Page 51 of The Dramatic Life of Jonah Penrose
“Hello, Jonah,” she said, answering after five excruciating rings. “How is your face?”
“Not too bad,” he said as he moved through Richmond. “How are you?”
“Oh, fine.” She seemed distracted, words a little quiet, slightly slurred. “Doctor gave me some new medication. You know, to help with the nerves.”
“The nerves?”
“I’ve been finding it a little difficult to just... sit still lately.”
“Is the medication helping?” he asked, keeping his tone light.
She hummed before answering. “I’ve got to go, Jonah. There’s a cat outside.” He could definitely hear the words slurring together as she spoke and he knew, he just knew, from the calls with Penny with hints of his mum’s drinking in their conversations, medication may not have been the cause.
“And that means you have to go because...?”
“Have a nice day, sausage.” She didn’t wait for him to say goodbye. He looked down at his phone as he stopped in his tracks, the fear he felt before calling her having now multiplied. Shit. He needed to talk to Penny.
Jonah missed the stage. His soles itched for the floorboards and his body cried out for his costume. Social media seemed rife with rumors over his absence, concern over how badly he’d been hurt, if his mental health had also taken a beating, and worry over whether he would even return to the Persephone. Colbie messaged him each day, not to check in on his well-being, but just to enforce the social media blackout, even though Melanie told him to post whatever the hell he wanted. In some ways, he felt guilty that the incident overshadowed the new cast’s first week; he knew the spotlight didn’t linger around for long and he’d redirected it, stealing it all for himself. But he didn’t want it. He just wanted... he wanted to be back. He wanted to be laughing with Bash and Sherrie while Dexter annoyed the hell out of him. He wanted—
The Penis Destroyer:Can I come over? x
Jonah:Thought you were having drinks with your dad tonight? x
The Penis Destroyer:Long story xxx
Jonah:Sure.I’m up. Don’t think this is me agreeing to a booty call though x
The Penis Destroyer:I wouldn’t dream ofitx
Jonah got out of bed and pulled a T-shirt on over his head, then made his way downstairs to wait for him. They’d not seen each other since Dexter left the morning after the incident. They’d messaged, of course, but physical contact remained elusive, and Jonah certainly didn’t think he’d see him tonight; even if Dexter wasn’t seeing his dad, a cast party had been planned for after the show, which he would no doubt go to. Yet, he’d chosen Jonah, and Jonah tried to suppress the warm feeling in his chest as he thought of what that could mean. If it meant something or nothing at all.
For, since he saw Melanie, Jonah’s reality didn’t feel steady. The floor seemed uneven, crumbling, and his perception of Dexter slightly blurred. If Colbie really wanted Dexter to take over as Achilles, then did he know about it? Was it something he signed on knowing would eventually happen, and if he did, was this whole thing they were playing out together some kind of joke? No. No, he couldn’t think like that. Not when Dexter was knocking at his door, reaching out to him and only him after his first full week onstage at the Persephone.
“Wow,” Dexter said when Jonah answered the door. “How does your face look worse today than what it did Wednesday? Does it still hurt?”
Jonah very nearly slammed the door in his face. “Well, fuck you,” he said instead. “What the hell is wrong with you?” He stepped aside to let Dexter in. “And no, it doesn’t hurt much now, but why would you think that’s a—” He stopped as Dexter pulled him by the collar of his shirt and pressed a kiss to his lips.
“That’s right, get all wound up for me,” Dexter whispered against his mouth, then kicked the door with his foot to shut it. “Love it when you get all annoyed like that.” He wrapped his hands around Jonah’s waist and kissed him again. “Fuck, I’ve been wanting to do this since the moment I left. Been thinking about you constantly.” He backed Jonah up against the wall and trailed his lips down his neck.
“I told you I wasn’t your booty call,” Jonah said, but let his head tip back to allow Dexter better access to his skin.
“You’re not going to let me take you upstairs and fuck you?”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. His voice sounded wrecked already, gravelly and low. Jonah couldn’t even answer him, his mind repeating Dexter’s words like a damn broken record.
“Well, babe?”Babe.Jonah never really cared about casual “babe”s flung between him and his friends. But Dexter calling himbabe? Who knew he could be so completely and utterly simple in the bedroom that ababewould make him go weak at the knees?
“What happened to your dad?” he asked, and Dexter pulled away from him abruptly. It was as if Jonah had picked up the sexual tension between them and pissed all over it. “Sorry if I’ve just killed the mood.”
“Yeah, well, bringing up my dad when I said I wanted to fuck you will do that.” He wiped his hands on the front of his jeans. Jeans. Jonah had never seen him wear jeans before. He looked at the rest of him then, a black long-sleeved T-shirt with a burgundy shirt opened over the top of it and navy sneakers. Remarkably casual.
“Sorry,” Jonah said again as they stood awkwardly in the hallway. “But seriously. Didn’t he come?”
“He came.” Dexter looked down at his feet. “Sent me a text during the interval to say he was leaving.”
“What? Why?”
Dexter fiddled with his fingers, then shrugged uncomfortably. “He said, and I quote, ‘I don’t want to watch a fucking pansy show.’”
