Chapter 8
Work had always been Jay’s sole focus, but since Blue’s return to Lyntacky, he was struggling to give it his all. He alternated between wanting to avoid her and needing to see her.
Should he ask Blue out on a date so they could get to know each other? But then if he did that here, everyone would know, and suddenly a single date would come with complications. Would she even say yes if he did?
“Get it together,” he muttered, stomping into the kitchen for his fifth cup of coffee for the day.
He was intelligent and usually could work through problems with ease, but Blue was not something he could solve. Now that she was closer, he couldn’t stop thinking about her.
Jay looked at the door as he heard the loud thud of feet outside. It then swung open, and there stood two of the Duke brothers. Sawyer was in the lead, and behind him came Brody.
“There’s this custom called knocking. You guys should give it a try,” Jay said, looking back down at his screen. He saved the spreadsheet he was working on and then shut it down.
“We don’t knock with family,” Sawyer said in his growly voice.
Even years after his life had taken a turn for the better, he still felt a small warm buzz of heat in his chest when he heard a Duke call him family.
“So move it, bud. We got beers to drink,” Brody said.
He, like Sawyer, wore jeans and a T-shirt. Sawyer’s had the logo of their timber yard, and Brody’s was plain gray.
“Did you brush your hair and oil your beard today, Sawyer?” Jay asked, putting his laptop on the table before him.
“No.”
Brody clearly didn’t believe that and tested Jay’s theory by tugging on his brother’s chin hair. Sawyer cuffed him across the head.
“Yup, definitely beard oil. That’s Birdie’s influence.”
“Fuck off,” Sawyer muttered. “Get moving, Jay.”
“What am I moving to?”
“Boys’ night.”
“I have work to do. You guys go on, and I’ll join you later,” Jay said.
“Nope. Dan told us you’d say that and said we weren’t to arrive without you, so move it,” Sawyer said.
“Dan also said you work too hard and need to lighten up. So shelve protecting the nation and go brush your hair,” Brody added.
“I’m fairly sure the nation’s protection is not my sole responsibility.”
“I know about that black Escalade arriving at your house once in the early hours of the morning, and there is other shit that all points toward you being important—not here, you understand—but out there,” Sawyer said, waving a hand about.
“Then there’s the private plane that came to pick you up two years ago. Only knew about that because Sybil Maynard was there picking up her niece from Accident, Maryland—love that name,” Brody added.
They weren’t wrong. Both those things had happened, but he thought they’d forgotten.
“So I’m not important in Lyntacky?” Jay asked.
“Importantish is all we’re giving you,” Brody said.
“Neither of you brushes your hair. How come I have to?”
“We’re not talking about us, and for your information, we both brushed our hair before coming out,” Sawyer said. “Plus, we’re in relationships. You’re not.”
“What does me not being in a relationship have anything to do with boys’ night?”
Jay was tall and no weakling, but these two could take him easily, and he knew they would simply carry him to the car if he didn’t do what they wanted.
“We’re socializing you, or we’ll never get you loved up with Ms. Day,” Brody said.
He studied them. “You know I socialize way more than either of you losers, right? I actually leave this town and go out into the world, and I’m not interested in Laurie Day.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure you have women all over the globe,” Sawyer said. “But no one that’s important and has stuck is our point. What’s wrong with Ms. Day? She’s perfect for you.”
“Oh goody, so glad we’re getting to a point,” Jay muttered, pushing thoughts of Blue Jay McAllister out of his head. “I don’t want to date Laurie Day, and that’s my last word on the matter.”
“We just want you happy, bud,” Brody added.
“Just because you idiots and the rest of your clan are loved up, it in no way means I want to be. So if you think now that Dan is in a relationship with Leah, I’m next on your matchmaking list, think again.”
They both folded their arms and smiled at exactly the same time. Dukes, they all had something of one another. Maybe Sawyer’s smile was more a snarl, but the similarities were there.
“Fuck off,” Jay muttered, walking away from them.
Once he was in his bedroom, he stripped off his clothes, washed up, and pulled on jeans and a clean button-down shirt. He located his brush and ran it through his hair, wincing as it caught on a knot.
Jay had to look professional when he left Lyntacky, so he tended to be the exact opposite when he came home.
He walked back out and grabbed his wallet and phone.
Brody wolf-whistled when he returned. The brothers were now drinking his beer and had opened a bag of chips. He didn’t comment, it was what they did at each other’s homes.
“Right, let’s go, pretty boy,” Sawyer said.
They headed out to Brody’s car, and Jay climbed into the backseat.
“Did Dan tell you that our DNA tests say we’re from Vikings?” Brody said.
“Sorry to burst your bubble—”
“Here we go,” Sawyer said in his growling voice. “He’s about to burst our bubble with facts.”
“A DNA test can’t actually confirm you’re descended from a fearless longship-riding warrior.
Viking wasn’t a bloodline, it was more like a career choice.
If your ancestor hopped on a boat, caused a bit of trouble, and came home with a good story, awesome, but DNA tests can only show strong ties to places like Norway, Sweden, or Denmark.
They’re basically the neighborhoods Vikings once called home.
Sometimes they also pick up genetic markers from regions Vikings settled in after they finished roaming, raiding, and generally refusing to stay put. ”
Jay could hear Brody’s sigh from the back seat.
“So if your results come back very Scandinavian, it doesn’t mean you should start sharpening an axe or shopping for a helmet with horns, which they didn’t even wear. But it does mean someone in your family tree probably lived where Vikings hung out… and possibly had a strong opinion about boats.”
“I really fucking hate it when you get all intelligent and stuff,” Sawyer drawled. “Can’t you just let us have this Viking thing?”
