Page 3 of Finally
“Do not go over there.”
“I'm thirsty.”
“Yes, we know,” Kevin said drolly. “Leave Jack alone. He’s not your type and you’re not his type.”
“You have no idea about our types.” And that comment proved it.
“He stayed in that relationship with Jaime for years when everyone knew it wasn’t working. I’ve known you just as long and you’ve never had a boyfriend. Jack is a commitment type of guy and you’re a one foot in the gutter and the other foot out the door type of guy.”
“I already told you, I’m not afraid of commitment with Jack.” Gray stood.
“Come on, Gray, I know you think it’s funny to constantly hit on Jack, but seriously, now is not the time,” Kevin said. “He’s on anactualdate with a guy whoactuallydates.”
“Jack doesn’t date.” The most beautiful, intelligent, sweet person Gray had ever known occasionally went out, but until he stopped mourning the loss of his should have ended after a week but maddeningly dragged on for ten years relationship with his ex-boyfriend and still-business partner, Jack’s interactions with men were about as meaningful as the one Gray had had before coming to the restaurant. “And he likes it when I come on to him.”
If Jack didn’t gift him with a shy smile even as his neck, ears, and cheeks reddened, then Gray would have stopped the touching and the innuendos long ago. Hell, Jack’s reaction was the entire reason Gray kept it up. That and Gray’s unrelenting hope that one day, when Jack was ready to meaningfully share his life with someone, he would recognize the chemistry between them. Because while he shared Jack’s friend group, Gray’s feelings for the sensitive tech wizard were not of the only friends variety.
“See the man next to him?” Eric widened his eyes and arched his eyebrows meaningfully.
Gray peered across the room.
“That’s the guy Jack’s been seeing for a month. He made a New Year’s resolution to put himself out there and that’s what he’s doing right now with hisdate.”
“New Year’s Eve was three days ago. How has he had a resolution for a month? And why are you only telling me about it now?” More importantly, why hadn’t Jack told him he was seeing someone? They talked nearly every day.
“We didn’t tell you because he’s our friend and friends back each other’s play.”
“Back each other’s… Eric, you’re a forty-three-year-old organizational consultant, not a twenty-one-year-old frat boy. And Jack Storm does notplay.”
“We knew you’d do this,” Kevin said tiredly.
“Do what?” Gray frowned.
“Try to get Jack into bed. Seriously, Gray, it took a decade for him to finally heal enough from Jaime’s breakup to put himself out there. Leave the poor guy alone. He doesn’t need to be another notch on your crumbling bedpost.”
He liked his friends, but they couldn’t be more wrong about his intentions, which wasn’t to say he didn’t want to take Jack tobed. He very much wanted to do that, but it wasn’t because he needed another conquest.
“Sorry I missed dinner,” he said as he walked away from the table. “I'm getting a drink at the bar.”
When Gray had met Jack Storm in San Francisco two decades earlier, the lanky blond had had a boyfriend, so Gray had done the honorable thing and kept things friendly. At the time, he was sure the thing between Jack Storm and Jaime Snow wouldn’t last long because to Gray, it was clear that Jack deserved way better than what Jaime gave him. Unfortunately, he had been wrong in that assessment and the two had petered along for a decade. After following Jack from San Francisco to Seattle and spending years on the sidelines, ten of those trying to help Jack heal from what he had always viewed as a toxic relationship, he was damned if he’d miss his shot. If Jack was finally ready for a relationship, Gray would prove that he was the best man for the job.
***
“You are so controlling!”
If he weren’t thoroughly emotionally exhausted, Jack would have looked around to see if he knew anyone within earshot. The tantrum taking place in front of him would have been embarrassing when he was first old enough to buy a drink. Being part of this scene when he was over twice that age made him question his decision to wade back into the dating pool.
“Are you even listening to me?”
He pushed away his unfinished scotch—alcohol on an empty stomach wasn’t a good mixer with the already unpleasant evening—and scooted to the side to face Devon. “I heard every word you said.” With the unnecessarily loud volume of his date’s ravings, there was no way for Jack to avoid hearing him. Thankfully, the stools on both sides of them were empty. Hecould only hope the ambient noise in the room and the high ceilings meant the sound wasn’t traveling farther than that.
“I wasn’t going to do anything with that guy. It was an innocent conversation.”
Maybe Devon hadn’t been trying to pick up the man he was chatting up when Jack arrived, but that didn't change how close they were standing or the way Devon was looking at him. To Jack, that was how you interacted with your boyfriend, not a stranger. He had a great career and incredible friends, and he had learned to be comfortable living alone. If he was going to open his heart and his life to someone, it would be a guy who added value, not insecurity and a sense of worthlessness. Not again.
“Aren’t you going to say something?”
Asking how much longer the conversation would take would have been rude. Jack kept his mouth shut.
