Unholy Temptation: Sinful Natures 4

2. Aiden

2

AIDEN

I watched over my shoulder as Jed scurried into his apartment and shut the door without a backward glance. The scent of his shampoo was still in my nose, reminding me of sunscreen and the beach.

Coconuts.

Strangely, my mouth watered at the thought of the sweet fruit.

The kid always had a thing for me, and even though no one else seemed to notice, I had. Accidentally on purpose, I’d often gone shirtless if Jacob’s mom and dad weren’t around, my chest swelling at how Jed checked me out with covert side-eye glances.

Jed had tried to hide his crush all those years ago until Jacob’s and my graduation night when he’d hugged me. Looking back, I realized he fit a little too well in my arms—and I’d liked the feeling of him being there.

And when he had lifted his face that night and met my gaze head-on for the first time ever? He’d peered up at me as though I hung the stars and moon in the sky—and my insides unsettled in a way I hadn’t understood.

Jed was Jacob’s little brother, almost like one to me too, so I’d figured the unease inside me that night had been due to that fact. Leaving without seeing him again had made the strange reaction a s**t ton easier to deal with, and I’d moved on.

Forgetting.

Finding a new life, other people, to occupy my mind.

Shannon.

My jaw clenched at the thought of my ex-wife, and I turned to let myself into my new apartment. I’d returned east after a nasty divorce from a spiteful woman I’d fallen desperately in love with. My heart still ached even though I put on a front, weariness with the whole affair and with myself for selling my business in a private sale hanging over my shoulders.

I hadn’t been lying when I’d said I returned to the only place that felt like home, but it wasn’t Philadelphia that had pulled at my heart. It’d been the memory of the friends and family I’d left behind to chase my dreams of doing graphic design in Hollywood where everyone’s dreams supposedly came true.

It wasn’t for my family, either. Sure, my parents were great and all to me and my two sisters, but they had their own life, caught up in their retirement community farther south from where we’d lived when I was younger.

Jacob wasn’t the same kid I’d left sixteen years earlier either. He’d settled down, had the wife and kids I’d always wanted, and had remained a faithful attendee of the church where Jed had chosen to work at.

A good-looking guy who was still pint-sized and…a pastor.

Single.

And I would have sworn since I’d met him, gay.

I shook my head, still not understanding his choice of profession, but I knew he’d been pushed to go into the ministry by his grandfathers and parents, the same as Jacob had been.

I’d assumed him to be into guys, me especially, after that hug and silent declaration of his feelings in his dark eyes all those years ago. I’d fled the scene, the state, but wondered how I would deal with it since fate had all but dropped us on each other’s laps once more.

Imagining Jed sitting on me, straddling my thighs, sent a ping of adrenaline through my bloodstream and a tingle of something strange down my spine. I frowned while tossing my keys onto my kitchen counter. I wasn’t gay, never had found a man even slightly attractive, so it couldn’t be that.

But why did my head—both of them—go there? My d**k had twitched when I’d gotten carried away from seeing Jed and yanked him clear up off the floor. He’d felt like home against my chest, same as all those years ago.

Not unease…

Interest?

Shaking my head, I focused on what was in front of me to take my mind off whatever Jed stirred inside me. Two boxes of kitchen items and a few bags of stable groceries I’d picked up sat on the countertop.

Furniture lay scattered around the apartment, and my bed from the guest room Shannon and I had in our house piled in pieces. Same as my marriage had been reduced to thanks to her.

My jaw ached as I strode toward the bedroom, needing to at least get that bit of moving-in taken care of so I had a place to crash after hanging with Jed who’d appeared knocked off-kilter by my appearance.

I wondered why Jacob hadn’t told him I was coming back east. Jacob and I had drifted apart a bit, but he represented a piece of my life I’d always thought of as a solid foundation. We’d been attached at the hip as kids, which was the only reason I’d gone to youth group with him when he’d asked me to, but how would we fit into one another’s lives considering the men we’d become since those days?

While connecting my bed frame, I weighed the main change between us.

Me.

I’d left the church behind, all things God that Jacob’s family had introduced me to as a teenager, and had become a flaming liberal. Jacob’s Christianity had always been the base of his life even when we had partied it up back in college.

Would we even get along anymore? We’d only spoken on the phone a few times in the past couple of years, that last of which when I’d told him I was moving back to his neck of the woods.