“Look at Sawyer, Jay. He’s got all the hallmarks of a Viking. He’s an asshole, has a beard that a herd of mice—”
“Mischief of mice,” Jay corrected them, because it was expected of him.
“Whatever. My point is, we’re descended from Vikings, and if you say otherwise, I’m punching you,” Sawyer added.
“I’ve stated my proof. If you want to live in deluded land, go right ahead,” Jay said, feeling a lot better than he had been before the Dukes had appeared at his front door.
“You done yours yet? Dan said he got you one because he was sure you’d come from some weird race of people with really big heads to fit their brains,” Sawyer added.
“I am not an alien.” In fact, he had done it, though he wasn’t sure why because the email with the results remained unopened.
He’d avoided anything to do with his past. It wasn’t something he liked to relive and didn’t want to find out anything more.
“Be kinda cool though, bud,” Brody said.
The Dukes never asked him about his childhood. Dan did once, and he’d said that he didn’t want to discuss it and he’d appreciate it if he didn’t ask again. He hadn’t, but Jay knew the curiosity was still there.
Jay’s past was dark and ugly. Mostly, it held memories he’d blocked, and he was happy to keep it that way, which made him wonder why he’d done the DNA test.
“Very,” he said, relieved that they were parking outside the Rollaway.
Monthly boys’ and girls’ nights consisted of the local men and women, who were usually fine upstanding citizens, behaving badly. Maybe not badly—just loosely, he corrected himself.
The main street was doing its usual trade of locals who didn’t want to cook eating at their favorite locations, which offered things like pizza, waffles, and diner food, and there was now a new Indian restaurant, which people were still a bit wary of.
“You been to Spice Sashay yet?” he asked the brothers.
“Yeah. It was good, and Sadie loved the poppadoms,” Sawyer said.
“Are the locals warming to it?”
Brody gave Jay a wry smile. “Getting there, but you know how it is. Lyntacky doesn’t really embrace change.”
“Amen,” Sawyer added.
“Hi, Jay.”
Turning at those words, he found Sydney Jane, the local siren.
“Still not interested, SJ, so cut the crap,” Jay said.
She pouted and then gave him a sweet smile. “Just thought I’d try.”
SJ then wandered away.
“What the hell was that?” Brody demanded. “She smiled at you, and there was nothing suggestive about it.”
“You idiots never knew how to handle her. I became her friend and told her right off that I like her, but not in that way. Since then, she tries it on occasion, but then gives up, and we go back to talking about other shit.”
“What other shit?”
“SJ’s actually smart, and I helped her with a few things. Now that she’s working with Libby, she has some spare cash. I’m helping her invest it.”
They stared at him, shocked. Jay left them and headed into the Rollaway with Brody and Sawyer’s eyes on his back. They caught up with him inside.
“Why didn’t you share these insights with us? We’ve all been trying to evade her for years,” Brody demanded.
Jay just smiled and headed to the bar. Big enough to have a TV for game night, and two pool tables, the Rollaway always drew locals.
There was a large blue cowboy hat over the dance floor and not a single person under it.
Boys’ night dancing didn’t really happen until the beers had been flowing for a while.
Unlike girls’ night, which he’d witnessed a time or two when he’d been designated taxi driver and hadn’t walked away unscathed.
Those women could be wild when they lost control. It was like when the restraints of everyday life were gone, they were free to be crazy.
The place was full of locals and some tourists tonight, all soaking up the ambience of the eclectic decor.
Loud and bright, one wall was painted emerald and another cherry.
The roof was full of lights strung from one side to the other that kept Phil the electrician in a job.
Another wall had socks. Other towns had things like postcards and photos of celebrities or coasters, but not Lyntacky. Nope, they had socks.
His eyes went to the bar, and he swept his gaze along the stools, where he found the two other Duke brothers and their brother-in-law.
His step didn’t falter as he looked at the woman talking to JD.
Blue was here and serving in a white shirt that was unbuttoned revealing a red tank top. He’d touched those curves. Run his hands and mouth over them.
Fuck. Turning right, he headed for the pool tables. Raising a hand when Sawyer said he’d get him a beer, he kept walking.
“I thought I smelled a Duke.”
“Not a Duke, but they’re my family, so watch your mouth, Keller,” Jay snarled.
Beau Keller and his family were public enemy number one to anyone close to Dukes and, of course, the Dukes themselves. His and Sawyer’s feud was the stuff legends were made of.
Jay didn’t think the guy was a bad one, and in fact, the day Beau had found him broken down outside the borders of Lyntacky, he’d been almost human when he’d stopped to help him.
Jay had a theory that, yes, while the Kellers hated the Dukes, they played to the crowd when they were near.
To his knowledge, Sawyer and Beau had never outright gone at each other—at least not in the past ten years.
Beau took his shot, then straightened to look at Jay. “What’s crawled up your ass, Haddon?”
“You. Now play the game so you can lose. Then I can play and win.”
“Don’t think I’ve ever heard you be mean. Must be those asshole Dukes rubbing off on you.”
He ignored the man and shot a look at the bar. Blue was leaning over it, giving Lucas Hyland an eyeful of her curves. It took everything inside him not to stalk over there and punch the man.
JD Hopper approached with a beer, which he held out to Jay.
“Thanks.” He took it and drank deep.
“Problem?”
“Nope.”
JD was all class. Raised in a wealthy family, he’d been destined to step into Daddy’s shoes, except that Daddy was a fraudulent asshole, so he’d followed Sawyer here and stayed.
He wore designer clothes and expensive cologne and was usually groomed perfectly, which was at odds with his best friend, who never groomed himself.
“Nice to see Blue back,” JD said.
Jay replied with a hum of agreement. No way was he touching this subject.
“Always thought that girl a good one. You should ask her out, Jay. She’d be good for an uptight man like you.”
Well, fuck.