31. Jake
Chapter 31
Jake
A fter Dylan made his sister change her top — twice — we pile into his Challenger and head for Phoenix’s. He lives on the outskirts of town on a small farm. Not many people know it, but Phoenix used to be a professional bull rider. He entered the circuit at eighteen and was forced to leave at twenty-two after one too many kicks to the face. The last one left him with three fractured vertebra, a broken eye socket, and a jaw that had to be wired shut for six weeks.
Thankfully, he used that huge brain of his to realize careers in the Pbr are short and he’d need something to fall back on eventually anyway, so he went to college part-time while he competed on the circuit. When he got out, he transitioned to being a full-time student to finish his degree, but sitting at a desk really didn’t satisfy the need for adrenaline in him so he started as a volunteer firefighter. He finished his degree in chemical engineering at the age of twenty-four, combined his degree with a need he saw in the field, patented it, became rich as fuck, bought a farm, went to work full-time for the fire department, and here we are.
We pull onto the gravel road that will take us to his house and Cassie says, “I didn’t even know places like this existed so close to us.”
“This place is his pride and joy. You should see it during the day.”
When we pull up to the house, much like the outing at Noah Kinkaid’s, we’re the last ones here.
My friends are obnoxious — at least Hudson and Phoenix are — so I should have expected what comes next.
Phoenix rips the cherry-stained, wooden front door open and holds his arms wide, grinning from ear to ear, causing me to groan and grip Dylan’s hand tighter.
“Jesus Christ. Just get it out. I know you’ve got to be dying inside.” I roll my eyes.
In his best Godfather accent, he says, “How could you keep this from me?”
“That’s not even a line from the movie, you idiot.” I want to be annoyed, but I can’t help but laugh.
It only takes Phoenix another half-second to realize we’ve brought female company and he’s moving on from the excitement of my homosexuality.
He races down the steps of his wraparound front porch and dramatically walks right through Dylan and I, forcing us to let go of each other’s hands as he grabs Cassie’s hand, gets down on one knee and asks her to marry him before he even says hello or introduces himself.
She giggles. “Well, that’s a no from me, but mostly because I’m a city girl and I’m moving soon, but I like your enthusiasm…and your face isn’t half bad.” She smiles and Dylan and I share a look at the fact that her hand is still resting in Phoenix’s.
“My face pales in comparison to the rest of my body,” Phoenix says cheekily. His gaze swings to Dylan. “I’m just saying, I was right, dude. You make a hot-as-fuck girl.”
“Watch it,” Dylan growls next to me and fuck do I love that sound.
“Phoe, can we go inside? I came to play poker not watch you crash and burn with my boyfriend’s sister.” Dylan and I have resumed holding hands and I reach behind me for Cassie to take my other one.
She steps around Phoenix and links her fingers with mine as we climb the steps.
“Oh, come on,” Phoenix calls behind us. “Why does he get both?” He’s still muttering as he starts up the steps behind us. “Twins are hot. I might not even mind a dude and a chick if they looked like these two.”
“We can hear you, you know,” I deadpan.
“I hope you can,” he says, laughing and putting me at ease. I much prefer his jokes about lusting after my boyfriend to him shunning us, judging us, or acting totally weird.
Inside, we slip off our jackets and find the rest of the guys around Phoenix’s dining room table.
“Hey guys. This is Cassie, Dylan’s sister,” I introduce.
There’s a chorus of names and nice to meet yous before Phoenix pipes up as he grabs a chair from the kitchen and adds it to the table right next to his own chair. “I don’t want any of you fools looking at my woman,” he says, guiding her to the new seat.
Too late, two other pairs of eyes have locked in on Cassie’s round ass, plentiful chest, long black hair and...
“Fucking hell, where do you guys get those eyes?” Hudson says.
Dylan and Cassie share a look before answering in unison. “Our grandfathers.”
Everyone takes their seat and Knox speaks for the first time, making everyone grow serious and quiet.
“Were you ever going to tell us?” He takes a long pull from his beer bottle. He sounds… hurt?
“I didn’t plan to ever tell anyone,” I admit, rubbing Dylan’s thigh under the table as a silent apology for almost denying us, both, what we have now.
“How’d your dad take it?” Hudson asks, mirroring Knox’s serious tone.
“Poorly. I’ll be out of a job in two weeks. But it could’ve been a lot worse. I wouldn’t have put it past him to start throwing punches or something stupid.”
“Tell me something, Jakey,” Phoenix starts and I groan because I have no idea where this is going. “Did you ever have a crush on me? Even the tiniest one?”
Conceited bastard. Of course, he’d want to know if I thought he was hot. The truth is Phoenix is attractive. Stupidly so. But he’s not my type.
Deciding to fuck with him, because that’s what best friends do, I keep my face straight and shrug. “Nah, I had a thing for Knox early on, but knew I could never act on it.”
Knox sprays the table with his most recent sip of beer, making me double over in laughter.
“ Jesus , Knox, I was kidding. If you must know, I find you all hideous.”
Hudson cracks up at this before pinning me with a stare. “No wonder you got so uptight when I was looking at Dylan’s tattoo on the boat.”
“Dude, he was pulling his trunks down and you were less than an inch from his dick. Of course I was uptight,” I point out.
“How long’s it been going on?” Knox asks, slightly more relaxed as he wipes his beer from the table.
“What is this, the Inquisition?” I fire back. “Are we going to play poker or would you rather grill me about the sordid details of my sex life?”
“I’ll pass,” Phoenix says, turning to face Cassie. “But I wouldn’t mind hearing about yours.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Dylan scrubs a hand down his face and I pat his forearm and lean to whisper in his ear.
“I think Cassie can handle her own with this one.”
