Appassionato (6 page)

Jonathan cleared his throat. “I saw it on the internet but didn’t think about it much. Seemed weird. And anyway, this bruise isn’t a tattoo.”

Samantha shook her head. “No, Ms. Bell, I never heard of bonding.” Emma noticed that though Jonathan was no longer hugging Samantha, their hands were still clasped. Emma didn’t want to think about what prying them apart would do to them. In the back of her mind, she felt Duncan and Jake agreeing with her.

“Okay, look, I’m sending you to the nurse. I think you should both go home for the day.” They protested that they didn’t want to be separated, but Emma ignored them. “And I will personally tell the nurse about the bonding thing. I’m sure we can work something out.” They nodded at her, trusting that she would help them. Emma felt a sinking sensation in her chest. Their parents were not going to deal with this well, she just knew it. In her mind she felt Duncan frown and caught the stray thought that at least the kids were boy-girl and not gay. She felt her blood go cold at the thought of trying to untangle that kind of mess. Emma worked in a very conservative community. She knew that many of the parents weren’t that open-minded. She watched as the marks on the kids’ arms grew more prominent the longer they touched.
This is a disaster waiting to happen
, she thought as she ushered them out of the library.

* * * *

Much later, Emma dropped onto her sofa, exhausted. She knew that she should get up, get ready for the concert, but she was totally wiped out after dealing with the nurse and the kids’ parents. Samantha and Jonathan refused to be separated. It took a lot of cajoling, but Emma was finally able to convince the parents not to force the issue. She showed them the news reports on the internet. They weren’t easy to find, which worried her greatly. The phenomenon was widespread, and just a few days ago, she was able to find a lot more data on bonding. Now, however, articles she remembered reading were missing. It was as if someone had done a methodological search and erase on all bonding data on the web. That freaked her out because she knew how hard it was to get rid of anything once it appeared on the internet. She’d finally had to resort to a little-known archive that cached articles and web pages. Something was happening, and she didn’t understand what it was. Why weren’t the people who were experiencing the bonding posting anymore about it on any of the social networks? What happened to all the blog posts? And even more disturbing, why had all the official articles about bonding disappeared? It was weird, and Emma was too weary to think about it any longer today. She closed her eyes and idly followed Duncan and Jake around the pre-show sound check, smiling as she felt Jake freaking out over some detail or other with the venue’s PAs. She tried not to think about the fact that Julie would be here in fifteen minutes, ready for their drive to New York. They had just enough time to get to the city, park, and not miss too much of the opening act. Emma felt a flutter of nerves in her gut thinking about the concert. Two weeks ago it sounded like a great idea, but now she was terrified at the thought of meeting Duncan and Jake face-to-face. Duncan was singing and joking around with his band right now, she knew that, but that didn’t prevent him from pausing to send her reassurances as he got wind of her mental state. Emma groaned, dropping her face in her hands, embarrassed.

* * * *

Jake finished marking something on a piece of paper and then looked around stealthily, making eye contact with Duncan on stage. He jerked his head, motioning towards the dressing room, and Duncan nodded. They both felt Emma’s worry. Jake didn’t know what to do, but he couldn’t think of anything he wanted more right now than to hug his best friend. He walked to the room and opened the door, looking in satisfaction at the sofa and the bottled water on the table next to it. Duncan’s costumes hung from the racks in the corner and the dressing room table mirror was lit and ready, opposite the couch tucked against the back wall. He felt a moment’s peace at the quiet then the worry about the bonding came rushing back in.

“Hey, man, what’s up?” Duncan walked in and shut the door behind him. He locked it. Jake flinched at the click.

“You know what’s up.” Jake sighed and dropped onto the old sofa. He felt the springs protest beneath him and winced, hoping that the worn cushions wouldn’t give out tonight. Duncan sat down beside him and put his hand on Jake’s neck, gently massaging the muscles until the tension began to dissipate. Jake pointedly ignored the spark of heat he felt at Duncan’s proximity. He wasn’t ready to deal with that yet, and Duncan was too smart to bring it up in conversation, especially now, what with the bonding and Emma’s freaking out. They could feel her from a hundred miles away.

