Belonging (11 page)

“Holy shit! I always suspected Jax was
gay, but he’s always seen with bimbos like this chick,” Jessie
said, pointing at the blonde. “Actually, that’s kind of why I
suspected it. He’s constantly being photographed with these really
flashy women and never the same one twice. I was right, they’re
totally his beards.”

“Pretty much.”

“So, you and Jason Jax, damn. Is it
serious?”

I said, “No. I’m just a booty call
while he’s in San Francisco.”

“Oh.” Jessie mulled that over before
asking, “Is he a nice guy at least?”

“Yeah.” I figured what he was like in
bed was pretty much total TMI so I shut up about that.

“Is it okay with you that he treats
you like a booty call?”

“I guess so, since I keep agreeing to
it.”

“Do you wish it was more,
though?”

I had to stop and think about that. “I
guess I do, but that’s not an option. There are some things I
really like about Jason. It’d be nice to spend time with him and
get to know him. But he’s only in town for a few more weeks, and
I’m sure he’ll forget all about me when he’s back in New
York.”

“I doubt that. You’re pretty
unforgettable,” Jessie said with a little smile.

“It’s nice of you to say that. But to
a man like Jason, I’m just the flavor of the moment, and he has no
real interest in me beyond sex. That’s why he only calls me in the
middle of the night. It’s not like he’s dying to spend time with me
and get to know me outside the bedroom.”

“Then he’s kind of stupid.”

Nana sat up with a loud snort and
looked around. When she noticed me, she said, “Hi Johnnie! When’d
you get home?”

“Just a few minutes ago.”

She took the puppy’s leash and he
jumped up and shook himself happily. “I’m going to bed. I have an
excuse, I’m old. Not like you two. I don’t know what you’re doing
home on a Friday night.”

We said goodnight, and after she
shuffled out of the room in her big boots, Jessie said, “She’s not
wrong.”

“Why
are
you spending Friday night with
my grandmother? You should be out having fun,” I told
him.

“Nana’s awesome. I really like hanging
out with her. Although granted, she’s more fun when she’s
awake.”

“Still.”

Jessie sighed and smoothed
the cuff of his white shorts. He was wearing them with a white
t-shirt that had a name tag printed on it. The tag said:
Hello my name is: Ben Dover
. “All my friends have gotten paired up recently. And I
mean
all
of them.
Four of my best friends are in a band together and they formed two
couples, one gay, one straight. I couldn’t believe it! What happens
if they break up? The band’s really good too, but it’s going down
if either of the couples has a falling out. Anyway, long story
short, I’m super sick of being a third, or really fifth, wheel. I’d
much rather hang out here than go out and watch my friends making
kissy faces at each other and get reminded over and over of my
raging case of perpetual singledom.”

My phone beeped and I pulled it out of
my pocket and read the text. “Well, damn,” I murmured. “Jason just
sent me a message and it wasn’t a booty call. Yet.”

“Okay, I’m not going to make this
about me and whine because you’re getting texts from totally hot
celebrities while I’m complaining about being single.”

“Sorry.”

Jessie said, “It’s not your fault that
I’m so pathetic. What does the text say?”

“He wrote:
I’m at this dull fundraiser with a complete
airhead and all I can think about is you, Gianni. You felt so
incredibly good in my arms last night
.”

“Holy shit. You’re right, that’s not a
booty call. That’s an I-miss-you text.”

“Kind of. It’ll be followed up with a
booty call, though.”

Jessie grinned at that. “I can hardly
blame him for wanting your booty. It’s mighty fine.”

I chuckled and said, “My booty thanks
you for the compliment.”

“Aren’t you going to text him back?”
he asked when I put my phone on the coffee table.

“And say what?”

“Hell, I don’t know. Flirting is like
a foreign language to me. But you should say something.”

“All I can think of is, sorry you’re
at the gala with that dumb blonde when you could be there with me,”
I muttered.

