Jonah cracked an eye open and then shut it tightly again as the morning sunlight fell across his face. Why was it so bright?

It was never that damn bright in his bedroom.

He huffed out a short breath and rolled over, determined to block out the sun and go back to sleep, then froze as a muscular arm wrapped around his waist and pulled him close to an equally muscular body.

Mitch’s arm. Mitch’s body.

“Oh my God.” Jonah bolted up in bed, rubbing his eyes as he looked around the sparsely furnished room. “Oh my God.”

“What’s going on?” Mitch asked, squinting through the sunlight as he propped himself up next to Jonah. “Are you okay?”

“No,” Jonah was already out of bed and scrambling around the room looking for his clothes. Where was his shirt? “No, definitely not okay. I’ve gotta go. I’ve gotta check on Pop.”

He finally remembered that he’d taken his shirt off somewhere between the living room and the dining area just, then nearly tripped over the leg of his jeans as he hurried out of the bedroom.

“Jonah,” Mitch called after him, but Jonah didn’t stop moving. “Calm down—slow down.”

He couldn’t believe he’d been so stupid to fall asleep after they had messed around, as if he didn’t have a care in the world or any responsibilities outside of getting off with Mitch.

Only the sight of Mitch walking down the hallway in a pair of low-slung boxers was enough to give Jonah a moment’s pause. Damn, it should be against the law for a man to be that sexy from the minute he woke up.

“Just come back to bed with me,” Mitch said, flashing a hopeful look as Jonah nibbled at his lip. “For a few more minutes, at least…”

It was really, really tempting to jump right back into his arms and right back into his bed, knowing good and well they’d be in there for longer than just a few minutes.

But no.

No, no, no.

Jonah hurried to pick up his discarded shirt and put it on before he could change his mind.

Mitch’s hot body—and hands, and mouth, and cock, oh God—were what had gotten Jonah into this predicament in the first place.

Well, all of that plus the fact that Jonah apparently had zero willpower or self-control when it came to Mitch—not that that was a big surprise. It had been the same way ten years before.

Jonah wasn’t a teenager with a crush anymore, though.

He was a grown man with grown-man-obligations. He hurried over and gave Mitch a quick kiss—he couldn’t be expected to resist the temptation completely, after all—and shook his head as Mitch smiled down at him sleepily.

“I wish I could stay longer,” Jonah began, nibbling at his lip.

God, he really wanted to kiss Mitch again.

And Mitch must have been a mind reader in a previous life, because he reached out to cradle Jonah’s face as he leaned in for a longer, hotter, deeper kiss.

“You’re sure you have to run off so soon?” Mitch asked, his cock throbbing between them as he arched an eyebrow and waited for Jonah’s response. “I could make us breakfast. I’ve got… uh… leftovers from Rocket, and… beer.” He shrugged. “And maybe some milk?”

Jonah laughed and reluctantly pulled away. “That sounds terrible, but I appreciate the sentiment.” He sighed. “I really do have to get back to Pop, though. I’m sure he was expecting me home sometime last night.”

Which, fine, Pop had said that he’d see Jonah in the morning… but Jonah was pretty sure he hadn’t meant it in the way it was going to turn out.

“I’m glad you came over last night,” Mitch said, stretching and then reaching out to straighten Jonah’s collar. “That was a lot of fun… even better than I remembered.”

Jonah felt his face go hot as he thought back to the night before. Fun didn’t even begin to describe how amazing it had been, as far as he was concerned. “I’m glad I came over, too. Maybe we can do that—or, you know, whatever—again sometime. Soon.”

Mitch grinned, and Jonah felt the heat from his face spreading across his upper body. What was it about Mitch that could make him tongue-tied and horny as hell just from a look or a few words?

Oh, right.

Probably because Mitch was the sweetest, sexiest guy Jonah had ever met, and the only one who still seemed just as interested as he always had been, ten years later.

Just as interested in fooling around, at least.

Anything beyond that still seemed as out of reach now as it had back then, with Jonah’s time commitment to Pop and the fact that he was quickly running out of paid vacation days—not to mention the fact that as far as Jonah knew, Mitch’s father was still the same homophobic asshole he’d always been and Mitch was still scared to cross him.

And that meant Jonah’s interactions with Mitch outside the bedroom had to be pretty platonic.

Just two buddies. Doing what buddies do.

Definitely not anything gay…

“I’ll call you,” Mitch said, bringing Jonah back from the unpleasant turn his thoughts had taken. “I would walk you out, but…” He looked down at the erection that was just starting to subside but still very visibly tenting the thin fabric of his boxers.

Jonah laughed. “Yeah, that would probably give the neighbors a heart attack.”

