Chapter One #2
James walked around the SUV to hug Scott, then push him into the back seat.
“Enjoy the quiet,” Finn said before wincing as Michael shouted at Jackson again.
“Oh, I will,” James promised. He gave Finn a hug too. Backing away from the vehicle, James nearly jumped when Jacob stepped up beside him.
“You’re not going with them?” Jacob questioned.
Obviously not. Why did Jacob even give a shit? “The firehouse is short-staffed due to the holiday. Also, no one is allowed off on New Year’s Eve since it’s basically amateur drunk-driving night.”
Both back windows rolled down as Michael and Scott started to wave and blow him kisses.
How freaking embarrassing! James was just glad that this hadn’t taken place in front of his co-workers at the fire station. Even his friends at the coffee shop would tease him.
“I see.” Jacob’s voice was stern.
It was always stern. The man really needed to chill out.
Not that James gave a shit. Or at least he’d tried to stop caring.
James had gone out of his way to be polite and accommodating toward the professor.
He’d been shut down so hard and fast every time that he just stopped caring what Jacob thought about him.
James lifted his hand and waved until Finn pulled the SUV out of the driveway and out of sight. He turned to go back up to the apartment when Jacob stepped in front of his path.
Deep breath in.
“Speaking of New Year’s Eve, you need to remember the rules. No parties,” Jacob told him.
Hadn’t James just said that he had to work? Did this guy never listen to him?
“No guests either,” Jacob added. “I rent this apartment to you and your brother with the conditions that I am not bothered. I have a new semester to prepare for. Keep the music down.”
One time. When James and Scott first moved in, James been working out with some weights and had the music on in the apartment. Jacob had stormed in, nearly breaking James’s old stereo. That might have been when Jacob started to hate him.
It didn’t matter that James never played his music loud again.
Or that he made sure that the apartment remained spotless since Jacob loved to just drop by to check on Scott.
He took the trash bins to the curb and brought them back once they were emptied by the city, so the professor didn’t have to.
He even mowed the lawn when it needed it.
James couldn’t do anything right in Jacob’s eyes.
“I understand the rules, sir,” James said with as much patience as he could manage.
“Even with Scott gone, I expect peace and quiet,” Jacob told him.
“Got it.” James ground his teeth.
“Fine.” Jacob gave him a sharp nod.
“Anything else, Professor?” James asked. “I need to get ready for my shift at the coffee shop.”
“You’re still working there? I thought you were full-time at the fire station.”
“No, sir.” Not that it was any of Jacob’s business. “I’m a probationary firefighter. I still have six months of training to finish. In the meantime, I pick up shifts at the Coffee Cove.”
“Are you still delivering food from that app?” Jacob demanded.
Asshole sure knew all about James’s schedule, didn’t he? Michael probably told him so the professor knew when to spy on him. Whatever. James just needed to get away from Jacob.
“I am,” James confirmed. He just hated that damn job. The tips were shit even with the money the residents of Surf City liked to flash around. “When I have time.” Because time was the one thing that James never had enough of.
“On that?” Jacob waved toward the motorcycle off to the side.
James made sure that he never parked in Jacob’s way.
The motorcycle was cheap to own, insure, and fuel up.
“Yes, that is my only mode of transportation.” His brother walked the six blocks to the university to get to school and usually caught a ride to the marina to do his research.
The old car that they had driven to California hadn’t made it through the first semester.
Michael had tried to buy them a new vehicle but Jackson had come through with the bike.
“You need to be careful,” Jacob said. “Those are death traps.”
James nodded. He was at his limit. “May I go?” It grated on him that he even had to utter the words.
“Yes.” Jacob finally took a step to the side, giving James a straight shot to the stairs of his apartment. “Have a good shift.”
“Yeah, thanks,” James replied bitterly. He didn’t waste another minute getting to his apartment and closing the front door. The professor’s gaze followed him the entire way.
With his back pressed to the door, James smacked his head against the small glass triangle cut out at the top.
He took a deep breath to calm his racing pulse.
