Page 12 of Hitting the Jackpot (Las Vegas Littles #4)

“Yes, that, let’s do that.” Lake’s voice was husky with need.

“Don’t we have a picnic to get to?” Jesse teased.

“Now you want to eat?”

“You went to a lot of trouble for me,” Jesse reminded him.

Lake nodded. “It wasn’t easy. I had to call in the whole crew.”

Jesse helped Lake sit up. They were both sporting erections, but Jesse really did want to see what all his boy had done. “The crew?”

“I don’t even know what your favorite food is,” Lake said. “Or if you have any hobbies. I needed help.”

“And you found it?”

“Dom and Remi asked around here. The security team, table dealers, slot technicians. Anyone who was on shift. Several of them said that you eat at the Italian restaurant several times a week.”

Wow, Lake had really gone to a lot of trouble for him. Just for him. “Italian is my favorite. It’s filling.”

Lake beamed. “Awesome! And the waitress knew your favorite dish and even had vegan options.”

“Very smart thinking,” Jesse praised.

“Eric had the basket, and the blanket was Ezra’s idea.”

Jesse nodded.

“And Dane and Brandon grabbed some of the other stuff from the store.”

“That’s amazing,” Jesse said. Now he knew what it felt like when he showered the boys with his gifts. Saying thank you just wasn’t enough. He understood that now.

“Here.” Lake grabbed the backpack and dropped it on Jesse’s legs. “We have company.”

“We do?” Jesse asked. It was probably a good thing that they hadn’t gotten naked then.

Lake nudged the backpack.

Following the unspoken instruction, Jesse unzipped the bag and grinned. This was the kind of company that he didn’t mind. He pulled Zeb and Al out of their hidden spot. Jesse set both stuffed friends on the edge of the blanket as Lake picked up the basket.

Lake opened the top of the basket, folding both ends out. Reaching in, Lake drew out a bouquet of tulips and handed them to Jesse. “For you.”

Jesse accepted the flowers. “Thank you, baby.”

“Thank you for the flowers you sent to me. They were so colorful and bright. I loved them!”

“They reminded me of your smile,” Jesse confessed.

“I didn’t write you a note,” Lake said. “I thought about it but what I wanted to say I needed to do in person.”

“What do you want to say?”

“Just that I hope this works. Between us, I mean,” Lake said. “I want this to work so much.”

“Me too,” Jesse replied, putting all his desire for the same into his words. “Me too, Lake.”

“Good.” He started to dig through the basket but paused. “Are we boyfriends? Like official and exclusive?”

A fierce stab of possessiveness pierced his heart. “I don’t share.”

Lake smiled. “Me either.”

Jesse gave a sharp nod. That was settled then.

Lake handed Jesse two wineglasses then a bottle of sparkling grape juice.

Jesse lifted a brow in surprise.

Lake shrugged. “I know wine is what most people drink with Italian,” he said. “But Dane and Brandon grabbed this from the store so…you know, no alcohol.”

Jesse loved it. He leaned closer to Lake and dropped his voice. “Can I tell you a secret?”

Lake’s eyes widened before he nodded eagerly.

“I hate wine,” Jesse confessed.

“You do?”

“I only drink it because like you said, it’s often paired with certain foods. I don’t like it at all. It doesn’t matter if it’s eight dollars or eight hundred. I hate wine.” Jesse shook the bottle of sparkling juice. “This I can drink.”

Lake giggled.

“What else do you have in that magic basket?” Jesse asked.

“Dinner!” Lake pulled out two to-go containers and a foil-wrapped roll of bread.

Jesse groaned. “It smells so good.” He hadn’t realized how hungry he was. Had he even eaten lunch? Jesse couldn’t remember. Not after spending all day worrying about Ezra’s parents.

“And dessert” Lake pulled out two more bowls.

“This is the best dinner date that I’ve ever had,” Jesse said sincerely. It was so much more special since Lake had done this on his own. Or with the help of their friends. And apparently his staff.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Lake said. “I didn’t know what else to do. How to show you.”

