Living our past

Chapter Eleven

"I CAN GO HOME NOW, YOU KNOW." "Yes, but you're better off here." Not wrong, thought Jason.

"You haven't completely healed yet. Now go take a shower," Alex ordered generously.

"You're bossy, do you know that?" Jason teased him.

"I ensure you that I perfectly know."

Alex slid further down on his couch as Jason headed for the bathroom and shut the door behind him without locking it. He would clean Jason's wound after he came out of the shower. The bandages were probably going to get wet but a little water wouldn't do any damage.

Alex's thoughts drafted back to yesterday where they had encountered Lucy. He had always been jealous of her because she was Jason's ex-girlfriend. He never denied he was jealous and possessive when it came to relationships. Especially someone he loved. Jason: the person he had been longing for since high school. Since the first flash of smile that brightened his world.

Lucy had forcefully exchanged her number with them yesterday. Her intentions were predictable: she wanted to meet up with them—or more like meet with Jason.

The flat-screen television in front of Alex showed a match of Bulls and Lakers; sixty-nine to sixty five. The Bulls were ahead for now.

"Alex, can you bring me a towel, please?" Jason unexpectedly shouted from the bathroom. I don‟t regret not putting towels in the bathroom, Alex thought.

"Okay, wait a second."

He went to his bedroom, opened the wardrobe, grabbed a towel and headed for the bathroom, his muscles flexing as he moved his body.

Facing the bathroom door, he stood still for a few seconds and then knocked on the door.

"Come in," Jason said.

He opened the door to the bathroom and the steam and heat caressed his cheeks. Alex literally stared at Jason's back. Naked. No clothes. Perfect body, he thought then saw Jason turn around, one hand hiding his groin.

Alex stood still, holding tightly onto the towel.

"Alex," Jason said quietly, "Can I have the towel, please?"

"Uh..." Silence. "Yes, here." He softly handed him the towel.

Am I dreaming or did Jason just gently brush his hands on mine?

Jason wrapped the towel around his waist, below his abdominal muscles. They formed a perfect pattern.

Alex couldn't take his eyes off the tone, chiseled body. This man is perfect.

Jason tentatively stared into the other man's eyes. "Hum... can you change the bandages here?"

"Yes, yes. The new ones are here." Alex pointed at a drawer under the lavabo. He opened the blue-colored drawer and seized what he needed.

"Here, let me do this." With gentle hands, he stripped off the big, wet adhesive bandage to reveal his friend's wound and surgery scar. He used some Betadine Scrub to eliminate bacteria and pressed soft cotton on Jason's vertical, mid-sized scar. With another motion, Alex prepared the adhesive bandage and put it on the other man's torso with trembling hands. Their bodies were too close. Dangerously close.

Alex felt a tightening sensation on his own chest. Jason's body was fairly close to his own. Their lips would graciously brush if he made the slightest movement. He stood still. Not moving backwards. Not getting closer to the body he had dreamed of so often that he had forgotten how to differentiate the real Jason from the man in his dreams. Both were exactly the same but one of them existed in reality. The other was just imagination.