Page 50 of Conquest

Jesse winked and kissed the air toward him. “School came really easy for me. When I was in elementary school, I went through a bunch of tests that said I was gifted. My teachers tried telling my parents that I needed to be in accelerated schooling, but my dad wouldn’t listen. He said I’d outgrow it and fall back in line with the other kids in a couple years, but I never did. You’d think a professor at a community college would be a little more into his own kid’s education, but he had always pretty much ignored me unless I did something wrong.

“Brandon thinks our dad hated him worse because he’d always fight with him, but I look at it that our dad cared more about him because he at least took the time to bitch at him. I think he could tell early on that I was going to turn out to be gay and thought I wasn’t worth the effort from day one, but he still had some hope for Brandon. If you asked Brandon now, he’d deny he’s ever done anything to try to please our father, but that’s probably why Brandon was screwed up for so long, trying to come to terms with his sexuality, and bounced between guys and girls for a few years before he realized he couldn’t force himself to be straight or bi.”

Evan gazed at Jesse, too stunned to speak. He couldn’t imagine what it was like growing up with such a poor father when his own had been so dear to him, but what shocked him more was the carefree way Jesse talked about the situation, as if discussing last night’s baseball game. It seemed Jesse accepted his father’s disownment, but a person didn’t get over being rejected by their parent. The scar may become easier to hide with time, but it was always there.

“So anyway,” Jesse continued, “I was in advanced classes and even they were easy for me, but I’ve always loved to read and study history, especially ancient Greece. With my grades and high SAT scores, I got a full academic scholarship to Purdue, but I passed it up to pursue music fulltime, and that’s when my dad jacked me in the cheek and threw me out. Not that it mattered. I had already been planning to move in with Brandon after I graduated high school.”

Evan looked at the partially melted frozen lemonade cup he had forgotten he was holding and took a bite in an attempt to cool the fury rising in him that anyone would hit Jesse. Deciding it’d be best to change the topic, he stood up and held his hand down to him. “Let’s go into the fish house. I’m starving, and I bet for the right price, they’ll throw just about anything on a plate in there.”

Jesse rolled his eyes and took Evan’s hand. “Do you know how many endangered species the Shedd has?”

“I guess they’d be the more expensive dishes.”

Jesse chuckled under his breath. “That’s not even funny.”

“Then why are you laughing?”

“Out of pity that you’d make so bad a joke.”

Jesse tried to duck when Evan moved to rumple his hair, but was too slow. He sighed, looking up at the messed up cluster of hair hanging above his eyes, and did his best to fix it with his fingers. He dropped his hands and Evan slid his arm around his waist. Jesse matched the movement. He noticed a group of people looking at them, then quickly averting their eyes, only to peek back at them in a weak effort to be sneaky.

“People are looking at us weird,” Jesse said.

“Well, we’re probably giving them a mixed signal trying to figure out if we’re really good friends or lovers.” Evan moved his arm from Jesse’s back and shoved his hand into the back pocket of Jesse’s jeans furthest from him. “There. That should clear up any confusion.”

With each stride, Jesse felt Evan’s hand pressing against his left butt cheek, and as much as he wanted Evan to keep his hand there, he felt nervous for Evan knowing how closely he had guarded his sexuality. “Aren’t you worried someone will recognize you? I mean, the hat and sunglasses are not that slick of a disguise.”

“I’m not worried about it.” They began climbing the stairs to the Shedd Aquarium, and Evan clamped his fingers onto Jesse’s ass cheek. “And I thought your ass felt good when we were walking. It’s so firm when you’re going up stairs. I think tomorrow we’ll go out shopping for a stair-stepper so I can sit in a chair behind it and watch you work out.”

As they mounted the last step, Evan pulled his hand away to retrieve money for their entrance.

Jesse moved in close to him. “And if you’re a good boy, I’ll do it naked for you. I’ll climb it until I’m panting and dripping in sweat, then you can grab me, throw me over the bench-press, and ride me as hard as you did the other day.”

Evan breathed a heated sigh over Jesse’s lips. “Now I’m the one that could smash a diamond to dust.”

Jesse gave him a smug grin and strolled into the aquarium. He walked to a large gallery and stood looking at the brightly colored fish, the small ones darting about, the larger ones drifting through the water with lazy swishes of tails and fins. Evan stepped up behind him. His lips brushed the back of Jesse’s neck in a whisper soft kiss.

They turned from the gallery of tropical fish and worked their way to the underwater viewing gallery in the Oceanarium section to see the Pacific white-sided dolphins and beluga whales.

Evan turned his head to look at Jesse, watching his eyes follow the sea creatures. No matter how much he looked at them, they were still the darkest, deepest blue he had ever seen, like twilight when night was about to take full claim of the sky from the sun. All the people he had ever met, all the places he traveled, and never had he seen eyes of such royal indigo. Then to have those stunning eyes accentuated by hair of rich ebony. How could one person be so exquisitely beautiful? He caressed his fingertips down Jesse’s arm.

“Hey,” he said softly. “You want to know something else about me?”

Jesse faced him and nodded.

“I’ve never done anything like this before, just hung out with someone I was sleeping with. If I wasn’t screwing them, I didn’t care to be around them. I’m almost twenty-seven years old and I’ve never been in a real relationship.”

A smile touched Jesse’s lips. He put his arm around Evan’s shoulders. “Neither have I. I guess this is one more first we’re experiencing together.”

Evan wrapped his arm around Jesse’s waist and leaned his weight against him.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Jesse listened to Evan’s breathing next to him in bed and knew he was still awake. During their day at the museum and the aquarium, he never thought he would get so much joy from hearing someone talk about themselves as he got when Evan finally started to open up, even though there was one topic he still adamantly dodged.

Jesse brushed his hand up and down Evan’s chest. “You did it again today. You didn’t answer my questions about why you quit making music.”

Evan kept his eyes closed. “I never quit making music.”