Sex & Mayhem 05 Red Hot (25 page)

Loki blinked, and then broke out with laughter. “No way!” He took the knife out of Red Jack’s hand and leaned forward, putting the makeshift razor to good use on his other eyebrow.

Red Jack sank into the seat. “We can go to the hairdresser, have them do something about your hair.” But wonky hair was the last thing on his mind. “I got you these, for after the surgery… They were on your bucket list.” Red Jack sighed and pulled out a yellow lollipop with a small scorpion embedded inside.

Loki brushed the tiny hairs off his face and sighed, squeezing Red Jack’s hand. There was a small, warm smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “You wanna share it?”

“Only if you let me take you out on a date.” Red Jack was set on fulfilling as much of the bucket list as possible in now less than forty-eight hours. He could be dead after that, so he didn’t want to leave Loki disappointed.

Loki closed the switchblade and leaned closer, slowly sliding his hands around Red Jack’s neck. His breath tickled Red Jack’s skin as his mouth stretched into a big, happy smile. “You serious? A real date?”

Red Jack shook his head. “Not a real date. A
perfect date
.”

Loki grinned. “Yes. That’s literally what I’m gonna answer every single time you ask me something from now on, so tailor your questions to that.”

Red Jack’s smile widened as well. “You wanna suck me off?”

Chapter 27

Loki slurped on his banana and peanut butter milkshake. He was still shocked that Jack had taken him to a
gay
diner. Not to a place where they would eat and do all the date-required things. To a gay diner, and while Jack hadn’t made anything that would count as an intimate gesture since they came here, Loki was on pins and needles. The place was so cool, too, an interesting mixture of the traditional setup with red booths and a bar, and modern elements such as a wall covered with concrete blocks or naked pipes on the ceiling. There weren’t that many customers at the time, and so Jack chose a discrete booth in the corner.

They’d shared the crunchy scorpion treats on the way, but it hadn’t been a substantial meal, so Loki was eager to have something meatier. It had been quite a while since Jack had made him visit a barber on the way, threatening not to shave off his other eyebrow if Loki didn’t get his hair sorted out. Also, because Loki promised to say yes to everything. Having ended up with hair that looked like he was starring in a Sci-Fi movie, and without eyebrows, Loki still felt he looked okay considering what he’d been through. Also, the bald third of his head was incredibly sensitive and he kept touching it. He couldn’t wait for Jack to run his fingers over the skin over there.

Without his eyebrows, Jack looked weirdly threatening, which in turn, Loki found ridiculously hot. The medical disaster had to be fresh in Jack’s mind, because he kept spacing out, fidgeting and losing focus, but maybe it was just about being in a place meant for gay people.

Loki drank more of the thick, sweet milkshake and gently nudged Jack with his elbow. “What’s up?”

Jack gave him a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Ah, nothing, just thinking. You like it here?”

Loki nodded, trying to think of a way to loosen Jack up. Seeing him so anxious made Loki tense on the inside, especially now that the failure of earlier that day was once again settling on both their minds. Having hope was such a shitty thing. Loki of all people should have known better. “Can I move closer?”

“Y—yeah.” Jack had a look around, but he’d also taken other precautions on this trip. He took the car instead of his bike, and didn’t wear his cut. They were also out of town so the probability of anyone recognizing him was pretty slim. “You wanna eat something? We’ve got shitloads of money from the doc.”

Loki shifted so close they were thigh to thigh, and he put his arm behind Jack’s back. Just being close like that made him feel so good on the inside. He kissed Jack’s shoulder and rested his cheek against it. “
Yes
. What do you want me to eat?”

Jack laughed in the sweetest, most nervous way. It was a kind of sound Loki would expect from a schoolboy, not an outlaw biker who buried people in concrete. Jack didn’t flinch from the touch either.

“I’ll order some cake. Wait here.”

Loki chuckled. “With that much cash on you, I expect it to be the cake of my life.” He stilled, listening to his own heartbeat as they both froze, looking into each other’s eyes. Loki exhaled and dared to lean in even farther, kissing Jack’s cheek.

The grin he got in return was better than the blow job he gave Jack back in the car. “It will be.” With those words, Jack got up and walked off.

Loki slurped on his shake, hunched over the table as he let his gaze trail after Jack’s muscular back. He was so big in all the right places, a man-mountain trailing through the diner and gathering stares. Loki congratulated himself as he savored the thick, creamy drink. Yes, that guy was here with
him
, which made him the luckiest man in the world, no matter how cliché that was.

