Page 60 of Caught Running
“Hey, Jake, I came to help with the ... tro ... phies...” Troy’s voice trailed off as his eyes got big, blinking at what he saw as if he couldn’t believe it.
Jake didn’t move, closing his eyes as he kept his forehead pressed to Brandon’s. “The trophies are fucked,” he answered calmly. He was shocked, actually, by how calm he was. But he had no intention of acting guilty for kissing his lover in his own house.
Troy blinked again, hard, and then tilted his head. He looked startled. “Brandon?” he asked, voice rising at the end. The man was practically hidden under Jake’s body, they were so close.
Jake finally pushed away from the wall, meeting Brandon’s eyes with something like fear. The changeable eyes looking back at him glimmered with emotion and a promise. Jake turned and looked at Troy silently, waiting for him to say something else.
The blond man looked back and forth between them for a long moment before suddenly breaking into a huge grin. “Jonathan owes me fifty bucks!” he crowed.
Brandon’s jaw dropped. For once Jake was stunned, and it showed. “What?” he asked in a hoarse voice.
“Heh heh heh,” Troy chortled. “I told him. I told him you two had to be together. Had to be. He was like ‘no way’—kid’s too straight for his own good.” His eyes were dancing. “This is so great.” Jake was struck speechless. He just shook his head and let his mouth fall open.
“What?” Troy asked. “You’ve been in too damn good of a mood since spring break. That was when I first knewsomethingwas up, when you didn’t take Brandon’s head off after that shitstorm with Misty.” Troy looked awfully proud of himself.
Brandon shifted off the wall to stand behind Jake, looking over his shoulder at the gleeful man. “He seems inordinately happy about this,” he murmured.
“I think he’s high,” Jake responded in a stage whisper. “Maybe he won’t remember this tomorrow.”
Troy snickered. “Dream on, butterfingers.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and rolled back on his heels. “So, I’m right, right? You’re a couple? I mean, not just fucking around, buttogether.”
“Awful lucid for being high,” Brandon said doubtfully relaxing, though he still looked at Troy like he was off his rocker. It surely wasn’t the kind of response he’d expected if one of their fellow coaches discovered his relationship with Jake.
“Are you okay with this?” Jake asked his oldest friend, hope and disbelief warring in his voice.
“Hell, Jake. I’m just glad to see you happy and with someone, man,” Troy said seriously. Then his eyes twinkled as he glanced up at Brandon. “Even if it is with a nerd.”
Brandon choked on a curse and moved to come around Jake. “I’ll show you nerd!” he threatened. Jake reached out and snagged Brandon’s collar with a muttered, “Down, boy.” Troy just cackled when Brandon struggled a little only to get pulled back into Jake’s arms.
“Jake, I’ll just hurt him alittlebit,” Brandon whined, his eyes shooting daggers at the blond.
The bigger man held him close and petted his head distractedly as he met Troy’s eyes. This was one outcome Jake had never even considered a possibility. He was shocked and touched, and it showed in his dark eyes as he smiled and mouthed a silent ‘Thank you.’
Although Troy was outwardly ragging on Brandon, his eyes were full of warmth and acceptance, and he nodded to his longtime friend and smiled.
Brandon huffed and leaned back against Jake to pout, which made Troy break into laughter again. “Do you find that look gets you anything you want from Jake?” he asked. Brandon stuck his tongue out at him. Jake’s hand soon followed, clapping over Brandon’s mouth. Brandon retaliated by licking Jake’s palm.
Troy grinned. “Well. I suppose being a friend and all, I don’t need to collect that money from Jonathan. I’ll just expect a favor sometime down the road. Wewillbe seeing you two at the banquet tonight?”
“Ugh,” Jake answered with a roll of his eyes, thinking about the trophies as he wiped his hand absently on Brandon’s shirt. “Come look at these damn things,” he muttered as he pointed at the kitchen.
The science teacher chuckled and stepped aside to let Jake past him, and they all walked into the kitchen to look. “Jake, why the hell did you even bring these home? You should have chucked them back at them at the store,” Brandon said, making a face at one of the pony-tailed statuettes.
“They were boxed,” Jake answered defensively. “I only opened one ‘cause I got stuck in traffic and needed something shiny to look at.”
Troy looked between the two, another silly smile forming on his face.
“Never leave a store without checking that you get what you paid for, Jake. Now you’ll have to drive them back and either get them redone or get a refund,” Brandon replied. He glanced up to see Troy practically snickering. “What’s so funny?”
“You two. You’re like a damn old married couple,” Troy said. Jake picked up the head of the defaced trophy and chucked it at him. Brandon grinned when Troy howled and stomped his foot. “Fine. I’ll just be buzzing off in my cart, and you two can go back to necking. Or whatever you were going to do.” He winked and headed out the door, whistling.
“Jackass,” Jake muttered after him.
Now that Troy was gone, a bit of the daze was creeping back. “Did you expect that?” Brandon asked.
“No,” Jake answered immediately. “No, I figured ... I figured I’d lose him.”
“If you can’t depend on your best friend, then who?” Brandon said quietly. “I never had that. You’re lucky.”