Chapter 3. Now I lay me down to sleep--
Jase has fallen asleep on me as I stroke his head gently. He is more beautiful to me now, I think, than when I first saw him because I know him so well. His cheek, slightly rough against my bare shoulder is a contrast to the soft, dirty- blond waves of hair that I let fall through my fingers. His smell, too, is a like some wonderful cologne, one that is understated and deeply masculine. It takes me back to when I was very young, climbing into my parents' bed and noticing the difference between their pillows. My dad's pillow always smelled, well, like dad, somewhat similar to the scent I breathe in now with my face nestled in Jase's hair. Mom's, though, always smelled fresh like roses. Sleeping on her pillow was like sleeping with her arms about me, warm and secure. Back then, I never slept on my dad's pillow if I could help it, because I think I was afraid of him just a little bit. Jase, however, is a totally different story.
I reached under Jase's T-shirt and stroked the smooth skin above his waistband lightly with my fingertips. He hates when I do that, because it tickles; I did it this time purely out of self-defense, because my arm was starting to prickle where his weight lying across it had cut off the circulation. Jase's stomach muscles tightened into sharply defined ridges as he woke up and grabbed at my hand.
"Ok, you big lug," I grunted softly, "it's time to roll over, my arm is asleep." He yawned wide and slowly sat up. I started to scratch his back.
"Yeah, well, so was I. . .at least for a little bit. Umm, no. . .a little to the right. . .no lower. . .yeah, right there. . .ahhhhhh." I leaned over and kissed the small of his back, slipping one hand around to stroke the inside of his thigh.
" I was dreaming of this really big pizza, smothered in cheese and piled high with all kinds of tasty things. I suppose I may just have to get up now and find something to eat."
"But, Jase, I didn't mean to. . ."
"Oh, don't worry Zach, I'll be back." With a friendly grope, he was out of bed and across the room, his underwear gleaming white in the darkness and stretched tight across the curves of his backside. I closed my eyes and thought of the many times I have slipped them from his body, sometimes teasing them off, sometimes forcibly removing them, but always delighting in what was underneath. Sprouting from a nest of dark, golden curls was a soft, warm member that always felt just right in my hand. A shade darker than the surrounding skin and crowned with a head that flared only slightly at its base, it was matched by a slim pair of balls held loosely in their sac. Jase really had little hair at all on his body; in fact, other than the tufts under his arms, all his body hair tended to be a light, downy fuzz. Smiling a little, I rolled back to my side of the bed, pulled the sheet up and waited for him to return.
The fire escape outside the window creaked suddenly, and a shadow moved at the edge of the window. I froze in place, not daring to breathe--
I could hear Jase moving around in the kitchen nearby, and my fear started to ease up slightly; it was just enough to allow me to get slowly out of bed. I forced myself to pretend to act naturally, and having made it to the hallway at this point without getting shot in the back, I ducked into the kitchenette and grabbed Jase. "Shit, Jase--there's a--there's something or someone on the escape!" My hand snatched at the phone to call the police. Jase looked at me blankly, then his eyes widened as we both thought the same thing. "Oh my God--Zach, the escape goes past the other bedrooms too!" His eyes were wide, and he started digging through the hall closet looking for anything to use for defense. While I dialed the police, he managed to locate a piece of an old stair railing that neither of us had gotten around to fixing. He hefted it in one hand, then waved at me to follow him into our room. I finished the call to 911 and crept along with him, one hand on his shoulder and the other on his waist.
We turned the light off in the kitchen and in the darkness, the faint light coming through the window caused the palm fronds to cast strange patterns on the floor. As our eyes adjusted, we heard the ladder clanking as someone (definitely a someone, now) made their getaway. Jase opened the heavy window and--because it had a tendency to shut itself unannounced--held it up with one hand as he leaned out.
"Zach, I see something moving down there. . .I'm gonna climb out there and take a closer look."
He stepped out onto the fire escape, broken railing in hand. I leaned out the window to see for myself, my fears fading away. If Jase was right, it was probably some punk who had climbed over the fence into the courtyard looking for trouble. Since he fled, he probably wasn't dangerous and now he had two angry guys to deal with.
Stepping out onto the ledge, I went over to Jase and gripped his wrist where he was clutching the railing. "Is he gone?"
"Man, Zach, you should have seen him going over that fence--he must be able to levitate! Scrawny little guy, too, maybe Eric's height and size." The sound of a siren detached itself from the background city noise.
"Jeez, now what are we going to do? How can any of us be safe in our beds at night if he's figured out how to reach the escape?"
"Um, Zach. . .I think I should tell you something", Jase said as the siren sound got closer.
"What?"
He reached out and tapped my privates lightly with his finger. The window behind us suddenly chose that moment to shut itself with a very solid-sounding thunk. Frantically, I spun around and tried to pry it up, but I couldn't find anything to give me purchase.
"Well," I said disgustedly, "at least we don't have to worry about our friend getting in without breaking the glass. . ."
Jase snickered as I hunched in his shadow, one hand covering myself. The car, a black-and-white police cruiser, pulled up to the curb and started to play its spotlight along the fence while one of the officers opened his door to get out.
"Quick, Zach, go over and rap on Kara's window--get her to let us in before they spot us!"
We edged our way silently backwards and I tapped at the glass with my knuckles, praying both that the sounds from the city would cover the noise up and that the police wouldn't spot us under the branches of the tree just yet. There was a noise behind us as the sash came up and Kara grabbed my hand. She was making strangled noises as we practically fell through her window, which was suddenly spot-lit in a harsh, white light. I covered my injured pride from my position on the floor, this time with both hands. Kara leaned out of the window in her nightgown and enthusiastically waved her version of an "everything's OK" signal to the cops.
She ducked in and looked down at us. "I got up after I heard noises outside the window, thinking you guys might be out there screwing around." She couldn't keep a straight face as I crawled away from the window. "You're lucky, I was about to throw a pitcher of ice water on you like the randy tomcats you both are!" There was a tentative knock at the door, as Chris asked if everything was ok.
"Well, we were trying to protect you from a prowler, and got stuck out there after our window fell shut."
She wagged her finger at me and went to open the door. "Honestly, Zach-- and you might as well stop covering the family jewels, I changed your diapers more times than I care to remember and patted that cute little bare bottom every single time." Jase grinned in the darkness; I swear I was going to pound them both for finding this so funny. Kara leaned out the door and told Chris to go back to bed, then shut the door and snickered.
" I could have taken care of him myself, if I'd spotted him first, although the idea of scaring him away by taking off all my clothes wouldn't have occurred to me." She sat down on her bed and collapsed in a fit of giggles.
Jase came over and took my hand. "Ok lover boy, let's find you some pants so you won't be arrested for public exposure when we go talk to the police." He towed me back to our room and, in good humor, patted my bottom a couple of times on the way.