His eyes followed Jack all the way to the bar, where he leaned over to talk to a waiter in drag. Loki then looked around the whole diner, taking in the atmosphere. He was trying hard to relax, but just as he managed to untangle the knots in his shoulders with yet another shrug, his gaze skimmed over a familiar face. A handsome brunet with wavy hair and tan skin. The guy used to periodically spend days at a time on Ted’s sofa, and was great at sucking cock.

Loki’s mouth dried, and he briefly remembered Jack’s jealousy in the morning. It had felt good to be considered such a prize, and a naughty voice at the back of Loki’s mind whispered for him to acknowledge Arturo, have him come over and give Jack a reason to get territorial again. But then Loki thought of the uncertainty in Jack’s eyes, about the tender, loving sex from the previous night, about Jack’s desperation to keep Loki alive, and so Loki turned his back to Arturo. He would not intentionally hurt Jack ever again.

Jack came back without a cake but with a smirk that had Loki frowning.

“You ready for your cake?” he asked, and before Loki could answer, five waiters began walking their way, one carrying a small cake with a sparkler burning in the middle. They all sang
Happy Birthday
, and the few other people in the diner quickly joined in.

Loki stared at Jack, completely taken aback. There went his plan of being inconspicuous and go unnoticed by Arturo. It wasn’t even close to his birthday, and yet those people were celebrating it with him. Loki choked up, his face growing hotter with each passing second. “Oh. My. God,” he whispered, grabbing Jack’s hand.

Jack just sat there with a smug smile and entwined their fingers as the waiter put the cake in front of Loki. The man lit the candles with a bright, white smile and encouraged Loki to make a wish.

Loki took a shuddery breath, and all of a sudden, he was both gloriously happy and torn apart by a flash of heat piercing his chest. He looked straight into Jack’s eyes and squeezed his hand. The connection between them was so intense no words were needed. When the smile on Jack’s face faltered slightly, Loki knew Jack understood that there was just one thing Loki could wish for. To stay with Jack forever.

He blew the candles out in one go.

Applause from the staff and guests erupted around them, and Jack pulled his hand away so he could clap too. In the end, the waiters left them with the cake, and Arturo winked at Loki from afar, but fortunately, Jack didn’t notice the silent exchange.

“Go on, I got you a special cake,” Jack said and nudged Loki’s side.

Loki chuckled and pulled his finger over the smooth white icing, gathering some of it on his fingertip. “I think you should prove it’s not poisoned before I dig in,” he teased.

Jack put his hand over his face, his face slowly turning a bright shade of red. “Man, that’s a bit much…”

Loki’s first reaction was to fantasize about pulling the icing over the tip of Jack’s nose, but in the end, he sucked it off himself. It was a deliciously smooth vanilla buttercream. “Nah, definitely not poisonous.”

Jack passed him the knife. “Do the honors, birthday boy.”

Loki started giggling like a schoolboy. “You told him it’s my birthday, didn’t you? Crazy bastard.”

Jack pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. “Well, a birthday party’s on the list, so deal with it now.”

Loki blinked with the knife hovering in the air. Jack had actually written down Loki’s bucket list? He blindly cut into the cake. Richard and he did celebrate Loki’s birthday, but it had always been at home, eating pizza in front of the television. While it was nice and all, it wasn’t really a party. This technically wasn’t either, but it was public, and Jack stepping out of his comfort zone for Loki was the most romantic gift he could ever receive.

“Yeah, no one ever organized one for me, or I wasn’t allowed to.” Also, Loki didn’t really have any real friends to invite. He swallowed hard, watching Jack’s thick fingers grip the piece of paper tighter.

“I didn’t want to wait with it God knows how long. You only live once, right?” Jack took a deep breath and leaned over to give Loki a chaste kiss on the lips. It was sweeter than any cake could possibly be.

Loki closed his eyes, and his body turned into goo the moment Jack’s mouth met his. He could hardly breathe, warm and melting on the inside. “Yeah. You’re right. There’s no time to waste.” Yet the sudden rush to fulfill Loki’s list seemed suspicious, and Loki wasn’t sure if Jack decided to go for it was because of the failed ‘faith healing’, or if maybe, just
maybe
, it was that Jack wanted to fulfill point ten on the list…

Loki burst out with laughter when he pulled out a slice of cake and it turned out to have rainbow-colored sponge inside.

