Page 50 of The Secrets We Keep

“How about the salmon? And some french fries? And some of the flourless chocolate cake?”

Rob took the menu back. “A man after my own heart.” He called down and ordered everything Jasper had requested, along with a bottle of champagne and a large carafe of coffee.

“Will we really eat any of this stuff?” Jasper wondered. He was already eager to get out of the damp jogging pants and Under Armour hoodie he’d donned before leaving the apartment.

“Of course we will. Because we’re civilized. Not animals. And it’s our duty to rise above our baser impulses, even if it’s only to eat.” He tapped Jasper’s knee. “I need sustenance before round three. Humor an old man.”

“Who said there was going to be a round three?” Jasper grinned. “And I don’t see any old men in this room.”

“Stop.” Rob glanced out the window at the Chicago skyline. It was getting dark, and the lights in the urban towers had come on, making of the high-rises illuminated towers, magical. Jasper wondered what would happen next, where they would go once the food was eaten and another round of orgasms was complete. Would he return to his humble—and humdrum—life? Would Rob simply jet back to Palm Springs and never give him a second thought? Would Jasper endure incredulous laughs in his face if he dared mention his dalliance with big-time author Michael Blake?

Because, you know, this can’t last. He’s out of your league. That shopboy with his own little studio apartment and maybe, if he’s lucky, beater car, is out there somewhere, waiting for you to complete him. You’ll meet, have out-of-control sex, fall in love, move in together in your apartment or his, and finally save up enough together to buy a small condo. You’ll get a dog from the Humane Society. You’ll vacation across the lake in Saugatuck. Camping. You’ll grow old together. It will be okay.

This man is too good for you.

THEY ATE.They drank half the bottle of champagne. They ignored the coffee, but gorged on the cake. They drank the other half of the bottle after the cake, sometimes transferring the fizzy elixir from one mouth to another, following that up with a passionate kiss. It felt like a scene from some romantic-comedy movie.

And when it was all done, they fell together on the bed, stomachs full, slightly dizzy.

Jasper rolled over and bussed Rob on the cheek. “Did anyone ever tell you you’re the sexiest man alive?” And he meant it. Rob might have been twice his age, but Jasper felt in no way deprived. The silver of his hair, the salt-and-pepper stubble on the sharp planes of his jawline, the strong Roman nose, and the warmth in those eyes—infinite—caused Jasper’s heart to fill with both love and lust.

“Are you too full?” Jasper asked.

“Too full for what?”

“Anything. Reciprocating. I haven’t felt you inside me yet.” Jasper toyed with the top button of Rob’s jeans.

Rob removed Jasper’s hand. Softly, he said, “Let’s take this slow, okay?” He rose to undress quickly while Jasper watched, noticing with satisfaction his cock already standing above half-mast. He turned to move across the room and pull the draperies closed. He snapped off the two table lamps in the room to plunge it into an almost pitchy darkness.

Jasper, without getting up, without even sitting up, wriggled out of his clothes and kicked them to the floor. He lay on his back, reminding himself to breathe. Rob fumbled around in the dark.

He must have stubbed a toe because he uttered a curse and then, mysteriously, “Aha! Here they are.”

With a snick and flare of a match, Rob lit two candles in frosted-glass holders, lighting his face eerily from below. The flames’ illumination danced across the ceiling, making shadows caper.

Jasper could say nothing, only open his arms as Rob neared him. When he weighed down his side of the bed and, at last, moved on top of Jasper so that their two bodies became one, Jasper finally allowed a breath, in the form of a moan, to escape.

“You’re all I ever wanted,” Rob said. He pulled back slightly, as though surprised at his own admission, but then Jasper conceded that maybe it was only to take a good look at him before he leaned in for a kiss.

The kiss was the first of many—long, short, rapturous, rough as sandpaper, gentle as the touch of a butterfly wing, here, there, everywhere.

In the midst of the caresses, the licks, and the bites, Jasper lost track of time, of space, of everything. He didn’t think it was because of the champagne.

WHEN JASPERawakened hours later, it was to more thunder and a barely diffuse light pervading the room. At some point, Rob must have risen to open the draperies. The candles still flickered but threw off a stronger scent—jasmine, maybe. Mandarin orange? He shifted a little to slide off of Rob’s chest.

Rob snored, and there was a little line of drool at the corner of his lips. Rather than being repelled, Jasper thought it was adorable.

At Jasper’s movement, though, Rob’s eyelids fluttered open. “Is it morning?”

“Nah. It’s raining again, though. Pouring.”

“I’m not used to rain,” Rob said. “How do you all stand it?”

Jasper turned on his back and chuckled. “What? It doesn’t rain where you live?”

“Hardly ever.”

“Seriously?”