Jaxon (Love In Ink #2)

1. Alex

I bang my palms on the steering wheel as I turn onto the freeway. Well, that was fucking disastrous. When my business partners informed me I had to meet with a potential investor, I was less than thrilled. I’m not the money guy. I’m the sit on your ass and play video games all day guy.

Trent, Billy and I met at college. We were all enrolled in the same computer science program. Trent is the money guy, Billy is the programmer, and I’m the game designer. In our final year of college, we developed our first video game, called House of Arrows. The game released and did pretty well for itself, including developing a small cult following. It performed well enough that creating a House of Arrows 2 is a real possibility. But in order to do that, we need more money, and Mr. Withermore is our way to get it… as long as I didn’t just fuck it up .

I’m the last person they should've sent to meet with him. What were they thinking?

Trent and Billy are based out of Boston, while I remained at home in Camden, Maine. My friends are here. Plus, it’s obvious from tonight’s events that my social skills are shit. I’ve always been stronger in smaller group settings, so staying close to home works well for me.

Trent is the one who was supposed to meet with Mr. Withermore, but no, Trent’s sister just happens to be getting married this weekend so he couldn’t make it. And Mr. Withermore just so happens to live near Camden, and since I'm closest, that left me as tribute.

I get it, when the guy with the money wants to meet, you meet. I just wish it wasn’t with me.

We prepared well, or so I thought. Trent had done all the research on Mr. Withermore, and gave me the cliff notes version when he emailed over all the game stats for House of Arrows. The intention was to show Mr. Withermore how well it performed, so he would be more inclined to invest.

Everything was going great. The sales of the previous game impressed him and he was interested, but I had to go and stick my foot in my mouth.

Trent mentioned that Mr. Withermore was a family man, so when he veered the conversation towards family, I panicked. I’m the last person who would fucking know anything about family.

Well… now I have an imaginary fiancé and I’m expected to bring him to a fundraiser that Harper Studios, that’s us , was invited to by Mr. Withermore in a couple weeks. Fuck my life!

I suppose I could ask anyone to be my fake fiancé. My best friend Spencer could do it. I’m sure he’s read enough of the fake fiancé trope in his romance novels to be an expert by now.

Errr, wait. Now that I think about it, that might not be the best idea. Just last week, Finn, his boyfriend, full on growled when Dom complimented Spencer on his makeup. And Dom is an intimidating man, pure muscle, standing well over 6 feet tall.

I let out a disturbingly big sigh. I wish someone would growl for me like that, but nope, I’m unhappily single. It’s not that I haven’t tried to find someone, but my taste in men differs from most .

I like them older, wiser. Perhaps someone you might be inclined to call daddy, if that’s your thing . A little salt and pepper for my spices, if you will. And if that person just happens to be Jaxon, the owner of Ink Me, then so be it. Just being in the vicinity of that man gives me a semi. Heck, just thoughts of him while I was driving to the meeting gave me a semi.

I’m almost home when my phone rings. My car is old, and I have to go the old school hands free way. That fucker is suction cupped to the dash. I answer, hitting the speaker button.

“Well, he didn’t say no,” I answer, looking at Trent’s name on the screen.

“Thank God!” he says, “Did he sound interested?”

My car starts making a high pitched squealing sound again, only this time it adds a few clunks in there for good measure. Shit! I’ve been meaning to take it in to get looked at.

“Dude, you there?”

“What? Yeah, sorry, I’m here… Yes, he sounded interested,” I finally say, turning my attention from the car back to Trent. “But he wants us to go to this stupid fundraiser thing next month and meet a couple of his colleagues,” I sigh, “and I’m expected to bring my fiancé.”

Silence

“Umm, Alex? You don’t have a fiancé.” I can practically hear Trent’s eyes bugging out of his head.

“I know, fuck, I panicked!”

My car begins to have its own minor panic attack, stuttering and jerking.

“Listen, I’ll call you tomorrow. My car is acting up.”

“Dude, why do you still have that thing?”

“I know, shut up!”

