Facade

hand or look him in the eye. He didn’t pull away either, and that gave Jonas hope.
    Jonas sighed. “When I met you, you were, well frankly, difficult to be in the same room with.” Nicky’s head hunched down even more between his shoulders.
    “You were so used to getting your way, so spoiled you never gave anyone a kind word. You just expected people to jump even before you issued your commands.”
    Nicky looked deadly ashamed, becoming so small he almost disappeared. Jonas lifted the younger man’s head by putting his finger underneath his chin, making him look at him. He had only moderate success.

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    “That first time, I saw you change. I saw you allowing yourself to actually enjoy what we did.”
    “I did. I enjoyed it a lot.” Nicky paused, seemingly thinking hard about what to say next, and Jonas gave him the time. “I couldn’t believe you stayed after what I did to you. And you were kind and patient and gentle too!”
    “I’ve been treated worse,” Jonas admitted. “You intrigued me.
    On the one hand you were so full of confidence, to the point of arrogance, but underneath that thin layer of veneer, I felt there was something else and I wanted to scratch the surface and see what that was.”
    “I suppose you got more than you bargained for,” Nicky said, smiling but not directly at Jonas, whose eye contact he was still shunning.
    “You could say that. For one, I never expected to fall in love.” Now it was Jonas’s turn to look away, but he felt Nicky’s eyes burn into his skin.
    “You….”
    “When Tanna told you that you were falling in love with me, my heart jumped. And then when I saw your face and hers, I knew you weren’t denying it. I almost panicked, Nicky, because of what it entailed and because of what it would mean for you and me.”
    “Of what it would change between us?” Nicky asked.
    “My feelings were a little more selfish, I’m afraid,” Jonas confessed.
    “You would have to tell your lover you fell in love with a client….”
    “Eduardo lost the right to that a long time ago, Nicky,” Jonas said quietly, looking at Nicky’s hand inside his own. “But yes, I fell in love with a client, only you never felt like one. I never felt like I was making love to you for the money.” Suddenly Nicky’s face was inside Jonas’s personal space and Jonas could smell him, could feel the heat radiating off his skin. He Façade
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    raised his head slightly, allowing Nicky to kiss him, ever so gently.
    Jonas closed his eyes and moved his lips just a fraction of an inch.
    The kiss was the most tender they’d ever shared and Jonas tensed up, afraid to take it further although he wanted to. He wanted this moment to last forever, didn’t want this soft, almost chaste kiss to end.
    Nicky pulled back, but he didn’t move away completely. The young man leaned against him and gently settled his head on Jonas’s shoulder.
    Jonas felt the tension drain away. “That was nice,” he said, licking his bottom lip in the hope he could taste some remnant of Nicky. “But what about what you said when we parted the last time?
    About wanting me to give up my job?”
    “I’ve had time to think,” Nicky admitted. “You told me Eduardo was fine with it, and I thought about it and figured I could be too. Oh, and I talked to Ally about what it was like to share a husband.”
    Jonas raised an eyebrow.
    “She said she wasn’t always there when you and Scott, you know….”
    Jonas nodded, trying to keep a smile at bay.
    “She told me she wasn’t jealous and she didn’t see it as being unfaithful on Scott’s part. It was just something he needed and she said she had a dream of a husband because she let him. I just have a few questions.”
    “Shoot,” Jonas said, tugging his ear.
    “No more secrets. You told me about most of your clients, right? Anyone you haven’t told me about?” Jonas tried to recall. “Christopher, Clay, Scott and Ally, Johnny, I told you about them, didn’t I?” Nicky chuckled. “In delightful detail, yes.”
    “There’s a movie director called David, but I haven’t heard from him for a while now. He’s an older guy, married of course. Not 148
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    much to tell I’m afraid, except that he has a thing for blood. Luckily it’s fake blood or paint, sometimes gravy. He likes smearing things all over me.”
    Nicky shuddered. “Okay, I can deal with that.” Nicky took a deep breath in. “If we’re together I want to