On A Night Like This

Chapter Ten

-Jayce-

When he woke up the next morning, he felt warm and well-rested. It took him a few minutes to remember where he was and why he was there. He tensed as he realized his body was wrapped around Dylan's. This was not good. He pulled away, frantically scooting backwards. Since he had nowhere to scoot to, he fell off the bed and onto the floor with a thud.

"I'm awake," Dylan said.

"Shit, I'm so sorry," he apologized profusely. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to. I'm used to sleeping on my right side and I forgot where I was and who you were and I -"

Dylan rolled over. "Stop apologizing. It's okay."

Shocked into silence, he didn't know what to say or if he should believe Dylan. Dylan had been cool about him being gay, but draping his body all over Dylan's might be too much for Dylan to handle.

"I promise it's okay," Dylan said again. "I'm not going to kick you out to freeze to death outside."

"I can sleep on the floor tonight."

Dylan shook his head. "I said don't worry about it."

He felt his face turning red. Even though Dylan didn't seem phased by what had happened, Jayce felt embarrassed.

"If you're used to being on your right side, we can switch places and you can be next to the wall," Dylan offered.

"Okay. Yeah, that's fine," Jayce quickly agreed. 

He got up off the floor and went to check on his clothes. Thankfully, they were dry. He got dressed, his motions quick as he kept his back to Dylan. Then he left the cabin and headed to the outhouse, partly just to give himself a chance to calm down.

The other thing that was bothering him was that he'd really liked the closeness between him and Dylan as they were sleeping. He knew part of that was him craving a man's touch because he had been single for a while, but what scared him was that he was starting to like Dylan - like him as more than simply an acquaintance or a friend. He'd been attracted to Dylan's large, muscled body from the beginning and thought Dylan had a nice face even with the scar on his cheek, but getting to know Dylan only made him more attractive.

It wouldn't do him any good to develop feelings for Dylan. Dylan was straight and didn't seem to want much to do with people, and Dylan was only tolerating him because he had to. Jayce was stuck here and in Dylan's care, and even though Dylan was actually a kind man, he knew Dylan would rather be alone.

By the time he went back into the cabin, Dylan had breakfast waiting for him. Jayce ate quietly, not sure if he should say anything else about last night.

Dylan was the one who broke the silence. "I want to talk to you."

"Okay," he replied, fearing the worst.

"Is it really something you have to be concerned about when you tell other men you're gay?"

That was the last question he was expecting from Dylan. "Um," he started. "Honestly, in Seattle it's not a big deal. But in places where I don't know what the attitudes are, like in rural areas, it can be risky. Some people don't react well and sometimes men can feel threatened. And yeah, I assumed because you're living in the middle of nowhere and weren't friendly, that there was a good chance you didn't approve of gay men."

"I have no problem with gay men."

Jayce gave him a small smile. "Did you know someone who's gay when you were growing up?"

Dylan shook his head. "No. But I don't see why it's something to get worked up about. It doesn't matter to me, so don't worry about it. You can be yourself here."