Chapter Six
Jakob
Idon’t know what was up Declan’s ass at the beginning of the week when he texted me, but I don’t have anything to be ‘careful’ about, so I just go on with my life like normal.
It’s been another grueling week, but it’s finally Friday.
Instead of hanging out at Knipe and getting suckered into being behind the bar, a couple of my friends and I are meeting at Primetime.
Primetime is a sports bar in neutral territory.
It opened back before Lee and Mac got together and is now a favorite spot for me and my buddies to meet up.
Memorabilia from all of Jersey’s professional teams line the walls, the lights are dim, and the music is deep.
Walking into the crowded area, I look around for Ethan, Jasper, and Miles.
Spotting three arms in the air, each holding a beer bottle, I know I’ve found them.
Walking past the high top table, I knock on it twice, “Anyone need another?”
They all decline, so I nod and go grab a drink from the bar for myself. After I’ve come back, I grab the empty seat between Miles and Jasper.
“No Eli and Tuck today?”
Jasper shakes his head as he takes a long pull from his bottle, but it’s Ethan that answers, “Nah, they had some family thing come up.” Elias and Tucker are brothers and have the same friends.
Sometimes I think it’s weird, until I remember Dieter and I also have the same friends.
Aside from Eli and Tuck, we’re missing Roman, but he’s going through some stuff right now, so I’m not surprised.
“Speaking of brothers, where’s D at?” Miles asks.
“He and Hannah had a date tonight.” I smile proudly about how much he really is killing the Dad game.
“We moving over there after she goes to bed?”
I shrug, “I’m not sure, I guess it depends on how long we’re here.”
Jasper looks at me like I have five heads. “No, he means are we making our way over there at nine when she goes to sleep or not?”
I can’t help but smile. “I mean, that’s fine with me. I’ll call Dieter at nine and check with him.”
Jasper, Miles, Eli, Tuck, Rome, Dieter, and I have all been friends since we were in our late teens.
We brought Ethan into the fold when he started working for Dieter.
They had front row tickets to Dieter having it all, then to it all crumbling at his feet on the best and worst day of his life.
So working things around Hannah’s schedule isn’t new to them.
A lot of friends are surface level friends. They’re your drinking buddies or who you hang out with on the weekends, but never let the conversation get too deep. They’re your superficial friends that phase out after a few years.
We’ve had our fair share of those too, but these guys are the real deal.
They’re the ones who would take turns coming to stay the night and help with Hannah so Dieter could grieve his loss and adjust to being a new dad all by himself.
Hannah has an army of uncles that are very much active in her life.
They were there the day she was born, and they held her while I held her father as the priest lowered her mother into the ground.
The type of friends that she’ll one day be shocked to learn aren’t her biological uncles.
“So can we talk about what happened to your pretty face or…” Jasper laughs and ducks out of the way of my fist as I halfheartedly swing out at him.
“Nothing happened, but I can give you a match if you’re that obsessed with it.” I laugh as he scoffs like the notion that I’d actually swing on him is so far fetched. I mean it is, but still.
Without warning, Miles grabs my chin with his fingers and brings my face around so he can inspect the deep purple bruise that starts at my cheekbone and stops just under my jawline.
Another man did the same thing just days ago, only when Miles does it, it doesn’t cause heat to rush into my bloodstream.
Get it the fuck together, Fischer. Why are you letting him affect you like this?
He touches it as easily as he can, but it still hurts so I jerk my head out of his grasp.
“That’s not ‘nothing’ Jake. That’s more than a broken up bar fight. Are you sure your cheek isn’t broken?” He’s trying to sound concerned, but it just comes out borderline disgusted. Miles hates blood or any type of injuries. Weak stomach.
“It’s not broken, idiot. It’s just a bruise. I caught a stray in a fight, end of story.”
Ethan shakes his head at me while peeling at the label on his bottle. “You heard him, he caught a stray. He’ll tell us when he’s ready to trust us with the real story.”
Fucking asshole.
“That was low.” I glare at him but Ethan just shrugs.
“Maybe, but it’s the truth.”
Thankfully, Jasper cuts back in to change the subject to work this week.
Always the peacekeeper.
We settle into easy conversation and are listening to Miles tell a story about one of his guys at work when I feel it.
The side of my head sparks with awareness as I dart my eyes in the direction of whoever is staring at me, just to see none other than Declan and Rowan sitting across the bar from us.
My eyes lock on his as he subtly jerks his head to the side where the bathrooms are.
He’s out of his mind. Just because we texted earlier this week doesn’t mean anything.
We aren’t friends. Actually, it’s more than that—we’re so far detached from friends that I despise him.
Not just in an ‘oh, I’m so mad I could kill him’ way but in an ‘I will slide a blade across his carotid artery without blinking’ way.
I just didn’t want to ghost him in case he really needed something.
