Page 16 of Walking on Broken Paths

Chapter Thirteen

Parker could admit that he’d lost his head. Just a tad.

But the jealousy . He’d never felt anything more visceral than the need to slap Gavin’s hands away when the man had touched Jesse. The need had burned a hole through his intestines, jagged and sour and ugly.

He wasn’t proud of himself.

And as they sat at one of the picnic tables on the patio, nursing drinks, the food they’d ordered long consumed, it was clear that Parker had overreacted.

Jesse treated Gavin like a little brother.

It wasn’t that he’d replaced Mikey—Mikey was irreplaceable. It was as though Jesse had seen something in Gavin that reminded him of Mikey, and his heart had automatically opened to him, the need to nurture and protect almost instinctual.

Parker could see it too. The similarities between Mikey and Gavin were uncanny, from the way Gavin gestured with his hands when he talked to his sheer joy of life.

Mikey had been joyful too, up until the end. It was probably why nobody had noticed anything was wrong until it was too late.

The thought saddened him to no end, and tears pricked against the backs of his eyes—Mikey must’ve felt so alone—but he forced himself into the present.

“I still maintain that was your fault,” Gavin was saying as he gestured at Jesse with his beer.

Parker stared between them. “Did Jesse get you into trouble?”

“I still maintain my innocence.” Jesse chuckled and tipped his head in Parker’s direction. “Usually it’s him getting me into trouble.”

Parker touched a hand to his chest and gasped. “That is so not fair. Who convinced us to go to that beach party?”

“Don’t even get me started with that.”

Parker sighed morosely. “We could’ve been playing video games.”

“Stop,” Jesse said, but he was laughing, and that was always a good look on him. “We both know that party was your idea.”

“We got grounded for eons , and that was all your fault, superstar.”

Trev and Gavin, seated on the other side of the picnic table, watched in amusement.

“You guys have known each other for a while, then,” Trev said. He was bigger than Gavin in every way, but he had a sereneness to him that was a juxtaposition to Gavin’s high energy.

Jesse swirled his beer bottle and set it aside again when it proved to be empty. “Since kindergarten.”

“And how long have you been together?” Gavin asked.

Jesse choked on... nothing, apparently... so Parker jumped in to save him from himself. “We’re not. Just friends. When I said I was his date earlier, I meant in the most platonic sense.”

Though he wished that weren’t the case.

“How long have you two been together?” Parker asked to fill the dead air between them because Jesse was still choking on nothing.

“Forever, pretty much,” Trev said, and Gavin beamed at him.

Parker slid his glass toward a still-coughing Jesse. “Is the thought of dating me that terrible?”

He was joking.

Mostly.

Jesse gulped down the rest of Parker’s beer, then muttered a lazy, “Quite the opposite,” which had Parker blinking at him.

Surely, he’d misheard him.

The music abruptly cut off, and one of the bartenders poked her head outside. “We’re closing up. You can pay your bill inside if you haven’t already.”

“Damn, we shut the place down,” Gavin said. “Been a while since I’ve done that.”

Since they’d paid already, they left via the patio entrance and said their goodbyes.

“Brunch tomorrow?” Gavin asked Jesse.

“Text me where and when.”

Once Gavin and Trev set off on foot—the place they were renting was nearby—Jesse turned to Parker. “Walk or Uber?”

Parker glanced up at the sky. Despite the clear night, there weren’t many stars visible in the city. “Walk,” he said. “It’s a nice night.”

King Street was virtually empty compared to earlier, most people tucked into their beds for the night. Parker’s arm brushed against Jesse’s as they walked. He gave a passing thought to putting an extra inch of space between them and moved closer instead.

Was it his imagination, or did Jesse move closer too?

Parker’s pulse jackrabbited, and he had to beat back the urge to turn into Jesse and kiss him until neither of them could breathe every time Jesse put a hand to the small of Parker’s back to lead him across an intersection.

Jesse’s nearness was intoxicating and frustrating in equal measure.

“I’m sorry if you felt left out tonight,” Jesse said, holding the door of their hotel open for Parker.

“What are you talking about? I had a great time.”

“It wasn’t too boring for you, listening to us reminisce and talk about people you don’t know?”

“Are you kidding? It was enlightening.” The elevator doors slid right open when Parker pushed the button, and they stepped inside. “I’ve spent the past fifteen years wondering about you. It was nice to hear a bit about your life.”

As the elevator let them off on their floor, Jesse tossed him a smirk. “You thought about me?”

“I mean, maybe once a year,” Parker joked softly, conscious of other sleeping guests.

“Once a year? Oof. Stab a man through the heart, why don’t you?”

