Chapter Eight
Quince watched Jathan go through every emotion possible throughout the night.
He thought maybe he should feel something about hearing from his dad after twelve long years.
Maybe he would if the man had chosen anything else at all to say.
Of course, he hadn’t, though. That was his old man—a bastard through and through.
He hadn’t thought much about his family in a long time.
Quince didn’t like looking back on his childhood.
His dad had been low key physically abusive and high key mentally abusive.
Quince had run for his life at eighteen.
Steel was the only reason he had gotten free.
They had gone to high school together and had been equally motivated to get the fuck out of their small town.
Unlike Quince, Steel had come from money—as far as small-town money went.
His dad was the local steel mill owner who employed everyone within forty miles…
so about two hundred people. Steel had been his best friend and had access to all the high-dollar latest technology.
His dad had put Steel to work at thirteen.
He paid the kid good but worked him half to death.
Turned out, whatever that home life was like, it was enough to beef Steel up to six-two and two fifty-five of pure muscle, line his pockets with a huge nest egg, and pay for all the tech skills needed to walk away at nineteen.
Since Quince had been right at his side nearly all their lives, he had walked away right next to him.
Quince had been Steel’s very first employee.
Together, they had landed some huge fucking contracts.
Unfortunately, a decade later, everyone knew how that story ended: with a client dead and Quince done with playing hero.
Now here he was again, watching someone’s back while they walked their mom to the door.
The thing was, back in the day, Quince had really loved this job.
He had honestly thought he was good at it, and he had felt a sense of purpose.
It was dangerous, but important. There were real people trapped behind the fame.
Good people like Jathan. He didn’t deserve to live in fear, all because he loved basketball and was good at it.
But some batshit insane person out there probably thought Jathan made eye contact with him once or sent subliminal messages through his TV screen.
Who knew what went on in people’s heads?
No matter how it happened, obsessed people did desperate things, and Quince felt more than his old sense of duty.
This was personal. Jathan was his. He couldn’t let anyone harm him.
Quince had watched Jathan stop and take more selfies and sign more autographs than usual tonight.
The entire time, his heart had been in his throat, wondering if every face he saw was the person who had their sights set on Jathan.
The moment they were alone and locked inside Jathan’s Hummer, Quince was across the seat and on him. His heart needed soothing.
Sometimes, it struck him at the most random moments how much he had changed and how quickly it had happened. All it had taken was the right person and Quince was ready to do everything he had never done and feel all the things he had never felt. He was falling hard as hell for Jathan.
Jathan ran his fingers through Quince’s hair. “We should definitely get back to my place.”
Quince had to force himself to pull away. “Yeah. I need to see how bad those ribs look now.”
A loud snort came from Jathan’s side of the car. “You’re really not going to let this go, are you?”
A huge grin split Quince’s face as he pulled away from Jan’s house. “I’m really not going to let this go. Someone has to look out for you since you won’t.”
“Oh, dang. It’s almost eleven. Steel said that German guy will be at my place then. I’d hope to drag you to bed, but I guess not.”
“He won’t care if we go straight to bed. It’s not your job to entertain him. In fact, if we’re in bed, then he’s free to roam the property or watch TV. Whatever. Maybe he can stake out the garage and catch this person.”
“That is the best-case scenario, really. One night of security and problem solved.”
Quince shot him an annoyed look. Jathan really thought he could just catch this guy and go back to life as usual.
Jathan burst out laughing. “Your face. Jesus. I can practically hear you cursing at me in your head. Don’t worry. I don’t intend to drop security whenever this person is caught. It would just be nice to be out from underneath this worry. I’m not used to feeling threatened.”
That was because he was so damn nice, he wouldn’t recognize a threat if it bit him. Quince wouldn’t be surprised if this wasn’t the guy's first stalker, but they gave up from frustration after Jathan was too blind to notice he was being stalked.
Jathan ran his hand down Quince’s arm. “I know I don’t show it, but I appreciate you worrying about me. That’s just a new feeling for me. I’m used to everything being on me.”