She proves me right three hands later when she distracts Phoenix by flirting with him as she raises the bid. He’s so in to her he just keeps throwing chips and she damn near cleans him out with a royal flush.
I honestly think it makes him like her even more.
The two of them look like night and day, her with her dark skin and hair next to Phoenix with his blonde hair and green eyes. Phoenix looks more like a frat boy than a cowboy, but I should know better than most, you can’t judge a book by its cover.
During a brief intermission, I head to the kitchen to refill the salsa bowl while others use the restroom, grab another beer, etc… when I feel Dylan’s arms wrap around my waist.
“This is nice,” he murmurs in my ear. “Not hiding. Having people know. Just being able to be ourselves.” His hands move to my thighs as he talks.
I turn in his arms, pressing my hips into him. “You’d better stop touching me or I’m going to have to face them all with a tent in my pants.”
He smiles and leans forward to kiss me slowly, running his tongue along my bottom lip before pulling it between his teeth.
“Not helping,” I mutter against his mouth.
“I’ve never been attracted to dudes myself, but you guys kinda make that look hot.” Hudson’s voice has us pulling apart as he moves around us to reach the sink. “I definitely think I’ve been kissing wrong my whole life.”
Just then, Cassie joins us in the kitchen, opening the fridge and pulls out a couple more beers.
“Right? I swear I almost got pregnant from watching them once.”
Cue Phoenix. “I’d be happy to help make that happen.”
Cassie shrieks in laughter. “Keep it up and I might let you.”
“The fuck you will!” Dylan shouts as Cassie heads back to the poker table.
Phoenix pulls tequila from a cabinet over the fridge. “Hud, grab the shot glasses. Jakey, bring a lime in with you, yeah?”
“Tequila shots? This is a terrible idea,” I lament even as I move to the fridge for the lime. “I’m only doing two at most. I’m on at the fire station tomorrow night and I don’t want to pull an all-nighter with a hangover.”
“I’m on with you,” Phoenix says.
“Even more reason to not do shots. I don’t want to have to worry about your hungover ass either.”
“Relax, Killjoy. I just want to toast to you and Dylan.” He assembles the shots and hands them out and everyone puts them in the air. “To finding true love and not being afraid to grab it by the balls. Literally.” He smirks and winks at Cassie before throwing his shot back.
I shake my head, but I’m smiling as I follow suit.
We get back to Dylan’s dad’s house a little after one a.m. and crash into bed. In such a short time, I’ve grown used to falling asleep with my head on Dylan’s sculpted chest and my hand splayed over his steady, beating heart.
I’ll start looking for a new job and a new house tomorrow, but for tonight, everything is calm, peaceful, perfect...Kind of like the eye of the storm.
The other shoe finally drops at nine the next morning when I receive notice that I’m being sued by my father for two billion dollars. Cause? Breach of contract.
He’s claiming I was given a sign-on bonus that was paid in full when I started and was mine free and clear after ten years of service to the company…I’ve only been here for six.
However, accompanying the suit, is my employment contract — which has been altered to include the bonus that I never received — and the goddamn letter of resignation I signed. Since I technically wasn’t fired, this makes it look like I am, in fact, in breach of this contract.
I’d happily give my father the fucking money just to be done with him, but this is everything I have. Everything I’ve earned after six years of busting my ass.
Which means if I lose it, I won’t be able to afford to help Dylan and his dad buy a new shop or even buy them out of their current one so they have the capital they need for a down payment.
And that’s what pisses me off more than the fact that I’ve earned every goddamn cent in my bank account. I don’t even know if this lawsuit has any merit, but the fact that I have to spend time and money fighting it while dealing with everything else is infuriating.
A fact I’m sure Steve Ellington knows.
A little after noon, I get a call from Cora. Her name on my phone makes me smile, a bright spot in my day.
“Hey, Cor.” My voice betrays my exhaustion from the strong emotions roiling inside me.
“Hi, Jacob. How are you? You sound tired.”
“Surviving. The backlash has been pretty heavy as expected. How are you?”
“I’m managing. I was just calling to see if you’d still be willing to attend the October fundraiser I’m doing for breast cancer? I have a bit of downtime and am going through the guest list.”
My stomach flips. I’d forgotten I’d committed a quarter of a million dollars to her next cause.
“Shit, Cor, I don’t even think I can make the donation I promised. My dad is suing me for literally every penny I have. I promised Dylan I’d help him and his dad get a new shop in a safer part of town and I’m stretched so thin I’m just hoping I can afford toilet paper next week.”
“Wow, that’s terrible. I’m really sorry to hear that, Jacob.”
I hate letting people down and that’s exactly what I’m doing to everyone.
“Cor, I bet my dad will make my contribution. He’s always loved you and I’m sure he’s looking for some way to salvage his relationship with your father after our split.”
“Sure, I’ll reach out to him. Are you still planning to attend? I’d love for you to be there, even if you aren’t donating.”
The nausea comes on so quickly I reach for the trash can beneath my desk, dry heaving forcibly, but nothing comes up.
“Jacob?” Cora asks, concern lacing her voice like always.
“Cor, I think it’s best if I start separating myself from that social circle,” I admit. “I’ve been fired, you and I have broken up, and those people will never accept Dylan or my relationship with him. There’s nothing left for me there.”
“I understand,” she says, sadly.
“I’ll always love you, Cor. And I can never repay you for the way you helped me. You gave me something no one else did and I’ll be forever grateful. Just to be clear, I don’t want to cut you out, Cora. I just need to take a step back from that world.”
“I’m just not sure it works like that. Goodbye, Jacob.”
The line goes dead and my coffee finally makes its reappearance.
It isn’t until I’ve cleaned up that I realize I didn’t even ask her how her time in London is going.