Friends, Sexcapades and Love Affairs Ch. 14

"Too bad. Let me give you a little piece of advice. If you want to have fun in this life, drop the attitude."

Jared shook his head. All his time with Chris, he had tried to be nothing but understanding and accommodating. And now Chris's husband was there, hurling insults at him, and accusing him of being the opposite of that. But it was all right; he could take a deep breath and ignore everything. "Are we done here?"

He took his pictures and stuffed them in his bag, without sparing Andrew another look.

"It looks like it. You're a pretty boy, Jared, but pretty looks alone won't get you far in life. It's how you use them that counts."

Suddenly, it struck Jared, what had pushed Andrew to come to meet him like that and then insult him. There was an undertone of jealousy under all that arrogance. "Are you talking from experience?" Jared looked directly at Andrew.

From up close, he noticed a few things this time. Andrew seemed to be in his forties, like Chris, but his face was a bit too puffy if he looked carefully. Could it be that he was doing Botox shots already? What kind of person in their right mind did that at such a young age? And his lips were curled into an ugly smile that took from the handsomeness of his face.

Suddenly, he felt pity. He sighed and hiked the bag on his shoulder. "I would wish you and Chris all the best, but I don't think that would be appropriate."

Andrew seemed pretty pissed now. Maybe he didn't like to have some things said back to him. "Oh, to be young and naïve," he hissed. "Do you think you can land another man like that? In your lifetime?"

"It's okay," Jared said promptly. "I can live with the thought. And I'm pretty glad you landed Chris, and not me."

He pushed past Andrew, ignoring the annoyed huff that followed. That had been one hell of a conversation, and now he needed to breathe in some fresh air.

To think that he had been so gullible! Jared focused on his breathing as he marched out of the building. As much as it felt like he had done pretty well, especially at hiding what he truly felt, and how Andrew's words hit a little bit too close to home, he was drained now.

But, seriously, what was all that nonsense that he couldn't land a partner to sleep with? That was bullshit. At the same time, Jared thought as he slowed down his pace, there was a part of the blame he shared, although he wouldn't admit it to an arrogant bastard like Andrew or Chris. He had gotten too fixed on the idea of having a boyfriend. At his age, who did that?

All right, so Adrian was - sort of - in a relationship, and Mike was pining over his boss, but where was he, Jared? Apparently, he was nowhere he felt good to be. And maybe Mike was right, and he needed to get back in the saddle, if for no other reason than that he needed to prove himself that he wasn't undesirable.

He knew that Andrew had said those words to hurt him. If he were smart, he would just let it slide. But all of a sudden, he needed the confirmation that he could be with someone because he wanted to be and because there were people interested in him.

There was no moment like the present. Without overthinking things, he pulled the folded napkin from where he placed it in his bag for safekeeping.

"Hi there," Shane drawled.

Jared froze. What was he doing? Was he going to say? Why hadn't he thought this through? What was he supposed to say? Hey, are you ready for a romp in the hay?

Now there was no turning back. If he cut the conversation, he couldn't ever call Shane again without having explanations readily at hand. "Hi," he eventually said.

"Who is this?"

'Nobody' didn't sound like a good answer. "It's Jared. You ruined my t-shirt," he explained in a clipped voice, which he hated right away. He sounded like such an asshole.

"Ah, Jared." At the other end, Shane perked up right away. "Are you in the mood to get together?"

Straight to the point. Jared felt a bit like taken for a ride by an ocean wave. He could just decline, but then, why had he called in the first place? "Sure. Right now?"

"Yeah."

Jared couldn't believe himself as he listened to Shane. It looked like the guy already had a place in mind. At least, it wasn't the one with the awful beer.

TBC