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Sean could tell Jaime tried for a few seconds before he gave up his attempts not to laugh. To his credit, he regained control after only a few seconds of Sean glaring at both of them.

“Babe, I’m sorry. My mama kind of taught me that when I was three or four,” Jaime said. “I promise in a week Lexi will have forgiven you for telling on her, and she’ll think up something worse about me.”

“I just don’t cook.”

“We don’t let him.” Alana stopped when he kicked her. “And I won’t explain why right now, so you’ll just have to trust me. He was learning other things when he was four. Like every single type of dance there is and how to play the violin and how to swim.”

“You did all that when you were four?” Jaime glanced back at Alana like he was trying to figure out if she was making stuff up before turning around to work at the stovetop.

“It was piano, not violin, but yeah. My mom liked putting me in classes. She figured she’d give me a lot of options and see what I liked.”

“And she didn’t put you in a Spanish class?” Jaime asked. “I’m not judging. I’m just wondering if you’re lying about not understanding anything.”

“I wasn’t really good at languages,” Sean said after a second.

“You were four. How were you good at anything?” Jaime asked, shaking his head as he took the board of vegetables from Alana to add to the sauce he’d already mixed.

“I was extra bad at languages.” Sean shrugged. The clicking of the spoon against the bowl paused for just long enough that he knew Jaime had caught the shift in his voice. It seemed more dramatic if Sean made him ask, so he added, “I had a lisp. So I was in speech therapy for a long time. I had a hard enough time speaking English, so I took Latin in high school to get my language credit out of the way. They don’t make you speak that in front of people. It’s just reading and writing.”

“I was in ESL until fifth grade,” Jaime said after a few seconds. He turned to the stove, and Sean couldn’t see his face as he transferred the fish from the mixture in the bowl. Alana kept her mouth shut for once, so they only heard sizzling for a few minutes until Jaime added, “I knew some English when I started school, but only what my mom knew and what my older brother had taught me. It wasn’t a lot.”

“Your English is perfect. You don’t even have an accent. Well, unless you’re speaking Spanish.”

“Yours is just as perfect.” Jaime was smiling when he looked back at him. “You’re sure it doesn’t bother you when I speak Spanish?”

“No. You’re probably going to get away with it as long as you want, because I’m not going to pick it up. I barely passed Latin in high school, and I think my teacher just felt bad for me. I’m never going to get past
hello
and
good-bye
.”

“I know some Spanish. What’s he saying? Wait. Do I want to know? Is he saying dirty things in Spanish in bed?” Alana paused and tilted her head. “Yes. I definitely want to know.”

“I don’t really remember. I think he called me crazy once.” Even if Sean could remember the words, he wasn’t about to mess up the pronunciation with Jaime listening. Also, if Jaime was saying things he wasn’t ready to fully share with Sean, then Sean wasn’t going to repeat them to Alana. “I assume everything else is just about how amazing I am.”

“It’s probably about how annoying you are,” Alana said as she pulled out her phone. “He doesn’t want to hurt your feelings, so he says it in Spanish to get the frustration out. I will Google the Spanish words for ‘annoying,’ ‘spends too much time on his hair,’ and ‘lazy.’ Maybe he said, ‘You are crazy and annoying because you use too many hair products.’”

“I didn’t call you crazy.” Jaime smirked as he set plates in front of them. “I promise.”

“You should have.” Alana speared a piece of fish with her fork and moaned. “This is amazing. You need to come over every week.”

“Thanks.” Jaime ducked his head with a shy smile at the compliment, as he turned away to make another plate. He nodded to where Travis was still watching TV on the couch. Alana rolled her eyes and picked up her own plate with the new one to carry to the couch. She pushed the plate into his hands and said something too low for them to pick up.

“Should I be worried he still hates me?” Jaime whispered.

“He doesn’t.” Sean sighed when Jaime mouthed,
Really.
“I don’t think it’s all you this time. He’s been off the last few days. I think the girl he had a couple dates with kind of dropped off.”

Sean shook his head at Jaime’s questioning look. Travis would say something about it eventually, and whispering about him from across the apartment wouldn’t help.

“How often do you make breakfast for Aleksandra?” Sean asked after a few more bites of his dinner.

