Priest (A Standalone Bad Boy Romance Love Story) (16 page)

CHAPTER
THIRTY-THREE

JACE

It was Saturday night and I had spent all
week being proud of myself for spending an entire day with Daphne and not
touching her…or barely touching her, I guess. A time or two when I had my hand
on her leg, I have to admit the idea of sliding it up was on my mind, but I
proved to myself I can control those urges.

I felt less lonely than I had for a long time…since
Grandma died. I liked being friends with Daphne. If I couldn't have her for
anything more than that—and I couldn't—I would gladly take friendship.

I still have the dreams at night where we
have passionate sex and I wake up hot and sweaty and with a raging hard on. My
body is becoming accustomed to freezing cold showers in the morning, but I’m
controlling it. God can’t fault me for what’s in my subconscious, I don’t
think.

I had been trying to decide what I wanted
to do all day and finally, I knew that whatever I did, I wanted to do it with
Daphne. I called her and she answered on the second ring. “Hi, Jace, how are
you?”

“I’m good. I was just sitting here at home
thinking about seeing a movie. I wondered if you might like to meet me there.”

I heard her hesitate. I actually heard the
wheels turning in her head. She must have decided like I have that she’s in
complete control of her actions because at last she said, “That sounds like
fun. What are you going to see?”

I felt my face go hot as I said, “Promise
you won’t tell anyone?”

She giggled nervously. That was probably
bordering too close on where we’d been at since day one. “Okay…”

“I want to see
Southpaw
.”

“That’s the one about the fighter?”

“Yeah.”

She giggled again. “It’s an odd choice for
most priests. But I’ve seen you in action.”

I had to laugh. “Yes, unfortunately, you
have. The story sounds great; it’s not really about the fighting.”

“Oh,” she said. I could hear the mischief
in her voice as she said, “Is that kind of like saying you read
Playboy
for the articles?”

“Wow. Harsh.” I was laughing, though.

Quickly skirting around the porn
conversation, she said, “What time and where should I meet you?”

“It starts at 7:10 at the Metro.”

“Great, I’ll see you then,” she said.

After she hung up, I just stood there for
a few moments looking down at the phone. I couldn’t help but wonder if I was
setting myself up.
Am I just making these
feelings we have for each other worse?

All I really knew was that I not only
wanted to see Daphne, I needed to…so, I was going to see her and my sexual
urges would just have to go untended.

CHAPTER
THIRTY-FOUR

DAPHNE

I was waiting when Jace drove up in front
of the theater. I’d actually walked over because it was close to my apartment.
He was in regular clothes again and my heart did that thing it always does when
I first see him. Then I had to go through the whole process of telling myself
why I can’t have him…again.

“Hi, there,” he said, taking hold of my
hand like we were a couple. I could have pulled mine away, I guess. But, I
didn’t want to. His hand was big and warm and strong…and it was attached to
him. He led me inside and paid for our tickets. “You want popcorn?”

“Of course,” I said with a grin. He
ordered a large and then said,

“Please tell me we can drench it in
butter. If you say no, I’ll be forced to order my own.”

“I love butter.”

“Great!” He was true to his word, he
literally drenched it. Then he took my hand again and led me into the darkened
theater. We found a couple of seats in the center and sat down just in time for
the previews to start. Jace reached and put the popcorn tub in my lap, taking a
handful of it out for himself.

He seemed so relaxed, like we’d known each
other for years. I wished that I could get to that point…where I didn’t
psycho-analyze every thought, feeling, and word.

I busied myself eating popcorn and
pretending to be interested in the previews. Every so often, I could see him
look at me out of the corner of my eye. I wanted to look at him—there was
almost nothing I’d rather do. But in the dark room and with our close proximity,
that look would make me imagine kissing him and once I let my mind go there, I
might lose control all over again.

The movie was really intense, and every so
often, I would go to put my hand on the arm rest and Jace’s arm would already
be there. I squeezed it a few times as I watched the main character, Billy
"The Great" Hope get his head bashed in. I cried when his wife left
him and took his daughter and again when he fought to get it all back.

Over all, it was a really good movie and
the absolute best part was watching Jace’s face out of the corner of my eye
during the fight scenes. There was real light in his eyes, and I could tell
that in spite of being in a completely passive profession, the fight scenes
really appealed to him.

After the movie when I should have gone home,
I accepted his invitation for Chinese food at his place. I didn’t want the
evening to end and he didn’t seem to want it to, either…
but that’s okay because we’re just friends
. That’s what I told
myself anyways.

“What kind of Chinese food do you like?”
he asked me when we got back to his apartment.

“I don’t care,” I said. “I’m not picky.”

“Be picky. What is your favorite, Daphne?”

“I like lemon chicken and steamed rice.
And egg-foo-yung. Oh, and won-tons.” He laughed.

“See, your demanding side was right there
on the surface.” I felt myself flush and he said, “Have a seat in the living
room. I’ll order the food and be right in.”

I went into the living room, but I didn’t
sit down. Instead, I walked around the room and looked at the photos of him and
his brothers and an older lady I assumed was his grandmother I’d heard him
mention. I wondered why he didn’t have any pictures of his parents, but who was
I to judge?

“That was in Maine,” he said of the photo
I was looking at when he came in the room. “It’s a little place called
Lincolnville Beach. My brothers and I rented a cabin up there for two weeks when
Max graduated from college. We had a lot of fun.”

“Were you in the priesthood yet?”

“No, I’d just got out of high school that
year. I wasn’t sure yet what I wanted to be when I grew up.” He came over next
to her and handed me a glass of iced tea.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Do you want to watch some
television?”

