the twins and they all walked up to the front door together. As they waited to be admitted, another vehicle approached and Jordan turned to see who was arriving. Bennett!
The door opened and someone said, “Good evening! Right this way, please.”
Jordan remained where he was, oblivious to anyone but the man stepping out of his vehicle and pausing to stare at him. He could almost feel the sparks still arcing between them. The door behind him remained open, adding more light to the already bright front porch. Everything he had rehearsed to say flew out of his head, and all he wanted to do as Bennett walked up the wide front steps was haul him close and kiss him.
I guess almost a month apart wasn’t enough to get him out of my system.
“Jordan!” Bennett’s voice was cool, his eyes reflecting the tone back at Jordan. “Fancy seeing you again!”
Ouch! Yeah, he deserved that. “Hey! Good to see you.” He wasn’t going to start down that road, though. They weren’t teenage girls swapping insults. “Shall we?”
He gestured toward the still open door where the butler stood patiently waiting for them to step inside. Walking in behind him, Jordan tried to remember how to breathe as the scent of the other man’s cologne hit him like a punch to the gut. Fuck! He was gonna be in serious trouble if they spent anything more than a moment in each other’s company this evening.
After being relieved of their coats, they followed the butler out to the large sunroom at the back of the house where appetizers were set out, the tables manned by impeccably dressed wait staff, and a quartet played softly. It was the senior Tucker’s sixty-fifth birthday and as he handed the gift he’d brought to the man, Jordan noted that aside from the family and close friends, there were only a few other people, some couples, all closer in age to the birthday boy, scattered around. Probably business associates and friends of the elder Tuckers. Jordan filled his plate with delicate edibles.
“Jordan! How lovely to see you!” Mrs. Tucker said right next to him. “Thank you so much for coming! I imagine it must be hard for a teacher to go back out once he’s in after a week with teenagers.”
Jordan returned her smile. “It’s nice to see you again, too, Mrs. Tucker. I usually unwind over drinks with my buddies on a Friday night, so this is definitely a step up for me.”
Her amused laugh warmed him, making him feel even more welcome than her words had done.
“Ry and Chandler are around somewhere,” she continued. “If I see them before you do, I’ll let them know you’re here. Please make yourself at home.”
“Thank you.”
She stepped away to greet other guests and he walked over to one of the picture windows, settling his spine against it as he ate. Bennett had disappeared, and he imagined they’d not likely be together again if Bennett had his way. Jordan didn’t expect the younger man to be any more welcoming that he’d been at the front door, so if he wanted to patch things up, he’d have to make the first move.
He knew he had to, since they were likely to meet at their mutual friends’ home even occasionally, and he didn’t want there to be any awkwardness between them. Mac was sharp-eyed enough to know something was wrong if they skirted around each other like they had earlier. Sighing, he took his empty plate to the station where the other empties sat and then returned to his place by the window with a beer in hand.
“Hey Jay!”
Chantal’s cheerful voice made him smile and he turned to look down at her. She was a pretty girl, round-cheeked and wholesome, with a captivating smile. Jordan could see her having to fend off too-eager boys wanting too much from her. She was way too smart for them, though, and Jordan had no doubt she’d hold her own.
“Hey, again, little one!” He smiled at her. “How are your classes going? Ready to ace them again?”
“More than,” she said with a grin, wrapping an arm around his waist for moment. “And I’m so done with the boys! It’s good to be busy again.” She laughed with Jordan at the comment. “Are you gonna stop being scarce now? It was great having you over on Wednesday night. You can’t abandon us now that Chan’s no longer living at home.”
Jordan winced at her words. He was really fucking up