Facade

same as last time,” Jonas answered, trying to contain his excitement.
    Nicky didn’t filter his emotions. “Then I really need you right now. Without a condom. Just you. Right this instant.” Nicky was already unbuttoning Jonas’s trousers when the door opened and two girls walked in with a tray of dirty glasses. They were already halfway inside when they realized they weren’t alone, but by then Nicky had pulled Jonas up the back stairs to the fire escape and out on the roof.
    “Wow, it’s gorgeous here. What a view,” Jonas said, in awe of the lights of the city around them as they exited onto a small flat terrace. The view was that of the other rooftops in the vicinity, but all the visible windows were dark, since none of the adjacent shops were open. Most of the apartments were quite a distance away, so Jonas felt fairly safe.
    “I didn’t come up here for the view, love,” Nicky said. “Please tell me you brought lube?”
    “Sorry,” Jonas apologized. “I wasn’t planning on us celebrating anywhere but at home.”
    Nicky kissed him violently. “Mmm, rim me for all I care, but I want you now.” Nicky hastily unzipped his pants and started pulling them down as he turned around so he could grab the railing and bend forward.
    Although Jonas didn’t mind Nicky being demanding, he wasn’t entirely happy about the situation. He knew Nicky was beyond reasoning, though. Nicky wanted satisfaction now, and Jonas knew which battles to pick. This was one he’d lost from the start.
    Nicky was loud and extremely vocal in his appreciation of Jonas’s rimming talents and even louder when Jonas pushed into him. Their coupling was violent and fast, and both men were totally oblivious to their immediate surroundings. They didn’t see the curtain being pulled aside as someone wondered who was making Façade
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    all that racket, and they totally missed the long telephoto lens that appeared at the open window of one of the adjacent shops.

    THE following morning, Jonas was awakened by Tanna. He could never get used to opening his eyes and seeing her standing next to their bed, although he’d long since accepted that this could happen.
    “What the matter?” Jonas asked, yawning sleepily as he crawled carefully from under Nicky’s outstretched body.
    “Trouble,” Tanna answered with a deadly serious face.
    “Bad reviews for the shop?”
    Tanna shook her head but didn’t answer. Instead she opened the laptop she was carrying and showed Jonas a webpage of picture thumbnails.
    Jonas started to feel uneasy, but he clicked one of the pictures anyway. There was no mistaking it for anything else. Pictures of him and Nicky on that rooftop were all over the Internet, and you had to be blind as a bat to not see what they were doing. There was even a piece of video from earlier that night, in the shop, with Nicky explaining things about his designs and greeting a fellow designer.
    Jonas was visible in the background and his face was encircled. The subtitle read “Nicky Bryant’s lover Jonas Hunter.” There was only one thing Jonas was grateful for. It didn’t say “Jonas Hunter, male escort.”
    “We can’t tell Nicky,” Jonas told Tanna. “He doesn’t deserve this. He’s had enough stress these past weeks. I’ll take him away to Spain for a week or two. He can work from there, but he’ll be away from the city and we can wait out the storm there.” Tanna shook her head. “I agree we shouldn’t issue any sort of statement and it’s better to ignore these tabloid photos and just go on with our lives, but Nicky deserves to know. We can shelter him, but we can’t keep him in the dark.”
    Jonas sighed. “I’ll tell him.”

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    Zahra
    Owens
    Tanna nodded and got up, leaving the laptop on the table. At the last moment, Jonas held her back. “What if they dig deeper and find out what I do for a living? It’ll reflect badly on Nicky. Would it be better if I leave for a bit?”
    “Who’s leaving?”
    Both Tanna and Jonas looked up to see Nicky walking closer.
    He was hugging the bed sheet, but his hair was sticking to all sides and only one eye was open.
    “Nobody,” Tanna was quick to answer. She looked intently at Jonas, though. “Tell him, Jonas. Tell Nicky where you’re taking him and tell him why.”
    “We going on a trip?” Nicky asked, still looking distracted and possibly slightly buzzed.
    “Sit, angel,” Jonas asked softly.
    Nicky sat down and nestled himself close to Jonas,