Caressing his soft hair with both hands, I brought his lips to mine. We languidly tasted and nibbled at each other until our breathing returned to normal. Still inside me, Jace attempted to roll off. The thing is, I loved his full weight on top of me. Feeling full of him. I gripped his firm bottom to keep him where he was.
“Alex, wait. I better take care of this.” Jace braced himself on one hand and pulled out of me, circling the condom to keep it intact.
When he returned to bed, he tucked me against his chest and stroked my matted hair.
“You here in Barcelona is such a trip.” Jace kissed my head. “Thank you for surprising me, I didn’t expect this night to turn out so awesome.”
“I’m glad it worked out.” I traced the lines of his Viking tattoo.
“So . . . I’m assuming that there have been a few stinky hostel guys since you wanted me to use a condom?” Jace asked, not accusingly, mostly curious.
Propping myself up on my elbow, I gazed at him knowing that I’d never lie. “Nope, not so far. A few have auditioned, but none could have met a standard that would have compared to our night. So, I thought, ‘what’s the point?’”
“Alex—” Jace seemed surprised. He gulped and closed his eyes, as if regretful that he couldn’t claim the same thing.
“Dude! It’s okay, I know you’re living the rock star life.” I shrugged. “It doesn’t bother me, we’re friends. Really sexy friends.”
“We never . . . Let’s just say I thought you’d have broken hearts across Europe by now.” Jace snuggled me back down to him.
“I didn’t say I haven’t.” I laughed. “Turns out, that for me it’s not easy to be easy.”
“So, why did we need a condom?” Jace wrinkled his brow. “I loved being bareback with you in Seattle, it’s the only time I’ve ever done it.”
“Well, playboy, I wasn’t sure where your dick has been. Plus, I just finished a round of antibiotics for a sinus infection, so I didn’t want to have any surprises.” I booped his nose with my finger.
“Yeah, fair enough. I’m glad you’re being safe.” He booped me back. “The world doesn’t need any little Jace’s right now.”
“Well, at least not from me.” I hugged him close.
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe in ten years.” Jace looked toward the ceiling, pretending to consider the possibility.
“Not this girl.” I used my thumbs to point at myself. “I don’t want kid babies, only animal babies.”
“Really?” His eyes went wide. “All my sisters do is talk about having babies, it drives me nuts.”
“Zoey used to be the same,” I agreed. “I just don’t have that maternal instinct.”
“Huh. I’ve never given it much thought.” Jace’s eyes glazed over.
“So . . . are you able to hang out tomorrow?” I decided to change the subject, it was a little weird for me to talk about children with the sexy drummer.
“Yep, I have the whole day and night to myself.”
“Excellent, then we can be tourists.” I clapped my hands. “But it’s nearly 4 a.m., should we get some sleep?”
We woke wrapped around each other at noon, went at each other like rabbits, showered, and found ourselves hand-in-hand exploring the stone buildings of the Gothic quarter by mid-afternoon. I wore cutoffs, a white tank, and my Frye boots. Jace borrowed a pair of my boy short underwear since he didn’t have a change of clothes, which made me giggle to myself just thinking about it. They were so tight, they couldn’t have been comfortable. He bought a Barcelona T-shirt, board shorts, and ball cap from one of the tourist shops, and no one recognized us as we caught up on the past ten months while we admired street art, strolled through the shops and stopped for tapas.
It was the most fun I’d had since being in Europe.
“To a fun day!” Jace clinked his glass of cava with mine.
We were sitting in a little alleyway just off of Las Ramblas, the main tourist street in Barcelona, strings of lights crisscrossed above us from building to building. Leaning back in his chair on the patio, Jace grinned at me. He looked gorgeous and also silly in his tourist gear, but it had done the trick. No one was the wiser that the drummer of the most up-and-coming band in the world was in their midst.
“A really fun day,” I agreed and took a sip of the sparkling wine as the waiter brought our tapas.
“How long will you work at the horse rescue?” Jace chewed on a delicate slice of Iberian ham. “God, this is delicious!”
“Probably until New York,” I mumbled through a mouthful of scrumptious crusty bread topped with spicy tomato spread.
“Will you be home for Christmas?”
“Yeah. I’m going to spend time with mom because next year I’m thinking that I’ll go to Australia, maybe even travel throughout Asia.” I explained. “You?”
“Doesn’t look likely.” Jace’s face crumpled a bit. “I mean, I hope so, but our schedule seems to expand every time I get an update. We’re booked through next June right now, and management wants us to release new music ASAP, so there’s added pressure.”
I grabbed his hand and squeezed, settling into the fact that we were really and truly good friends now. This gorgeous, seemingly unattainable sex god was someone whom I cared about, I got him. It felt good that he could talk to me about everything.
“Jace picked up a piece of bread and fixed his gaze on me. “What are you smiling about?”
“I was such a babbling idiot around you last year.” I rolled my eyes. “I was just thinking that I’m so glad that we’re such good friends. Today has been awesome.”
“Oh, jeez. Are you friend-zoning me now?”
“Yes, but I’m sexy-friend-zoning you, remember?”
Jace’s eyes were hooded and he looked down at his plate. We were silent for a minute until he looked back up again.
“I didn’t realize how much I needed a day like today,” he confessed.
I was stunned. “What do
