Indecent Proposal

Chapter 7: Intervention

"I am not going to dinner," I have said this seven times.

"We can't avoid them forever, you said that yourself," Jonah reminds me.

"I changed my mind," I retort.

"I'm going with or without you Jake."

He knows I won't let him go alone. And I know he's right. The longer we avoid the family the worse it gets for us. We have to go to our parent's house for weekly dinner. "Fine. But we're going as a couple."

"Yes," Jonah agrees.

My fingers are wrapped tight around Jonah's as we step to the front door. I can already tell something is off when I knock and try to open it. It's locked. I am immediately worried that they've locked us out and do not want us there. Then I hear voices inside. My father, my mother. And a female voice I don't recognize. I hear the lock release and the door opens. Our mother greets us with a strained smile. She looks down and sees us holding hands. She opens her eyes wide and shakes her head. It is a message. We understand it and let go as we walk in.

In the living room our father is talking to the woman who's voice I did not recognize. He turns to us and does not greet us with the usual warm hug or even a cold hello.

"This is doctor Vogel." He points to the strange woman in our living room. "She specializes in sexuality."

I want to run. Jonah grabs my arm and keeps me steady but the movement calls even more attention to us. The doctor nods and mom and dad start to leave the room.

"Stay right there," Jonah yells at them.

"Please, sit," the doctor tries to sound soothing but my nerves are on edge. I don't sit, Jonah stays next to me with his hand wrapped around my wrist, his eyes are staring daggers at our parents. "Your parents are just trying to help you," the doctor continues.

"Help us with what, exactly?" Jonah does not look at the doctor, he continues to stare down mom and dad.

"You need to understand that what you're doing is wrong," dad answers him.

The words are starting to jumble in my head and I feel the room begin to spin. My heart is beating so fast I think it is going to burst out of my chest.

"I have to get out of here," I whisper to Jonah. I don't know if he has heard me, he hasn't moved. The walls begin to close in around me and I am breathing hard. I pull away from Jonah and push past my parents as I head down the hallway toward our old room. I am stumbling and holding on to the wall as I go. I reach the bedroom and collapse on the twin bed that used to be mine. I cannot make my heart rate slow down and I am starting to hyperventilate. I pull my legs up to my chest and try to steady myself. I feel the bed sag as someone sits on it. My eyes focus enough to see that it is Jonah.

"I need to go home," I croak out. "Take me home."

"Okay, babe, okay," Jonah is stroking my cheek but he hasn't moved. Why haven't we moved? He finally stands up and I try to follow him, but my head is still spinning and my breathing is ragged. I collapse back onto the bed. Jonah stands over me and leans down. I feel his arms slide under me and I am lifted off the bed. I fall against his chest and breathe him in, safe in his warmth.

"I am taking him home, we will not be back, ever," Jonah's voice sounds far away. I do not hear anyone else. I feel the cool air hit me as we step outside. "It's okay, Jake, breathe, baby, just breathe, please." I don't realize I have been holding my breath. I let it out and when I pull in more air I nearly choke. My heart will not stop beating hard and loud in my chest and ears. "Can you stand, I need to get you in the car," Jonah's voice is still far away but I nod, hoping I understand what he's asking. He sets me down next to passenger's side and leans me against the cold steel. He keeps one arm around my waist, and I am grateful for it, my legs feel like jell-o. Jonah gets the car door open and carefully guides me into the seat. He leans over me and buckles me in.

I wake up in my bed. Jonah is asleep next to me, his hand resting on my chest. His eyes open as soon as he feels me move. They are red and puffy. My heart constricts and I suck in a breath. "I'm so sorry Jake," his voice is shaky.

"For what?" I press my hand against his cheek and hold it there. The sadness in his eyes is killing me.

"It's all my fault," he looks away.

"What?"

"I'm sorry I pushed us into this," Jonah says, still not looking at me. "All of it." He shakes his head. "Jesus, from the beginning I've been pulling us in this direction. I should have just let you continue with college and become whatever it is you wanted to be. But I lead you into this business. I was selfish. I'm sorry."

I have no idea what he's talking about and I make him look at me. "Jo, I love you. You're my best friend. I will follow you wherever you go. You know me. You know that I would not have agreed to join the business if I didn't want to. You're not making sense."

"You wouldn't have agreed to do what that client wanted if you had taken the call instead of me," his eyes are filling with tears. "You would have said no and never even told me."

