Chapter 4
4
MATT
As Jax crosses the Hot Metal Bridge to take us to the South Side, I flash back to my early twenties, to the summer nights I wish never happened when I came back home after graduating with my bachelor’s degree. I spent more time than usual at the bars and clubs around the city, often doing stupid shit like driving drunk or falling asleep hugging a toilet somewhere. Since I couldn’t stay with her on the Mendleton’s property, Mom never knew where I stayed most nights. She never knew about the deal I made with her boss in exchange for their “generosity”.
“Hey, Prof,” Jax’s voice cuts into my thoughts, making me jump a bit. “We’re here. I’m splurging for valet to avoid an accidental drunk by pissing.”
Laughing, I climb out of the car and realize we’re in front of a building that in no way shape or form screams club, let alone a LGBTQ club. The drab exterior looks like the bank where Mr. Banks worked in Mary Poppins. At my raised eyebrow, Jax just chuckles and pulls me to the door. The bouncer doesn’t even ask to see our identification and waves us inside to pay the cover fee.
Fuck, I feel old.
The sound of the music pounds into my brain, and I can already feel a headache forming. It has been years since I have gone out to any sort of club. Most of the time, I prefer either a chill neighborhood bar or some sort of a show. Syl and I regularly enjoyed a dinner cabaret show in Salem, but I haven’t even looked for one of those here. Maybe the breakup is hitting me harder than I thought?
“This is my old high school buddy, Matt,” Jax is telling the shorter guy in front of us. I would put him around five eight or nine if I had to guess. He is about the same height as Sylvia. Damn, I have to get her out of my head tonight.
“Hey, Matt. I’m Eli,” the guy says and offers his hand. “Jackson’s brother is one of my roommates, so I’ve gotten to know him pretty well. You just visiting or…?”
His question trails off as his eyes focus on something over my shoulder. I turn to follow his gaze and the only thing I can see is a couple of people speaking at the bar. The one guy is the typical jock type, stocky and looks like he couldn’t add two and two. The other person is probably the most gorgeous being I have ever laid eyes on. I can’t tell if they are a man or a woman, but my dick apparently doesn’t care. I feel it start to take notice, so I quickly turn away .
I’m not gay, bi, pan, or anything other than straight. I’ve never felt attraction towards a guy. Logically, that means the person must be a woman, right? Science says there is a difference in pheromones or something with the hormones.
Yeah, I’m going to go with science and say they are a woman because my dick perking up for anyone else is just too much for my sober brain to process right now.
“Excuse me,” Eli pats me on the shoulder as he stalks past me up to the couple at the bar. When he reaches them, he sends the jock away with a glare to start arguing with the other person. Part of me wants to go over and intervene, but Jax pulls my attention back to him and the extremely tall man beside him. It’s almost comical seeing the two side by side. Jackson swears he is five seven, but I say that’s when he’s on his tip toes. There is well over a foot difference in the height of these two men.
“Matt, this is my little brother Jace. Remember him?”
I look up at the man in front of me and it takes a few seconds to see past the giant to the tiny shy boy I could recall from when we were younger. Jace was always small for his age and from what I understood, bullied pretty badly before he was brought to the Franklin household. Never in a million years did I foresee that little Jace Franklin would be this hulking man standing before me.
“I don’t think I can call you Squirt anymore,” I chuckle as I pull him in for a hug. One thing I’ve never forgotten about Jace is that he loves hugs .
Stepping back, the boy I remember is closer to the surface as he gives me a small smile from behind his bushy beard. “You can still call me Squirt,” he mumbles barely audible over the music. “I like that you remember me when I was still tiny. I like remembering those days with you guys.”
He slides a shy glance toward his oblivious older brother as I reach up to ruffle his hair on the top of his head, or at least what I could reach of it. Over half a foot difference in height makes it a lot more difficult. Now I understand how Syl felt doing this to me.
And there I go again…
I need to fucking forget the fact that my fiancée dumped my ass and made me homeless without warning and is now letting her friends villainize me online.
“Let’s get some drinks in our systems, boys,” I tell them and turn toward the bar. Eli is leaning against it with his head in his hands. The mystery person is nowhere to be seen, so I take it their argument was not productive. Signaling for the bartender, I decide that I’m going to just let it all go tonight. Worry about an apartment, my failure of a love life, and everything else can take a backseat for the evening.
“That an ex?” I ask as Eli straightens up to rejoin us. He shakes his head and glances toward the door with a sad expression.
“A friend,” he tells me as he pats Jace’s shoulder. “I’ll talk to him tomorrow when he cools off.”
It’s obvious they all know the mystery cutie and are worried about them. I place the shots I ordered in front of my friends, new and old, and decide we all just need to let loose for a bit. Professor Barnes needs a fucking break, and I need to not sucker punch Eli for upsetting that gorgeous person.