This whole thing made no sense. And his eyes cut over to the nightstand to see if they had used the condoms he stored there when he arrived. Relief was staggering as he saw the box opened, laying on its side. At least they’d been safe last night, but why did he have to have a hangover at such an inopportune time? Jace needed to get his ass up. Forget the hangover and take a shower. He needed to get his wits about him. He needed perspective and better clothing. After a minute more of letting the white willow bark take hold, Jace forced himself from the bed and headed straight for the bathroom. He needed to face Colt, clean and clear. Without question, he knew he could accomplish at least one of those things.
***
Jace showered, washed, and dried his hair, brushed his teeth, plucked a couple of stray hairs and dressed in a pair of khaki shorts and a button down. He’d bought both after he had arrived on the island. He looked the best he could. Certainly not power clothes, but also not swim trunks. He looked himself over in the mirror one more time and pushed his freshly dried hair behind his ears, instead of tying it back.
Okay, he had this… maybe.
Jace slowly opened the door and saw Colt lying across the bed, a tray covered in food sat at the end of the mattress. Colt ate a piece of bacon, looking about as hot as Jace had ever seen him. The five o’clock shadow in the early stages of forming, the stubble outlined Colt’s perfect lips. Images of Colt’s lips wrapped around his dick immediately sprang to mind, and Jace had to shove those thoughts aside. Not now! He mentally scolded himself. Colt looked up at him and stopped in mid-bite, chewing it down quickly before taking a gulp of his coffee.
“Is it okay that I eat bacon? I can toss it out if you don’t want it here?” That confused Jace, and he looked closer at the contents of the tray, moving slower toward the bed. The tray was loaded with oatmeal, toasted bread with peanut butter, island jellies, waffles, pancakes, macadamia muffins, and every kind of sliced fruit Jace could think of. A protein drink sat next to a can of guava juice that sat next to a bottle of orange juice. To the side of all the food was a small plate of bacon, eggs, and toast.
“How did you know?” Jace asked, lifting a piece of dry toast. Could his stomach handle food? He sniffed at the toast before taking a small bite.
“Know what?” Colt placed a paper napkin over his plate, lifting it from the tray as he moved off the bed.
“Where are you going?” Jace asked, again confused. Were they having breakfast separately?
“I battled with myself about bringing this in here. I know you’re a vegan, and I’m a carnivore. I’ll ditch it. Hang on.” Jace stopped Colt as he stepped around him.
“How did you know what I eat?” Jace stared straight into Colt’s eyes, still very confused, operating six steps behind in everything between them this morning. There was too much at stake for him to be this far off his A game.
“I told you last night, I’ve followed your life. I’ve read every interview, everything written about you,” Colt said with a shrug of his shoulder. The words seemed honest and sincere. They stood there, looking at each other, but neither spoke, and Jace realized they were both back to being nervous. He didn’t like that.
“You can eat meat. I don’t care.” Jace forced a chuckle, trying to lighten the mood, but the chuckle turned real at the look of relief on Colt’s face.
“Thank God! I thought you were going to make me eat this.” Colt looked down at the tray and cut his eyes back up. “No offense.”
“None taken. I’m not a PETA activist. I just like to eat like this. It’s better for me or at least I feel better,” Jace said, and Colt nodded, but made no move to sit back down. Colt picked up a piece of bacon from his plate and took a bite off the end; his eyes never strayed from Jace.
“Can we go to the kitchen table?” Jace asked after what felt like a lifetime of standing there silently. “I think it would be easier to talk there.”
“Of course.” Colt placed his plate back on the tray and lifted it, motioning for Jace to go in front of him with a sweep of his hand. They walked in silence until right before they arrived at the table.
“Your ass is still perfect,” Colt mumbled. Jace’s cheeks heated in a blush at the words. For some reason the warmth crawling up his cheeks, along with the hot shower and perhaps the white willow bark made him feel better, but he had a hunch it was more Colt’s words than anything else. He grinned at Colt and took a seat, eating another bite of the toast. Colt put all but the plate of eggs and bacon in front of him, then sat down and started picking at his food.
Jace weighed his questions and ate until the sheer volume of food Colt made for him resonated in his mind. He grinned again and picked up a bite of pineapple. “I think I got most of it down. Tell me if I’m wrong. You left your bride at the altar and came here. Did you know I was here?”
Colt nodded. “Yes, I did. I watched the ESPN special.”
“So you came here for me?” Jace asked the question, but regretted it immediately, wishing he could take it back.
“I did.”
Jace’s mind was still solidly on wanting to take back his words, and it took several seconds to absorb what he heard and let it take hold in his mind.
“Why?” he finally asked.
“Because I love you, Jace. Don’t you remember anything I said last night?” Colt placed his fork by his plate.