Reprobate - A River Bend Rebels M/M Romance - Book 1

20. Kyril

Holy shit. Jamie had actually shown up, complete with a worn-looking black guitar case slung over one shoulder and a tentative, shy smile on his face. "Hey," he said, his dark eyes shining.

"Hey, you made it," I said, returning his smile with an enthusiastic one of my own that I had trouble reining in.

I mean, yeah, he'd said he would come over, but I'd been so sure he'd bail with some excuse about his parents not letting him or a last-minute date with Olivia that trumped hanging out with me that I was surprised to see him standing there on my front step. What's more was I got the sense that he was really glad to be here. My stomach did stupid loop-de-loop things at that realization before I got my shit together and noticed that he'd left his car running in the driveway. I frowned at it and then looked at Jamie with confusion.

"Yeah, um..." Jamie followed my gaze. "So, I was wondering if I could maybe park my car in your garage?" he asked, quickly adding, "I mean if it's not too much trouble."

Oh. Oh. The clouds of confusion parted. Jamie didn't want anyone to spot his car at my house. God forbid anyone know that Jamie Bridgewater was spending a Saturday afternoon hanging out at the emo loser's house. I got it, but it still stung like hell. "Yeah," I said with a tight nod. "I'll move my car out and you can pull in. Gimme a sec."

I went out to the garage through the kitchen door and heard Jamie backing up in the driveway. After he'd pulled into the garage, I parked behind my dad's car since he wasn't going to be leaving the rest of the day, and then Jamie followed me into the house where dinner simmered in the crock pot, releasing a tantalizing aroma throughout the kitchen.

Jamie sniffed the air and smiled. "Wow. That smells amazing. What is it?"

"Just pot roast," I answered with a shrug. "Well, actually, it's Mississippi pot roast. One of my dad's favorite comfort foods."

"Sounds great," Jamie said. "Where is your dad, anyway? His car's here."

"He's downstairs in the rec room, studying up for the test he has to take for a promotion at work," I answered, nodding at the closed basement door.

"Promotion?"

I nodded. "He's in the running for a programming manager job." I checked on the roast. "This has another hour or so to go. Wanna grab a couple of sodas and go hang out in my room?"

"Sure," Jamie agreed.

I took two cans of Coke from the fridge and then led the way down the hall to my bedroom. Thank God I'd cleaned earlier, although it hadn't been all that messy. Just kind of cluttered with books and games I hadn't put away yet. It wasn't until I flipped on the light that it occured to me that Jamie might be put off by my bedroom decor. Band posters decorated the walls along with others featuring TV show characters from Supernatural and The Walking Dead and some anime and video game ones. The overall color scheme was a mix of deep purple and a whole lot of black.

Jamie stepped in and looked around curiously, his eyes wide. "Dang," he said quietly, taking it all in. "Your room is sick. And clean." He peered at my neatly made bed with its teal and purple comforter, the hardwood floor broken up by a thick multicolored rug, the en-suite bathroom with the purple shower curtain featuring a black yin yang in the middle of it, and then he looked at me. "Are you like a neat freak or something?"

I snickered. "Kind of, but I'm not like, OCD about it or anything. I just like order and knowing where things are."

"And you have your own bathroom," Jamie observed, looking in it again. "Lucky."

"Yeah, this is actually the master bedroom but my dad let me have it because I have it because I have so much more crap than he does." I went to my high-backed gaming chair by my desk and sat back in it, rocking a little. "When my dad started working here and got his signing bonus, he went a little nuts buying new shit. Everything in here except that dresser is new." I pointed at my antique cherry wood chest of drawers. "That belonged to my great-grandma on my dad's side."