“Just talk to me,” Jesse replied. “We can talk about these things. Get to know each other in a new way.”

“Yes, please.”

“Now let’s eat and talk,” Jesse encouraged.

* * * * *

Lake

“Swimming,” Lake repeated.

“I love it. I swim every morning. It’s one of the perks of staying in the penthouse. That private pool.”

“We have a pool,” Lake said. He wasn’t even sure why. Of course, Jesse knew they had a pool. Jesse had helped hire the crew that had built the fence around it.

“Do you like to swim though?” Jesse ran a finger across Lake’s collarbone.

Now that dinner and dessert were gone, Lake lay with his head on Jesse’s legs and stared up at the sky. The bright lights from the city made it too hard to see the stars but Lake knew they were there.

“Baby?”

“I like to float,” Lake answered. “Swimming for exercise is taxing.”

“You work out though.” Jesse squeezed the muscle in his arm.

“I like lifting weights,” Lake said. He laughed. “Just another contradiction about myself. I love dressing up and being pretty, but I also enjoy a good hard workout. Maxing out my muscles. Feeling it deep down.”

Jesse groaned. “You’re just using those words to get me worked up.”

That wasn’t a lie. It was fun to tease Jesse. Lake was safe with Jesse. He knew it in his bones. “Am I?”

“I know you are. I like seeing this wicked side of you too,” Jesse said.

“I’m a good boy,” Lake retorted. “Everyone knows that.”

“The best boy,” Jesse agreed. “With maybe a wicked streak that comes out around the right people.”

“Yeah.” Lake breathed out his agreement.

“Then I look forward to seeing more of this side of you.”

“And I want to watch you swim sometime,” Lake said. He could already picture Jesse in nothing but a speedo with his long arms cutting through the water.

“I might like to be watched.”

Lake flipped onto his side to peer up at Jesse. He dropped his gaze to Jesse’s forearms and then to where the collar of his shirt had parted. “Would you tell me about the tattoos?”

Jesse nodded. “Can I ask you something first?”

“Yes,” Lake agreed. He had been the one asking the most questions. There was just so much that he wanted to know about Jesse.

“Have you talked to your family since you moved out?”

The questioned surprised him and Lake couldn’t help but stiffen.

“You don’t have to answer,” Jesse told him.

“No, it’s okay.” Lake had been avoiding the subject with all his friends, but he was supposed to be opening up to Jesse. “I haven’t.”

“They haven’t called you at all?”

“Maybe,” Lake admitted. “I turned my phone off the minute that they left for the family camping trip.”

“That’s why you got a new number and phone?”

“It seemed easier this way,” Lake said. “I still have my old number and phone. I just…can’t…not yet.”

Jesse stroked Lake’s hair. “I’m sorry.”

“I was sad,” Lake admitted. “I tried so hard for so long. But then something else happened.”

“What, baby?”

“I started living my life for myself. I stopped wondering what my brothers would think, what my parents would say. Instead, I began doing what I wanted.”

“Like accepting a date with me,” Jesse said.

“I told my parents I was gay. Before I left for basic training.”

“From what I’ve heard of your family, that was very brave,” Jesse told him.

“I sort if did it out of spite,” Lake admitted. “Just to see the look on my father’s face. For the first time in my life, he was proud of me. For something that I didn’t even want to do. So, I ruined it.”

“My wicked boy.” The words sounded like praise.

“My father told me to keep my mouth shut about it. My mom cried and started to pray. They must have told my brothers, because when I returned home after I completed basic, they’d started to treat me different. A push here, a shove there…the name-calling was often.”

“And your parents never stopped them?”

“My dad had his own way to get the digs in. My mom ignored it all,” Lake shared.

“Well, that isn’t fair to everyone. Justice, my oldest brother, wasn’t even there.

He’s still serving. The longest tenure. He’s career-military.

Over the years he’s tried to get them to stop but with Dad leading the way and Justice not around a lot it just was what it was. ”

“Family sucks,” Jesse said after Lake stopped talking.

Lake snorted. “Some do. I’m quite happy with my family of choice.”