“Yes!”

“No, that sounds catty.”

Jessie thought about it for a few
moments as he chewed on his bottom lip. Then he said, “How about if
you initiate tonight’s booty call? That puts you two on a more even
playing field.”

“That’s not me, though. I have a
pathological fear of rejection, so I always wait for the other
person to make the move.”

He grinned a little. “Pathological,
ay?”

“I’m exaggerating, but I really do
hate putting myself out there.”

“Well shit, say
something
, though! That
was a good text, you don’t want him to think you’re just blowing it
off.”

“You’re right.” I picked up my phone
and typed for a moment, then said, “How’s this? ‘Saw you on the
news. You looked sexy in your tux.’ I should probably say more, but
I got nothing.”

Jessie frowned at me. “Not exactly
going on a Hallmark card, is it?”

“No, and that’s good. I don’t want it
to be all flowery. I’m sending this.”

“Might as well. It’s something, at
least. Plus it’s all about him and I’ll bet celebrities love that
shit.”

I hit send, then got up and stretched
my arms over my head. “I’m going to go upstairs and read a bit
before bed. This has felt like a long week.”

“That’s because you’ve
traded sleeping for sneaking out and having sex with celebrities. I
would
totally
make the same trade-off if I could, by the way. But don’t go
yet. We only watched the first two Exorcist movies last weekend, we
could watch the other two tonight. Oh, and the prequel if you’re up
for it. Please?”

I turned to look at Jessie. He
reminded me of a little kid with his hopeful expression. “My
grandmother didn’t take in one puppy,” I told him, “she took in
two. Stop it with the big, soulful eyes already. I’ll stay, even
though I doubt I’ll be up for three movies.”

“Plus, Jason Jax might call for your
booty at some point. I think that’s a weird expression, by the way,
‘booty call’. But whatever.” He got up and said, “I’m going to make
some popcorn, see if you can find some blankets. We’re going to
need them to build a safety fort if we’re going to watch this scary
shit.”

My phone dinged as I went
off to find some blankets. Jason had written:
I’m kind of embarrassed you saw that. My life is such a sham.
I should be here with you, not with that girl. You’re not only so
much more beautiful, you’re a thousand times more
interesting
.

I wrote back:
Thanks. Out of curiosity, are you
drunk?

I was surprised when Jason
texted:
LOL!
He
didn’t strike me as a ‘LOL’ kind of guy. He followed that up
with:
Nope, just bored and missing you.
Will you please come over tonight? I need to be in you so damn bad.
I almost said ‘so bad I can taste it’ and actually that applies,
too. :)

A LOL
and
a smiley face. Go figure. I
grabbed some blankets from the closet of a spare bedroom on the
ground floor, and after I brought them to the family room and piled
them on the couch, I wrote:
Sure. Text me
when you get back to the hotel.
So, yeah.
It swung around to a booty call. Not a surprise.

By the time Jessie got back with the
snacks, I was huddled under three blankets. “Let’s do this thing,”
I said, untangling my hand from the covers so I could point the
remote at the TV, where I’d already cued up Exorcist
Three.

When Jessie was tucked in beside me,
he said, “I wonder how far we’ll get before tonight’s booty
call.”

“It already happened.” I retrieved my
phone and handed it to him, and he flipped through the texts before
saying, “Aw, he misses you.”

“He misses fucking me. There’s a
difference.”

“Still.”

“I’m not complaining. I’m just not
romanticizing it, either. I totally get what I am to
him.”

I started the movie, and Jessie slid
close. The scarier it became, the closer he got. Eventually, both
his arms were wrapped tightly around me. We made it to the scene
where a big figure in white went after a nurse, and both of us
screamed. “I’m out,” Jessie announced.

“Me too.” I turned off the TV, then
reached for the light on the end table and turned it on.

Nico stuck his head in the family room
just then, and we both screamed again. “Wow,” he said. “No more
scary movies for you two.”

