Jake

Bish said this time things were going to be different and they are. This time there’s no fear of being discovered, there’s no black cloud hanging over our heads, there’s just love and support and friendship to tie us together.

I’ve got to admit, when he said he wanted to woo me, I didn’t actually think he’d go through with it. But he did.

We started off with a date to Springbrook, in the hinterland, and a hike to Natural Bridge. Throughout the entire hike Bish held my hand, he never let go. That was only the start.

“Are you okay?” he asks as we stop for a second. “Do you have enough to drink? How about sunscreen? You did put some on, didn’t you?”

Cupping his face, I smile. “Yes, I have enough to drink and I did remember to put sunscreen on. I’m fine, Bish.”

“Are you sure? I want this to be perfect and if you pass out from sunstroke that really won’t be good.”

“I’m fine,” I repeat.

“Here,” he says, “let me take your backpack. I’ve been doing some weight training so I can handle it.”

He goes to take it off my shoulders but I stop him. “It’s fine,” I tell him. “It barely weighs anything. I think I’m more than capable of carrying it on my own.”

“I’m being ridiculous, aren’t I?” he says.

“No, you’re being sweet and I appreciate it, but all this worry isn’t necessary. Just relax. Let’s enjoy the fact that we’re together and in this beautiful place, okay?”

He presses a soft kiss to my lips. “Okay.”

Holding out his hand, we continue down the trail.

“Wow,” I say when we get to the bottom. I think a long time ago this was a cave, but the waterfall that formed off the edge of the cliffs above eventually wore down the roof and a bridge type structure formed.

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool.”

“Thank you for bringing me here.” I turn around so I can press a kiss to his lips. I go to deepen it but he pulls away. “I’m sorry?” I ask.

“It’s okay,” he whispers, “I just ah, I want to take this not slow, but I want to do this right. I want to show you how much you matter to me and be respectful of you.”

“You are respectful of me,” I state.

“I haven’t always been. I want to make up for that.”

Seriously, this man. “Come on,” I say, grabbing his hand, “let’s see if we can find any glow-worms.”

Our third date, Bish took me to a theme park. Now, you might think that it’s all kinds of juvenile, but I loved it. Plus, it gave me an excuse to hold his hand very tightly, and on a few of the rides, wrap myself around him.

“You were totally scared on that last ride,” I tell him on our way back to my place.

“I was not,” he replies.

“Dude, I was like, wrapped around you, I could feel you shaking.”

“That wasn’t from the ride,” he tells me, arching an eyebrow.

“Oh.”

“Mmm,” he says as he picks up my hand and kisses the back of it. “Are you hungry?” he asks. “We could stop off and get something to eat on the way back.”

“Sounds good,” I say.

Twenty minutes later we stop in front of a small diner.

“It doesn’t look like much, but I swear it has the best burgers on the Coast,” Bishop says.

“I’m game,” I tell him.

Inside there are only booths left so we take one. I slide in, Bishop sliding in next to me.

“What?” he asks when he notices my smirk.

“There’s a whole other seat over there.” I nod to the other side of the booth.

“Oh, sorry. I can move if you want me too.” He begins to slide out, but I grab his wrist, stopping him.

“You’re fine, I just wanted to give you a hard time.”

“You always give me a hard time,” he says, motioning to his noticeably tighter pants.

In my own, my perpetually semi-hard dick hardens further.

“Fuck, Bish.”

I lean over and rest my head on his shoulder. In response, he slings an arm around my own.

We sit like that until our meals come, then go back to that position once we’ve finished eating.

“You want to go back to mine?” I ask. “We don’t have to do anything, we can just talk, if you want.”

I look up and see a smile on his face. “Sounds good.”

My flat isn’t much but it’s comfortable and I like it. Located in a duplex in Robina, it’s close to everything without being in the thick of things.

“It’s nice,” Bishop says as he looks around.

“It’s not much but it works for me,” I reply. “Do you want anything? Tea? Coffee? Water?”

“Water would be great, thanks.”

I get it and bring it to him as he sits on the couch. Taking a seat next to him, I waste no time in cuddling up to his side. He rubs circles on my shoulder and it drives me crazy.

“It was so weird when I first moved in,” I tell him. “I kept expecting you to be downstairs when I woke up, or to find your wet towel on the floor of the bathroom.”

His chest vibrates with his laughter next to me.

“I wish I could’ve been here.”

“How bad was it?” I ask. We’ve talked around what he did after I left since we got back together again, but I think the time is right. I need to know the truth.

“Pretty bad.”

