Page 17 of Finding Jeremy
“Enjoy them, brutha; you’ve earned it,” Chaos said before silently slipping away.
Jeremy hadn’t so much as twitched during the conversation, his breathing still as deep and even as it had been when he’d first drifted off. Despite that last fair date being cut short, Gray knew the back-to-back dates filled with setups, teardowns, and miles of road in between had to have taken a toll on him, in addition to the stress he’d put himself through on the ride back, worrying about how he was going to keep his promise to his old man.
Having Jeremy home and in his arms was the best feeling in the world. A sense of rightness and domestic tranquility settled around him as he lay there watching the first of the newest Star Trek movies, the new cast breathing fresh life into the stories and their world.
Connecting with them and getting lost in the story was easy. Jeremy let out a soft sigh, and Gray carded his fingers through his hair, grinning to himself over how well he’d satisfied his boy earlier, the sight of him, naked and sprawled out on the bed, one that would be embedded in Gray’s mind forever.
This was the life he’d waited years to have, and he’d be damned if he allowed a rat from the past to fuck it up for him. Trusting Chaos and Reggie to have his back was easy. His club brothers had never failed to keep money on his books for commissary or to come visit him, so he never went a week without having contact with anyone. Like Jeremy, they’d held him down, kept him sane, and made sure that anyone he’d been concerned about on the outside had anything they needed.
“Mmmm,” Jeremy murmured, the light from the television shimmering in his eyes as he peered up at him.
“You fell asleep on me,” Gray said, brushing his hair back from his cheek.
“Yup,” Jeremy replied. “Not ashamed about it either.”
“Good.”
“You make an amazing pillow.”
“Uh-huh, sure, something tells me you’d say that even if I was bony as hell.”
“Maybe,” Jeremy replied, stretching a little. “Was thinking it would be fun to go to the fair tonight, if you wanna go eat funnel cake and try to win cheap stuffed animals.”
“Would have thought you’d had enough of fairs.”
“I’ll never not wanna go to the fair,” Jeremy said. “It’s one of the best things that happens all year.”
“I take it you’re not a big fan of the fall festival?”
“It’s alright and all, but it was a lot more fun when I was a kid. The haunted house was actually scary, and I loved the purple glittery swirled poison apples they made at the candy shop booth. I loved getting into costume too and trick-or-treating at all the vendors. They always had cool shit they passed out, especially the temporary tattoos. I’d try to grab as many as I could so I could stick them on my arm and make it look like I had a sleeve of them like Pops does.”
“Shocked you don’t have any real ones.”
Jeremy sighed and wiggled so he was stretched out on his side along the back of the couch, still pillowed on Gray, whose stomach chose that moment to rumble and remind him that they hadn’t had anything to eat since they’d scarfed a pile of pancakes once they’d finally emerged from his room.
When Gray met his eyes, he saw a soft pink flush spreading out over the bridge of Jeremy’s nose.
“I’m scared as fuck that I won’t be able to sit through one,” Jeremy admitted. “Which is pretty much why my tongue is the only thing I’ve ever gotten pierced, and oh my god, it hurt. And I could barely talk afterwards. Pops said I shouldn’t have gotten two at once, but if I’d had to go back, I never would have gotten the second one. The worst part was not being able to eat anything solid for, like, two whole weeks; it was horrible. I totally existed on ice cream, popsicles, smoothies, and mashed potatoes, which Pops was kind enough to mash those box Salisbury steaks into so I could have some sort of meat.”
“Bet he laughed his ass off the whole time he was doing it, too.”
“Pretty much, but he did get me all kinds of toppings for my ice cream and protein powder so he could make milkshakes for me,” Jeremy explained. “And he never lectured past the first day, which was awesome, because everything sucked and my tongue was still swollen days after the piercing went in. Would have thought all the cold stuff I ate would have brought the swelling down a little, but nope.”
“It’s all fun and games until your tongue looks like the Goodyear blimp, huh?” Gray said, razzing him a little.
Jeremy groaned and dropped his head on Gray’s shoulder. “You ain’t wrong. So now that we’ve brought up some seriously painful memories, wanna go to the fair with me tonight?”
Chuckling, Gray peered down at him. “You sure you’re going to be up for moving by then? You seem pretty cozy right where you are.”
Yawning, Jeremy nodded. “I think so, as long as I don’t have to run from any more bulls.”
“Fortunately for us both, the rodeo isn’t in town this week, but the demolition derby is. Would be nice to see one again after so many years.”
“Then we’ve gotta go,” Jeremy declared, eyes bright with excitement despite yawning again.
“I guess we do,” Gray said, hauling him up his body to kiss him.
The moment Jeremy parted his lips, the kiss went from gentle to heated. Gray’s hands shoved beneath his t-shirt as he rolled, pulling Jeremy firmly on top of him. He could hear the credit sequence in the background as the first movie gave way to the second, neither caring as they made out with one another until Jeremy pulled away to yawn again.
