Jax closed his eyes and leaned his head against the window. He was tired so he was thankful Derek didn’t talk all that much. He dozed until they got back to his house. Derek pulled up so the passenger door was right at the base of the stairs. He got out and handed Jax his crutches. “You good, man?”
“Yeah.” He wasn’t going to keel over until he was clean.
THE PHONE rang, waking Jax from a nap. The sky was still light, so he hadn’t slept that long. “Hello?” Jax said in a gritty voice. He cleared his throat and coughed.
“Hey, Jax. How’re you doing?”
“Good.” Jax relaxed into the chair. “Aleksi decided to try some new stuff and wore me out.”
“Yeah, did it help?” There was loud dinging in the background, but Jax understood what Scottie asked.
“Maybe. It’s more of a long-term benefit. Hopefully it will let me cut down on the pain pills.” He’d taken one after his shower, and it knocked him on his ass. His mouth was so dry. It was a good thing Derek left him some water. He drained the glass and grimaced at the stale sandwich that had been sitting on a saucer for hours, pushing it away.
“Did you have dinner?”
Jax was too tired to get up and find something to eat. “Sure did.”
“Oh.” Scottie sounded disappointed.
“It wasn’t very good. How was your day?” Jax just thought to ask, and he felt like an ass.
“Not bad. Just long. I went in at seven, and it’s after six. I’m ahead enough in my project that I don’t have to go in early tomorrow, though.”
“I never thought computer work was that high demand.”
Scottie made a derisive sound. “Not all of us can be firefighters, I guess.”
“That’s not what I meant.” God, talking on the phone gave him way too many opportunities to put his foot in his mouth. Giving someone a cocky grin turned sarcasm into snark, but that didn’t translate over the phone. Maybe he should try the video-chat program Scottie had mentioned.
“I know. Sorry.”
Rhythmic beeping came through the phone, and Jax frowned. “Where are you?”
“Cooking is the last thing I wanted to do tonight. I thought I’d pick up some dinner. Maybe eat it with a friend.”
“Yeah?” Jax just realized what the beeping was and knew he was about to get busted. “Did you get enough for two? Your friend might not have actually had dinner.”
“Maybe.”
“Well maybe the front-door key—since someone insisted it be locked during the day—is in the box to the right of the door. Same code as the gate.”
“Delivery!” Scottie shouted as he shut the front door a few minutes later. “I hope you have my tip ready.”
Naughty, naughty thoughts swamped him, and Jax had a wicked smirk on his face when Scottie came in holding two boxes. “I’m a little low on cash. Maybe I can offer you… something else.”
Scottie stopped in his tracks, licking his lips and leering. He eyed Jax from top to bottom. “What did you have in mind?”
“A kiss, of course. Why, what did you think I was offering?” Jax watched in amusement as a flush spread across Scottie’s cheeks. He knew exactly what it sounded like he was offering, and Scottie knew he was joking but he still blushed. “You’re imagining a whole other kind of kiss, aren’t you? You can’t even help yourself.”
Clearing his throat, Scottie asked, “Do you want me to?”
“Of course not! Come here.”
He must have come directly from work because Scottie still had a tie on. Jax grabbed the green silk and used it to pull him down, giving him a short—but with a lot of tongue—kiss on the mouth. “I’m glad you came over tonight.”
“Hmm, me too.” Scottie set the bottom box in Jax’s lap. “Hot roast beef.”
“And fries?”
“And fries.” Scottie set his box down on the table between the chairs. “What do you want to drink?”
“You don’t have to wait on me,” Jax said.
Scottie raised an eyebrow. “So I should take your dinner back?”
Jax clutched the box and scowled. “You will not touch this box if you value your life. I bite.” He bared his teeth.
“You are such a dork.” Scottie picked up the plate with his crusty sandwich. “I see you enjoyed the food your aide made you. I can’t believe he gets paid for this.” He shook his head as he walked into the kitchen. “Water, milk, soda?”