Mitch laughed, too, then gave Jonah a little peck on the forehead before ushering him out the door.

“Sorry I made you late this morning,” Mitch said, sheepishly. “You can tell Pop it’s all my fault.”

“Oh, I intend to.” Jonah grinned and gave a little wave goodbye. “I’ll talk to you later, I guess.”

Hopefully.

Maybe.

And with a nod and a smile but no other words spoken, Mitch closed the door behind him, leaving Jonah alone with his thoughts again, wondering how many times he could do this before he would start to want more—before he would start to need more.

Right now it wasn’t possible for either of them. But would it ever be?

Jonah’s stomach was in knots as he pulled up in front of the big, old Victorian house and scanned the first floor windows for any signs that Pop was up and about.

If anyone was moving around inside, though, it was impossible to tell from where Jonah was, a fact that only added to his anxiety.

Maybe he’s still sleeping.

Maybe he hasn’t noticed.

But even as Jonah hurried from the car to the front door, he knew that neither of those hopes were very realistic.

Pop was up and out of bed most days as soon as the sun was over the horizon, and even if he somehow hadn’t noticed that Jonah wasn’t in his room upstairs, he would certainly find out the truth in a few seconds.

But there was nothing Jonah could do about that now.

He just hoped nothing had happened during the night while he’d been away.

Please God, just let him be okay. Please, please, please.

Jonah opened the door slowly and stepped inside, stopping to listen and scan the room. He couldn’t hear anything and the sitting room was dark, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. The formal sitting and dining rooms were at the front of the house and hadn’t been in regular use since his grandma had been alive.

If Pop was awake, he’d much more likely be in the kitchen or the family room at the back of the house. He walked past the hallway that led to Pop’s ground-floor room. Everything was dark, the morning light barely penetrating the heavy curtains that covered the windows.

Still, nothing was out of the ordinary as far as Jonah could tell. It didn’t help, though, that the house was big and creepy on the best of days. Now, it seemed super ominous, every creak of the floor boards reminding Jonah of a scene from a scary movie.

“Pop?” He called as he walked toward the kitchen. His heart was starting to beat faster, not just from the anxiety of coming home late, but also from the fact that he could see now that the kitchen light wasn’t on and Pop wasn’t answering him. What in the hell was going on? “Pop? Are you up? I’m home now…”

He walked into the kitchen. It was spotless, and the little curtains in the window over the sink were still drawn, a sure sign that Pop hadn’t been in there to start his day yet.

Maybe he really is oversleeping. Please let that be it…

Jonah’s heart was beating so fast and loud now that it was the only thing he could hear in the otherwise silent house. He moved quickly from the kitchen to Pop’s bedroom, barely even pausing to knock on the closed door before cracking it open and peering inside.

“Pop? Are you awake?” He blinked hard, letting his eyes adjust to the dark room. “I don’t mean to wake you up, but—”

He stopped talking as he moved closer to the bed.

It was empty.

“What in the hell?” Jonah muttered, moving back through the ground floor of the house toward the stairs. Surely he wasn’t up there somewhere. Pop had a hard time navigating the stairs on the best of days. Unless maybe he had gone up there to check on Jonah…

“Pop?” Jonah called again, his voice sounding loud and jarring to his own ears as he hurried toward the staircase. “Pop, I’m coming up there. Are you okay? I’m here, don’t worry… Pop, where are you?”

“I’m right here.”

The voice behind him made Jonah jump a foot in the air and let out a noise that would have definitely been a scream if he hadn’t gasped at the same time and started coughing as he turned around.

“Pop. Oh my God.”

“What in the world is going on here?” Pop asked, brow furrowed as he cocked his head at Jonah. “Why are you running through the house yelling for me? Are you okay?”

“Me? I’m fine, I was just…” Jonah shook his head. Why was he the one answering questions all of a sudden. “Are you okay? Where were you? I was worried sick.”

Pop arched an eyebrow and smirked. “Most recently? In my vegetable garden, watering the plants. Before that, I made breakfast for myself and took the time to clean the kitchen. I can’t imagine why you would have been worried, though. I was right here all morning… Unless of course you thought I might have stayed out all night, too.”

Jonah slowly exhaled, feeling more foolish by the second. “No… that, um, wasn’t what I was worried about.”

“I didn’t think so.” Pop shook his head, then grinned. “But did you have a nice time last night? I assume you were over at Mitch Davis’s house. Does that mean last night was a date?”

Jonah crinkled his nose. “It was definitely not a date.” Was Pop really asking him about dating? “Mitch isn’t—I mean, it’s just not like that, Pop.”

