Falling Up

10. Date

"Good afternoon Jason," Tyrus said as he stepped out of his car, making his way over.

Three o'clock, on the dot as always.

Tyrus passed the keys into Jason's hand, subtly allowing their fingers to brush up against each other. Jason felt the tingle on his palm where they touched as their hands lingered slightly longer than usual.

"Mr Knight," Jason responded, being the first to retract his hand away with the keys pressed firmly in his palm.

Tyrus let out a sigh at the formal greeting. He disliked being called Mr Knight, which is partly why Jason insisted on doing so, enjoying a brief moment seeing the frustration cross his face.

And still, Tyrus put forth his insistence for Jason to use his first name every time. "Please call me Tyrus."

Jason simply grinned, saying nothing before he turned away from the heated glare he felt. His skin was practically burning under his heated gaze. And he liked it. He revelled in how he felt when he was with Tyrus. Excitement, desire and most of all, an overwhelming feeling of safety. Something he had never felt before

As usual, they started up their routine. Tyrus sitting at the small table with his laptop open and Jason tinkering away under the hood of the car. He always did the same things to that car. None of which made sense considering it really didn't need to be serviced so many times in a week.

He twisted off the caps to the oil and water, checking the levels he already knew were topped to the brim. Reviewed the leads, which were brightly coloured and brand new, and continued to remove and assess the spark plugs. Everything the same as always, yet god forbid he missed checking anything. If he was done even a moment too soon, you could bet that Tyrus would request him to review everything again. It was complete overkill, but at least Jason was being paid for it.

After a while, the heat of the day, or perhaps the constant stare of Tyrus, was beginning to heat up Jason's body, causing a slight trickle of sweat down his muscular back. He could have sworn he felt a set of eyes roaming up and down his body. Still, whenever he turned to grab a glance, Tyrus was tapping away at his laptop, barely paying him any attention.

The heat continued to encase his body, and eventually, he had to do something about it. He put the spanner down, grabbed the bottom of his grey shirt and pulled it up over his body. The relief was instant, and he rubbed his shirt across his forehead to clean the sweat and tossed it to the side.

Passing another glance at Tyrus, he noticed him shift in his seat as he grabbed his tie to loosen it. This had been the only indication that Jason received that Tyrus had been watching him work, as suspected.

"Hot in here, isn't it?" said Jason with a smirk, leaning back on the car as he grabbed a bottle of water and deliberately let some of it drip down onto his toned abs.

He grinned as he watched Tyrus move his eyes from the laptop, raking them over Jason's chest. His heartbeat quickened in his chest as he felt the desire radiating from Tyrus. Jason loved this little game they played. It was only small, subtle movements here and there. Enough to get the imagination going, but it always stopped there. Just a game and that's how Jason liked it.

"You don't want to play this game with me, Jason," said Tyrus warningly as he shut his laptop and leaned back against the chair.

Jason pushed off the car, picked up a spanner and bent over the hood, making sure to give him a good view from behind. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Mr Knight. I'm just here to service your car."

The spanner in his hand went back to work under the hood of the car, believing it was the end of their little game for now. Jason was unaware as Tyrus moved from his seat, as quiet as a mouse. It wasn't until a hand was placed on his lower back did he even realise that Tyrus stood behind him.

Jason froze as a masculine hand moved down his lower back, inching towards the waistband of his jeans. Startled, he reached his arm backward to remove the hand but was grabbed in a sudden wrist lock. Tyrus pressed Jason's arm to his back, jerking him upright and causing the spanner to hit the floor.

Tyrus spun Jason around, keeping a solid grip on his wrist as they were brought close together. Their chests touched, and he could feel his heart trying to explode out of his chest, and he was sure Tyrus could too. Sensing Jason's reaction to their close contact, Tyrus grinned and reached up with his free hand. His fingers brushing across Jason's jaw, removing a smudge of oil.

"Go on a date with me," asked Tyrus.

Jason was shocked. So shocked, he had trouble even processing what was being asked. Did Tyrus just ask him out? They had been flirting a bit back and forth over the past couple of months, but Jason didn't expect it to go anywhere. It was just a bit of harmless fun after all.

The silence lasted only a moment before Tyrus continued. "Friday. I'll pick you up at seven."

Jason pulled himself out of Tyrus's grip, stepping to the side to allow for some distance between them. He couldn't go out on a date with Tyrus. He just couldn't.

"I'm sorry, Mr Knight," said Jason, facing away from him to avoid his gaze. "I'm busy."

"Then Saturday," Tyrus asked again, more persistent than before.

"I'm busy Saturday as well," retorted Jason. Just as Tyrus was about to open his mouth again, Jason continued. "And Sunday, and Monday and every other day of the week. I'm sorry, Mr Knight, I'm not available."

Jason turned to move back to the car, trying his best to get away from this awkward conversation. He couldn't date Tyrus. There were too many responsibilities for him to even consider dating, let alone any sort of relationship. He had to think of Riley and Noah. They were his priority, and anything else was just a distraction he couldn't afford. Flirting was one thing. Going out on a date was a whole new level.

"Why?" Tyrus questioned as he moved to follow Jason. "I know you like me. I've seen the way you look at me. So what's holding you back?"

"Nothing," shot back Jason. "I'm just not interested. I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression."

Tyrus reached forward and took hold of Jason's hand, turning him back to his gaze. "Liar."

Jason gritted his teeth. He was trying to distance himself right now, but Tyrus wasn't allowing it. Perhaps he had been taking his flirting a bit too far, but he couldn't resist. It was like the words and actions flowed out before his mind truly processed what he was saying.

At the end of the day, Jason really did like Tyrus, and if the circumstances were different, he would have said yes without question. But he couldn't put himself above his family. They were still recovering in a way, and he couldn't afford any distractions from ensuring they were 100% taken care of.

"I'm sorry," said Jason. "I can't. Just please drop it."

Tyrus reluctantly dropped Jason's hand, which was still tingling with heat from the contact. He didn't want to let go, but he had to. It was the right thing to do.

"How about we start slower then," said Tyrus moving even closer to Jason.

You could tell Tyrus wasn't used to getting no for an answer as his hand move closer. Close enough that Tyrus reached out his hand to Jason's chest, running his fingers lightly across his bare chest.

"I'll drop the idea of a date for now," Tyrus paused before continuing. "If you start calling me Tyrus."

He trailed his fingers across Jason's chest and down his arm, causing Jason's heart to beat erratically in his chest. As Tyrus moved his hand to intertwine their fingers together, he leant over to whisper in Jason's ear. "Let's give it a try, shall we?"

Jason audibly gulped. His mind a haze as he opened his mouth to speak, yet again without thinking. "Tyrus."