Gabriel bit his bottom lip and dropped his gaze. “What?”
“The little hissy fit you threw when the intern flirted with me?”
“I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did.” Jared shook his head. “Be careful. If you keep this up, people will get the wrong idea.”
“The wrong idea?” Gabriel repeated.
Jared gave him a hard look. “After my relationship with Oscar, everyone knows I’m gay. People will start talking if you keep behaving like a jealous boyfriend every time someone flirts with me.”
“Oh.” A crease formed between Gabriel’s brows.
“Yes,” Jared said, his lips twisting. “Football stars of your caliber can’t be gay. You know that. Besides, your behavior was—is— unacceptable. I’m not your goddamn property. And I’m not your boyfriend.” He took Gabriel’s chin and looked him in the eye. “I know we aren’t good at drawing the line, but I think we need to, because it’s fucking with my head. You’re the one who told me I would have to get sex elsewhere. You don’t care who I fuck as long as I love you.” He tried not to sound too bitter. “So you shouldn’t care if someone flirts with me or even if I flirt back.”
Gabriel’s face was tense. “So you really want him.”
“Who?”
“The intern. Eric.”
“I don’t, but that’s not the point.”
“Then what is the point?”
“The point is it doesn’t matter whether I want Eric or not. You aren’t my boyfriend. I’m not yours. If I decide to invite an entire football team into my bed and have a big orgy, you have no say in that whatsoever.”
Gabriel stared at him, his chest heaving and his green eyes filled with rage.
“Do you get it now?” Jared said.
“No.” Gabriel yanked Jared’s head down, his mouth slanting across his, wet and hot. It was a clumsy, painfully awkward kiss, Gabriel’s lips clinging to his—there was no other word for it.
Heat surged in Jared’s stomach as Gabriel’s tongue slid into his mouth, but he wrenched away, breathing hard and glaring at Gabriel. “What the fuck?”
Gabriel was blushing, his lips still wet and shiny. He looked bewildered and completely thrown off-balance. He actually looked more startled by the kiss than Jared was.
“You don’t even know, do you?” Jared closed his eyes for a moment. “All right, that’s it. We need to draw the line. This is becoming too confusing for both of us.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Yes, it is,” Jared said, wiping his lips. “You never got all Neanderthal on me when someone flirted with me. You never liked sharing my attention, but it was never this bad. This is new. You’re confused.”
Gabriel’s lips pursed. “Maybe, but—”
“No buts.” Jared heaved a sigh, raking his hand through his hair. “I don’t know what’s going on with you, but that needs to stop. You’re crossing the line. You’re messing with my emotions, blowing hot and cold. It can’t go on like that. It’s one hell of a mindfuck, Gabe.”
“Jay—”
“No,” Jared bit out, stepping away, and strode toward the door.
“Jared!”
“I have to work,” Jared said, shrugging Gabriel’s hand off.
He needed to think.
And he needed to make some unpleasant decisions.
Chapter 20: Torn
Gabriel’s hands were a bit unsteady as he prepared a late dinner. Jared hadn’t returned from work yet, the medical staff working overtime, but it was getting late. Surely Jared would return soon?
Gabriel cut his finger and dropped the knife, hissing. Dammit.
He leaned against the table and forced himself to take a few deep breaths. It didn’t help. The feeling of dread didn’t disappear.
He was scared.
He didn’t like the look in Jared’s eyes when Jared had walked away from him. Jared had looked like a man who was resolved to do something very unpleasant but necessary. Had he pushed Jared too far?
By the time dinner was ready, Gabriel was nearly sick with worry.
Why wasn’t Jared back yet?
Finally, there was the sound of a car in the distance, approaching the house, and Gabriel’s heart started thumping so hard he could feel it throughout his entire body.
He wiped his hands, ignoring his stinging finger, glanced at the table for the last time, making sure he didn’t forget anything, and waited for Jared to come find him.
But Jared didn’t. The front door opened and closed, and there was the sound of footsteps heading upstairs.
And then nothing.
Ten minutes passed.
His anxiety increasing, Gabriel left the kitchen and headed upstairs, too.
He found Jared in his bedroom, fresh out of the shower and changing.
“I’m going out,” Jared said, slipping into a dark shirt.
“But…but what about dinner?”
“I’m not hungry,” Jared said, zipping up his jeans. He grabbed his jacket and strode to the door past Gabriel.
“Jay,” Gabriel said, grabbing his arm.
Jared finally looked at him. “Look, this is fucking with my mind,” he said. “This—our relationship—has become a total mindfuck. It’s too much and not enough.” A muscle pulsed in Jared’s jaw. “I want things from you that you can never give me, and, to be totally honest, I don’t trust myself not to pressure you into something you don’t want. We need some boundaries. I never thought I’d say this, but it was easier for me when I pretended to be a friend and nothing more.”