“Not everyone can cook, and I said a sandwich was good. What about a beer?” Jax asked.
“Have you taken pain meds today?” Scottie peered into the fridge and then looked back at him.
Jax sighed. “Yeah. I guess I’ll take a soda.”
Scottie brought in two, giving Jax his before he settled into the other chair with his dinner. He had a chef’s salad loaded with toppings carefully organized to show off each one in separate sections. Scottie squeezed dressing out of the packet in a circle on top of everything, closed the lid, and then shook it up.
“That’s one way to do it.” Jax chuckled.
The previously neat salad was a mixed-up mess. Scottie shrugged. “It doesn’t have to be pretty to taste good, and I like to mix it up so I get a little bit of everything in each bite.”
He kept the TV volume low, but turned the football game on to play in the background. They made random comments on plays and ate dinner, just spending time together. Jax liked it a lot more than he thought he would. Usually when he went out with someone he was taking them on active dates, stuff they could do outdoors.
That was great and wonderful, but maybe he’d been missing out on a whole other way of getting to know someone. They talked a lot, and he knew more about Scottie after just a few weeks than some guys he’d dated for more than six months.
“So I was thinking…. Jax?”
“Hmm?” Jax looked up. “What?”
“Those drugs must be making you tired,” Scottie said.
He wasn’t tired, he was just distracted. In a good way. Jax forced himself to listen.
“I said I was thinking about taking next Monday off. I should be able to finish this project tomorrow, and the presentation isn’t until the end of next week. The higher-ups will take at least one day to review it, so I won’t have anything I can’t miss. Do you want to take one of those trips you mentioned?”
“We could do that. I thought you would want to replace your camera first.”
“Oh, I did that already. I’ve been playing around with it in my apartment and around the city when I had some spare time. Before you mentioned it, I hadn’t realized how many really interesting urban shots I could get around Vancouver.”
“Well, my next physical therapy session isn’t until Tuesday, and I don’t have any plans. If you don’t mind driving, I’d be up for a weekend trip. What about going to Seattle? It’ll be easier to find a hotel last minute than at the coast. What do you think?”
“That would be fun.”
Jax started planning all the places he’d take Scottie. “Do you want to leave tomorrow or Saturday morning?”
“Well tomorrow I’ll have to put some effort into finding a new car. My insurance finally paid out for mine, but I’m still driving the rental. I need to go find something else. Saturday morning will probably be better, and we can stay at a hotel Saturday and Sunday night and come back on Monday.”
“I’ll let Derek know I won’t need him to come by this weekend when he comes tomorrow. Do you have an idea of what you want to get?”
“Something reasonable. I’d almost paid off the SUV my parents helped me buy, and the insurance gave me a good chunk above what I still owed, so I can afford to get something better than a junker. I prefer a truck or SUV, so I can get up to the mountains, but I don’t want something that is going to get ten miles to the gallon either. Gas might be cheaper right now, but those four dollar plus prices a gallon made me want to choke every time I filled up.”
“What about looking online for used cars? A lot of dealerships h
ave put their inventory online, and instead of having to drive to whatever location the cars are at, you can request they transfer it to a location closer to you for a test drive.”
“Really?”
Jax nodded. “Yeah, Dave did it with the last car he bought.”
“Cool.” Scottie reached down into the backpack he always carried and pulled out his laptop. He booted it up, and Jax gave him the Wi-Fi code. They spent the next hour looking at different websites and combing dealership listings for cars he might want. He finally found something, and since the dealership was open late, he was able to call them and set up a test drive after work the next day.
Scottie put away his laptop and stretched. “Man, I’m tired, but that was so much better than walking around dealerships. As long as it looks as good in person, I think you just cut several hours off my shopping time.”
“Thank you is all I get?” Jax teased. “Nothing else?”
“Well now.” Scottie dropped to his knees beside Jax’s chair. “I might be able to think of something else.”