“Every day but Tuesday and Thursday? She has a really early class those days. I make extra if I’m cooking anyway, but I’m not getting up to cook for her. Why?” Jaime looked up from his plate just before Sean ducked his head down. Jaime reached out to rest his hand on Sean’s wrist. “You’re the one who told me not to shut you out.”

“He thought you made breakfast for him,” Travis said as walked past. His plate clattered in the sink over the silence that had set in.

“You’re not helping, and now you’re just being mean,” Alana said.

“Yeah.” Travis sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Sorry. It’s been a long week. But the food was good. I can do dishes if you guys want to leave them.”

“It’s fine. Just let me get there by myself next time.” Sean stood and pulled Jaime with him to the bedroom.

“I didn’t mean to mislead you with breakfast,” Jaime said after Sean closed the door behind them.

“It was stupid. You didn’t really do anything.” He should have noticed Aleksandra didn’t seem to think it was special at all.

“Maybe not, but I did just cook a late dinner from scratch for your friends, and I think it’s pretty obvious that I did that just for you,” Jaime said as he backed Sean against the bedroom door. He brushed his fingers under the hem of Sean’s shirt as he bent down to brush his lips over the base of Sean’s neck. “And I took the train here just to see you even after Alana took over our date, so I wasn’t even sure I was going to get laid for my trouble.”

“You’re really going to get laid,” Sean mumbled as Jaime pushed his shirt up and over his head. “I had the plan to promise you sex because it’s been too long.”

“Not letting that happen again.” Jaime threw off his own shirt before pulling Sean away from the door and pushing him to the bed. Sean held on instead of giving up his grip on Jaime’s arms, pulling Jaime on top of him as Jaime’s lips found his again. Jaime’s kisses were light and hesitant until Sean palmed the back of his head and dragged him closer. Sean slid his tongue along Jaime’s lips until Jaime let him in, but his hands tangled in Sean’s hair instead of traveling south to push at his jeans.

“What’s wrong?” Sean broke away just enough to whisper the words against Jaime’s lips.

“Nothing.” Jaime moved to kiss down his neck and then back up to suck behind his ear. Sean moaned as Jaime’s teeth scraped against his skin before he soothed over the spot with his tongue. Sean was about to point out that Jaime wasn’t known for taking so long when Jaime whispered against his ear. “What do you want?”

“Fuck me.” Sean knew his voice was rough, but it got the reaction he was hoping for as Jaime’s hips bucked against him.

“Sean.” Jaime groaned, pausing to press his face against Sean’s neck. Sean could feel him taking a deep breath to calm himself. That was the last thing Sean wanted. Sean stilled for a minute before running his hand over the back of Jaime’s head and lifting his chin so their eyes met. Jaime’s eyes were dilated with lust, but there was doubt he wasn’t used to seeing.

“Are you freaking out on me?” Sean asked.

“No.”

“Maybe a little?” Sean asked when Jaime didn’t elaborate.

Jaime chuckled and tried to look away, but Sean cupped his cheek to hold him in place.

“Maybe a little,” Jaime said. “But not enough that you need to give me an option to stop or anything.”

“Okay.” Sean held his gaze for a second more before pulling him into a slow kiss. Sean let his mouth fall open as Jaime deepened the kiss and pressed Sean into the mattress as he set the pace, and Sean relaxed in the slow build of lust. Jaime pulled away to let his lips travel over Sean’s collarbone to his shoulder as he smoothed his hand down Sean’s side.

When he finally moved to unbutton Sean’s jeans, Sean only hesitated a second before reciprocating. Their hands bumped in the tight space, and Jaime let out a short laugh before sitting back on his heels to undo his own jeans and toss them aside with his boxers before stripping Sean as well.

Jaime’s cock slid against his as Jaime dropped down and pressed their bodies flush against each other while he left little nips on Sean’s throat. In all the times they’d had sex, it had never had this slow build, with Jaime pressed so close to him that Sean wasn’t sure if it was the weight making it hard to breathe or something else.

When Jaime trailed his hand down his ass to pull on his leg, Sean went with the movement, bringing his leg up to wrap round Jaime and keep him close. Jaime stroked up and down his thigh before letting his fingers skim in the cleft of his ass.