But I hadn’t shared the reasons behind my return other than a nasty divorce I’d claimed to put behind me as easily as I’d done his God.

I wished.

Still frowning, I made my bed with the new sheets and comforter I’d picked up the night before. Staying at the house with my ex-wife until the day I’d taken off hadn’t been an easy choice, but I’d been unsure of where I headed. Aimless for days on end once our divorce finalized—it’d been Shannon who suggested I go back to where I’d come from before I’d ruined her life.

The b***h didn’t say goodbye before I drove off. She hadn’t even been around the house I’d allowed her to have without stipulation.

Hot water pounded on me a few minutes later, and I groaned, sagging beneath the weight of bullshit she’d tossed at me over the previous couple of years. Unfulfilling. Workaholic. Lousy lay.

If only the memories of our wasted time together could swirl down the drain like dirtied water.

Releasing a heavy exhale, I stretched my neck side to side, once more telling myself I was moving on. How many men could claim a fresh start at thirty-eight? Thanks to the local gym and needing an escape from our house, I was in the best shape of my life. I also wasn’t hurting too badly for money even though the b***h had attempted to wring me dry.

As for my libido? The truck driver and I had hit bars every night while traveling across the US, and while he’d gotten lucky a couple of times, no one interested me enough I could be selfish enough to just get myself off.

God knew—and Shannon let me know—I sucked at pleasing a woman in bed.

Maybe my libido would return with the right person. Maybe someone would give me the chance to learn their body. Maybe they would enjoy what Shannon hadn’t—my kisses and the affection I craved to lavish on another.

A catch, Mom called me, but even the thought of trying to date again, hooking up with a stranger in an attempt to disprove Shannon’s accusations and reestablish my self-esteem exhausted me. I hoped once the stress from the previous six months, the divorce, the move across the country settled, my desire to connect with someone, even if just for a physical release, would return.

I pulled on a clean pair of shorts and T-shirt, actually excited to head over to Jed’s for pizza. It would be my first step at home to re-right my life and find some peace and quiet in my head and heart.

Since Jacob wasn’t available and I had dinner plans with my parents later in the week, Jed was naturally the next best choice.

Fate, for once, had been good to me, allowing such a neighbor.

Sweet and kind, Jed would never put me down.

Funny how my heart beat quicker at the thought of spending time alone with him. That slight unease returned, but not enough to make me pass on his invite.

Besides, a man couldn’t go wrong with pineapple on pizza.

Shannon had hated the Hawaiian combo, and I hadn’t indulged in years. I aimed for my door and pulled up short in the kitchen. As a pastor, I doubted Jed would have cold beer in his fridge, and if I was going to have a total cheat meal…

“Can’t have one without the other,” I muttered and grabbed the two cans of beer I had left before heading across the hall.

Jed wouldn’t meet my gaze as he opened his door but kept his focus on my chest.

Same as he’d always done.

Shy little guy.

His cheeks flushed like when he’d first noticed me an hour earlier.

I grinned over the thought I should have gone without a shirt and handed him a can while moving past him into his apartment. “Want one?”

“Um…no?” He shut the door behind me, his answer not very precise.

“You sure?” I asked, putting the beer beneath his nose when he turned.

Jed rubbed his palms down his sweats. “No thanks.”

“Your loss,” I stated with a shrug.

“I wouldn’t know.” He flicked his focus up at my face and away again just as fast.

“Are you shitting me?” A snort of disbelief escaped me, but I shouldn’t have been surprised. The kid had been nothing but straitlaced even as a teenager.

Jed shook his head and weaseled around me without brushing against my body for the kitchen. A coconut-scented cloud wafted past my nose, causing my mouth to water.

I followed on his heels, a quick glance letting me know he’d grown up somewhat since I’d seen him last even though he wore fluffy socks like back then—but plain blue rather than cartoon-covered. While still on the slight side, Jed had put on some muscle weight. His small but firm a*s flexed with every step—

The f**k?

I ripped my focus off Jed’s backside and glanced around his apartment instead, looking for something to take my mind off that twinge in my groin again, what I had no business thinking about.

Set up like mine, Jed’s kitchen and living area spread open as a single area, but he had one bedroom compared to my two.

