Perfect Imperfections

“That’s good.” Reg massaged Jeremy’s nape. “I’d hate to see that happen to you.” He swallowed hard. “It’s the worst.”

“So what happened with that guy, uh, Kirby?”

“I broke up with him. I tried to get him to stop, but I was barely twenty, and I didn’t know how. Then I found out he was staying up all night, letting his roommates do him, and other guys who came over to the apartment.” Reg cringed. “I couldn’t deal; he wouldn’t stop, so I walked.”

“And you didn’t hear from him after that?”

“No. He finished off the semester and then went home to Texas that summer and didn’t come back. Word was his parents made him transfer to school out there so he could be closer to home. He didn’t keep in touch with anyone I knew.” Reg rubbed his palm over his face. “I always hoped he got clean and wanted a fresh start.”

“I’m sorry.” Jeremy curled his fingers around Reg’s and squeezed his hand.

“I’m good. It’s been more than five years. I’m over it.”

But Jeremy could tell from the sadness in Reg’s eyes and the tension in his large frame that while he might be over his ex-boyfriend, the experience still hurt him. Feeling guilty for making Reg talk about something painful merely because he wanted to know if he was gay—the very thing he got angry at the press for constantly obsessing over—Jeremy pushed closer to Reg and hugged him.

“Thank you,” he said hoarsely as he cupped the back of Jeremy’s head and buried his face in Jeremy’s neck.

When he had asked Reg to join him on the road and pretend to be his boyfriend, Jeremy hadn’t considered the possibility that he was anything other than straight. Looking back, Jeremy realized he’d had no basis for that assumption. He had been railing for months about how ridiculous it was for people to care and make assumptions about his personal life. He had shrugged off any question about whether dating a guy would be an issue. So no way was Jeremy going to act like a hypocrite and change the rules of his friendship with Reg just because the man was gay. He’d said it didn’t matter, and he’d meant it.

He’d shared a room and even a bed with Reg and never felt uncomfortable; no reason to start now. Besides, it wasn’t as if Reg had ever come on to him, which was a good thing. Still, Jeremy rubbed his palm over his chest and wondered why.

Chapter 10

“HOLY SHIT!” Jeremy screamed. “Get off!”

Standing over the toilet, Reg wasn’t in a position to help right away, but he did his best to finish, shake, tuck, and zip as quickly as possible. “What?” he said as he rushed out of the bathroom and looked around the small hotel room. “What happened?”

With the two of them sharing a bed, they’d stopped getting multiroom suites for short stays. The brief amount of time they spent in the hotel was for sleep, so there was no point. Hotel rooms in New York were smaller than in many of the other cities they toured, so there wasn’t a lot of space to hide, but at that moment, Jeremy was doing his level best, wedged into a corner between a desk and a window, his hand held straight out in front of him.

Darting his gaze around the room, Reg tried to find the source of Jeremy’s fear. “Was someone here?” he asked as he quickly checked the door. The locks were in place. All four of them. “JJ?”

“Spider,” Jeremy said, his voice high-pitched. He was pointing at the bed and seemingly trying to crawl into the wall. “Huge spider!”

“Seriously?” Reg chuckled and shook his head as he walked toward the bed. “I’ll get it.”

“No!” Jeremy yelled. “It’s dangerous! Don’t go near it.”

“One of us has to go near it, or it’ll stay on your suitcase, and you won’t be able to get your pants.” Reg looked meaningfully at Jeremy’s sexy bikini briefs. He was a boxer man himself, but Jeremy always wore skimpy briefs. Damn, did Reg enjoy the moments when he got to see him changing. “I assume you were getting pants.”

Forcing himself to look away was difficult, but Reg managed to do it. Lustful leering carried a real risk of making Jeremy uncomfortable, and the last thing Reg wanted to do was push too hard too fast and scare Jeremy away. Especially when he felt like they were making progress.

No straight guy, regardless of how comfortable he was in his sexuality, would sleep with his ass shoved into another man’s groin, or his legs and arms wrapped around another man’s body. No way. Jeremy was confused about himself and shockingly slow at getting a clue, but he wasn’t straight, and Reg planned to be there, arms open wide, when he figured that out.