Marie Sexton - Between Sinners And Saints by Marie Sexton

with an empty stomach and a head pounding with every heartbeat, he went back to bed. He saw the water, Alka-Seltzer, and ibuprofen Levi had brought to him. He’d completely forgotten about them. He took them all, then settled back into bed.
    Levi’s bed.
It was a queen-size bed, the same size he had at home, but it was taller. And somehow, deeper. It must have had one of those pillow-tops because Jaime felt like he could sink into it forever. The sheets were worn and soft and comfortable, the pillows were fluffy, and the comforter was thick and heavy. And everything— everything about it—smelled like Levi. It made him feel at ease, more than he had for a long time. He felt he might be able to take Levi’s strength, his bearing and his confidence, and wrap them around himself like a shield. He could hide in them forever. Nobody would ever know he was there at all.
He fell into a deep, dreamless slumber.
When he woke again, he was pleased to find he felt almost human. He was afraid to open his eyes, in case the light caused his head to pound again, but he stretched. He loved Levi’s bed. He had never imagined he might feel at ease in another man’s bed, but he did. It was more than just being comfortable. Somehow, it soothed him. Of course, it didn’t hurt that it smelled so damn good. He almost wanted to roll over and bury himself down into it again. He almost wanted to strip off his boxers and push his naked groin into Levi’s soft mattress. He thought about how good it would feel. Somehow the idea of letting Levi’s scent touch him there was unbelievably arousing. It would allow him to have a bit of Levi, without ever having to let Levi touch him. Without ever letting Levi hurt him.
“Hey, kid,” Levi’s sultry voice cut into his thoughts. “Hope I didn’t wake you.”
Jaime risked opening his eyes. Levi was standing at his closet wearing only a pair of shorts while looking for a shirt. His overgrown hair was wet from the shower and sticking to the back of his tan neck. He looked absolutely amazing.
“How do you feel?”
“Not bad,” Jaime said. “What time is it?”
“Almost eight. Your first client is at nine-thirty?”
“Yes. I need to get home.”
“Come on. I’ll drive you.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
Levi smiled at him. “I do, actually. My bike’s at your house.”
He waited until Levi left the room before he got out of bed and got dressed. Then he followed Levi out of his apartment and into Jaime’s car. He wasn’t even surprised when Levi got in the driver’s seat. It was strange, riding in the passenger seat of his own car. He’d never done that before. Except last night.
Last night!
For the first time, he thought about the night before.
He didn’t remember much. He remembered dinner and about half of the movie. After that, there were only random, disconnected images. He remembered Levi taking his keys. He remembered the drive-through at Wendy’s. He remembered talking on the couch. He remembered Levi carrying him into the bedroom. The memory made his heart race with panic, but then he remembered very clearly Levi saying, “I won’t hurt you.” And he remembered cuddling down into Levi’s fabulous bed.
“What happened last night?” he asked.
Levi laughed. “You don’t remember?”
“Not much. I don’t usually drink.”
“Yeah, I sort of figured.”
“We were on your couch?”
“For a while, yeah. We were talking. Then you decided you needed to go home, but you were way too drunk to drive. So I put you to bed.”
“Did I say anything really stupid?”
To his surprise, Levi blushed. “No,” he said, and it didn’t sound like a lie. “You’re a pretty mellow drunk.”
They reached his house and got out of the car. He held his hand out to Levi for his keys, but Levi didn’t hand them over. Instead, he stood looking at Jaime as if he was debating something.
“Do you work tomorrow?” Levi finally asked.
The question surprised him. “No,” he said. “I