"Hey." I sit up and hold his face in my hands. "Everything is alright now. I panicked. They were trying to separate us and I freaked out. Doesn't that tell you how much I want this?"

"I'm sorry for that too, making you go there when you clearly knew it was a bad idea."

"Jo. None of this is your fault," I try to assure him. And I mean the words. But his sadness is still there and it hurts my heart to see him this way. "Hey, what's going on?"

"I hate what I've done to you," his words tear through me. What he's done to me? Does he mean falling in love, making love, being together? "Jake. I've been in love with you since we were twelve. Everything I've done has been to be closer to you. You have no idea how excited I was when that billionaire came along. You have no idea how hard it was for me to ask you if you'd do it. Not because of the money or letting the client down. But because I wasn't sure what you'd say. And I didn't know what hearing you say no would do to me."

His tears are falling freely now. I pull him close to me and hold him against my chest. "Jonah, I love you with every bit of my heart and soul. Maybe I didn't know that until the client came along, maybe I did and have been in denial. I've certainly never passed up a chance to be with you, if you haven't noticed. I've never said no, to anything we've done over the years. Yeah, it was my idea to add in the no-touching clause, but I didn't really fight very hard to get rid of it once I knew what I was missing. I'm sorry it took me so long to figure it out. But we're here now, together, and no amount of therapy, forced or voluntary, is going to change how I feel."

"I was so scared Jake," he is sobbing. I don't like that I'm partially to blame for it. "I thought you were dying, you weren't breathing, you were clutching your chest. I started to head straight to the hospital, but you wouldn't let me."

I don't remember any of that. I remember we were at our parents house and a there was a shrink there. I remember the walls closing in on me, I remember Jonah carrying me to the car. And that's it. "I'm okay Jo."

I'm not sure how to make him feel better but I know I need to do something. I press my lips against his and hold them there. He leans into me and I open my mouth to let his tongue find mine. I taste the salt of his tears mixed with the sweetness that is all his own. I climb on top of him and feel his skin against mine. It is warm and soft and everything I want. I let my hands explore his body, taking my time with every movement. He sighs into my mouth as I brush the tips of my fingers against the skin under the band of his briefs. I can feel him getting hard against my thigh. "Make love to me," his soft voice and warm breath against my ear are all I need to continue.

His legs are wrapped around my waist and I am kissing him gently on the lips, neck and chin. My fingers are carefully massaging his hole. His light moans drive me forward and make my dick harder. I slowly slide into him and feel his ass close around me, pulling me deeper, making us both groan in pleasure. I take my time easing in and out of him, moving my hips against him, kissing him as often as I can while still being able to breathe. "Yes, more, don't stop," his words encourage me. "Oh god, Jake," he says my name as his body shudders and convulses under me. Seeing him in total and utter ecstasy sends me over the edge and I cum inside him.

"I love you Jonah," I whisper into his ear as my breathing relaxes.

I'm just finishing my breakfast when the business phone rings. I look at Jonah and he reaches for it so that I don't have to.

"Hello." He pauses. "Why are you calling this number, mom?"

I look up at him, my eyes wide. He shrugs at me.

"He's fine," Jonah's voice is cold. "I take very good care of him," he says this with vitriol and innuendo all rolled into one. "You maybe should have thought of that before you brought that woman into your house. I have to go, we're fine, thank you for calling," his voice has no indication that he means the thank you part but he definitely means that he is not staying on the phone. He sets it down and smiles at me. "Neither of us were answering our phones so she went to the Web site and found our business number."

She went to the Web site. At first I am terrified by this and then I realize it is very funny. Our site is professional and clean and uses terms like date, appointment, contract. There is nothing about it that screams sex work. Our clients are either already aware or are sent there by referral. Even our pictures are clean. We send nudes by request and only when we've been through several other steps. The idea that our mother had to go through the process of not knowing what she'd find when she went there is very entertaining, though I do feel bad getting enjoyment out of it.

Several hours later the business phone rings again. Adam is at the house and he and Jonah are playing a round of NHL15 on the PS4. I grab the phone and head out of the room so that their gamer screams do not disturb the call.

"Hello," I am professional and bright, despite feeling otherwise.

"You really need to learn to answer your personal phones," Rich's voice comes through the earpiece.

"Maybe we're not answering on purpose Rich," I snap back at him. "Was there something you needed or did you just call to harass us?"

"Mom left dad," Rich says.