5. Chapter Five
Chapter Five
Jax
Jax was in the office he shared with Ford and Cade when his cell rang. He saw it was Colby Napier, and he was sure it was just to catch up. Ford was downstairs watching something on television, so Jax had a few minutes to shoot the shit with an old friend. Cade was at the club because it was his night to close, so Jax answered. “QB! How ya doin’ brotha?”
“Hey, man. You see the news tonight? Channel eight.” Colby asked.
“No, hang on,” Jax told him as he dug for the remote to the large television on the wall in the office, switching it on. He turned on channel eight and watched in stunned amazement as the police dragged a handcuffed Hans Linder out of a car at the local precinct, not far from the club.
“Hans Linder, a defensive end for Chicago, was picked up this afternoon from the stadium on assault charges, stemming from an argument with a patron of Fairytails, an LGBTQ+ dance club in Andersonville. We contacted the team for comment, but they haven’t returned our calls,” the young woman standing in front of the stadium, which was empty and dark, stated with an accusatory lilt in her voice.
“What the fuck is that about?” Jax gasped.
“No idea. Tony’s about to blow a gasket. Did you know the kid was gay?” Colby asked.
Lying was definitely the best idea. “Dude, the three of us hang out at the club, and if the kid wanted to visit, he’d stop by every now and then. Other guys have shown up and none of them are gay. It may be a gay club, but it’s a nice bar, and if you come there to see me, you get to drink for free,” Jax teased. He had no idea if Hans was ready to come out or not, but it wouldn’t be Jax outing the guy.
“Yeah, well maybe I’ll bring the little woman in some time,” Colby joked.
“Hey, lemme know when. I’ll put ya on the VIP list so you ain’t gotta wait in line. Sometimes it can take hours to get inside,” Jax told him, not exaggerating in the least.
Windy City Times , the local LGBTQ+ newspaper, did a huge story about the club before the Gay Pride festivities, and it was included on a lot of Chicago-area travel websites. Business was booming.
Cade had the idea to bring back drag shows, but only professional, touring drag queens, not locals because they caused a lot of drama last time. He was yet to propose it to Ford, but Jax thought it was a good idea.
He and Colby talked about the new defensive coordinator, Frank Presley, and how the guys were warming up to him. Apparently, the reception was fifty-fifty. Jax told him to stay in touch and hung up, hurrying downstairs where Branford was sitting on the couch in gray sweatpants and one of Jax’s old T-shirts, which were now too big for him. Ford was eating cheese puffs, and when Jax turned to look at the television, he could see the man was watching an animated movie on the Disney channel.
“Okay, where’s Branford Thomas? I don’t know you at all,” Jax told him as he took away the bag of puffs, seeing Ford wipe his orange fingers on the T-shirt.
“What do you mean? I’m just watching this movie Carlie told me about when she stayed here last time,” Ford answered.
“Did you tell Sela anything about the cancer scare, babe? You need to talk about it. Hell, you need to get your head back in our relationship. When was the last time you had a blow job, or hell, jerked off? The Branford I’ve come to know since we got married wanted to fuck several times a day,” Jackson said.
Ford looked down as he sat up on the couch. “I can’t…” he whispered.
“You can’t what?” Jax asked.
Ford looked at him with total anguish. “ I can’t get it up, okay?” he shouted.
Jax didn’t want to dismiss the man’s concerns, but he had to do something to get him out of the funk he’d fallen into. “Bullshit! You have a hard-on every fuckin’ morning, Branford.”
Thankfully, the three of them still slept together, though Ford wore pajama pants while Jax and Cade slept naked, sometimes slipping into the bathroom to fuck so they didn’t disturb Ford. They loved each other, but Jax guessed they needed to feel it physically . Ford did have an erection in the mornings, though Jax nor Cade ever did anything about it for fear of hurting him.
The blond’s eyes widen. “ I do not !”
Jax finally chuckled. “Yes, you do, but you sleep through it. Are you still takin’ those fuckin’ pills?”
Ford had gone through a bout of insomnia after his surgery, so he called Dr. Imani who prescribed him a sleep aid. It made him pass out, and Jax was ready to call the doctor and chew out his ass.
“You know I can’t—” Ford was set to go off on a rant, Jax could tell.
