Cheat [MxM] (Carter Brothers Book 1)

Chapter 24

EZRA ▪︎ POV

The brush of soft lips against my own and the scent of mint toothpaste wafting up my nose, woke me from the deep sleep I'd fallen victim to. I knew it was Jae without even having to open my eyes. His soft, full lips were insistent, begging me to open my own and let him in. I did so and his tongue instantly slipped inside to tangle with my own. 

I felt his warm, smooth hand graze my jaw and cup the side of my face, holding me steady and I sighed, letting him have his way with me. It felt unreal, my mind unable to keep track of the last forty or so hours since our breakup and then our makeup. I'd pushed him away, I thought I'd lost him, but Jae wanted to stay and no matter how persistently I tried to warn him away to safety, he was insistent on being by my side. 

I felt torn in half. Torn between utter relief that a man like him would be willing to stick by a man like me despite all of my short comings and all the unforgivable pain I'd caused him. The other half of me wanted to distance myself, knowing that I wasn't right for him, that staying was selfish, that by letting him go, I'd be protecting him. But like he'd said, it was Jae's decision to make and I was hurting him more by pushing him away. Still, my worries remained. 

But right now, my mind was in the moment and I eagerly lifted my head, trying to tug Jae deeper into my mouth as our lips pushed and pulled at one another's. My body felt overwhelmed with warmth and the intimacy of the kiss had other areas of my body heating up. Though such feelings quickly died down to a simmer when a thump that could only belong to the padded bottom of a toddler sat on my stomach. 

I finally peeked an eye open, releasing the kiss to give my seizing lungs a bit of air, but I didn't move too far away, my lips still brushing along Jae's. I looked up into beautiful dark brown, mono-lidded eyes narrowed with lust and felt my heartbeat stutter in my chest. "Hey," I rasped and Jae smirked, licking along my bottom lip as though the kiss wasn't quite enough and he wanted another taste. 

"Hey sleepy head," Jae replied lowly. "We're about to leave, I've been discharged and I'm free to go." Guilt hit me all at once, like a truck, and I know my face twisted since Jae pulled back a little and tilted his head. What was I doing sleeping like this after all the chaos I'd caused? Jae was in the hospital because I'd hurt him and he'd gotten so drunk to numb his pain that he ended up drugged and almost assaulted. That was on me and the regret weighed heavily on my chest. 

I wanted to apologise again, for driving him to such lengths and for sleeping like I didn't care, like it didn't matter to me when it did. When Renee had almost knocked down my bedroom door just after midnight, waving her phone and yelling about Evan calling at ungodly hours, I hadn't known what to think. I'd broken my phone and he'd gone through Renee to tell me the news. That alone had me worriedly snatching the device out of her hands. 

A surge of gut churning fear, worry and anger had slammed through me. I'd been out of my mind. Jae meant so much to me and the thought of him hurt, alone... traumatised after being attacked like that, made me feel like somebody was stabbing a hole through my heart. That pain, mixed with the guilt that weighed on me, made one hell of a depressing cocktail. With Renee's yelling and my haste to get dressed, Ollie had woken up and I'd brought him with me to the hospital without a second thought, still in his pyjamas. Luckily, we'd been allowed to stay in Jae's room overnight. 

"Ezra?" Jae sat beside me on the bed - the bed he was meant to be resting on - and gave me a questioning look. I tried to smile as I looked him over, but I failed miserably I'm sure. He did look a lot better than when I'd first entered his room. Still pale, with bags under his red rimmed eyes, but he looked livelier and a lot more energetic. "Uh-uh, enough with the in-head diving, talk to me, I'm sitting right here."