"Happy birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy birthday dear JAAAAAAXonnnnn! Happy Birthday to you!"
We all sang to him and waited for him to blow out the candles on his birthday cake. I insisted on a birthday cake or dessert for any birthday party hosted at my house. In our mid to late 20's all, and perhaps too old for candles to some. But I loved the tradition of it too much to let it go. And I don't care what anybody says, I think secretly most people enjoy having their birthday acknowledged.
Jaxon leaned forward and blew out all his candles.
"Now ...BIRTHDAY SHOTS!!" Kayden roared, as he grabbed Jaxon by the shoulders and spun him around to the counter that we used as a bar. I began cutting up the cake with an eye roll as everyone lined up along the counter and Kayden poured them their shots. Kayden is a firm believer that every year you celebrate by doing a shot for every year you have lived so far. He claims it is an important tradition in every man's life. I claim he's going to die of liver failure. But anyway.
I cut up the cake and started putting pieces on paper plates. Someone turned the music back on and I swayed my hips to the beat while I worked. I had known Jaxon for almost as long as I had known Kayden. And we had definitely been friends for longer. Jaxon had been dating one of my best friends in high school. He was older than we were and more responsible than the boys our age. He was the first boy that I really looked at as a fully rounded person instead of a different species. Jaxon was easy to talk to, and refreshingly honest. Whenever I didn't understand something a boy said or did, I checked with him to get perspective. As I mentioned before, he was dating a good friend of mine when we first met. By the time they had broken up I was dating someone else. Then we split ways for college, though we did visit each other a couple times. Over all the years we had never been single at the same time, and maybe that's why we became such good friends without becoming anything more.
I turned back to look at my friend as the shot glasses got slammed back down on the counter's surface. He's a good looking man, tall and thin with a kind of back alley air to him. And knowing him as well as I do, I know that some of those scars on his leanly muscled body are indeed from fights and back alleys. I thought about him blowing out his candles and making a birthday wish, and made a wish for him of my own. 'I want him to find his soulmate. Some girl that will make him smile more. Wherever she is, I hope she hurries her ass up.'
I finished slicing the cake and grabbed a plate for myself before moving over to the couch in the adjoining living room. I moaned as I put the first forkful of "Better-than-Sex Cake" in my mouth, and savored the sticky sweet flavor of it. Probably the wrong cake to make for a diabetic; seeing as it is drizzled with sweetened condensed milk and caramel sauce. But Jaxon had said to make whatever my favorite cake was so there had only been one way to go from there. As I finished my cake I licked my fork clean and even started delicately swiping my finger through the sauce on the plate to lick that off too. From behind me I heard a low voice quietly say, "Ya know I don't think I've ever been jealous of a fork before today." Conner's breath tickled over my shoulder.
I laughed and tried not to blush, "I couldn't help it, it's just SO good." I turned my head to smile at him and discovered he had knelt behind the couch to talk to me. So his face was much closer to mine than I thought it would be. His eyes were a lighter blue than my own. But I wouldn't call them icy or grey. I noticed he had long eyelashes for a man, then I noticed that his eyes were looking down at my lips. My smile gained a bit of a sultry edge at that and I felt a tingle of power swirl through my chest.
"Do I have crumbs on my face?" I joked.
His gaze flicked back up to meet mine, "No! No of course not. I was just thinking about how it would taste." Conner said as he leaned back on his heels in order to stand up.
"I can get you a slice of cake if you want to try it." I said as I stood up also.
Conner smiled and winked at me. "That's okay, I already know what the cake tastes like," he said in a quieter voice. I almost couldn't be sure that's what he had said over the noise of the party. He glanced at my lips again and turned away.
Either it was hotter in the house than it felt to me, or he had a bit of a blush on his cheeks. I went and set my dish in the sink and as I walked, I could feel the heat in my body building. But it had more to do with Conner's blushing than the thermostat.
Jaxon's birthday party was a success. We played drunk Jenga, King's Cup, and Cards against humanity. The music was great and the liquor was flowing. Nobody got sick and nobody spilled on the carpet, thank God! Jaxon passed out in his favorite spot on the couch and it made me smile. He ended up there almost every time we partied.
I was pretty seriously buzzed myself but I frowned as I thought back. I couldn't remember seeing Jaxon check his blood on his Glucose Meter at all during the party. Concerned, I walked over to him and knelt down near his head. I shook his shoulder.
"Jaxon. Jaxon buddy wake up! Did you check your blood recently?" I asked.
He moaned and turned his face away. His skin felt cold to the touch and kind of clammy. I saw the bulge in his pocket and so I fished my hand around in there and pulled out his little glucose meter.
"Jaxon I need to see you check your blood so I don't worry about you okay?"
He growled at me. To this day I don't know what made me do it, Jaxon and I had never shared more than a hug before. If it's just because I was drunk and it seemed like the best solution at the time. Or if all the innuendo and sexy dancing had just made me too horny for logic. But I knew there was at least one way to wake a man up that would keep him from being mad at me. I pulled my friend's shirt up until his belly button and hip bone indents were exposed and started running my fingernails over his skin, then I bent over him and started kissing and sucking on his neck.
"Jaxon," I breathed huskily, "wake up buddy." I nuzzled his throat and moved down to nip at his collarbone. I let my fingertips dip under the waistband of his jeans, exploring. Teasing.
I heard a sharp intake of breath and felt him sucking in so I could slide my hand further down his pants. I kept my touch near his waistband though, just crossing the edge. "There we go," I whispered enjoying myself. He tasted salty and manly in the best way. "Wake up and check your blood for me Jaxon." I let my breath ghost over his ear just before I traced the outer rim of his ear with the very tip of my tongue. He turned his head to face me then and I pulled away and made a pouty face at him.
"Please?" I asked again.
