Page 85 of After the Siren
‘Jake, uh ...’ Theo paused, trying to frame the question in a way that didn’t make it seem like he was fishing for information.Even if he absolutely was. ‘He hasn’t mentioned any other boyfriends. As opposed to, uh ...’
‘Dudes he fucked?’ she finished for him. ‘Well, you should ask him. But yeah. Kyle was the only serious one.’ She sighed. ‘The prick.’
They lapsed into silence for a couple of minutes, watching Jake pretend to fight off a couple of the kids.
Keeley sighed. ‘Sometimes I think he’s convinced himself he doesn’t deserve a real relationship because he hasn’t come out.’
‘Surely ...’ Theo started, and then stopped.
‘Look,’ Keeley said. ‘It’s all speculation on my part. I get that it’s complicated, for both of you, and that it’s not official or anything.’ She gave him a wry look. ‘I promise I won’t slashyourtyres. But just ... be kind to him. Please. Sometimes people don’t see that he needs that.’
Theo felt as though someone had wrapped their hands around his heart and squeezed. ‘I will. I promise.’
She smiled. ‘Thanks. He’s lucky to have you.’
Shewas lucky Theo had good reflexes, because he just managed to punch the footy away as it barrelled directly for Keeley’s face. The nibling responsible for the rogue kick was staring at them, frozen with horror.
‘Thanks,’ she said again. It was even more heartfelt this time.
‘That’s why they pay him the big bucks,’ Paddy said, coming over to retrieve the ball. ‘C’mon, Stavs, Keeley. We need you.’
Theo let himself be towed to his feet, and he only dropped a couple of marks because he was distracted watching Jake.
By the time they called it a night, Theo’s stomach muscles hurt from laughing. Once the guests had all drifted away, they’d settled by the fire in the living room and Debbie had started to tell them stories about Jake as a child. She and Jake had spokenover each other and finished each other’s sentences, arguing about the details of every anecdote with Keeley as moderator and instigator by turns. Jake didn’t seem to have any shame about being the butt of the joke; he laughed at himself, sprawled on the worn carpet with one hand behind his head, gesturing with a mint slice in the other.
Paddy had joined in as well – he had enough siblings to have an endless supply of stories – and had made Lydia actually cry with laughter, clutching Xen’s shoulder for support. Xen had turned out to be a surprisingly good mimic, and he’d chimed in with a couple of stories from his time in the VFL with Paddy and Jake. Theo had let it all eddy around him, warm from the fire and the shared laughter.
Theo helped with the dishes and then followed Jake out to what Lydia and Debbie called ‘the den’. The den was a small granny flat that Lydia and Debbie had converted for Jake once he’d turned fourteen. To give him privacy, apparently. Theo wondered whether what they really meant was to give Debbie and Lydia privacy. Theo and Jake had dropped their bags in there earlier and the room was exactly what Theo would have expected. There was an artful array of surfboards, a guitar (possibly never played) in one corner, a spirited attempt at fuckboy LEDs, several football posters of varying levels of homoeroticism and a single rail for Jake’s clothes but two cabinets stuffed full of footy memorabilia, all lovingly arranged.
Plugger watched them mournfully through the sliding door as they walked away from the main house. It had turned properly cold, the grass a little damp under Theo’s bare feet. He broke into a jog to cover the last few steps.
They’d barely made it through the door when Jake’s hands were on him, pulling him into a hungry kiss. Theo kissed him back and tugged him closer. Jake was still warm from the fire, his mouth tasting of chocolate and mint.
Jake broke the kiss, his hands in Theo’s hair. He was smiling, the ridiculous lights threading red and orange through his hair. ‘Thanks for coming,’ he said.
Theo didn’t know what to say, so he cradled Jake’s face in his hands and kissed him again. Jake’s mouth opened under his and they kissed until Jake was shoving at Theo’s t-shirt and they broke apart so Theo could pull it off. Jake’s hands were on his chest immediately, his thumb teasing one of Theo’s nipples, his mouth on Theo’s neck.
‘Hey, so,’ Jake said, breaking the kiss and tugging Theo towards the bed by his belt buckle, his smile mischievous. ‘Wanna fuck me?’
‘Uh.’ Theo nearly fell over his own feet. He caught himself and let Jake pull him over to the bed. Jake sat down and Theo stepped between his legs, Jake’s hands sliding up Theo’s thighs.
Jake was still grinning, but it had gone sweet around the edges. ‘You don’t have to.’
It had occurred to Theo, obviously, that there were options beyond blowjobs and handjobs. He hadn’t quite known how to bring that up, especially as he wasn’t sure how he felt about anything going into his own ass. He knew, theoretically, that it was something many people did, and enjoyed, presumably without accident or humiliation. But still, the anxious part of his brain was apprehensive.
Reddit hadn’t helped.
‘I’ve never ... done it like that. With anyone.’
Jake leaned forward and pressed a kiss just above Theo’s waistband. His mouth lingered there, then he looked up at Theo. ‘Do you wanna try? We can take it slow.’
Theo’s answer to that was probably obvious, because Jake’s face was level with his dick. ‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘Yeah, I do.’
Jake’s fingers were deft on Theo’s belt buckle. He pulled the belt free with a hiss of leather and then flicked open the button on Theo’s shorts. ‘Get naked,’ he said.
‘You’re the one with all your clothes still on,’ Theo pointed out. He started to say, ‘For once,’ but Jake pressed his mouth against Theo’s briefs and he lost the words.
Jake slid his hands around Stavs’ ass to pull him in a little closer and Stavs sighed happily. He’d looked a little nervous, and Jake had figured that a bit of distraction couldn’t hurt. One of Stavs’ hands was in his hair now, the other on Jake’s cheek, and Jake could feel him trying to hold himself back from pushing harder into Jake’s mouth.