It was so hard to keep the anger inside him.
James had spent his entire life protecting and watching out for Scott.
He also did everything in his power to make things easier for Michael since their older brother had saved them from foster care after their parents’ death.
James wasn’t like his brothers. He hadn’t known what his purpose in life was supposed to be. The only thing James knew was that he wanted to help others. The professor might not see his worth but James was proud of what he’d accomplished in the last year and a half.
The move to Surf City had turned out better for him than Jacob could have ever imagined.
James had found his purpose finally. Had found his place.
And he wouldn’t let the stern asshole of a professor ruin it for him.
The people that he’d found in Surf City saw him, saw the good he could do, liked James just the way he was.
Michael had always been the social brother, the responsible one, the one that everyone loved instantly. Scott was the smart brother. He didn’t even need to study from a book. If anyone could save the world, it was going to be Scott.
James was just the spare.
The middle brother that people forgot about.
He was invaluable to his brothers. And they loved him. The older they all grew, the less that they needed James though.
James wanted to be needed. Valued. To be someone that could be depended on. The person that a friend would call in the middle of the night in an emergency.
Getting a job at the Coffee Cove, the small local coffee shop, had been for the money but had ended up where James needed to be.
Where his life really started. The small crew of the coffee shop became family.
The firefighters and paramedics that stopped every morning to fuel up before their shift had become family.
James had befriended several of the firefighters and eventually joined the city’s training academy.
It had been the hardest thing that James had ever attempted.
Not only did James have to train every single morning starting at six, he also had to keep his other jobs since the training program was unpaid.
He’d done it though. And it had been the best feeling he’d ever had.
James had graduated from the program in the top spot and was offered a place within the Surf City Fire Department. For the first year it was a probationary position. He could be terminated for any reason. He had six months to go. James would not screw up this opportunity.
The Surf City Fire Department needed him. Maybe as much as he needed them.
Calmer, James toed off his shoes and set them aside before pushing off the door. He tripped over one of Scott’s shoes. He picked it up and neatly lined up all the sneakers. There. That was much better.
Looking around, James turned his nose up.
The apartment was a mess. He’d been sleeping on the couch to give Michael, Finn, and Jackson a bed to sleep in.
Checking the time, James had about an hour before he needed to clock in for his shift at the Coffee Cove.
He might have fibbed a little to the professor about getting ready for work so soon just to get away from him.
His laptop was on the kitchen counter.
James found his AirPods charging next to his computer. He slipped them into his ears then logged into his music app. There was no way that he’d chance disturbing the precious professor.
With his rock music blaring in his ears, James set about cleaning the apartment. Truthfully as much as he bitched about Jacob constantly dropping by to check out the space, James liked living in a clean place.
He loved the smell of the organic orange products that he used. That and freshly laundered bed sheets. Speaking of, James was not sleeping in his bed until he washed those sheets. Michael was not quiet when he was with his men and James refused to sleep on the same sheets.
James pulled back the top blanket on his bed and snorted.
Fucking Jackson!
A dozen small colorful tiny dicks were lined up in the middle of the bed.
James carefully picked them up before stripping the bed. He had no idea what he was going to do with the tiny peens. He could just see Jackson gleefully leaving those behind for James to find.
Carrying the sheets toward the laundry room, James set the pile of dicks on the corner of the kitchen island. He continued to the small laundry room off the kitchen.
And more dicks.
James shook his head.
Lined up across the washing machine lid were another dozen dicks.
He knew. James just knew that he was going to be finding tiny peens around the apartment for the next few days. Weeks if Jackson had gotten really creative.
Getting a load of sheets and his blanket into the washer was first. Next, he cleaned his bedroom, including a quick dusting and vacuuming. He’d had to pick up nine more tiny plastic dicks.
The shared bathroom in the apartment needed a scrub down and James was sweating by the time he finished. Another ten dicks.
Where had Jackson gotten all of these. This was bordering on ridiculous. James added the penises from the bedroom and bathroom to the pile on the kitchen counter.
It had only been thirty minutes.
James could get some more done.