He blinked when Scottie knelt, but now that soft mouth was so close. Scottie smelled tangy, like the ranch he’d been eating with his salad. His eyes were fastened on Jax’s lips, and he licked his, unconsciously wetting them.
Scottie’s pupils dilated. Oh yeah. Jax surreptitiously slid his empty dinner box off his lap and onto the table next to him, not looking away. “Come here,” he said roughly. That tie came in handy again when he got ahold of the fabric and used it to tug Scottie up and over the arm of the chair, urging him to straddle Jax’s lap.
“Your leg,” Scottie protested.
“Just don’t put your weight back. My hips are fine.”
Jax wasn’t feeling any pain with Scottie so close, and he knew they were about to get even closer. “Want to feel you,” he said. The skin on his hands was sensitive, but he captured Scottie by the back of his neck and lower back and held on tight. Jax wanted to take off their shirts and everything else between them, but he’d take what he could get.
He finally convinced Scottie to lean his weight against him, and he wouldn’t let him move. Scottie was rigid in his slacks, his erection a hard bar against Jax’s half-hard cock. “Now what?” Scottie’s voice was husky.
“Kiss me.” Jax leaned forward and met Scottie halfway. Their tongues dueled fiercely, and Scottie squeezed Jax’s shoulders, kneading the rounded muscles.
They explored each other’s mouths, tongues prodding and twisting together. Jax tugged on Scottie’s shirt, pulling it out of his pants. He pushed his fingertips inside the waistband, but the waist was too tight to get his hand any farther. He stroked across the upper curves of Scottie’s cheeks and the top of his crack.
Scottie moaned. Jax swallowed the sound, craving more. He wanted to make Scottie whine and whimper, moan and groan. His balls ached, and he wanted so much more, but he wasn’t fully hard.
He dragged his hand out of Scottie’s pants and up his back. Scottie pulled away from him and arched into the rough touch, gasping and shuddering. “Stop, stop, I don’t want to come in my pants.” He shifted his weight backward and his heel bumped against the brace protecting Jax’s knee.
“Fuck!” Jax went rigid—everywhere except where it counted—and Scottie scrambled off his lap.
“I knew I was going to hurt you. Damn it, Jax, this was a bad idea.”
“Not.” Jax had to breathe through the sharp burst of pain until it became a throbbing ache. He took a deep breath and let it out. He was completely soft, and when he opened his eyes, the ridge pressing against the front of Scottie’s pants was gone too. He growled in frustration. “I want you so much.”
Scottie shook his head. “We’re not doing this again. Not until your knee is better.”
Jax smacked the back of his head against the chair. “I’m not a patient man.” He hoped Scottie took that for the warning it was.
“Well I’m a stubborn one.”
“Does that mean no more kissing?” Jax wasn’t pouting. Really.
“I won’t hurt you.” Scottie squatted next to the chair. “So no more crawling on top of you. And I’ll only kiss you if you don’t try to get me to do more.”
Jax made a face. “Well, I’d hate to make you suffer by making out with you.”
“I’m pretty sure I’m the one who is going to suffer either way. Blue balls suck,” Scottie complained as he adjusted himself, “but I’m going to do it anyway.” He kept the kiss chaste, and it wasn’t nearly enough for Jax. Unfortunately, Scottie backed up before he could get a grip on that tie again.
“Just wait until I’m mobile again,” Jax warned him.
“I LIKE it.” Jax used the crutches to balance himself so he didn’t have to lean on them. His armpits and wrists ached almost as much as his knee did at the end of the day. “They had a blue one, huh?”
“Yeah.” Scottie ran his hand over the black bumper strip along the hood of his blue Forester. “It’s almost black but not quite.”
“Going to be a pain in the ass when it’s dusty.”
“Meh. A little dirt never hurt anyone. Besides, that’s what water is for. Sure, it’ll be filthy during the summer, but it does rain nearly nine months of the year here, so it’s not that big of a deal. Besides, this thing is pretty much optimal for what I wanted, and I got a great price.”