“I know,” Duncan sighed then let his hand fall away. He rubbed at his eyes, breathing slowly in and out for a few minutes. Jake could feel the other man willing him to relax, and that almost made him panic all over again, but he knew that he had to get over it. He had the feeling that this was it, that this relationship with Duncan,
and with Emma,
his brain helpfully supplied, would be the last serious relationship he would ever have. And strangely, he realized that he wanted it. He wanted them both. He would just have to deal with the sudden and inexplicable attraction to a guy.

“Duncan,” Jake began, trying to think of a way to talk about what he was feeling before falling silent. He shouldn’t bring it up. Emma was still upset, and he had a feeling that if he opened that particular door they would need hours to talk, and they didn’t have the time. He needed to chill out and do his job so that the concert tonight ran smoothly. Then Duncan looked at him and smiled and Jake felt his heart stop for a moment.
Jesus, he’s gorgeous
, Jake thought, taking in the soft brown eyes and the traces of eyeliner smudged around them, leftover from yesterday. Duncan’s affection was evident in the way his eyes crinkled at the corners. His lips weren’t smiling, but Jake could see the telltale quirk on one side that said Duncan knew exactly what he was thinking and was amused. Jake pressed his lips together, realizing that Duncan did know, for real, and not just because they’d been best friends forever. Duncan could hear his thoughts. He smiled, sweet and sexy, and Jake felt himself blush.

Duncan’s eyes grew dark. “Jesus,” Jake breathed as the arousal built between. He had to shift position on the couch, let his legs fall open as his jeans grew increasingly tighter.

“Jake,” Duncan murmured, reaching forward to cup Jake’s cheek. He ran his thumb over his stubble, and Jake relished the gentleness of the gesture. It made him feel alive, made him think that this was real and that he wasn’t in it alone.
Am I finally getting used to this?
He closed his eyes and just breathed as he leaned into his friend’s touch. Duncan shifted closer and Jake’s cock jumped against his jeans so hard it made him fear for the fabric. When he opened his eyes, he finally let his arousal show on his face. Duncan swiped his thumb over Jake’s lips then took his hand back. “You know I’m not going to do anything you don’t want me to.”

“I know,” Jake said, dropping his eyes. He chuckled then reached down and adjusted himself. “I can’t deny what I feel, and I can’t hide it. This is like having a lie detector hooked up all the time, you know?”

Duncan laughed. Jake felt him resist the urge to just grab and couldn’t help smiling. His friend’s self-control was epic. “Yeah, I know,” Duncan said. Jake sent Duncan the spikes and sparks of his attraction across their connection before drawing back in an attempt to calm down.

“Even so—” Duncan started, his smile suddenly dropping away, but Jake interrupted, nodding.

“Yeah, even so, you’re still my best friend. We just have to figure out how to incorporate this into everything.”

“And what about Emma?” Duncan asked. Jake wondered what she was doing. He couldn’t tell really where she was, only that she was sitting down and she was absolutely exhausted after dealing with the debacle of the bonded students.

“And what about Emma?” Jake repeated, understanding perfectly. It wasn’t enough that he suddenly felt this thing for Duncan, oh no. He had to hook up with a third person, too.
This is just how absurd my life is
, he thought for a second, frustrated, before he caught Duncan’s compassionate look and felt his friend soothe away the edges.

“Stop it,” Duncan said, not unkindly. “She didn’t ask for this either and she’s scared out of her mind.”

“I know, I know, I’m an ass.” Jake let himself be comforted. He hoped Emma hadn’t caught his momentary panic but knew that she had. He sent a pulse of regret her way along with the equivalent of a mental hug. He felt her smile, faintly.

“This is really weird. I could feel you do that.” Duncan wrinkled his nose, and Jake tried not to think about how adorable that made him look.

