Second Best -- Chapter 5
“What have you got there?”
Kris looked up, startled out of his pensive mood as Katy came into their living room, balancing two glasses of coke in one hand and a large bowl of popcorn in the other. He glanced back down at the gossip magazine in his hand, quiet for a moment longer before finally responding in a voice that was soft and a little distant.
“Nothing, really.”
Katy sat down beside him, snuggling in close at his side and handing him the bowl of popcorn, which he accepted automatically. She picked up the magazine from his lap and glanced at the page to which it was open.
“Awww, it’s Adam,” she remarked in a tone of pleasant surprise. “And his new honey. Mmm, he’s cute, too.”
Kris didn’t respond, staring off into nothing, clearly distracted.
“Kris? Honey, what’s wrong?”
Kris didn’t know how to answer that question - and he didn’t know why he didn’t know how. He didn’t know why the sight of Adam hand-in-hand with the familiar security guy from the tour - Jordan Brenner, the magazine reminded him - should bother him. After all, it was none of his business whom Adam dated. He didn’t have any feelings for Adam - not the way Adam had had for him.
And apparently doesn’t anymore…
And maybe that was the problem.
Kris had tried, for a little while, to hold onto his friendship with Adam on the tour, despite the awkwardness that had arisen with that single kiss, on the night when Adam confessed his feelings. Adam, however, had been unwilling to continue being just Kris’s friend, when in reality he wanted so much more.
Kris had missed their closeness, privately mourning the loss of their friendship; yet, it had made him feel - something, some nameless emotion he couldn’t describe - to know that Adam cared for him, wanted him, was secretly pining for him throughout the tour. He’d catch Adam watching him, and he’d feel a pang of remorse and sympathy for his friend - but also a strange sense of reassurance at the knowledge that Adam’s feelings for him had not faded despite their separation.
Kris also remembered the jealousy he’d felt that night at the hotel, when Adam had danced with Jordan. Of course, it’d been obvious that he was trying to make Kris jealous - and it had worked.
And that’s all this is. You’re jealous, Kris Allen.
Well… get over it.
You can’t push him away and expect him to keep carrying a torch for you. Even if there was… something… more than friendship there… you’re a married man, and you’ve made your choice to move on. It’s only fair that he has the chance to do the same.
Kris just hadn’t expected that Adam would move on so quickly.
“Kris? What?” Katy persisted, sounding a little concerned now as she glanced back down at the picture. “Is there something… wrong with this guy?”
“Nah,” Kris assured her, waving a dismissive hand before taking the magazine from her and tossing it aside. “It just seems… a little sudden, is all. A couple of weeks ago on tour, they were just friends.”
“Or so you thought,” Katy amended, nudging him and giving him a mischievous wink.
“No, I was… pretty sure that’s all it was to Adam.” Kris shrugged, shaking his head and trying to focus his thoughts anywhere but on his estranged - and now very much taken - friend. “Whatever. He can do what he wants. Let’s just watch this movie.”
But as Katy picked up the remote and turned on the DVD they’d rented and he settled in close to her, putting his arm around her and drawing her in against his side, Kris found that his thoughts wouldn’t focus anywhere else.
**********************************
“And make sure that no mail comes into the house before it’s been thoroughly checked.” Jordan’s voice echoed slightly in the hall as Adam made his way down the spiral staircase toward the sound. “We’ve been here less than a week and we’ve already received a threat in the mail. I know it’s to be expected to a certain extent, but it concerns me that people already know where we live. I’d be a lot less worried if it came with the rest of the fan mail, but it came here - so I need you all to be extra vigilant until further notice.”
Adam felt a little uneasy as he listened to Jordan’s instructions to the security staff for the night, and was reminded of the ugly letter he’d received just a few days earlier. He knew that for someone as controversial and well known as he’d already become, it was not all that unusual to receive the occasional hate mail, or even threatening letter; but it was rather disturbing that whoever had sent it had somehow discovered his home address, only days after he and Jordan had moved in.
As the employees under his charge filed away to their respective duties, Jordan turned toward Adam, his face lighting up at the sight of his boyfriend. He crossed the room to him and put his arms around his waist, smiling down at him for a moment before leaning in to kiss him softly. When he drew back, a slight frown creased his brow, and there was clear concern in his dark gaze.
“What’s the matter, baby?” he asked quietly, his expression growing serious.
Adam rolled his eyes, shaking his head in wordless dismissal. “It’s… nothing, just…”
He gestured vaguely toward the place where the security staff had assembled. Jordan followed his gaze, a knowing light dawning in his eyes as he looked back at Adam. He was quiet for a moment before his eyes narrowed, taking on a wicked gleam over a teasing smirk.
His hands slid down to Adam’s wrists as he took a very deliberate step forward, forcing Adam to back up, throwing him momentarily off his guard. When Adam’s eyes widened in surprise, Jordan’s lips twitched with amusement, and he continued backing Adam up a few more steps until his back was to the wall.
“Aww, baby, are you scared?” Jordan whispered, raising Adam’s wrists and pressing them against the wall beside his head. He leaned in close, his warm breath tickling Adam’s ear as he whispered, “Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.” His mouth closed over Adam’s in a forceful, possessive kiss.
Adam returned it for a moment before turning his head away with a mocking snort of laughter. “You’re ridiculous,” he declared, but he was smiling, and the fear had faded from his eyes in favor of amusement. He flexed his wrists against Jordan’s gentle but unyielding grip, but he wasn’t really trying to get away. “You know that?”
