against it. It felt good to stretch his legs out, even when the twisted muscles in his back started to spasm. “A den of debauchery?”
“A den of debauchery?” Jude parroted, though it sounded nicer in his accent.
Kicks huffed, shrugging one shoulder, and he turned his head to see the man a little more clearly. “Booze and bitches? Is that better?”
Jude’s smile widened even as he rolled his eyes, and he shuffled over before he sat, his back to the fireplace. “I honestly had no real idea what I was walking into. This is a bit…out of my realm of expertise.”
“They didn’t teach you how to cope with being kidnapped by a biker in rabbi school?” Kicks asked, and he felt a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
Jude chuckled and shook his head. “Is that what this is? I thought it was a rescue.”
Kicks gave him a non-committal noise, ignoring the fluttering sensation in his gut.
“Rabbinical school prepared me for quite a lot, if I’m being honest. Just not in the ways I expected,” Jude said. He dragged one knee up toward his chest and curled an arm around it. The flexibility in his body was almost mesmerizing, and Kicks was on the verge of running again. His cock was flaccid, but there was a warmth in his gut he didn’t know what to do with. “I did spend a lot of nights not doing the readings I was supposed to and instead, wasted my time devouring comics.”
Kicks’ brows rose. “Didn’t take you for the nerdy type.”
“That’s offensive and judgmental,” Jude shot back. “I’m perfectly capable of being many things.”
“Touché,” Kicks muttered, fighting the urge to turn his head so he didn’t have to look at the man. “I guess I ain’t used to men like you, rabbi. With the Chains, what you see is what you get.”
Jude scoffed. “I very much doubt that. Especially you.”
Kicks raised his brows. “You think so?”
Jude met his gaze steadily. “Tell me something about you that you normally don’t tell strangers, and I’ll let you know if I’m…surprised.”
The man’s offer was too tempting. He could lie, of course. Or he could tell some innocuous truth like he only wore mismatched socks, or his favorite thing to do was get ice cream with Maddie on Sundays. Or that he won a prize two years back for the squash he’d grown in the shop garden. But he had a feeling none of those things would make the man blink twice.
“I like romance novels,” he offered instead and felt the tops of his cheeks burn.
The look Jude gave him couldn’t be described as anything but delighted, and it made Kicks squirm a little under the attention. “Which ones? Wait,” he said, tapping a finger on his chin, “don’t tell me. I can’t imagine you diving into a Bronte. Maybe not even Austen.” His brow furrowed like he was giving it actual thought, and Kicks wished he could take his stupid confession back. “Give me one title, and I’ll see if I know it.
Kicks rolled his eyes and rose, flopping onto the sofa and ignoring the cloud of dust it kicked up until he sneezed twice. He swiped his hand under his nose then glanced back at Jude who was still staring. “Jesus, I don’t remember their names. They all had the same guy on the cover and some woman with big tits. I used to sneak them when my mom was done reading them, and there were so damn many, she never noticed when one or two went missing. I thought I was gonna read porn the first time I grabbed one.” He shrugged and glanced away. “I guess I sorta did, but there was always something a little deeper about the story. You always knew how that shit was gonna turn out, you know? No matter what the guy did—the person he loved always forgave him. Like there was no sin not worth forgiving.”
Jude was painfully quiet, but Kicks didn’t look over. “I understand.”
Kicks nodded once, swallowing past a strange lump, then he cleared his throat before finally looking at the other man. “My mom would always pick up a new book every time we went grocery shopping. She kept them in a cardboard box under her bed, and every time we moved, she’d throw them on the lawn during the yard sale and sell them for a dime.”
Jude’s face softened, and he crossed the room, dragging the kitchen chair over so he could sit