“I know.” Jake laughed abruptly. “It’s not even difficult! How bizarre is this? It’s like the universe suddenly woke up and planted a great, big, honking love whammy on us.” He tried unsuccessfully to stifle his laughter.

Duncan shook his head, smiling unwillingly. “Look, I’ve got an interview in, shit, five minutes,” Duncan said, pulling his phone out of his pocket to check the time. Jake was already nodding. “Let’s just get through the rest of the night and take it as it comes, okay?”

“Yeah, except, you know Emma’s coming,” Jake said slowly. He didn’t know it would feel so strange to say it out loud, what they’d both been thinking for the past several days. Talking about it made it real, but Duncan just nodded.

“I know, and I think we should get some backstage passes to her.”

“How? We don’t even know where she’s sitting.” Jake stood and stretched to work the kinks out of his back. He felt Duncan watching him, and deliberately let a sliver of skin peek out between his low, tight jeans and T-shirt. Duncan smirked as Jake grinned at him. He might still be a bit uneasy with his newfound attraction to his best friend, but he always prided himself on his pragmatism. He refused to hide from the truth.

“I don’t know, but I think we should get one ready. Or two, actually. Most people don’t go to concerts alone, so she’s probably coming with that cute friend of hers, and yes, I know that you are an alien who likes to go to shows by yourself!” Duncan finished with a laugh before Jake could say anything. “And don’t try to deny it!”

Jake chuckled and looked around for his clipboard. There were a million details to work out before tonight’s concert. “Okay, I won’t. And I’ll get two passes together, give them to Dave.” Dave was their head of security for this tour and all around miracle worker.

“Maybe once Mizar starts playing we’ll be able to see where she is.” Duncan caught Jake’s skeptical look. “Hey, it’s possible! I know the place is huge, but maybe she’ll be close. And I’d bet that the closer she gets to us the better we’ll be able to sense where she is. So even if she isn’t close, I think we’ll be able to find her.”

His friend was right, Jake realized. He always knew where Duncan was, it was part of his job, but since the bonding marks showed up, Duncan almost always knew exactly where Jake was, too. He’d be playing and singing and then look off stage and wink, making Jake smile in the midst of the chaos. “Okay,” Jake said, licking his lips. The realization frightened him for some reason. He wasn’t sure why. He grimaced.
Maybe I’m not as used to this as I thought I was?

Duncan stood up and gathered Jake into a hug. “Hey, hey, calm down, all right? You’re making me crazy here.” He tucked his friend’s face into his shoulder and Jake relaxed.

“I think I’m nervous about meeting Emma,” he mumbled into Duncan’s jacket.

“I know,” Duncan soothed. “I’m a little nervous, too.”

Jake looked at him skeptically. “Yeah, right. Dude, you never get nervous.”

Duncan smiled. “I know, but I can feel
your
anxiety. I can feel
hers
. It’s making me itchy.”

Jake shook his head then shoved at Duncan. “Don’t you have an interview or something? Like, five minutes ago?”

Duncan grinned and hugged Jake again. “I do, but you mean more to me than a stupid interview.” Jake couldn’t help smiling at this. He hugged Duncan back with all his strength.

Chapter 4

“I’m coming!” Emma called, poking her earlobe and then wincing as she missed the hole again.
Stupid earring
, she thought as she walked to the front door. “Why didn’t you just come in?” she asked as she opened the door for Julie. “You’ve been here enough times that you don’t need permission.”

Julie shrugged. “Habit, I think. Here, give me that.” Julie eyed Emma’s pink earlobe. “Why didn’t you just look in the mirror?” she asked as she maneuvered the silver wire through Emma’s piercing. She slipped the plastic backing onto the post then stepped back to flick at the dangling silver strands.

“I was in a hurry.” Emma looked around for her shoes. “I fell asleep after work and just woke up about fifteen minutes ago.”

“Seriously?” Julie raised her eyebrows. “How could you fall asleep? We’re going to see Duncan Green in concert!”