“I guess I don’t have to offer you something to drink.” Jed pulled his fridge open and bent over to grab a bottle of water.

My throat went dry, and I deepened my frown as I once more had to remove my attention from his tight little a*s. “Nope, I’m good.”

“You can put the other beer in here if you want.” Jed stood and held out his hand.

Our fingers brushed as I gave him the second beer, and he must have felt the same tingles race up his arm as I had because his breath caught.

That zap went straight to my d**k, stirring me to life.

What the f**k is going on down there?

Face red, Jed spun to put my second beer in the fridge then scurried to pull out some paper plates and napkins while I tried to work out my body’s reaction to him. “Pizza should be here any sec—”

A knock sounded, and Jed scampered around me.

He moved like a damn jackrabbit with a fox on its tail while I stared after him, my brain on shut-down mode.

While he paid the delivery guy, I sifted through the weird vibes I had going nuts in my mind and body.

Exhaustion, I reasoned it away. Lack of intimacy for too damn long, the comfort of being with someone I’ve always considered family.

But Jed wasn’t that any longer. We hadn’t stayed in touch once I’d left Philly, and I didn’t know anything about the man he’d become.

He turned, our gazes once more catching, jacking up my heart rate

No denying he’d become a good-looking man. I imagined him walking into a gay bar and getting hit on by every single guy there.

My frown returned.

Clearing my throat, I sat at his table while he served us a couple of slices each. Steam still rose from the pie, and I leaned forward, filling my lungs rather than focusing on what I was sure had been a twinge of jealousy.

“Damn, that smells good,” I all but groaned the words, my hands getting grabby.

Jed joined me while I shoved the damn pizza in my face—he bowed his head.

I tried not to moan and smack my lips over the sweetness and saltiness exploding across my tongue while he silently prayed.

Over pizza.

Again, I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I studied his dark lashes and slashed eyebrows…almost black hair trimmed neatly around his ears and shorter on the sides, a few longer pieces falling over his brow.

I curled my fingers around my pizza rather than reaching across the table to sweep the strands back.

A slight shadow lay along his jawline, the only hint of scruff on his cheeks. I doubted he used a razor more than twice a week, the lucky fucker. I’d eventually given up the struggle to keep clean-shaven, allowing myself a close-trimmed scruff Shannon hadn’t ever liked the looks of.

Bitterness ate at my guts like acid, but Jed opened his eyes and caught me staring. The hint of interest sent strange vibes through my body, fading my ex to the back of my mind.

One blink, and he turned his attention on his dinner, swallowing hard while picking up his pizza. “You’d think as a pastor who visits people three out of five days a week for work, I’d know what to say to you.”

He took a small bite, the way his lips moved while chewing holding my focus.

“I’m an old friend. Shouldn’t be that hard.” I bit back a smirk as he all but choked and squirmed in his seat.

I wondered how hard—

“I’ve never had a man—anyone—in my apartment before.”

My attention jerked up to his eyes as he refused to look at me.

A few seconds passed as I processed his words. He ate his pizza while mine lay in my hands, forgotten. “No one? Ever?”

Jed swallowed and used a paper napkin to wipe grease from the corner of his mouth. “Outside my parents and Jacob’s family once, no.”

“No women?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“No,” he answered quickly, that flush on his cheeks again.

I liked the color. Perhaps a bit too much.

Shifting on my chair, I decided to not push him to out his sexuality—which held no bearing on my life.

“Tell me what you’ve been up to the last sixteen years, Jed,” I said and finally focused on my pizza, determined to get over this…thing…that was causing my insides to twitch.

“I went to Bible college, got a job, and moved in here. I go to church services twice a week and visit with my parents every Sunday for our family dinner.”

Abrupt and to the point, Jed revealed his private ways hadn’t changed since his teenage years.

The poor guy.

“Sandy still insists on those family meals, huh?” I asked about his mom.

Jed nodded while chewing. He wouldn’t look at me.

I’d always thought he was just a nervous, shy kid, but having expanded my world, having lived a wild lifestyle when I’d first gotten to California, I knew better.

I made Jed Simpson nervous because his crush hadn’t waned in sixteen years.

My body fed off how his attention made me feel. Desired—and better than I had in too f*****g long.

I just wasn’t sure what to do with the truth that I kind of liked the strange vibes stirring inside me and my groin.