Page 102 of Conquest

Jesse stared at Brandon, caught between being shocked or angry. With each second, anger began to win. He knew Brandon and Evan had been communicating regularly since he left, even keeping up the tradition the three of them started by having dinner together every Tuesday, and though in his heart he knew it was all innocent, his mind whispered venomous doubts.

“That seems like an awful lot of conversations,” he said between clenched teeth. The smile Brandon turned on him grated his frayed nerves further.

“Not really between friends.”

The server returned and stepped up to Jesse, bending forward to show him the wine he brought. Jesse took the bottle and glass without moving his piercing glare from Brandon. Greg stood and walked away from everyone. Jesse eased up from the couch and followed him over to the table.

“I was going to tell you, Jess,” Greg said. “You know Evan doesn’t get along well with his step-relatives and his relationship with his mother is tense, so I thought it would be nice to invite him and them for Christmas dinner. It’d be good for him to be around people he actually enjoys, and whether you like it or not, he’s like a son to me and a friend to the members of your band. And seeing him now isn’t that big of a deal since you’ll have to see him in a couple days to rehearse for the New Year’s performance.”

“I already told you I wasn’t doing that,” Jesse hissed in a loud whisper.

“You can’t avoid him forever. You need to learn to deal with this, and most of all, talk to him.”

Jesse took a breath, ready to let a torrent of protests fly, when the door to the banquet room opened. Evan walked in with his mother, stepfather, and stepsister. Jesse’s breath left at the sight of him. He looked more divine than his memories held. There wasn’t a hint of darkness under his eyes that somehow seemed an even more dazzling blue. He wore a pair of brown leather pants so dark they were nearly black, and a tan cashmere sweater with a broad neck that revealed a glimpse of his collarbone. Jesse sighed to himself. Evan always did take leather pants from being rock star to supreme elegance.

Achilles barked. Jesse made a grab for his collar, but was too slow. The dog tore across the room toward Evan.

“Achilles!” Evan called. He bent down, clapping his hands a couple times to encourage him. Achilles slammed into Evan’s knees, his tail whipping back and forth. Evan went down on one knee, roughing up Achilles’s fur and laughing when the dog tried to lick his face. He glanced up at Jesse standing near the table and found himself trapped by Jesse’s indigo eyes.

He couldn’t believe it was true, but Jesse looked more gorgeous than the last time they had been together. He had on a pair of black dress pants and the midnight blue sweater he wore pulled out the twilight in his eyes. At first, he thought the outfit was making Jesse look more mature, then he saw it in Jesse’s eyes, felt it in the air around him; during his time on the road, Jesse had grown even more into the confident leader of his band.

“It’s about time you got here!” Krista yelled, running up to Evan.

She threw her arms around his neck, and he lifted her off the ground with his hug. He put her down and took a step back from her, keeping his hands on her arms as he looked her up and down. “Wow. Did Santa bring you a boob job, because I know those things are bigger than the last time I saw you.”

“Evan!” Greg bellowed.

Evan glanced at him, a sly smirk spreading over his lips, and turned back to Krista. “Oops, I mean, damn girl, I hope you got some makeup in your stocking because yikes.” He held his hand up as if trying to shield his eyes from looking at her.

She giggled and slapped him on the arm.

Julian slid up beside Jesse. “Ah, nothing like being in the presence of the most breathtaking and talented man in the world. Didn’t you once say that was your type?”

Jesse gave him an unappreciative look out the corner of his eye.

Julian tugged on Jesse’s sleeve. “Come on now, darling. Say hello to everyone like a good boy.”

Jesse let Julian lead him over to the group. He walked up as Greg was finishing introductions.

“And this is—”

“Jess doesn’t need introductions,” Evan cut in, and met Jesse’s eyes. “Everyone knows who he is.” He took a step closer to him. “You look amazing.”

Jesse stared at him, brought off balance by Evan’s boldness. Before he could move, Evan closed the distance between them and pulled him into a tight embrace. Jesse stood rigid. He was in Evan’s arms. Evan’s body, that he knew so well, was pressed against him. His cologne, so familiar, filled his nose. Without warning, everything inside him broke. He pushed against Evan and wrapped his arms around him, melting into his embrace. Evan laid his head against Jesse’s and buried the fingers of one hand in Jesse’s hair.

Jesse lingered in Evan’s arms. It felt so good being held by him, so comfortable, so warm. This was how it should be, how it was meant to be. His throat started to tighten. But it was a lie. Why was Evan even bothering to hold him? Why was he doing this to him? Why did he want to keep hurting him? His eyes started to burn. He pushed back from Evan, blinking rapidly to keep his tears at bay.

He stood silent. He couldn’t look at Evan. He couldn’t look at anyone. He heard everyone around him making small talk, but their voices sounded muted, and in his mind they were all talking about them. He peeked toward the door from under his eyelashes, judging the distance. How bad would it look if he made a run for it?

He shook the thought away. No. He had to be strong. The last time they were together, Evan had been the strong one. Now it was his turn.

He glanced at Evan and saw he hadn’t moved from where he’d been standing during the hug. His eyes were focused on Achilles sitting at his side. Jesse could tell as Evan rubbed the dog behind his ear that even though he tried to hide it, Evan was upset. He cursed himself for it, but he was filled with the need to comfort him.

“He’s gotten big, hasn’t he?” Jesse said.

Evan kept his eyes on Achilles. “Yeah. I’m surprised he remembers me.”

“He likes you. He always has since the first day I found him.”