“I have my brother,” Jesse said. “He was all the family I ever needed.”

There was a pause filled with anticipation. Lake knew Jesse was going to share something big with him. He waited, trying to force his body to remain relaxed.

“You asked about my tattoos?”

“Yes, if you want to tell me,” Lake replied.

Jesse’s fingers went back to stroking his hair. “We grew up in Texas. Jacob, me, my mom, and dad. My mom lost her parents after she had us and we never met my dad’s family. He was an asshole. They didn’t want anything to do with him or us.”

“I’m not going to like this story, am I?” Lake asked.

Leaning forward, Jesse kissed Lake’s forehead. “No, baby, you’re not. And no one knows most of what I’m going to tell you. Other than me and Jacob. I don’t talk about this. Never talk about my family in interviews.”

“I noticed.”

“Did you Google me, baby?” Jesse teased.

“I might have. I told you I wanted to know more about you!” Lake justified. It was kind of creepy to Google a boyfriend, right?

“It’s alright,” Jesse said. “I probably would have done the same.”

“I didn’t find anything good. Nothing that gave me any insight on how to surprise you.”

“It was Jacob’s idea to keep things quiet when we started making money and getting noticed. He was afraid my father’s family might try to find us, looking for a handout or something.”

“Okay,” Lake whispered. “That makes sense.”

“Anyway, it’s not really a big deal. Our father was a bastard that liked to take out his frustrations on his family. He was a failure at everything he did. Couldn’t keep a job because of his drinking. He sent my mom out to the streets to make money for us.”

“He…he…”

“Pimped out his own wife,” Jesse finished for him.

“Jesus!” Lake gasped out.

“When she came home with money, he would beat her for her trouble,” Jesse said. “If she came home with no money, then he beat her more.”

“And you and Jacob,” Lake said.

“It was his favorite pastime,” Jesse admitted.

“I’m so sorry!”

“I’m over it now. Jacob and I lasted until we graduated but that was all. My father started talking about how much pretty boys like us could make him. We left in the middle of the night. Didn’t even take anything with us. There was nothing worth taking.”

“Where did you go?” Lake asked. He was fascinated with Jesse’s story. It was sad, yes, but it also showed that everything he had now Jesse had worked hard for. That he deserved his station in life.

“Luckily our town was located outside the interstate,” Jesse told him. “We bartered and hitchhiked our way across the country and ended up on a beach in California.”

“I bet that was different,” Lake said.

“It was wonderful,” Jesse said dreamily. “Everything was so simple. We were able to find day jobs in construction. The money started to come, and we bought our first house to flip.”

“And the rest was history,’ Lake said.

“Except every time I looked in the mirror and saw the scars I couldn’t forget.”

“The tattoos,” Lake replied.

“I started just covering the worst of the scars,” Jesse said. “And one day before I knew it, I was covered.”

“Covered?”

Jesse started to unbutton his shirt the rest of the way.

Lake’s fingers shook as he spread them over the skin that was revealed to his eyes. “I had no idea.”

Jesse chuckled. “I know.”

“I love them,” Lake told him. “And I love that I get to see you like this.”

Jesse closed his eyes before letting the shirt fall from his shoulders. “The only one to ever see me like this.”

Moving to his knees, Lake hovered in front of Jesse. “Just me?”

“Just you, baby,” Jesse answered.

“Well, if that’s the case, then I want a very close look,” Lake said.

“As close as you want.”

“Will you take me to bed?” Lake asked softly. The fear of rejection was there but Lake was a brave boy.

“We don’t have to,” Jesse said, cupping his face. “We can wait.”

“I don’t want to wait,” Lake replied. “I’ve been waiting.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m sure about us,” Lake responded. “I know what I want, Jesse.”

“Who am I to argue with a boy who has his mind made up?”

“That’s right.” Lake swallowed hard. “Daddy.”

Groaning, Jesse leaned forward, pressing his forehead against Lake’s. “I’ve dreamed of you calling me that. Of hearing that word come out of your sexy lips.”

“Then take me to bed, Daddy,” Lake ordered.