“Aww, how fitting!” He couldn’t stop grinning when he watched Jack go all fidgety and awkward in the cutest macho way possible. He leaned in for another kiss and quickly cut up a giant piece for his man.

“Yeah, a gay cake.” Jack shook his head and dug in with a sour face. “It’s good though. An acquired taste.” He snorted, and Loki was pretty sure Jack wasn’t talking about the cake.

Loki leaned against him and tasted the colorful sponge. It was delicious, but knowing it was such a thoughtful gift only made it seem tastier. “You’re amazing. I’m completely serious.”

Jack stuffed his mouth full of cake and shrugged. “Oh, come on…” It was nice to see this shy side of him. It seemed so genuine. As if Jack didn’t have to put on a show of cockiness for Loki.

“Don’t
Oh, come on
me,” chuckled Loki. He took one more forkful of the cake and hugged Jack, breathing in the scent of his T-shirt. “I’ve never been on a real date before, let alone a perfect one. You come into my life with all the good stuff.”

“Yeah, guns, screams, and slaps.” Jack extended his arm behind Loki in a languid move, and Loki’s cock twitched when Jack ran his fingers over the shaved part of his head. “Why’d you never go on a date? You had to be desperate to put it on your bucket list.”

Loki sighed, leaning into Jack. “If you just want sex, you can find it online, so when someone takes you out, it’s like they think you’re good enough for them to get to know you, or they like you more than all the other guys they fuck, and all that. I only had two boyfriends. The first let me stay at his, and it just turned into us being boyfriends. Richard let me stay at his place after I got out of the hospital and...” Loki stopped breathing. It was so fucking pathetic. “And then we started fucking, and all of a sudden we were boyfriends. None of them thought I was worth the effort of trying to win me over. Clearly, I wasn’t that hard to impress.”

“I’ve never done this kinda thing either. I don’t really know how to talk to girls in the long run. You know what I mean? It’s all fine when we flirt and fuck, but then things get weird or awkward. I’d rather just fuck the girls and then go out with my boys. You’re… I guess you’re the best of both worlds.” Jack gave him a half smile and bit into more cake. “You’re
so
worth it.”

Loki’s heart throbbed as he looked into Jack’s eyes. The world seemed to have stopped around them. “So are you. I really hope you’ll be happy after... you know.”

Jack turned away and curled his shoulders. “Don’t talk shit like that. One day at a time.”

Loki hugged Jack tighter. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be so grim on my birthday, right? I’m messing it all up,” he whispered, unwillingly thinking back to the disgusting ordeal with the doctor. As much as he had denied it, the moment he was on that table, he did hope that maybe there was the slightest chance for him. That maybe he could stay with Jack and be the boyfriend Jack deserved. It had been all false hopes.

“Yes, you are. Let’s get back to your wishes. ‘Be famous’ is first. I thought I’d get your photo on milk cartons but that seems kinda shit.” Jack sighed and seemed really troubled with this petty issue.

Loki laughed out loud and ate more cake. “It is pretty shitty. Don’t worry about it. I know I’m never gonna be famous. That’s a really stupid item.”

“Why’d you even put it on there then?”

Loki exhaled and slowly entwined his fingers with Jack’s. “I didn’t know any better. And now that we’re together, that fame thing seems so fucking unimportant. I’d much rather be your boyfriend than be famous.”

“Oh, yeah? You’d learn to cook? So I can cross out the famous bit?”

“If that’s what it takes, I’ll watch all the tutorials on YouTube.” Loki nudged Jack’s side and drank some more of his shake. “Cross out the bastard.”

“What’s ‘love tattoos’ then?” Jack read the last item on Loki’s bucket list. “Is it what you got on your back?”

Loki swallowed hard, staring at Jack with a strange yet not unpleasant sensation spreading through his chest. “You want to get a love tattoo?”

“Is it about getting matching ink?”

Loki squeezed Jack’s hand. “What I have on my back is a love tattoo, but it can also just be matching tattoos, or just tattoos that work well together.” He swallowed his nervousness. The last thing he wanted was for Jack to have a permanent mark, a remembrance of a dead lover that he didn’t even really plan in the first place. “What do you think? Do you even... want to?”

Jack’s big hand covered Loki’s and stroked it gently. “I’ve got a design in mind.”