Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 6

doesn't happen," Raul confided.
    "How do you know?"
    "This is the third time he has tried to quit. The only thing that could prevent him from going back to his sanctity is a carnal sin that he wished to repeat often."
    Javier faced him, ignoring how seductive he looked with his wet hair and wrapped in a bathrobe.
    "And why are you telling me this?" Javier demanded.
    Raul smiled and the way he looked him up and down confirmed his suspicion that poor Diego didn't stand a chance if this person was in seducing mode. Esteban had no idea of who his brother really was.
    "My bedroom is the one across from yours, I have condoms in the nightstand drawer, and I won't be back until the morning. Make him sin, badly ." He drawled the last words.
    Openmouthed, Javier watched Raul walking away while the words carnal sin flashed in his mind in red neon lights.
    ****
    After Raul left, Esteban and Javier had dinner in an enervating silence. Later on, Esteban refused his help to clean the kitchen and suggested Javier take some time for himself because he also needed a break. Javier found the room Raul assigned to him really nice, and in that moment,a real shelter.
    Feeling like a kid sent to his room, Javier wondered if following Esteban around was right, maybe he was imposing, but he didn't want to go back to his parents, and he liked being with Esteban. There were so many things he wanted to talk with him about. In that moment, he recalled Esteban's expression looking at the picture of the kids, it had been tender, but it changed when Raul asked if he wanted his own. So, Esteban didn't want any kids, or didn't plan to father any.
    Did this confirm that he was gay? He didn't give away any signs at all, and Javier always prided himself on having a great gay-radar. Who knows? He might be getting old or out of practice.
    He grimaced, he would be lucky if he reached an older age. Unless Esteban kicked him out, he would stay by him as long as he could. Javier couldn't afford to waste any chance of any kind, and this man was something he didn't want to miss. Even if Esteban left the church, Javier knew that didn't mean he was anxious to have sex with the first person who proposed it.
    Shaking his head he tried to convince himself that the attraction for Esteban was not erotic, it was simply his need to feel protected and accepted, and Esteban radiated security for him.
    He remembered Raul's words. If he said such things then he knew what his brother preferred, right?
    The knock on the door startled him, and he opened it with trembling hands, finding Esteban outside, dressed in buttoned-down pajamas with a pair of rimless eyeglasses hanging on his nose.
    The man had a doctorate on un-sexy-ness, but who cared if he was dressed for Halloween, Javier's goal was undressing him. Yes, scratch any regretful thoughts, he was game.
    "I'm checking to be sure you're okay."
    "I'm okay."
    "Good, I'll be sleeping at the end of the hall, don't hesitate to call me if you need anything."
    "Sure, I will, thanks."
    "Good night."
    He took a few steps before turning and saying, "I'm sorry, if I was rude earlier, but I'm not used to being with anybody for so many hours."
    "It's fine, no offense here. You smell good, which cologne is it?"
    He lifted a brow and adjusted his eyeglasses. "Aramis Classic."
    "Oh, nice. Well, I'm taking a shower too, before going to bed."
    "We are going to Hoboken tomorrow afternoon for sure. Feel free to sleep late if you like that."
    Translation, stay out of my way. Yeah, right. In your dreams, thought Javier. Aloud he said, "Thanks, I love to sleep late in the mornings."
    This time Esteban walked down the hall until he disappeared. Javier closed the door and leaned into it.
    No way, he would never be laid again; he didn't have the courage to seduce anybody.
    By the time he got out of the shower, he decided to try; he played with the idea of showing up only with a towel and some silly excuse, but discarded it for being too blunt. In the end, he did something even blunter.
    After dressing up with a T-shirt and shorts, he knocked on the door where Esteban slept. As soon as said door opened, he scurried into the room without being invited and stood in the middle of it. Esteban had not gone to sleep yet, and without closing the door simply observed him as if trying to understand the motivation of Javier's behavior. The green eyes behind the pair of rimless eyeglasses were wise and tender.
    "What is it now, Javier?"
    Javier walked to the