Iwoke Christmas morning with a two-hundred pound octopus wrapped around me. For a few minutes, I let myself enjoy the way it felt to have Marek so close. So vulnerable. I spent most of yesterday trying not so much to avoid him but to put some distance between us. I’d used the Weimer family as buffers. Boone had caught on, though, and he’d given me a look, the kind only a best friend could give you and you’d understand immediately without context.
Yes, I was being a dumbass where Marek was concerned. The worst of it was that I liked the guy. A lot. And I hadn’t liked the lost puppy way he’d looked at me yesterday. But I still didn’t feel comfortable getting frisky in Diane and Howard’s basement.
Upstairs, I could hear movement. Diane was always the first one awake. She’d have coffee on soon and then breakfast. My stomach rumbled at the thought of her Christmas morning pancakes.
Careful not to wake Marek, I shimmied out from underneath him. I held my breath and waited to see if he’d wakeup, but the man slept like a brick. As quietly as I could, I got dressed and smuggled the gifts I’d purchased out of my bag and upstairs. A twinge of regret niggled at me when I thought of the real gift I’d bought for Marek but had left at home. I hadn’t wanted to give him something so personal in front of everyone. It wasn’t supposed to be serious between us, but it was definitely more to me than the shitty, generic gift I’d bought him.
But what was done was done. I couldn’t exactly drive to Vancouver and retrieve his real gift. I’d just have to explain later.
“I thought that was you lurking around. Come have a coffee with me before everyone wakes up.” Diane stood by the entrance to the living room and waited for me to join her. No wasn’t a word you told Diane.
“Merry Christmas, Diane. Thanks for having me. And thanks for letting me bring Marek.”
“Merry Christmas to you too, dear. And you know me, I’m always glad to add another space to the table.” She poured me a coffee and added my two sugars. To her coffee she added a slug of whiskey before joining me at the table.
“So how’s my favorite son?” Diane asked as she sat next to me.
“Don’t let Boone hear you say that.”
“Why not? He knows I like you better. And don’t avoid the question. I don’t see you as often as I’d like, and I want to make sure you’re doing okay.”