“Hm, that’s a shame.” Pop gave a half-shrug and turned back toward the kitchen. “Are you hungry? I can scramble some eggs for you… I’m afraid I ate the last of the bacon this morning, but I do have some bread for toast if you’d like.”

“I’m good, thanks,” Jonah said, following him. “Maybe just some coffee. But, um… why do you think it’s a shame that Mitch and I aren’t dating? You know a long distance thing probably wouldn’t work, even if either of us were interested in something like that.”

Jonah couldn’t imagine that Pop had some sort of insight into gay dating, and Jonah was absolutely not going to talk about sex with his grandpa, no matter how open-minded the old man was.

But he did clearly know something about making a relationship work for fifty years, and that counted for a lot in Jonah’s eyes. Finding the kind of forever love his grandparents shared had always been a relationship goal for Jonah, so even if he couldn’t see that kind of love on the horizon in his own life, he was still ready and willing to listen to any advice his grandpa wanted to share.

“Yes, I’d imagine something like that would be difficult,” Pop continued as he walked over to the coffee machine and started preparing a fresh pot to brew. “But I also remember very well the way your face used to light up when you would talk about him as a teenager. I would always wonder when the day would come that you would tell me you and that young man were going steady.”

Jonah snorted. While his brain was nearly short-circuiting as he imagined his Pop actually spending time thinking about his teenage self’s dating prospects, he shouldn’t have been completely surprised. Pop had always taken an active role in everything that was important to Jonah.

And Jonah couldn’t really think of anything or anyone back then who had been quite so important to him as Mitch.

“I’m not going to lie and say the thought of dating Mitch never occurred to me.” Jonah pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and took a seat, brushing his bangs out of his face as he watched his grandpa start making the coffee. “And hanging out with him again yesterday was a lot of fun. It was like no time had passed at all. But… if neither of us are in a place in our lives that we’re ready for a relationship… what am I supposed to do? He’s making a life here again, which is great. I wish him the best. But I’ve still got an apartment and a job in New York—both of which I’d like to keep if I could.”

“Well, I’m not saying I want you to run off and get married or anything.” Pop finished preparing the coffee, pushed the button to begin brewing it, and moved over to the table to sit across from Jonah. “But I was glad for you when I saw that you stayed out all night—not that I recommend doing that all the time, either—it meant you were having fun. It meant you were living life. I just don’t think you need to spend all of your time cooped up in this house with me. I love you dearly, but don’t think for a second that I would feel bad leaving you here to go spend time with a lady friend if the opportunity came up. Do you get what I’m saying?”

Jonah nodded. “I get it. And you’re right. I should probably put myself out there a little more than I do. But I don’t want to forget the reasons why I’m here. I didn’t come visit so I could expand my dating pool. I’m here to spend time with you, and when I’m done here I have a lot of work waiting for me back home. Those are my priorities.” He sighed. “Besides, there’s no guarantee that Mitch will even call me back. He’s busy. I’m busy. It’s not the same as when we were kids, unfortunately.”

Still, even as he said the words, it was easy to remember feeling exactly the same way when they had been kids. He might not have had the same kinds of responsibilities or much life experience at the time, but his thoughts and fears concerning a possible relationship with Mitch?

Yeah, those were pretty much identical. Which was… eye-opening.

“You’re right about that. There are no guarantees in life, Jonah. Not for any of us.” Pop smiled. “But don’t make excuses for not getting out there and living. Do the things you want to do. Follow your dreams. Stay focused but have fun, too. Don’t get to be my age and have regrets for the things you didn’t do along the way.”

Jonah stood up and walked around the table to give his grandpa a squeeze on the shoulder before getting a cup of the freshly-brewed and much-needed coffee. “Thanks, Pop. I’m gonna try not to over-think everything so much. Maybe I should just live in the moment a little…”

“Now you’re talking. This moment, right now, is the only thing that’s guaranteed to us.” He raised an eyebrow. “All you can do is make sure the moment isn’t passing you by.”

God, if he could have even a fraction of Pop’s wisdom by the time he was that age, Jonah would be happy. Of course, it would be nice if he didn’t have to wait another fifty years to gain that wisdom.

But Pop was right, as always. Jonah did need to seize the moment and go after what he wanted if he really was going to be happy.

He wasn’t going to rush things, though. He and Mitch could spend a little time together and have fun for now. Going out and having fun was one of the things Pop had said to do, after all.

And maybe with Mitch and Pop living in the same town, Jonah would be able to convince himself to make the trip down to Texas more often. That seemed reasonable. He would have to remind himself not to over-think it, not to stress about what might or might not happen in the future.

He would just live in the moment. He would enjoy his time with Mitch for what it was—fun with no strings attached.

It was good advice and a solid plan.

Hopefully, Mitch would be on the same page.