“Fuck. Please.” Sean used the slight bit of leverage he had to push up closer, letting out harsh short breaths as his cock slid over the thin layer of sweat between them. He felt the light press of Jaime’s fingers against him before Jaime eased out of his grip enough to reach his night stand and pull the drawer open.

Sean couldn’t even think to try and make out the words Jaime was whispering into his neck in between bites and kisses as Jaime’s fingers teased and stroked inside of him, sending shocks through his body as Jaime soothed him with long, firm strokes down his side with his other hand.

He was shaking, and his brain was fighting for enough focus to beg when Jaime moved back enough to slide on a condom and pull Sean’s leg up to give him room. Their eyes locked as Jaime slid inside him, and Sean held his gaze until his brain went fuzzy, and he pressed his head back against the pillow. Jaime took advantage of Sean’s flexibility and pushed close against him as he set a pace of slow, deep thrusts that made something in Sean’s chest clench

“Kiss me,” Jaime said, close enough that Sean could feel the hot breath on his lips, and he tilted his head up. Jaime reached between them to wrap his hand around Sean’s cock, and it was more of wet mix of hot air and tongue as they struggled to breathe between kisses. Sean pulled back just enough to stop himself from biting down on Jaime’s lip as he came. Jaime buried his head in Sean’s neck as he gave up control in quick thrusts before collapsing on Sean with a mixture of exhaustion and bliss.

It may have been seconds or minutes before Sean could think enough to speak, and even then he struggled against a stronger urge to sleep.

“That was amazing. So amazing that I’m going to fall asleep with you still on top of me if you let me.”

“Are you going to complain about the mess in the morning if I let you?” Jaime mumbled.

“Probably.”

Jaime groaned, but he rolled off him and wiped them off so that they wouldn’t wake up to a sticky mess. He pushed at Sean’s side until he moved enough for Jaime to straighten out the blankets before sliding in to spoon behind him. Sean took the hand resting on his stomach and pulled it up to hold close to his chest before drifting off.

S
EAN
WAS
only beginning to gain consciousness to the pressure of kisses on his back and shoulders when he jerked awake to Travis yelling through the door. He groaned and curled into Jaime’s chest without answering.

“Sorry. I didn’t wake up early enough,” Jaime said, even though he was awake enough to laugh at Sean’s misery.

“Alana’s still here,” Travis called through the door.

“I hate you,” Sean called back.

“I think that means you’re supposed to get up,” Jaime said when Sean didn’t move.

“Lupe and Michael aren’t working the last show today. You could come.” Sean had thought of it when Travis said he’d decided to let them take an extra class for the next week instead. It was possible Jaime didn’t want to see a show he’d already seen the week before, but he couldn’t help being greedy for more time.

“You don’t think anyone would notice me?” Jaime asked.

“You’ll be in the balcony this late anyway. I can meet you somewhere else after the show. Unless you just need to get back.”

“I don’t. I can take the later train. We could do something after.” Jaime pressed a kiss to his forehead, so maybe Sean wasn’t alone in wanting more time. “But you should get up before they decide you’re taking too long.”

“Are you going to hide in here until I’m out of the bathroom?” Sean asked when Jaime made no move to get up after him.

“Just for the first ten minutes.”

Sean nodded and slipped out the door. Alana whistled at him as he walked to the bathroom, and he couldn’t even find it in him to be annoyed as he turned on the shower.

Jaime was sitting at the bar when he emerged from the bathroom. He didn’t have the shell-shocked look he’d had the week before, but he still didn’t look awake enough for whatever Alana was excited about.

“Jaime has never seen the whale,” Alana said before Sean could even take the other stool next to Jaime.

“You’ve never seen the whale?” Sean asked.

“I’m still confused. Is this a real whale?” Jaime asked as he stood up.

“It’s not a real whale. It’s at the Natural History Museum,” Sean said.

“You should go after the show. You’ll still have time.” Alana could be a hazard to his relationship, but she could also suggest the best dates so he didn’t have to.

“To the Natural History Museum?” Jaime looked from Alana to Sean.

“Don’t worry. You don’t have to do the whole museum. Sean’s scared of just about every other room in the whole building.” And
that
was why Alana was a hazard.

“N
O
ENTOURAGE
?”
Jaime asked when met him at the subway station after the show.