“Sure,” I said, taking a seat on the
couch. He sat next to me.

As he flipped through the channels, he
said, “What do you like to watch?”

“I don’t watch a lot of TV. I like the
history channel and the Discovery Channel, though,” I told him. He found the
Discovery channel and left it there. It was shark week. We watched for a while
until the food came, and then Jace spread a blanket on the floor and we sat and
ate off the coffee table while we watched.

“How is the chicken?” he asked

“It’s delicious, thank you.”

He smiled at me. “You’re so polite.”

I blushed again and he said, “Don’t be
embarrassed, that’s a really good thing. Most people these days for get to say please
and thank you. You never forget. I like that. Sometimes, though, you apologize
too much.”

With a grin I said, “I’m sorry.”

He laughed.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“Do your brothers know…about us? I mean
that crack Ryan made at lunch last week.”

“Yes, they know,” he said. He didn’t
explain how or why. I was torn between being afraid they would tell someone and
being flattered that he told someone.

“You’re not worried that they’ll tell
someone?”

“No, not at all. My brothers can be all
kinds of annoying and sometimes belligerent, but the one thing we always have
is each other’s backs. We’ve always only had each other. Ryan and Max would no
sooner betray me than I would them.” That made me feel a little better, knowing
he was so confident about it.

Then he said, “I’m sorry about Ryan,
though. He has no tact and I know that made you uncomfortable. I’ll ask him not
to say things like that again next time he sees you.”

“It’s okay. I’m honestly kind of glad you
thought enough of it to tell someone about me.”

He smiled and said, “I thought more of it
than I should.” We both dropped that touchy subject and finished eating. The
food was delicious, and once we’d just about wiped it out, I helped him clean
up. It was getting kind of late at that point, and I said, “Maybe I should take
off.” I didn’t have my car.

I suppose I could have walked home, or
taken the bus, but he said, “Stay just a little longer…please. I’ll take you
home in a bit.”

I didn’t hesitate. “Okay.”

We sat down on the couch and began
watching an old movie on television. It was in black and white and we had missed
the first part so I didn’t know what it was or what was going on. I think James
Cagney was in it.

“Have you ever seen this? I asked him.

He looked at the TV; he’d been looking at
me. “No, not this one,” he said. “I like old movies, though.”

“Me, too,” I said. “The world seemed like
a lot simpler place back then.”

He laughed. “Or harder, depending on how
you look at it. We definitely have a lot more luxuries these days.”

“This is true.”

I continued watching and I was about to
ask him another question when I looked over and saw his head was extended back
and he was sound asleep. He looked beautiful and uncomfortable.

I got up and nudged him over so he would
lie down and stretch out. Once he did that, I laid myself down next to him. I
don’t know what I was thinking other than he felt damned good and I had no
desire to leave him.

CHAPTER
THIRTY-FIVE

JACE

I woke up with hair in my face. I can
honestly say that was a new experience for me. Before I panicked, I breathed in
the fresh coconut/lime smell of it and smiled. It smelled like Daphne.

I opened my eyes and saw that it was, in
fact, Daphne. We were still on my couch and she was cuddled against my chest.
Her top leg was draped over mine and I had that pesky morning wood.

I suddenly felt like I couldn’t breathe. I
told her just friends…that’s all this was supposed to be. Now I was waking up,
on a Sunday morning no less, all tangled up in her and physically excited.

Jesus, Mother Mary, help me. The
temptation to touch her was almost completely overwhelming. I’d dreamt of this
moment nearly every night since the first time we made love. I wake up next to
her and I wake her with a slow, sensuous kiss. She smiles and opens her eyes
and then I kiss her again, this time harder and more passionately as my hands
begin to roam her sexy body.

I
have to stop this.
My cock was aching.
I have to get in the shower…the cold shower. There’s no way I can do
this again, especially not right before I have to go say mass on Sunday
morning. No way.

I gently extracted myself from her, trying
not to wake her. Her pretty eyes flickered open and looked at me, but they
didn’t really focus. She rolled over to face the couch as I got up. I looked
down at her fully dressed and sound asleep and I thought I never saw anyone or
anything that looked that good.

“I have to get ready to go to the church,”
I said, not knowing if she would hear me or process it or not. She didn’t say
anything, but I still didn’t move.
God,
she’s beautiful.
My hands itched to touch her. I looked down at myself
still dressed in my jeans. There was a tent in the front of them. I didn’t want
her to see me like that.

I forced myself to turn away and go down
the hall to the shower. I was becoming an expert at the early morning cold
shower, but even as I stood underneath the cold and uncomfortable spray, the
desire for that sexy woman on my couch was not going away.

I picked up where I left off with the
fantasy, only in my mind when I woke up, we were both naked and my hands were
roaming across smooth, bare skin.
God, she
feels so good.

I closed my eyes as the cold water ran
down my back and I could feel her. My hands tingled, my breaths quickened, and
my cock was not going down.
Damn! I
cannot go do mass with a hard-on. I’m pretty sure God wouldn’t easily forgive
that.

I tried all of the tricks in the book. I
pictured my grandmother and my brothers and still, there was Daphne in the
background. Finally, I closed my eyes hard and pictured the Bishop, looking at
me with a tent in my cassock and shaking his head. That worked. I deflated
almost instantly.

I finished my shower, and after shaving
and dressing, I went back out to the living room. She was still asleep. Her
soft blonde hair covered most of her face, but her curves were way too
apparent. I had to get out of there before I got another rise.

I grabbed my keys and slipped out.
I’m on my way to do a Catholic Mass with
nothing but making love to a sexy woman on my mind. God, what the hell is wrong
with me?