“Yep,” Jordan replied without hesitated, leaning in to kiss Adam again.
Adam returned the kiss eagerly, his heart racing with the combination of excitement and uncertainty that always accompanied the appearance of this side of Jordan. Jordan liked to play up his strength and superior size, affectionately teasing Adam about the fact that, unlike his previous boyfriends, his new boyfriend couldn’t be so easily pushed around. In fact, Jordan rather seemed to enjoy pushing Adam around - but only in the fun way, of course.
Adam found his feelings for Jordan confusing - and more than a little intriguing.
Every day they were together, Adam found himself falling a little harder. Jordan was unlike anyone else he’d ever dated - strong,confident, utterly sure of himself, and able to read him in a way that no one else ever had been able to. Jordan almost seemed to know what Adam wanted and needed before he knew himself, sometimes.
A part of Adam enjoyed being taken care of for a change, being with someone who was able to take charge, and to make him feel safe and secure and special. Another part of him, however, was so used to doing everything for himself and being totally independent that sometimes, the intensity of Jordan’s attention made him feel a little uneasy, as if he wasn’t quite sure how to allow himself to accept it. Jordan had made it clear from the beginning that he would not be content to simply let Adam take the lead as he’d done in most of his previous relationships.
And Adam wasn’t quite sure how he felt about that.
He didn’t really have the time - or mental capacity - to think about it at the moment, anyway, not with Jordan’s mouth sliding down along his jaw, his strong hands trailing down Adam’s arms to his throat to begin to unbutton his shirt. Adam started to reach down to help him, but Jordan immediately caught his wrists again, raising his mouth to growl softly in Adam’s ear.
“Don’t move, baby. Let me do this.”
A shiver ran down Adam’s spine as he complied, closing his eyes and letting his head fall back as Jordan returned to the task of undressing him, his warm lips following his hands as they slowly made their way down the front of his shirt.
“The… staff,” Adam gasped out, already breathless from Jordan’s expert attentions. “What if they… see…?”
“Since when do you care about putting on a show?” Jordan retorted with a smirk. “It’s your house, isn’t it? You can do what you want.”
Adam couldn’t argue with that - especially not right then, as Jordan slipped to his knees in front of Adam, his hands sliding down his sides to hold his hips in place against the wall. Something important tried to fight its way through the haze surrounding Adam’s thoughts, and he raised his head, frowning, trying to remember - until he did.
“Sweetie… Jordan… wait,” he murmured, lowering his hand and placing it on Jordan’s shoulder, pushing him back slightly.
Jordan frowned in irritated disapproval at Adam’s hand before sighing impatiently and giving him a questioning look. “What?”
“I’m supposed to… supposed to leave in like… twenty minutes. I have plans…”
“Cancel ‘em,” Jordan suggested with a shrug, reaching up to cover Adam’s hand on his shoulder, then lifting it to his lips and slowly, suggestively mouthing his palm, never breaking eye contact. “Come on, Adam… what could you have planned that you’d rather do than… well, me?”
Adam opened his mouth to respond, but instead of words, he let out a soft, needy moan as Jordan sucked his thumb into his mouth, gently nipping at it with his teeth as his free hand found the front of Adam’s jeans and slowly kneading the swiftly swelling bulge there.
“I’m supposed to…” Adam struggled to get the words out, though he was no longer trying to push Jordan away, “… supposed to… meet Brad, and… and a few others… I haven’t seen them in…”
His voice trailed off as Jordan’s hand and mouth momentarily stilled, and Adam thought he felt his grip on his wrist tighten just slightly for the barest fraction of a second - but then it was gone, and Jordan was once again persistently working to distract him from his plans. Adam’s free hand was trembling as it fell over Jordan’s, though he wasn’t sure if he was trying to encourage or discourage his boyfriend’s efforts.
“I… I need…” he whispered breathlessly - then lost his train of thought as Jordan slid his zipper down. “I need to… to go…”
Jordan dropped Adam’s hand, rising up higher on his knees, his hands firmly grasping Adam’s hips and holding him in place as he looked up to meet his heavy-lidded eyes with a knowing smile.
“Come on. You know you don’t wanna go,” he tempted him softly. “You can reschedule.”
“Not for… a c-couple of weeks,” Adam insisted, his voice breaking slightly, his breath hitching in his throat as Jordan carefully took him out and licked a long, slow stripe up the side of his cock. “I-I’ll be… b-busy… recording…” The last word broke off in a choked cry as Jordan’s fingers reached back to trace the underside of his erection.
“Then that means,” Jordan murmured, his mouth vibrating against Adam’s skin and intensifying his arousal, his breath quickening as he arched forward into the contact, “that I’ll never see you, either. So let’s just… make the most… of our time…”
Adam wanted to argue, he really did - except that he didn’t.
Jordan had his way - which was becoming a more and more frequent occurrence - and before long managed to maneuver Adam back upstairs and to the bedroom. He spent several long, deliriously pleasurable, torturous hours, methodically drawing Adam to the brink of fulfillment, then bringing him back down again, over and over again, bringing out every wicked trick in his book, until when he finally allowed him to come, Adam was so exhausted and thoroughly sated that he drifted off to sleep immediately in Jordan’s strong, sheltering arms.
Hours later, Adam left a very apologetic voicemail on Brad’s phone.
He wasn’t really surprised when he didn’t call back.
TBC...