Page 44 of Ring Rust

“What about the party?”

“You had a date. I came here to get my stuff and go home so I never have to see you again and you can live happily ever after with Shawn, the weird facts guy.”

“That’s what you want?”

“No, but it’s what you want. And that’s fine. Maybe he can tell you about the history of people leaving their partner of fourteen years with no warning. Also,” Ryan said before hiccupping, “you should know that I don’t think he washed his hands after using the bathroom.”

“Really?” Jasper asked. He thought back, but all he could remember were all the times he was searching for Ryan.

“Yeah, and I wash my hands every time. So that’s just… your choice, but something to think about.”

“My choice, huh?”

“Yeah. You could have me, or you could have the dirty guy who had a million weird facts up his sleeve.”

“Leave Shawn out of this. He didn’t do anything to you. He was there with me because I wanted him to be.” Or, perhaps more accurately, Stevie wanted him to be. But that was unnecessary information.

“Oh,” Ryan said. His face fell.

Fighting wasn’t going well. Ryan was too pathetic for it to feel even. They sat next to each other on the couch for a while, not speaking, while Jasper worked through a rolodex of different relationship failures he could bring up to antagonize Ryan. There were certainly enough of them to leave poor Shawn alone.

“I am sorry about what we did on the deck,” Ryan said. “Shawn doesn’t deserve that. I won’t tell anybody, so you can just keep it a secret if you want. If you guys get married, I promise not to say anything about it in my best man speech.”

Jasper laughed unexpectedly. “You think you’re my best man at this future wedding?”

“I’d like to be,” Ryan said, his gaze shifting to Jasper’s. “I’ve spent a lot of time lately wishing I’d never have to see you again, because I’ve convinced myself that would make my life easier. But I think… that would make my life so much worse. If you let me be your friend, I think I could be happy again.”

A weaker man might hear surface-level-sweet words like that and be moved by them. But Jasper wasn’t. He heard something else—him being responsible for Ryan’s feelings, with no regard for what Jasper actually wanted. Jasper didn’t want to marry Shawn, and he didn’t want to be friends with Ryan. He wanted to go back in time so he could figure out how to get Ryan to stay on the indie circuit, or maybe never meet him at all. Anything to prevent this outcome, where Ryan was moping on their couch, expecting pity after edging him on a deck, all because he was hurt, angry, and confused.

Well, Jasper was hurt, too. And humiliated, after he showed Ryan—and Shawn, apparently—his willingness to let his guard down if it meant being touched again. “I didn’t realize torturing people and leaving them blue balled in the cold was something friends did with each other.”

Ryan lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I said I was sorry.”

“You did,” Jasper said. He licked his lips before standing. “God, did you turn the heat up when you got here? It’s so hot.” He took off his sweater and dropped it on the ground, then moved away from Ryan to escape his body heat before settling back into the corner of the couch.

“I didn’t touch it.”

“You know what I think?”

“What?”

Jasper removed his shirt next, dropping it on the ground near his sweater. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Ryan’s eyes locked on him. “I think if we were actually friends, youwouldn’t have left me like that. I think you did it because you were mad at me.”

“I was angry with you. For seeing someone else and giving away my watch.” Ryan shifted in his seat. “What are you doing?”

Jasper looked at Ryan, then down at his bare chest. “Taking my shirt off. It’s hot.”

“It’s not hot. I’m wearing a sweater,” Ryan said.

“People have different temperature preferences,” Jasper said, leaning back, exposing the line of his throat casually. “But you leave me like that on a freezing cold deck and now have the audacity to comment on my body’s ability to regulate heat? Maybe it’s because you left me out there.”

“It’s not because I left you out there. The way I remember it, we were both pretty warm when I left.”

Jasper popped the button on his jeans next. Ryan’s eyes widened and Jasper steadied his breathing so he wouldn’t give himself away. He was already half hard—maybe it was because the same guy who had him seconds from coming in his pants an hour earlier was there, two feet away. Or maybe, torturing Ryan was just that fun.

Ryan made a throaty noise as Jasper slid his jeans over his hips and down his legs, adding them to the pile of discarded clothing. His eyes locked on the outline of Jasper’s cock, which Jasper used to his advantage by making soft, moaning noises as he slid his hand down his stomach.

“Fuck,” Ryan said. His hands reached out to slide up Jasper’s legs, but Jasper kicked him off. It wasn’t clear if it was the alcohol or the blood leaving Ryan’s brain, but he tried it again immediately.