Page 29 of Go the Long Way
The Discovery
"Didn't," Jakob lied. He kept his eyes locked on the frame caught paused on the TV, but the image was overlayed with the memory welling up in his mind of that night, refusing to be ignored.
Two figures, grinding against each other, pressed up against the gray cinderblock wall of the parking garage.
He stood there for an embarrassingly long moment, honestly unable to wholly process what he was seeing at first. And once Jakob had finally figured it out? Once he'd understood the situation he'd found himself in?
From his vantage point in the apartment building's stairwell, he'd smirked, fully intending to keep walking. Right up until he'd heard the oh-so-familiar voice of the very person he'd gone searching for, that was; Ethan's bitten-back curses echoing loudly off the bare concrete.
"Was looking for you. See if you were ready to head home," Jakob explained instead. "Heard your voice, saw you'd found some company, and I… went back upstairs to the party. Figured I'd give you some privacy."
Not a total lie, but — that wasn't the entire story, was it?
No, not by a long shot.
Of course, the smart thing for Jakob to do was to turn himself right around. Act as if he didn't notice anything, get his ass back up the stairs and return to the party like he'd never seen a thing, right?
He'd been about to do just that, too. But then he'd heard how Ethan had… hadgroaned, and —
Swallowing against the surge of bitter metal rushing across his tongue once Jakob realized the door had gone and locked itself behind him. All his previous amusement drained away as he found himself trapped in that stairwell; presented with a club-seat view of heaven, of hell, of — of everything, and only one possible direction to go.
There was absolutely no way they would see him if he'd taken even three more steps, much less gone for the open stairs he could see on the other side of the parking garage. And… It wasn't as if they were being quiet or nothing. Anyone could have come across them like that.
And then there'd been no force on earth that could've made Jakob move from that spot.
Because it hadn't been only embarrassment burning him up from the inside out then, had it? Like a stack of dry kindling, thatpullhe'd done his level best to shove down all his life had finally sparked into existence, blazing far too hot to ignore. The sight of Ethan curled around that other guy, face tucked in the side of his neck, both of them grunting and groaning? The other guy braced hard against the wall, bent back like a bow into Ethan; eyes closed and mouth open, head tipped back as he wailed like he was seeing the face of God?
So detached. Acting as if you were merely some innocent, put-upon bystander. Like you didn't enjoy it too.
Andoh, but he had, hadn't he? Made him feel as if he was some piece of shit creeper. Trying to keep his drifting eyes in check, to give Ethan what privacy he could, but — but —
But then he'd seen it.
About half a second from just giving in and shoving one hand down his pants, trying to convince himself it was only to relieve some of the pressure on his furiously hard cock; Jakob's eyes had finally adjusted enough to the garage's dimness that he could make out the shape of a service door on the far side of the wall next to him.
Salvation; if he made it unnoticed.
Damnation; if he didn't, if he stayed.
A revelation, either way.
An entire ocean of hormones screaming at him to stay, he beat a hasty retreat as quietly as he could. Heart pounding, lungs sucking in the cool night's air, relief and regret both flooding through his body as Jakob leaned against the outside of the door.
Unbidden, his mind conjured up memories of what Ethan was doing on the other side of this slim bit of steel; his ears easily summoning the ragged edge to his partner's moaning, each grunt punched out of his throat with every snap of Ethan's hips.
Of the glint of dark eyes as Ethan's partner caught sight of Jakob's escape…
"Didn't even see the guy's face," Jakob said, resolutely not looking at Ethan as he felt his neck heat. "Was it, uh… someone I'd know?"
Like Jakobdidn'tknow for a fact it'd been Sean from their Algebra class last term. The same guy their professor had spent the semester constantly getting mixed up with Jakob, to his utter frustration.
It had nearly cost Jakob his scholarship when Sean hadn’t shown up for their final, and the professor recorded his failing grade under Jakob’s name. Fortunately, Coach had gotten it straightened out, but it had definitely put a damper on the first few days of break until it was sorted.
Jakob had never been able to figure it out — Sean was pale and freckled, wore glasses and a constant rotation of eye-wateringly bright tie-die t-shirts. Sure they were both redheads, but Jakob's was a darker, coppery color about the shade of a deep red ale or his step-father's sorrel horse. Sean's had been so light it was almost verging on blond. He wore his curls close-cropped too, while Jakob's was straight as straw and long enough it was forever falling into his eyes.
The guy was always hanging around them; trying to convince Jakob and Ethan to sign up for his frisbee golf league, sitting behind them in class, asking to borrow Ethan’s notes. Not that Jakob couldn’t now make a few guesses as to why.
Squeezing his eyes closed, Jakob struggled to will it all safely away. Ethan was his friend. His best friend. Who or where or how he wanted to fuck wasn't any of Jakob's business at all.