bed with you forever.”
Jonas trailed his fingers through the hair on Charlie’s chest. “Don’t you feel silly now for making me sleep on the hide-a-bed?”
Charlie laughed and rolled Jonas’s direction so they were face-to-face. His dark blond hair was messier than usual, sticking every direction. Jonas had hazel eyes, deep golden brown in the sunlight, but here, in the cozy shadows of Charlie’s bedroom, they looked more green than anything, and full of laughter. Charlie’s chest didn’t feel big enough to hold the tenderness that filled him.
“Say it again.”
Jonas touched Charlie’s cheek. “I’m all yours. I have been since the first night I spent in this bed. Before that even, if I’m being honest.” He smiled, guiding Charlie’s lips to his. “Now stop talking and make love to me.”
There was no rope this time. No bondage. No words at all. Just the wonderful feeling of Jonas in his arms, Jonas’s legs wrapped around his waist, Jonas’s soft gasps against Charlie’s lips as they moved together. Jonas didn’t shy away from touching the softness of Charlie’s middle. He didn’t close his eyes either, as Charlie had feared. And unlike some of Charlie’s previous lovers, he didn’t seem to be in it only for the kink factor. He was right there with Charlie, meeting his gaze, sharing his breath, whispering Charlie’s name as he came.
“You’re right,” Charlie said afterward. “I do feel like a fool for making you sleep on the couch.”
Jonas’s laughter was interrupted by the sound of the front door banging open.
“Yo, Charlie. You here, man?” Gray called from the front room.
Jonas froze, his eyes wide. “You didn’t lock the front door last night?” he whispered.
“I was too busy trying to rip your clothes off.”
“Charlie?” Gray called again.
“I’ll be right out,” Charlie yelled back.
Jonas’s expression was troubled as he watched Charlie pull on a pair of boxers and a T-shirt. “Don’t worry. He’ll be out of our hair in twenty minutes, max.”
Jonas nodded but didn’t speak.
Charlie found Gray sprawled on the couch, eyeing the pile of suitcases in the corner of the room. “What’s going on?”
“None of your business.”
“You have a guest in there?”
“Maybe I do.”
Gray grinned. “Anybody I know?”
“I plead the fifth.”
“If I weren’t happily married, I’d ask if I could join you.”
“Lucky for me, that’s no longer an option.”
Gray laughed. He raised his voice and yelled toward the bedroom, “Don’t worry! I won’t keep him for long.”
Charlie bit his lip to keep from smiling. He imagined Jonas, probably wondering if he could answer, or if Gray would recognize his voice.
“What’s up?” Charlie asked, taking his usual seat in the armchair.
“Just checking in. I feel like I haven’t heard from you in ages. I didn’t realize it was because you had a new squeeze.”
“I don’t kiss and tell.”
“Ha! Since when?” He eyed the suitcases again. Charlie was relieved that all of Jonas’s art supplies were in the kitchen, and that Gray hadn’t ventured that far. “Male or female?” Gray asked. “Tell me that much.”
“Male. And that’s as much as you’re getting out of me.” Charlie couldn’t help but laugh though. Gray’s good mood was infectious. “Married life suits you.”
Gray’s smile was as big as Charlie had ever seen it. “Yes, it does.”
“No regrets?”
“Not a single one.”
“Glad to hear it. How’s the job search?”
Gray’s smile wilted. “I don’t want to talk about it. It’ll ruin my good mood.”
Charlie leaned back in his chair. “So why’d you really stop by?”
“I was serious, man. I wanted to check in. I haven’t heard from you in a while. I worry when you go silent on me.” He shrugged. “It probably sucks being the last single guy in the group, and I know you’d have to be in bad shape before you reached out to anybody for help. So I thought I’d reach out to you, just in case.”
Gray could be an ass, but he could also come through when it counted most, and this was the perfect example. It did suck being the last single man in the group. Or it had, up until Jonas’s sudden reappearance in his life.
“I’m doing okay,” he said. “But thanks for checking in.”
“Sure thing.” Gray chuckled, shaking his head. “Wouldn’t have bothered if I’d known you had a new boy toy warming your bed. How long have we been friends, and you didn’t bother telling me?”
“It was kind of sudden. That’s all.”
“Well, whoever he is, he sure has you smiling, I’ll give him that. It looks good on you.”
“Feels pretty good too.”
Gray got up and headed for