“Shit, no kidding. I think I’m
traumatized,” I said.

“You and me both,” Jessie said. “Why
did we decide to do this in the first place?”

“It was your idea.”

“Oh, right. Because that’s what you’re
supposed to do at slumber parties,” he said. “I don’t actually like
scary movies, but I thought they’d be fun in this
context.”

“They were,” I told him, “until that
one almost made me pee myself.” I turned to Nico, who was leaning
against the doorframe looking more than a little exhausted, and
asked, “Where have you been?”

“I went to the library, and when it
closed I moved to a coffee shop and kept studying. This material is
so dry. It’s taking me forever to get through my assignments.” Nico
took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

“Dude,” Jessie said, “you freaking
hate this shit. Stop torturing yourself. Gianni, back me up here.
Don’t you think Nico should drop out of law school and do something
different?”

“That’s not my call, it’s his,” I told
him.

“I know, but still.”

Nico put his glasses back on and said,
“I’m going to bed. You should switch to Frozen or something. No
more creature features. What were you watching, anyway?”

“Exorcist Three,” I told him. “We got
through the first two fine, but it was a slow build. All of a
sudden, the third one just freaked us the hell out.”

My cousin chuckled as he pushed
himself off the doorframe. “You two were clearly separated at
birth,” he said. “It’s nice that you found each other.”

Jessie flashed me a huge smile as Nico
left the room. “He’s right. Can I be an honorary
Dombruso?”

“Sure. We’ll have to rename you,
though. ‘Jessie’ isn’t very Sicilian.”

“Dude, one of your brothers is named
Mikey.”

“Yeah, but it’s short for
Michelangelo.”

“Really?”

“No.”

He chuckled at that. “So, thumbs up to
Jessie, then.”

“Except for that misplaced ‘i’. Why
isn’t it j-e-s-s-e exactly?”

“I liked it better spelled this
way.”

“You liked it better? Not your
parents?” I asked.

“Well, yeah. My dad’s a preacher, like
I said, so he gave me a name from the Bible. I opted to call myself
something cuter. Fun fact: there actually is a Jesse in the Bible,
but I didn’t know that until after I renamed myself.”

“What’s your real name?”

“I’m not telling.”

“That good, huh?”

“Yup.”

I asked, “If I guess it, will you tell
me?”

“You won’t.”

“Come on,” I cajoled. “I want to know
what it is.”

“Not happening.” My phone dinged just
then and he jumped up and said, “Ha, saved by the bell! Have fun on
your booty call, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I glanced at Jason’s text, telling me
he was back at the hotel, then returned the phone to my pocket.
Jessie had started to leave the room, so I called after him,
“Goodnight, Jedidiah.”

“So close, and yet so far,” he called.
I grinned at that as I headed for the garage.

Chapter Seven

The next morning, Yosh texted me and
bumped our workout to later in the day because he had an early
tattoo appointment. I decided to get my trip to Marin over with, so
I messaged Zan and let him know I’d be there in an hour or so. He
didn’t bother to reply. I texted my brother next, but Vincent had
made plans with his husband and son, so I was on my own.

After stopping off at the grocery
store and buying the twenty-three items I’d committed to memory
(plus one particularly good wildcard item to rattle Zan’s cage) I
made the drive north. It was a beautiful day, the vivid blue sky a
great contrast to the orange Golden Gate Bridge. I opened the
sunroof and enjoyed the fresh air as I crossed the bay.

I let myself in through the two sets
of electric gates, giving the security cameras a snappy salute, and
wound slowly along the gravel private drive. It wasn’t in great
condition, and I made a mental note to ask Vincent what it would
take to fix it up a bit. Finally, I arrived at the house and parked
near the side door, same as always. Once I’d loaded myself up with
all of the grocery sacks, I used my key to let myself in and
called, “It’s your friendly neighborhood deliveryman!” There was no
reply, but I hadn’t actually been expecting one.