Ari slipped his arms around Jax’s waist and held him close while Jax tangled his fingers in Ari’s hair.
As they pulled apart, panting into the short space between their lips, Jax breathed, “I love you too. I love you, of course I—fuck, Ari, you wrote me awhole fucking album.”
Ari stilled in his arms, his shoulders at attention, and pulled back enough to see Jax’s face. Whatever he found in Jax’s eyes apparently reassured him, as his shoulders stood down. “Ah. I had wondered if you noticed.”
“Not until I heard ‘Alice’ at your place. Because I’m an idiot and didn’t even think about it before. But I looked up the track listings on your Instagram.”
“Oh, have they posted that?” Ari asked, sounding distracted. He seemed more interested in rubbing his thumb over Jax’s cheekbone.
“Yes.” Jax leaned into the touch. “Did you really write a song about the first time we slept together?”
Ari froze once again and flushed bright red. “Um.”
“Ari!” Jax choked on a laugh.
“You are very inspiring?” he offered weakly.
“Oh my God. Please tell me not everyone is going to know.”
“It doesn’t have lyrics,” Ari offered.
Jax hummed, relieved. Not that he wasn’t flattered, but his mom was going to buy this album. “But it is an ode to my perfect body?”
Ari’s face softened. “More like an ode to how wonderful you are in all ways.”
Jax laughed. He hoped Ari wasn’t offended, but he couldn’t accept that kind of compliment just then. “Right. Or an ode to how much you love my ass.”
The hand on the small of Jax’s back dipped slightly, and Ari brushed his fingers along the top of Jax’s ass. “Well, it is a rather nice one.”
“You know it,” Jax murmured and kissed him again. Everything else could wait.
MUCH LATER,curled safely under every blanket in the terrible apartment, Jax said, “How long do I get to keep you here, anyway?”
Ari had been toying absently with the hair at Jax’s nape—he needed a cut—but at the question he froze, feeling caught. Which was silly, because he’d already admitted to getting on a plane with only a slim hope that Jax might forgive him. And grand romantic gestures weren’t in his makeup. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so impulsive. “Ah, well….”
Jax looked up, eyes shadowed in the dim orange glow of the streetlight. He narrowed them and pressed his hand against Ari’s chest. “What?”
“I booked a one-way ticket,” Ari admitted, his ears burning. “It was a bit… last-minute.”
He didn’t regret it when Jax smiled. “That’s… sweet, actually. Although I do foresee one problem.”
Still pleasantly postorgasmic and basking in Jax’s attention, Ari had a difficult time conceiving of any such thing. “Hmm?”
Jax half sat up and gestured around him. “We’re going to drive each other nuts if we’re stuck hanging out here together all the time.”
Ah. “Yes, I see your point.”
“Also—and please don’t take this the wrong way—”
“It’s far too soon for us to live together, even short-term,” Ari finished for him.
“Especially after….”
“Yes.” Neither of them was particularly suited to a slow relationship progression, but they could at least pretend. “Also, there’s no room for a piano in here.”
Jax snorted and flopped back down next to him. “You noticed that, huh?” He turned onto his side. “Besides, I do actually have work to do prior to my defense. So, what’s the plan? Are you going to fly back, or….”
“I’ll have to eventually.” He was done with the album, but his mother was still recovering from surgery, and there would be tour details to work on. When Jax’s smile faded, he added, “But….”