“No! What I know is you don’t want to be a part of our marriage anymore, Branford. What are you so afraid of? You’re cancer-free. You fought the beast and won. You should be fuckin’ celebratin’ instead of sitting around and moping like you’re just waiting to die. You ain’t gettin’ away from me and Cade that easily,” Jax scolded.
Ford hopped up from the couch and got into Jax’s face, angrier than the redhead had ever seen him in his life. “ Fuck you !”
“ Okay! Let’s go,” Jax snapped back, opening his belt and dropping his jeans to the floor. His dick was starting to harden at the idea of doing anything with Ford.
Ford was about to challenge him, so Jax slid to his knees and whipped down the sweats Ford was wearing, encasing the beautiful, flaccid cock in his mouth before the blond could complain. He wrapped his arms around Ford’s muscular ass and held on tight to keep him from pulling away, but as he worked the glans, he felt the warmth and the hardening he loved so much. He wanted to take Ford’s sack in his hand, but he decided maybe baby steps were in order.
He worked the appendage up and down, sucking, nipping, and swirling his tongue over the head and down the vein to the base. He stopped to kiss the small scar above Ford’s pubic bone, and then he went back to work on the man’s rock-hard cock.
He took him down into his throat and heard the gasp. Yes, it was a new thing, but Cade had taught him how to do it, and after Jax conquered his gag reflex and learned to breathe through his nose, he was off to the races.
“ Oh, fuck, love,” Ford gasped as he wound his fingers in Jax’s red hair. It had been a while since he’d been called anything but Jax by the blond, so he took it as a good sign. Things were headed in a positive direction.
His own cock was leaking on the rug, but he’d worry about it later. Giving Ford Delacroix, his husband, this pleasure was exactly what he wanted to do, and nothing would deter him.
When he felt the hot tool harden even more, he knew he’d won the fight. When Ford released in his mouth, he swallowed it hungrily. It had been too long, in his opinion.
“So, Hans Linder got arrested tonight for assault. Apparently, something happened at the club a few weeks ago. I remember Cade telling me Hans was there with his boyfriend, but he didn’t say anything about a fight. You hear anything about it?” Jax asked as the two of them sat on the bench in the shower, taking a good steam together.
“I’ve been such a prick about all of this. I’ve shoved the club off on Cade and just crawled inside myself, not letting either of you in. I’m so sorry, Jackson. I love you both so much, and I had no idea how to keep myself together through that shit. I just kept thinking of dying and leaving the two of you behind.
“I’ve had this dream a few times, but the first time I had it was when I was under anesthesia. You, me, Sela, Carlotta, and Cade were on a beach somewhere, and Kincade was chasing a cute little boy with red hair named Silas. Sela was pregnant with twins, and she told me she was done having our children. I just can’t get it out of my head,” Ford explained.
Jax chuckled. “So, you do want children?”
Ford sighed. “I don’t know. Not anytime soon, and if we could talk Sela into being our surrogate, she’d have to be inseminated by you or Cade. It can’t be me.”
Jax thought for a moment before he smiled. “It could be if we had a donor egg. I can research it, but it could work out. I remember a story where this woman in her fifties carried her daughter’s baby for her.”
The more he thought about it, the more Jackson warmed up to the idea. Maybe babies were in the cards for them?
The bathroom door burst open, revealing Kincade with a look of panic on his face. “How much cash do we have here at the house?” He opened the shower door and stood looking at the two of them as they sat on the bench.
“I’ve got about five grand in the bottom drawer of the desk,” Ford admitted.
“I’ve got a couple hundred in my wallet, why?” Jax asked.
Cade took off his tie and jacket, placing them over his forearm as he unbuttoned his white shirt, looking every bit the executive- about-town. “I need to go bail out a friend. I’m not sure exactly how much it will be, so I’m gonna take it all, okay?”
Jax laughed as he stood up and turned the shower from steam to water. “Why exactly did Hans get arrested? Has he been arraigned?” Jax asked, remembering Cade’s own incarceration their first Christmas together.
“Yeah. There’s a night magistrate from what Andy told me. Fifty-grand property bond or ten-percent cash. I don’t know if there are additional fees. I’ll be back,” Cade told them.
“ Wait a minute! ” Ford yelled, which was a very good sign.
Cade turned around and continued to strip. “Look, I owe the man, okay? I need to… Hey, you look great, Bix. It’s nice to see you naked again and trust me, I’d like to take advantage of it, but I don’t have time. I’ll be back,” Cade told them as he hurried into their large dressing room.
