With no excuse coming to mind, Jason decided not to worry about it. Abe clearly enjoyed lying in bed with him even after they were done fucking, so nobody was being put out. More importantly, Abe said he was interested in getting together again, which meant Jason had accomplished his goal for the night. He didn’t know how long it’d last, but for now, he’d try some version of what his cousin Asher had suggested—fucking the same guy repeatedly.
Yawning, Jason realized he had to get up and go home before he fell asleep. He slid out of bed carefully so he wouldn’t wake Abe and then pulled the blanket over his pale, wiry body. After dressing quickly, he walked back to the side of the bed and gazed down at Abe again, the security lights outside illuminating Abe’s face.
Abe’s body was lean but his face was round and his cheeks plump. Those features, combined with his scruffy blond hair and his huge blue eyes, lent him an air of innocence. And though Abe was uninhibited and voracious in bed, he didn’t have a lot of experience, so Jason’s perception wasn’t far from the mark. But instead of making him want to escape and spend his time with men like himself—men who knew what they were doing and weren’t likely to get emotionally involved, men who had lived enough to understand the score, men who knew from personal experience how to make him feel good without involving any feelings—Jason found he enjoyed being graced with the hopeful and trusting glances the younger man hadn’t yet learned to shield. A pang in his chest accompanied a flash of need to protect Abe from having those traits dashed.
Shaking his head at the fanciful thought, Jason pulled an old receipt from his wallet, looked around for a pen, and then jotted down a quick note: Thanks for tonight. Call me if you want to do it again. He added his number to the bottom and tucked the paper under Abe’s phone, where he knew Abe would find it. Then he left the apartment and drove home to get some sleep. He was on call for the next week; he needed the rest.
“ANGELA?” JASON said when his ex-wife answered the phone. “I got your message. What’s going on?”
Jason had been working almost nonstop all week, going home to crash and grab a change of clothes and then returning to the hospital the next morning. With that schedule, he hadn’t had time or energy to return calls, but one of the receptionists on the cardiology wing had come to him with an urgent message, so he dialed up his ex to see what she needed.
“I want to make sure you remember we’re meeting with Kristen’s teacher today at four.”
“What?”
“Kristen’s math teacher. We scheduled the appointment in November but you had to miss it, so I rescheduled, but you had a last-minute conflict again, so I switched it to after the semester break. It’s today at four. Do you need the address?”
“I know where Kristen goes to school,” Jason grumbled.
“Fine.”
“I realize I haven’t been there, but she’s in high school now. It’s not as if parents just stop by.”
“I only wanted to make sure you were set for the meeting, Jason.”
“And she takes the school bus or gets rides with her friends. Why would I go there?”
Angela sighed. “Well, today you’ll be going there to meet with her math teacher. At four.”
“I’ve had a long week, Ange. I’m not sure I—”
“No.”
“Excuse me?” Jason said.
“You heard me. I said no. Our daughter’s teacher wants to meet with us, and our daughter asked both of us to attend. She doesn’t ask for much. We will both be there.”
“Fine. I’m not saying I won’t go. But today isn’t good. Like I said, I’ve been working all week, and I’m beat.”
And high-strung and uptight and grouchy. This was the way he’d felt when he was married and trying to stay faithful to his wife. It was also the reason he’d sought sex elsewhere and justified it by telling himself it made him a better husband and father because getting off released his tension. After the week he’d had, a good, hard fuck was what he needed, not a school meeting.
“We cannot put this off again, Jason. Kristen’s teacher wanted to meet with us before the end of the semester. We’re already late. I don’t want to keep dragging this out and I checked with your scheduler. I know you’re off at three today. That gives you enough time to wash up and get to the school.”
“You talked to Tina?”
“Yes.”
“I can’t believe she told you my schedule.”
“I delivered both of her children.”
Right. He had forgotten. Angela was considered one of the best ob-gyns in town, and getting in to see her was almost impossible because her practice was closed to new patients. But she was willing to open new slots for friends, which included Jason’s employees and their wives.