The Half of Us (Family 4)

Cupping himself through his pants, Jason arched his eyebrows. “Just the sight of my cock turns you on?”

His gaze glued to Jason’s large hand fondling his package, Abe’s dick swelled and rose. “You know it does.”

“I do know and I like it.” Jason crooked his finger and said, “C’mere.”

Seeing Jason happy wiped away most of Abe’s tension. He walked over, his focus on Jason’s face. As soon as he was within reach, Jason shot his hand out, snaked his arm around Abe’s back, and yanked him forward.

“I’m sorry.” Jason hunched down and cupped both of Abe’s bare buttcheeks, squeezing and massaging. “You shouldn’t have to seduce me to get me to act like a decent person.”

“I don’t know anything about seducing.” Abe shrugged. “But having sex with you is never a hardship.”

“Oh, I can’t agree with that,” Jason said, his voice low and deep. He rocked his hips, rubbing up against Abe’s exposed erection. “I’d say it got plenty hard.”

“You’re on a roll with the bad jokes,” Abe said with a laugh.

Dipping down, Jason brushed his lips over Abe’s. “I wanted to hear you laugh.”

Abe sighed, relieved the tense atmosphere was gone, replaced by their usual comfort and ease with each other. He laid his cheek against Jason’s chest and wound his arms around Jason’s waist. Jason kissed the top of his head and rubbed circles on his back.

“Angela and I met our junior year at an MCAT study class. We’d only been dating for about three months when we found out she was pregnant. That part was harder on her than it was on me.”

“I’d say so, yeah,” Abe said teasingly.

“Behave.” Jason pinched his ass. “I’m unburdening my soul here.”

“Sorry.” Abe kissed the base of Jason’s throat. “I’m listening.”

“I grew up with a lot of family around. My sisters you know about.”

“One’s in California and the other is in Chicago, right?”

“Uh-huh. Plus I have a million cousins, and as kids we were always going back and forth to people’s houses, running around. That was family in my head, and I expected to have the same thing. Angela is really wonderful and when she told me the news, I was so happy. I got down on one knee right there and proposed. She was crying and scared. Having a kid and getting married wasn’t in her life plan right then. She wanted to be a doctor. But she said yes and she ended up being a great mom, really great. She’s an incredible doctor, too, and she was a good wife.”

“She sounds amazing,” Abe said quietly.

“You’d love her,” Jason said. “Everyone loves her.” His lips turned up at the sides, but his eyes were sad. “I love her.”

“Just not the way a husband is supposed to?” Abe said in understanding.

“No.” Jason shook his head. “Not that way. She knew pretty early on.”

“That you’re gay?” Abe asked.

“Yes. I didn’t realize it, but she told me later that she figured it out. Angela is damn smart. Nothing gets past her. But we were good friends, still are, so she said she hoped it would be enough. I think I was hoping I’d change, that somehow everything would click into place the way it was supposed to. But it never did, and I got frustrated and mad and—” Jason swallowed hard. “I cheated on her. She knew. She didn’t say anything, but she knew.”

“Why didn’t she confront you?”

Raising his face so he was looking at the ceiling, Jason said, “She was pregnant the first time.” He shook his head. “God, I’m such an asshole.” He sighed. “She was pregnant with Kristen. We were newly married, both of us starting medical school. Life was different then— busier, harder. I think she didn’t have time to deal with it. I don’t know. I never asked her why she let it go, but looking back on it now, I’m sure she knew what I was doing even back then. Eventually, she confronted me. I promised I wouldn’t do it again, and we ended up with another surprise pregnancy—Donny is thirteen.” Jason cleared his throat. “Anyway, long story short, I did it again, she found out, I pleaded for one more chance, and she gave it to me. I didn’t stop, and when we finished our residencies and finally started living a normal life, she said both of us deserved better and that our kids deserved to be raised with models of a healthy relationship. She filed for divorce. I begged her not to go through with it, swore up and down I’d change, but like I said, Angela is damn smart so”—he shrugged—“we’re divorced.”

Abe wasn’t surprised by Jason’s story. He knew enough people with young families to be familiar with their busy schedules and hurried lives. And it didn’t take much of a stretch to imagine Jason having a wandering eye and acting on it.