Quince tossed a glance Jathan’s way. He wished he was better with words.
“Yeah, well. I kind of like you.” Their fingers linked.
Quince’s chest swelled with pride and something else.
“Maybe I more than like you. I guess it’s kind of dumb.
” He was glad to be driving. He didn’t have to look at Jathan.
“You’ve been coming around the ranch for over a year now, teasing me.
Making me feel things. I think that’s made me feel closer to you than I should this early in things.
” He would scare Jathan if he kept going.
Quince needed to stop. “Anyhow, I told you I was clingy, and you’ll maybe run screaming from this relationship. ”
“No. I get what you’re saying. It’s like we danced around each other or something, just enough to feel like we were already dating. Now I sound crazy.”
Actually, that was the perfect description. “You sound like you’re better at describing what I was trying to say. We don’t feel new. I feel like you’ve been mine, and I just didn’t have the nerve to admit it.”
“Yeah.” The softly spoken word sounded like a caress. “You feel a lot like my forever person.”
Quince looked his way as they waited for the gate to open at Jathan’s subdivision. Their gazes met and held. “Yeah. Same.”
They shared a smile before Quince went back to driving. A motorcycle sat at the curb in front of Jathan’s house and a man inspected the outside of the garage.
Before Quince had time to go on full alert, Jathan piped up. “Oh. That looks like the guy Steel sent me a picture of earlier: German.”
Quince was beyond relieved he was already there. He was more than ready to take Jathan to bed and hold him. He slowed as he pulled into the driveway and rolled down the window as he neared German.
German approached the car. “Hey. Sorry I’m a little early. Steel was telling me about how it was your garage this guy keeps getting in, so I wanted to check it out. Oh, I’m German.” He was the typical guard: big, mean-looking, yet personable.
Jathan leaned toward the open window. “Hey, German. It’s nice to meet you. You can pull your bike into the garage, if you’d like. There’s plenty of room.”
He nodded. “Sounds good. I’ll meet you in there in a second and we’ll quickly go over a few things. I’m sure you’re ready for bed.”
“Definitely.”
Quince didn’t miss the undertone.
He smirked without thinking.
German looked his way and walked away with laughter dancing in his eyes. Yeah. He would be a good fit for Jathan.
Jathan dug out his phone and clicked around while they slowly pulled into the garage. “I’m just setting this up so the door doesn’t close behind us and German can pull in.”
That reminded him of something he had meant to ask earlier. “You said there’s a guy who comes by to take your cars out on rotation, and someone was here earlier to drop off your mail. How many people have access to your home?”
Jathan made a noise—like he thought it over—as he slipped from the Hummer. “Let me see.”
Quince followed behind him.
Jathan made it three steps and froze. A guy dressed in all black who looked no more than twenty stepped into the open. His nose and eyes were red, as if he had been crying. “What are you doing with him? You’re supposed to be mine.”
Quince moved to put himself bodily between the two. He made it two steps before the guy had a gun pointed at him. It didn’t shake. He fully intended to kill someone.
“You stay where you are. This is all your fault. I know you seduced him. Jathan would never hurt me otherwise.”
“Look at me, Isaac.”
The kid’s gaze snapped to Jathan. It was obvious Jathan knew him. There was so much love in Isaac’s expression when he looked at Jathan that it was terrifying. There was no way everyone in this room would walk away from this.
“Talk to me, Isaac. Tell me what’s going on.”
It was obvious Jathan kept saying Isaac’s name to emphasize he knew him and to keep Isaac’s focus.
“I saw him kiss you. Everyone did. Why would you let him do that?” The more he spoke, the higher his voice went.
Jathan wouldn’t be talking him down from this.
“I’ve been really good to you. I know you’ve gotten my gifts.
What has he given you?” He took a step closer, shaking the gun at Jathan.
Quince eased closer.
“Drop the gun!”
At German’s appearance, Quince saw the moment Isaac lost hope. Quince leapt, throwing himself in front of Jathan.
“I’m sorry.”