“Don’t let him go without us. I need to wash, actually. I haven’t showered in a few days. How could you even blow me?” Ford asked with a smile for Jax.
“I love you and I love your funk. Hurry up. He might take off without the car.” Jax hurried out of the shower. Things were definitely on the upswing.
An hour later, they were sitting in the Andersonville precinct. A familiar face came out from a locked door and smiled at the three of them. “Don’t tell me someone you know is locked up? Is the Mayor gonna show up again?” Detective Del Torro asked as he approached them, shaking Ford’s hand and then Cade’s.
“Jackson Delacroix, this is Detective Del Torro. He worked Cade’s case before we got it dismissed,” Ford said.
Jax extended his hand. “Hey, man, no hard feelings. You were doin’ your job. Anyway, do you know anything about this shit with Hans Linder? He played with me for Chicago. He’s a good kid.”
“Actually, that’s what I was doin’ here. It’s that asshole, Marcus Drury. You had a permanent restraining order against the idiot, but you didn’t show up for court and the judge dismissed it. Anyway, he says he went lookin’ for you at Fairytails, and this Linder guy took him outside and beat his ass on your orders. That true?” Del Torro directed the question to Cade.
Much to Jax’s surprise, Cade held up his arms and smiled at the cop. “That’s right. Arrest me and cut Hans loose because he was only trying to protect me. It’s my fault.”
The detective jerked Cade aside and moved him over to a less public area, with Jax and Ford following. “Knock that shit off. This is a misdemeanor charge for Linder, but you go in there touting you orchestrated it, and it becomes a much bigger deal for both of you. With the right lawyer, and your testimony this time, Linder will get off, and you get another permanent restraining order against Drury. He’s a steroid-using freak, and I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him. Get the kid a lawyer as quickly as possible.”
Cade pulled out his phone as he walked away. “How bad did the kid fuck him up?” Jax asked.
“About as bad as you fucked up that tight end in the game against Seattle your last season,” the cop teased.
“Hey, you bring the smack talk, you get the horns,” Jax joked as Cade came back with a bright smile.
“Mitch isn’t happy with you , but he’s on his way,” Cade told Jax, who laughed.
“Shoulda known this would fall on me. Fine. My shoulders are still broad,” the redhead gloated.
“Yes, love, they are,” Ford told him, kissing Jax on the cheek and wrapping an arm around his waist. Things were heading back to normal, Jax was sure. It was a relief.
“Man, Cajun, thanks for bailin’ me out,” Hans told Jax as the three of them sat outside the magistrate’s clerk’s office. The derelicts they’d seen come and go made Jax wish the three of them lived on a secluded estate somewhere far away from the city. Raising kids in the city wouldn’t be easy.
“Thank your partner-in-crime. Where’s your boyfriend?” Jax asked. The Viking blushed, and when Ford laughed, Jax chuckled as well.
“I told him to stay at my place while I figured somethin’ out. I didn’t know who the hell to call. I can’t call my folks. They’re still not speaking to me since I broke up with the girl they picked for me to marry. If they find out I’m gay, they’ll never speak to me again,” Hans said quietly.
“Andy called me, Hans. He’s scared for you,” Cade told their friend.
“I wish he wouldn’t have, but thank you for comin’ to bail me out,” Hans responded.
“Yeah, and please lose my number,” Mitch Ross teased the three of them as he stood next to Hans.
“Oh, come on, you know you miss me,” Jax taunted, causing the man to laugh.
“You wish. Anyway, I’m going home. Hans, I’ll be in touch. Who’s your agent?” Mitch asked.
Cade giggled. “It’s gonna end up bein’ Stan Adams after the shit hits the fan. I’ll have Jax call him in the morning.”
Jax slapped the big kid on the back. “Yeah, I’ll call him in the morning. He loves a challenge.”
Mitch left them to go home. Jax steered Hans to the Expedition, opening the door for him. Cade got in the back to sit next to the kid, placing a hand on his shoulder, which put a smile on Jax’s face. He was a nurturer for sure. He went to bat for the underdog every time, and he would be a good dad, Jax was certain. How to approach it was something they needed to discuss, but he was warming up to the idea of little Delacroixs running around in their big yard. It could be pretty great.