Loving Jay by Renae Kaye Read Free Book Online Page B

easily? I’ll have you know that I am up before four so that I have time to get ready properly.”
    Four? Like four in the morning? Like four hours after midnight? “How the hell can you take that long to get ready?” The train was pulling in, sending streams of freezing air swirling around the platform. I shivered and pulled my coat tighter as I stood. “What the hell do you do? Make your clothes from scratch or something?”
    We boarded and settled in our usual seats. “Oh daahling, you have no idea of what a man has to go through in the morning to get the perfect image!” I shook my head at his “daahling.” It often peppered his speech when he was teasing. It didn’t bother me at all. Strange.
    “I’d rather snuggle in bed than be messing with my hair or chucking goo on my face.”
    I grinned to myself as Jay’s soapbox made yet another appearance. “It is not goo! I’ll have you know that I use the finest, most pure products available on the market. No harsh chemicals for this skin! And no animal testing, either. I just can’t stand to think of those poor bunnies having their skin burnt and all just so we can have some new cosmetic. I hate animal testers with a passion. I cannot believe what they will subject animals to. They ought to all be burned at the stake. Or at least taken out and chained naked in a room full of hungry rats. They have no hearts. No hearts, I tell you!”
    I listened to his passionate defense of poor bunnies and the agony he would submit the scientists to for the next two stops before I’d had enough. I butted in.
    “Jay! Enough with the bunnies.”
    He dribbled to a stop and looked at me beseechingly. “But they are being tortured.”
    “I know, dude. But I don’t wear anything on my face apart from soap and water, so you can’t blame me.”
    “Really?” He looked at me closely, his finger coming up lightly to caress my cheek before quickly pulling away. Oh, shiver! “You don’t wear moisturizer or anything like that? But your skin is so smooth. Tell me you at least use an exfoliator?”
    I frowned at him. “A what?”
    He stared at me as if I had announced that Adolf Hitler was receiving a Nobel Peace prize. “Oh, daahling. Your education is sadly lacking! Don’t you have sisters?”
    I shook my head. “Nope. Just four brothers.”
    He tilted his head at me. “Never fear! You now have a gay friend who knows all about these things. I will pick something up for you to try and you will be amazed at the difference!”
    “Ahh, Jay? I don’t do makeup, dude. Now the stuff looks great on you, but it is waay beyond my comfort zone. You feel me?”
    He tittered—I don’t know how he did it, but the laugh could only be described as a titter. “Relax! Just a little moisturizer to start off with. No makeup.”
    I wasn’t quite sure about his “to start off with,” but he distracted me with some news. “Anyway, I have to tell you before I forget; I won’t be on the train tomorrow so you don’t have to worry about my mocha.”
    “Oh.” I was terrified at how disappointed I felt.
    “Yeah. My grandma has emphysema and can’t drive any more. So we all take it in turns to drive her to her doctor appointments. It’s my turn tomorrow.”
    “Shit. I’m sorry. Is she bad?”
    He simply waved away my sympathy. “Tsk! She’s been dying for years, man. Still smokes like a chimney. She’ll outlive us all!”
    “So you’re taking the day off?”
    “Nah. Just the morning. Harry will still need me to do Wrap-Up.” He’d talked about his job and I was fascinated with how much work went into a three-hour program. I thought that radio announcers simply chucked on a couple of CDs with some ads in between and made up the rest of the stuff on the fly. But Jay had taught me different. He was Harry’s right-hand man. He did everything for Harry, from making his coffee to fan mail to security. He would spend chunks of his day finding information about Harry’s up-and-coming