Page 7 of Unwrapped
Jack’s question pulled Adam back from his thoughts and he nodded.
Reluctantly, he released his hold and breathed out as Jack moved to unpack their dinner.Adam hadn’t realized that he held his breath as Jack disappeared into the kitchen to grab them both a beer until he came back into the living room with a concerned look on his face.
“Are you okay?”
Adam rubbed the spot on his chest that squeezed.“I feel as though you’re going to disappear if I let you out of my sight.”
“I won’t.The past three days have been hell, especially the mornings when I woke and you weren’t next to me.I hate what I’ve done to us, but I won’t give up on our relationship.Trust me, the last thing I want is to be apart from you.”
Jack reached for Adam and led him to the couch where they settled down for dinner.
“How did you find a therapist so quickly?”
“I found her online.Dr. Weston has a practice based in New York but spends half her time talking to clients that don’t live in the city and she happened to be free on Saturday after I called you.We’ve talked several times already.”
“And you find her…helpful?”Adam hoped that Jack wouldn’t take his curiosity for more than it was.
“Yeah, I do.Everything that I can’t pin down, from my emotions to why I’m scared to make our relationship public, she listens to me and somehow creates logic from the chaos.I’m starting to understand the relationship I had with my father made me afraid everyone would be exactly like him.He couldn’t love my mom, even though she tried from the minute they met, and he couldn’t love me, although I’m his son.So Dr. Weston thinks I keep people from getting close by fucking up every relationship I’ve ever had so I can protect myself from being left alone.”
A pain pierced his chest at Jack’s words.He lasted months longer than Jack’s other relationships, but it hurt to realize he wasn’t any more special than the others.Adam swallowed the bite he’d taken, not even remembering what they were eating.
“Hey.”Jack squeezed his arm and pulled him closer.“I know that look and whatever you’re thinking, it isn’t true.I want our relationship to work.I want to plan the future with you and love you every day, even when we’re old men.I think I sabotaged my other relationships by not caring one way or the other if they survived past a few weeks.With you, it’s completely different and when I explained that to Dr. Weston, she agreed.”
Adam nodded.“I believe you.”
“Good.Because there’s something else I remembered while talking to her.”Jack flinched.
Adam had a feeling it involved his asshole of a father but waited for Jack to tell him in his own time.They ate silently for a few minutes, Adam tasting the curry chicken for the first time since they started eating.He smiled, knowing that Jack didn’t care for Thai very much but brought it because he knew Adam liked it.
“I was thirteen and a new kid moved a couple doors down from me.Travis.At that time I hadn’t even thought much about girls or boys for that matter, but there was something about Travis that made me happy.Anyway, since we were always together, we were partnered for a science project.Every day after school, we would go back to my house and because we had a cook, she had food waiting for us before we started studying.”
Jack smiled a pained smile.
“One day, we talked about our first kiss and since I hadn’t yet, I tried to play it off like it wasn’t a big deal.Travis said that he’d only kissed two girls and he didn’t like either of the kisses.It surprised me completely when he told me he thought he liked boys.I asked him how he would know, and he said he liked me.”
“And he kissed you?”Adam reached for Jack’s hand.
“Yeah.That was the start of our experimenting.I thought it would be awkward, but it felt natural.One afternoon, the kissing led to more.We stripped and I climbed on top of him.And—”
“Your dad walked in.”Adam sucked in a breath.He’d had the opportunity to meet Jackson Wright once and he and Adam had almost come to blows.He could only imagine what a close-minded asshole like Jackson would think to see his only son with another boy.
Fuck.
Jack nodded, but his eyes were glazed, still stuck in the memories of the past.“I had forgotten that incident completely.Travis had moved soon after because his father was in the military and was transferred overseas.But by that time, I avoided Travis because I was embarrassed by the words my father so eloquently spewed at both of us.I still feel bad, because he thought I was upset at him.”
“What happened to you?”Adam braced himself.
“After he sent Travis home, he proceeded to beat the shit out of me.He made sure not to leave any visible bruises, and when my mom asked me why I cringed when I moved, good old dad said I fell down the stairs.That was the first time I heard the slurs, the first time I understood the hatred someone had for something I couldn’t control.But of course, I’m great at denying the truth to myself and I suppressed it until I couldn’t remember at all.I never looked at another man, until I met you.I was hooked from the moment I touched you.”
Adam felt guilt swamp him.He understood all too well how words could hurt, sometimes more than fists, but Jack had been a kid who had been discovering a large part of who he was.His father had hurt him, in more ways than physical.
Jack linked their fingers together, and Adam shook off his thoughts about finding a way to get back at Jack’s father.He noticed heat banked in Jack’s eyes as he stared at Adam’s lips.
“Dr. Weston let me know my dad was wrong and I could finally admit that I’m gay.But Adam, you are the only man for me.”
Swallowing a hard lump that formed in his throat, Adam brushed a kiss against Jack’s lips, barely a touch.“I know.You’re the only man for me, too.”
Without thinking about his actions, Adam stood and moved toward Jack, swinging his leg over Jack’s lap and straddling his thighs.He slid his fingers through Jack’s hair, savoring the soft strands against his heated fingers, a moment before Adam leaned and gave Jack a scorching kiss.He could feel his cock pulse against the zipper of his jeans and moaned when Jack gripped his hips and squeezed.He didn’t bring Adam closer.Instead, he used Adam’s body as an anchor to hold him close.