I may hate him, but I’m still a human. Could my sister’s wedding come any quicker?
I swear these next two months are going to drag.
Tearing my gaze away from him, I tune back into Miles’ story.
Not even a full second later, my phone buzzes in my pocket.
It’s not nine yet, so I know it isn’t Dieter.
Deciding not to touch it just in case the six foot four brown haired douche bag across the building is the culprit, I instead bring my beer up and take a long pull, making sure my middle finger is up the entire time.
It’s childish and I know it. But so is acting like he despises me as much as I do him, just for him to keep popping up wherever I am.
I don’t know what his plan is or what he thinks he’s going to gain from this, but he can’t play a game that no one will play with him.
He refuses to ‘play my game’ as he likes to tell me, but I refuse to play his too.
He’s trying to mend fences, and I’m trying to take a sledgehammer to them.
I tripped up that day behind the pool house.
I let his addictive energy overtake me. That’s a mistake I won’t be making again.
I’m stronger than that. So I promptly ignore the two oldest Byrne’s and continue to hang out with my friends.
A few hours and beers later, we’re about to leave and go to my brother’s, but before we can leave, I make everyone wait for me as I run to the bathroom.
Declan and Rowan left about forty-five minutes ago, so I know I’m not going to get ambushed with some weird half-friend half-enemy energy.
I take care of my business and wash my hands.
As soon as I step foot outside of the bathroom, I’m shoved back inside by none other than the same man I thought had fucking left.
“What do you want, Declan?” I force my hands to uncurl at my sides and my expression to come off bored and mildly annoyed. Declan paces in front of me like a caged animal until he finally turns his lethal gaze on me.
“What’s the deal with Miles?” He practically snarls while moving closer to me. Every step he takes towards me is one I take backwards until my back hits the wall.
Fuck. That was stupid.
“What are you talking about?” I ask genuinely, not picking up what he’s trying to throw at me.
“Are you fucking Miles?” He asks through teeth clenched so tightly I’m worried he may need to see a dentist in the morning.
Then what he asks settles in my brain. What? Why would he ever think that? For starters, neither of us likes men, and secondly, we might as well be blood related with how tight we are.
I want to ask him if he hit his damn head on something but decide the tides have just turned in my favor.
“Who I do or do not fuck isn’t any of your business. All you need to know is I’m not fucking your little girlfriend.” Just to drive the final nail into the coffin, I shove him out of my space and walk past him. “Now I’ve got to go, I have someone waiting for me.”
My hand grips the handle to the bathroom door when his voice stops me in my tracks.
“If you care about him, you won’t ever let him touch you like that again, Jakob. I’m serious.”
What is he going on about? Glancing over my shoulder at him, I raise an eyebrow. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Dec. He didn’t touch me in any type of way.”
He stalks towards me like a predator stalking his prey before spinning me around.
My back crashes to the door, and the next thing I know, I’m pinned by his hips and looking into his absolutely furious emerald eyes.
Declan has the most menacing glare that I’ve ever seen, and in situations like this I hate that shit.
He brings his hand up, gently cupping my chin between his thumb and forefinger like he did earlier this week.
Such a contradiction to his expression. We’re so close that his minty breath dances over my lips as we breathe the same air.
“Like this. Like you two are on a higher level than just friends. He touched you like you were the most precious thing in the world to him.” He tilts my head up just slightly as an infuriating smirk covers his features.
“Like he can’t get you out of his fucking head. Like he realizes he made the worst mistake five years ago and wants to fix it now. Like he wants to brutally murder anyone else who ever thinks of touching you, like you’re his.”
Holy shit. He can’t be serious? After everything that’s happened?
After what she would do to us if she found out?
He’s lost his fucking mind, but as he keeps his heated eyes locked on mine, I realize Dec and I don’t feel the same way at all.
I must lose my mind too, because before I can even process it, I’m pressing forward slightly, shifting my weight to the balls of my feet, and bringing my mouth just centimeters from his.
“I can’t give you what you want, Declan.” My lips brush against his as I speak and fire floods my veins at the connection. This new feeling overwhelms me, right as none other than fucking Miles bangs on the door at my back.
“Yo Fischer, you good? Let’s go! We’re all waiting for you.” He yells through the door.
Declan doesn’t let me go though. He keeps me tethered to him with his strong grip on my chin while his other hand rests on my hip and his now bulged erection presses into me. My breath catches in my throat for just a moment before I yell back to him.
“Yeah, I’m good. I’ll be right there.”
With the spell seemingly broken, I attempt to slide out from Declan’s hold. Reluctantly, he allows it.
“I’m sorry I can’t be who you want anymore. Not after last time, not after the years of healing and growing that I’ve done. I’ll always have a soft spot for you, Dec. But I have to put myself first now.”
Leaving him speechless, I push down the hurt I’m feeling and rejoin my friends to go hang out with my little brother.