The call ends and I place my palm on Trixie’s dash, giving her gentle rubs. “Come on baby, you can do it, only a little bit further,” I say, willing her to make it into the parking lot of my building. I’m almost there. She won’t let me down.

Suddenly the whole car vibrates, then shudders to a stop. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Story of my life.

Okay, let’s look at the positives.

Well, let’s see… At least I’m only about 50 feet from the entrance and can push Trixie over to the side… of the….. What… the fuck ?

My eyes bug out of my head. The sky is lit up like a giant disco ball, but I don’t think there is a party going on.

In front of my building is a bunch of fire trucks and ambulances. What the fuck is going on? I get out of my now broken-down car and make my way towards the building. They have police tape surrounding all the entrances, with police officers and firefighters milling around.

Ms. Baker, my neighbor, is standing off to the side, talking with a few other residents whose names I don’t know.

I’ve lived at this apartment complex for a few years now, but I mostly keep to myself. I only know Ms. Baker because she is a nosy old lady who trapped me in the hallway one day until I talked to her. It’s a forced friendship, but I’ve caved to her old lady wit and charm and stopped fighting it.

“Hey Ms. Baker, what’s going on?”

“Oh, Alex dear, it’s a mess. They’re saying a pipe burst on the floor above your apartment.”

My eyes go wide and my heart starts to hammer in my chest. “Is it bad?”

She rests her hand on my arm. So, that’s a yes. “I’m afraid so, dear. I’ve been gone all day and just got home an hour ago. I opened my door and had over a foot of standing water in my kitchen.”

“Did they say anything about my place?” I ask, glancing at my apartment window. I see a few firefighters walking around my living room. Fuck, that doesn’t look good.

“I’m sorry, but I think you and I got the brunt of it. You maybe a little more so. I peeked in when they busted down your door and you had water pouring in from the ceiling.”

I gasp, and my stomach churns. Fuuuck! On a scale from 1 to 10 for how bad the damage to my apartment is, I’m assuming it’s an 11.

“The fire chief wants to speak to you,” she says, pointing over to a tall man with a round belly and a beard.

Make that 20!

I make my way over to the fire chief, standing off to the side while he talks to someone about turning the power off to a section of the building.

I take in the surrounding scene. It’s controlled chaos, people running in and out of the building barking orders .

The fire chief finishes with the person he’s talking to and turns to look at me.

“Hi, I was told you wanted to see me?” I say.

“Yes,” he flips through his clipboard, “Alex McKay?”

“Yes, sir. That’s me.”

“I hate to tell you, but your apartment took the biggest hit. They got the water to the building turned off, but it’s still seeping through from the apartment above.”

The ground is spinning. Why is the ground spinning? Oh yes, now I remember… My computer.

Shit. This is going to set us back.

“Did you have any animals?” he asks

“No animals. But I have a very important computer that has my life's work on it.”

“Well, sometimes you have to start over in life. I’m sorry, but from what I’m being told, the ceiling gave way in the office bedroom. It’s a complete loss.”

Fuck a duck.

“When do you think I will be able to go in?”

“It’ll be at least a day or two. If you don’t hear anything in a couple of days, give us a call,” he says, handing me a card out of his pocket before turning to talk with another officer.

Needing to get away from all the commotion so I can think, I walk back to my piece of shit blue car and slide into the driver’s seat. I take a couple of deep breaths before slamming my hands down on the useless steering wheel. “Shit, Shit, Shit.”

Okay, options… What do I got?

Trent and Billy are in Boston, so obviously that won’t work. Our meeting scheduled for tomorrow morning just got a lot more complicated, that’s for sure.

Jules is out of town with Mira. I’m likely to get my face punched in if I interrupt God knows whatever they are doing.

That leaves Spencer, and I hate having to call him. He just opened Dragonfly Cafe, which is connected to the bookstore he owns, Dragonfly Books. A cafe and a bookstore, come on, it's ingenious. Spencer has been putting in long hours, and I don’t want to add to his stress, but he’s my only option at the moment.

Exhaling, I take my phone out of my pocket and call my best friend.

“Hey Alex, what’s up?”

“Oh ya know, nothing much.”

