MICHAEL
"So you are the twerp my sister had been seeing," Jacob said and stared at me intently. His intense green eyes looked through the veil of his eyelashes and bored into mine. I suddenly felt a shiver running down my spine.
I shifted my feet and looked him up and down in silence. I needed to assess him and see what I was dealing with. He was slightly taller than me. He had a strong, well-defined jaw and a sharp nose. His messy black hair was scattered over his forehead and went past his ears but was not quite long enough to touch his shoulders.
I couldn't help but notice the outlines of his muscles that rippled each time he moved. I bet he had six-pack abs underneath that thin t-shirt, I thought.
"Are you gonna just stand there like a lamppost, or are you gonna say something?" Jacob barked.
"Be nice, Jacob!" Alison scolded him.
Jacob didn't look at her and kept his eyes on me. "I would be a lot nicer if I hadn't just witness you sticking your tongue down my sister's throat. You got a death wish, punk?" Jacob glared at me.
I cleared my throat. "Well...I...um...I was just..." I stammered.
His demeanor suddenly changed. "I'm just fucking with you, dude. Alison told me all about you. You seem alright." He placed a hand on my shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. His lips curled into a smirk and dimples appeared on his cheeks. My pulse quickened and I suddenly had a hard time breathing as his warmth spread through my body.
Relax, Michael, try to stay calm. He is just another guy like you. I gave myself a mini pep talk in my mind. What the hell is wrong with me?
"Let's start over. I'm Alison's older brother Jacob. It's nice to meet you, Michael. Or should I call you Mike?" Jacob raised his eyebrows.
"Um...yea...you can call me Mike if you want," I murmured.
"But you hate when people call you Mike!" Alison exclaimed. I forgot she was standing right there beside me.
It's true I hated when people called me Mike, but I felt like I wouldn't mind if the nickname came from him. I wasn't exactly sure why. I must have a screw loose somewhere, or maybe I was just intimidated by him.
"It's okay," I said and avoided Alison's surprised gaze.
"Come on, let's go inside. Mom and dad are waiting," Jacob said and urged us to follow him.
The dinner went well. Her parents Ellen and Jonathan welcomed me with open arms, and I managed not to embarrass myself the entire time. Jacob didn't talk much. I glanced at him once in a when he wasn't paying attention. He smiled each time our eyes met and I felt my ears turning hot. I was feeling restless and I needed to snap out of whatever the hell I was going through.
Jacob stood up after we were done eating. "Well, kids. It's been fun, but I gotta go," he said.
"You're leaving?" I blurted out, then coughed to cover up the eagerness in my voice.
"Yup. I've got a date and I am already late, so bye," he said, flashing us a devilish grin.
"You have a date? With who?" Alison asked. Her eyes were sparkling with curiosity. He piqued my interest also, so I stared at him and waited for his answer.
"This smoking hot guy I met at the bar last weekend. He just graduated from meds school. A total daddy," Jacob chuckled.
Oh, so he is gay, I thought. For some reason, he didn't seem like the type who would be gay. But then again, I was no expert on that subject.
"I wish you would find someone nice and settle down, big bro. You know...kind of like how I found Michael." Alison looked at me fondly and smiled. I smiled back then looked at Jacob again.
He brushed his hair back with his fingers and sighed. "Maybe I'm just not as lucky as you." He said to Alison, but his eyes stayed fixated on mine, and I felt that familiar heat rising behind my ears.
"Anyway, later, kids. Try to stay out of trouble," he said and winked at me before he left.
I watched him leave and didn't move for a second.
"There he goes again. Looking for his next victim," Alison giggled. She looked at me and narrowed her eyes when I didn't say anything. "Are you okay? You seem a little flustered," she asked.
I shook my head, finally snapping out of it. "I'm fine. So Jacob likes men, huh?"
"Yup. He came out in high school and had been openly gay ever since," she said.
"Your parents don't mind?" I looked at her questioningly. I grew up in a religious household with closed-minded parents. They aren't exactly thrilled about the concept of homosexuality.
"They were shocked at first. Jacob was very good at hiding it, so it came as a big surprise, but they learned to accept it. They love their son, and I love my brother." Alison smiled. "Why do you ask? Do you have a problem with him being gay?" she asked, suddenly looking worried.
I shook my head. "No, no, of course not. I was just curious. So does he date a lot of guys?" I asked.
"Who knows. He is always out and about and getting himself into shenanigans. Why are you asking so many questions about my brother?" she asked all of a sudden.
"No reason. Maybe I just want to get to know him so we can be friends. You said I should get on his good side, right?" I chuckled nervously.
Alison stared at me for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "I suppose you're right. Maybe three of us can hang out sometimes."
"I would like that," I murmured.
I knew I was being too inquisitive about Jacob, but I couldn't help it. For some reason, I wanted to know more and more about him.