Parker snorted a laugh and paused outside his hotel room door. “Please. You didn’t think about me at all.”

“I thought about you all the damn time,” Jesse said, all levity gone from his voice. He leaned against the wall between their doors. “Where you were, how you were, if you had friends, a partner, a family. If you were happy. If you’d want to hear from me.”

“Yes,” Parker jumped in, assaulted by a feeling not unlike the stomach-swooping sensation he’d felt the one time he’d tried bungee jumping. “I always want to hear from you. Don’t ever second-guess that.”

Jesse’s indigo eyes roamed his face before they settled on his mouth for a too-hot second that made Parker’s skin heat instantly. “I’ll remember that,” Jesse said, keying into his room. “Night, Parks.”

“Night.”

Inside his own room, Parker paced to the window as the door thunked closed behind him and dragged both hands through his hair.

Christ. He couldn’t stand this. He wanted to eat Jesse alive, wanted to be so close it took a crowbar to separate them.

Wanted to hug him, and kiss him, and taste him, and suck him. Wanted to be consumed by him in return.

Jesse wanted that too, right? Parker was almost sure of it.

Whether Jesse wanted to act on it was another question entirely.

Parker could ask, couldn’t he? And if the answer was no, they were both adults—they’d move past it.

His conversation with Matilda about regrets pushing him forward, he stalked to the connecting doors separating their rooms—still open from earlier—but jerked to a stop when he nearly collided with Jesse.

He’d untucked and unbuttoned his shirt, exposing a narrow strip of chest from collarbone to waistband. Parker gulped and stared, because what else was he supposed to do? Jesse was as ripped as he’d imagined. Parker’s body reacted instantly, and he stepped closer, almost crowding into Jesse.

“I forgot to ask,” Jesse said breathily, his deep voice rolling over Parker’s senses, “if you enjoyed the show.”

Parker slowly lifted his gaze to Jesse’s, the blood rushing in his ears. “Is that really what you want to ask me right now?”

Jesse shook his head slowly and hooked a pinky in one of Parker’s belt loops. “I think I hoped you’d talk some sense into me.”

“Sense has left the building,” Parker whispered, letting himself be tugged forward, into the heat of Jesse’s body.

“Sense no longer exists. The only sense left is touch.” He slid his hands underneath Jesse’s shirt, finally touching hot skin and earning himself a groan from Jesse.

“Smell.” He dragged his nose up Jesse’s cheek, inhaling a lungful of a scent that was uniquely Jesse.

Jesse ducked closer and whispered, “Taste?” in an unbelievably filthy voice.

“Definitely, definitely taste.” Parker turned his head, and Jesse’s mouth was right there, red and lush. Parker closed the scant centimetres between them, and when their lips met, it was like watching the Canada Day fireworks from his dad’s ship.

Somehow electric and comforting, all at once.

Parker made a sound in the back of his throat that was echoed by Jesse.

Jesse controlled the kiss like he controlled the puck on the ice—effortlessly, confidently, skillfully. The kiss was slow and wet and hot, as though Jesse wanted to savour him.

If he could compare a kiss to a slow dance, this was it.

And didn’t that make him feel like he’d won the fucking lottery?

Parker didn’t have enough hands. He wanted to touch Jesse everywhere, and was annoyed that he couldn’t, but fuck. What he did touch was hard and muscled, and he wanted more of it. Wrapped around him, preferably.

“Christ,” Jesse muttered, dipping down and kissing Parker’s neck. “What are we doing, Parks?”

Parker let his head fall back. “What we both want,” he said a second before Jesse’s lips descended on his again.

There were barely two inches of height difference between them, yet Parker surged onto his toes anyway, just to get that much closer. The strands of Jesse’s hair were soft between his fingers, and every time he swept a hand up Jesse’s spine, Jesse’s belly fluttered delightfully against his.

There was something else pressing up against Parker’s belly, and it wasn’t fluttery at all. He wanted to do something about that, but he also never ever wanted to stop kissing Jesse.

If his teenage self could see him now...

The only sound in the room was their harsh breathing, the occasional moan, and, as Jesse pressed Parker up against the wall, a muffled curse. Being pinned between the wall and Jesse’s body was just about the sexiest thing Parker had ever experienced.

“Should we stop?” Jesse asked, his fingers clenched onto Parker’s ass.

“Only if you want me to never talk to you again,” Parker replied. “Tell me you have supplies.”

“Supplies? You think I brought supplies on a forty-eight-hour trip to Toronto?” Jesse unbuckled Parker’s belt, his knuckles grazing Parker’s erection as he did so, making Parker hiss. “Of course I did.”