“Alex, what’s going on?” he says, in that What did you do? tone.

“I didn’t do anything, but the pipes in my apartment building may have done something.”

Spencer gasps, “What happened?”

“Ugh, fuck my life. Evidently, a pipe burst over my apartment and it flooded.”

“How bad?” Spencer asks

“Eh, the ceiling may have caved in. I won’t know the true extent of the damage for a few days, but the fire dude hinted at a total loss.” I say, with a hint of defeat quivering in my voice.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry Alex. Are you okay, did you get hurt?”

“Nope,” I say, popping the p. “See, I was at a business meeting with a big investor. It went great. Well, except for the fact that I now have a fake fiancé, so maybe not so great.”

“Ummm, Alex?”

Why does everyone keep saying that? “Yes, I know. Now I have to find a fiancé.”

“Okay, so we’re going to unpack that later. Why don’t you come here? You can stay with me and Finn.”

“I can just get a hotel, it's…”

“No!” he says, cutting me off. “You will not get a hotel. You’re staying with us. We have plenty of room. Just come here. I’m at the bookstore. I’ll give you the keys.”

“Well, that is very kind of you. But, umm, my car may have also broken down and I might need someone to come get me.”

“Oh my God, you can’t make this shit up.” Spencer says with a laugh. “And here I thought I was the one…”

“Don’t even say it, twinkle toes. I, at least, have never fallen down a flight of stairs. ”

He sighs like a lovesick puppy, because that is exactly what he is. “It was worth it.”

I sigh right along with him. Spencer and Finn are fucking adorably cute. Watching them together makes me wish for something like that. I just want someone to cuddle with on nights like tonight when my life is going to shit.

“Listen, Finn is sitting here with the guys from Ink Me. I’ll have him run over and pick you up. Just sit tight, okay?”

“Like I have anywhere else to go, or even any way to get there,” I grumble, hanging up my phone and tossing it on the dash.

This is pretty much the story of my life. Everything is always falling apart around me.

I look over at the patio door and see firefighters diving out of the way as my living room ceiling caves in. Everything is literally falling apart before my eyes.

Letting out a groan I grip the leather steering wheel with my hands and press my forehead against it. Well fuck! Me and this steering wheel are getting very acquainted today.

When my parents kicked me out at sixteen because they didn’t agree with my “life choices”, it left me constantly unsure about where I would lay my head at night or where I was going to find my next meal.

Here I am, 25 years old and still trying to figure it out. The only difference is that I now have some money saved up and I could get by for a little while. That feeling never goes away, though, always niggling at the back of your brain.

I need to hug some puppies, like stat!

When I’m feeling overwhelmed, I like to go to the animal shelter and let my brain go back to the basics. I like playing with puppies. And don’t even get me started on cuddles from a certain old dog. Yes, I like cuddles.

I always wanted a dog growing up, but our household was too prim and proper for “silly little things” like a family pet. My mother’s words, not mine. I always told myself that if I got a house someday, I would get a dog. Until then, I go love up on some animals who desperately need it at the local shelter .

Which reminds me, I should text Marge and let her know I won't be making it in for a while. Then my thoughts turn to Chester and my heart cracks a little. He will get extra hugs.

I lean my head back against the headrest and close my eyes. I pull at the stupid black and white necktie that is threatening to choke me, these dress pants are uncomfortable, and don’t even get me started on these shoes. Then it hits me. I’m going to have to live in this outfit for the rest of my life.

Fuck! I have no clothes.

I climb out of the car, heading around back and popping the trunk. Please, please, please let me have something in here I can wear.

I see an old pair of tennis shoes shoved in the back corner. Okay, that works. It’s at least something. As I reach in further to grab the shoes, I hear the voice of the one person I would least want seeing me in this rock bottom situation.

“Alex?”

No! What is he doing here?

It only takes one second to sink in before my head pops up.

“Ouch,” I hiss, when my head bangs on the lid of the trunk. Rubbing the back of my head, I turn and face the man of my dreams. The man that I’ve been lusting over for a year. The man who will never look at me the same way.

“Hey, ah Jaxon, how are you?”