JACOB The dinner was finally over and I was eager to go on my date. It's been a while since I've been out with a guy because I kept meeting creeps who wants nothing but a quick fuck. Well...it's not that I don't like it. I was just starting to get tired of playing around. It was about time I settled down, as Alison mentioned earlier. Nah, I am just kidding. I was nowhere near ready to settle down. What's the fun in that? But for some reason, I felt a twinge of jealousy when I saw her with that new guy. What was his name? Mike? No, it was Michael. I had watched him closely as I tend to do with all of her boyfriends. She was my only sister, so I was naturally protective over her. But Michael seemed alright. He was tall and lean with a head full of light brown hair. He was nicely built as far as I could tell. I noticed a small scar on his chin. When he looked at me with curiosity, his light blue eyes looked expressive and intelli
MICHAEL I said something impulsive and now I regret it. I told Alison that I wanted her brother to join us on our date. I could hardly think when I was around him. And we only hung out for a few hours and we barely talked. Why did I think it was a good idea to spend a whole evening with him? Maybe it was a good idea. I must be overthinking things, and maybe once I spend more time with him, I won't feel flustered anymore. I mean, what am I feeling flustered about in the first place? I had no idea. Alison and I decided to meet them at a Steakhouse for dinner. The plan was to eat some dinner then hit up the local bar to have drinks and play pool. "Um...do we really have to do all that? Can't we just have dinner and go to the movies?" I asked Alison. "Oh come on, we won't be able to talk during the movie, so that would defeat the purpose of spending time together," Alison said dismissively. That was the idea. I fel
JACOB I looked at Michael and wondered what was wrong with him. He had been acting kind of strange, and his face and neck kept turning red. Maybe he was getting sick. Earlier, when I went to the bathroom to check on him, he said he was fine, but I wasn't convinced. So I decided to keep an eye on him. But he seemed to act normal the rest of the evening after we arrived at the bar. I ordered us a round of drinks and split into two teams for the pool. "Michael's on my team since I promised to teach him how to play," I announced and slapped him on the shoulder. "Go ahead and steal my boyfriend, why don't you?" Alison rolled her eyes. "I know how you feel, sister," Francis joked. "Is that okay with you, Mike?" I looked at him and winked. Michael gave me a shy smile. "It's cool." We played a few rounds, and wow...Michael wasn't kidding when he said he was bad at it. He was absolutely terrible.
MICHAEL Shit... I didn't mean to react the way I did when Jacob touched me. And judging by the look on his face, I knew I had offended him. "Sorry, I didn't mean to..." I started to apologize, but he interrupted. "No, it's okay. I understand. I shouldn't have touched your face like that. It was just a natural reaction, and I didn't mean anything by it," Jacob smiled, but he still looked hurt. "No Jacob. I'm serious. I didn't hate it when you...uh...checked my temperature," I let out a nervous chuckle. He smiled at me. His green eyes were sparkling under the moonlight. "So you liked it?"
MICHAEL I haven't seen Jacob since the day I almost died. I needed an excuse to see him again, but I didn't know how to bring it up to Alison. I wanted to thank him properly. But I couldn't tell her directly that I wanted to hang out with him. For some reason, I felt awkward asking. I got another chance to see him after a week or so. I guess you could say the opportunity practically fell on my lap. Alison came over to hang out with me in my dorm, and we started to make out. She slipped her hand inside my shirt and caressed my body while I had my fingers tangled inside her hair. She moaned against my mouth as I skillfully sucked on her lower lip. Alison always praised me for being an amazing kisser, but I swear I didn't practice on apples. It came naturally to me. "Michael... it's about to be three months since we started dating. Don't you think we should go on the...um...the next level?" Alison said in a hoarse whisper after I broke the kiss.
MICHAEL "Isn't this beautiful?" Jacob said and pointed at the antique bookshelf in front of us. He had stars in his eyes like he had just discovered the national treasure. To be completely honest, this was the ugliest thing I've ever seen in my entire life, but I kept my mouth shut. "Oh...yeah...gorgeous!" I said instead. No reason to hurt the man's feelings. "I'm thinking two of us can easily carry this to the truck. You look like you work out," he said and looked me up and down. Oh, so he noticed. "I can handle it," I said. I may have overestimated my strength just a little bit because I spent the next few hours regretting my life decisions. Moving the ugly shelf turned out to be a major pain in the ass. I was sweating, wheezing, and wishing for someone to put me out of my misery even though I was only lifting one side while he lifted the other. I wondered how he was doing. I somehow managed to live w
JACOB I only wanted to mess with him. Michael seemed to be the kind of person who was easy to tease. I mean...his reactions were adorable. After spending a few hours with him, my suspicion of him being homophobic disappeared. There was no way he had an ounce of hatred in his heart. When I was roughhousing with him, his reactions were just as expected. He was having fun and taking it lightly, not disgusted by me because I was a man who flirted with him. What I didn't expect was the response I got from between his legs as I pressed against his body. What in the hell happened? "Hey, Michael...did you just..." "I GOT A GO TO THE BATHROOM!" Michael shouted and pushed me off of him, then ran inside the bathroom at speed I didn't think was humanely possible. I was too stunned to react fast, so I just sat on the ground for a hot minute, then slowly got up to check on him. I got to confront the kid. Maybe it was nothing
ALISON Michael had been acting weird lately, and I can pinpoint the day it started. He had been acting strange and distant ever since I invited him to the family dinner. It seemed like he was nervous the entire time and couldn't wait to leave, especially around my brother Jacob. That's right. He had been acting especially weird around Jacob. At first, I thought it was because Jacob was scaring him. But that's not it because he jumped at the opportunity to help Jacob out when he asked. Why would you be so eager to help someone you scared off? Was he trying to kiss Jacob's ass? But why? It's not that we need his permission to date! He brushed me off when I tried to ask and was all flustered. "Do you think Michael has been acting different lately?" I asked one of my best friends, Lisa, as she took a big bite of her sandwich. Lisa was in the same class as Michael and me, and sometimes, we had lunch together. She always tol