“Yeah?” The door clicked and Jax opened it. He held on to the top of the door and shifted his crutches to his free hand. “Here you go.” Scottie already had the cargo door open for the wheelchair Derek helped him rent from a local medical supply retailer and his clothes bag.
“The back cargo area has a rubber mat, so I don’t have to worry about getting the fabric filthy with muddy boots and wet camping gear, and it has four-wheel drive. The tires are all-terrain and damn near brand-new.” Scottie took the crutches. “Need some helping getting in?”
“No, I got this.” Jax hopped around until his back was to the seat and then he sat down, using his other foot to help support his leg as he swung them inside. The SUV was actually nicer to get into than Derek’s little car—Jax didn’t feel like his ass was going to hit the ground before he found the seat. It would be a lot easier to get out of a higher vehicle too.
Scottie pushed the hatch door shut and hustled into the driver’s seat. “Lots of city-boy features too,” he said. “Bluetooth and satellite radio, added GPS computer, heated seats, and remote start.”
Jax snorted. “Just what you need when you’re traipsing around the mountains. You know, just in case you’re in a hurry running away from Bambi.”
“Hey, Bambi’s mom can be pretty vicious.” Scottie chuckled. “And it’s not like we get below-freezing temps that often, but sometimes when I go hiking in October it can get pretty damn chilly. Besides, it’s a used car. I just took what they had.” He started it up and turned down the radio. “Sorry.”
“As long as we can check out the other channels on our way up there.” Jax did not want to listen to country music the whole time. A little was okay, but sometimes it felt like the songs were designed to be depressing. He wanted to stay in a good mood.
“No problem. Feel free to fiddle away. I’m still getting used to driving it.” Scottie carefully drove around Jax’s driveway and down to the gate. “At least you won’t have to give me directions. I have the hotel’s address in the computer.”
“We can’t check in until after one, and it’s only nine.” Jax started checking the radio categories. “How about we start with lunch and the Space Needle? It’s supposed to be clear today but cloudy tomorrow. I don’t want you to miss your chance at getting some good shots of Mt. Rainier from the top.”
“Space Needle it is, then.” Scottie had a little crease between his eyebrows as he fiddled with the GPS, trying to change the destination without losing the hotel address Jax had forwarded to him. “Finally!” he said triumphantly. “Ready? You have your pain meds and everything?”
“Yes, Mom. Derek helped me pack yesterday
. I’m good to go. How about we stop and get coffee on our way out of town, though? I need some more caffeine so I don’t fall asleep on you during the drive up there.”
“Sure. I know a good drive-thru hut just off I-5. I also want to stop about Centralia to get out and stretch. You don’t need to be sitting still the entire two-and-a-half-hour drive up there.”
Chapter Eleven
SCOTTIE HIT his brakes but tried not to slam on them so hard it hurt Jax. “I didn’t think traffic would be this bad on a Saturday.”
“Traffic is always bad in Seattle.” Jax held on to the handle above the door.
“I’m sorry. I’m not really used to the brakes yet.” Driving a new car up here was a bad idea; he had no idea the freeways would be so bad, and the pedestrians as they got closer to the Space Needle were awful. No one looked before they walked—they just assumed a car wasn’t going to hit them.
If his weren’t brand-new, at least to him, Scottie might be tempted.
“Look, there’s a parking lot right up there.”
Scottie turned on his blinker. “Ten bucks to park for two hours?” That was highway robbery. “It’s only fifteen for all day in Portland.”
“Portland is a good size, but nothing like Seattle. You ought to see prices in California.”
He zipped into the lot when a gap opened up in the traffic. “You lived in California?”
“No way. I went down there last year to help fight the late-season fires. After I was done, I took some time to drive around.”
Scottie found a space and parked. “Cool. Where?” He dug his wallet out of the center console.
“San Francisco, Hollywood, San Diego to go to Disney and Sea World. I drove home and saw the Redwoods too.”
“Sounds like a great trip. I’ll go pay for the parking and then come back and get the chair out for you.”
On Fire Page 9