“How bad?”

“Think after I got back from Vegas times a million. Then times that every night of the week.”

“Oh, Bish,” I say, cupping his cheek.

“I was a mess,” he says. “And I did some stupid things.”

“Did you… were you…” I start.

“No, I wasn’t with anyone else. I wanted to and almost was, but I couldn’t. Anyone I was with would’ve just been filling a hole temporarily. How about you?”

I shake my head. “There was a guy at work who asked me out, but I shut him down pretty quickly.”

“Why?”

“How about you? Why didn’t you go through with it?” I ask.

“Because they weren’t you,” he says, his green eyes piercing into mine.

“Back at ‘ya,” I tell him.

“Mmmm,” he says as our lips touch.

We both groan as our tongues find each other, but never take it any further than that.

“I have a competition next weekend,” he tells me as we break apart for some much-needed air.

“Really?” I ask.

“Yeah. Jax wants to use it as a practice run, try out the new things we’ve been working on, that sort of thing.”

“Sounds like fun.”

He nods. “Yeah, it should be.”

“Can I c-come?” I ask.

“You want to?” he asks, surprised.

“I’ve always loved to watch you ride.”

“Do you want me to pick you up?” he asks.

“That’ll be perfect,” I say, leaning over to capture his lips once again.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Bishop ride in person. All the times he was in the Extreme Games I watched at home, on TV. The last time I did watch was when he was with a small show team in New Zealand. They went around doing the county fairs but because of the size of the shows, Bish never really had an opportunity to really show what he could do. This is different. Bishop is different.

When he takes to the ramp, it’s like he’s a different person. I’m not the only one who notices.

“About time he started riding like this,” an older guy standing next to me says.

“Excuse me?” I say.

He nods to where Bishop is executing a perfect 900. “I always knew the kid had talent, it was just a matter of whether he’d get his head out of his own arse long enough to explore it.”

“I’m sorry,” I say, “but who are you?”

“Nate Ryan,” he says, extending a hand to me.

“Jax’s dad?” I ask.

“That’s the one. And who might you be?”

“Jake Ellis,” I tell him, “Bishop’s, um, friend.”

“You’re more than that,” Bentley says, coming up to us. “Hi, Pop,” she says, kissing Nate on the cheek. “Bishop has been a totally different person to be around these past few weeks, I’d say that’s down to you.”

I shake my head. “No, it’s all down to him. I’m just the person supporting him.”

“If you say so,” she sing-songs.

“I do.”

“Whatever the case may be,” Nate says, “Bishop’s a different rider. I almost didn’t believe it when my friend Bennington told me about what he was doing over there, but when he came back with Jax, I knew there had to be something there.”

“He’s been working hard,” I say.

“You can work all you want,” Nate replies, “but that sort of riding only comes when your heart and your head are in harmony. He’s riding freely. If my daughter-in-law-to-be is to be believed, you’ve had a big part in that. Don’t downplay that. He knows it, now you need to as well.”

The next few times Bishop comes out to ride, I watch and try to see the things Nate saw. Undeniably Bishop is riding way better than I’ve ever seen. He was magic up there and it was an incredible turn on. Could I really have helped?

“What did you think?” Bishop asks as he comes up to me, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me to him.

“I think you were amazing,” I say, running my fingers over the stubble on his chin. “I’ve never seen you ride like that before.”

“I’ve been working hard,” he says. “Being around Jax, it’s been good for me.”

“I can tell.”

“Being around you, having you back in my life has been better though,” he says as he closes the distance between us and kisses me.

“You told me in that letter you left that you wanted me to be whole,” he says when we break apart. “You said you wanted me to be at peace.”

I nod.

“Well, I’m there now. It’s taken me a long time, but I’m finally there.”

“Yes, you are,” I say.

“I wanted to be so angry at you for leaving, and for a long time I was, but then I hit rock bottom. I knew the person I was then, wasn’t a person who deserved to be with you. So I worked my arse off to be someone worthy for you to call his.”

“You’ve always been worthy of me, Bish.”

“No, I haven’t, but I am now.”

I nod again, my throat too tight to do anything but.

“I love you, Jake.”

“I love you,” I manage to croak out.

“I saw you watching me today, and I swear nothing has ever felt as good as it did, except maybe being in your arms. Or your kisses.”

I laugh. “You want to get out of here?” I ask.

Bish raises an eyebrow, and I nod.

“Fuck yeah,” he says, releasing me, but grabbing my hand and racing to the car.

My Bishop is back and I’m never going to let him go.