Jason
Gabe and I walk up to the Kitty Cat Club just after dusk—this place is starting to feel like a second home with the number of times I’ve been here in the past week.
The bouncer with the teardrop tattoos welcomes us in.
“Well, look who it is.” He holds out his hand to give it a shake. “Mac’s the name. In case you’d forgotten.”
Mac raises his brows. “Oh, everyone knows who you are. A lot of HellCats lost some big money when you kicked Puma’s ass.”
His name was Puma? That’s fucking hilarious.
“Tell Angelique to put a drink for you on my tab. You’re gonna need it—the whole gang is here tonight.”
Mac steps aside, letting Gabe and me enter. I lean closer and ask, “Are you sure about this?”
Gabe ponders that for a moment, his eyes scanning the HellCats laughing and taking shots. “This is a smart move,” Gabe assures me. “Trust me.”
I shake my head, not convinced, and the two of us walk into the bar—
The room goes silent, as everyone breaks their neck to look at me.
You know those moments in a movie when a record screeches and the whole cast looks at some idiot who just walked in?
I’m that idiot.
The whole bar stares at me, and the cramp in my gut nearly knocks me over. I’m gonna get my ass kicked tonight, and no amount of scrappiness is going to measure up to over a dozen—
A hand lands on my shoulder, and I almost jump out of my skin. I turn to find Torren Kay standing there. Torren’s hand remains on my shoulder as he says directly to me, “Good to see you, old pal.”
I’d greet him, but my throat has closed.
A slender guy with brown hair wearing a neon green halter top and matching booty shorts approaches. “I’m Felix.”
“J-Jason,” I nod.
“Let’s grab a drink,” Torren says while guiding me to the bar, never taking his hand off my shoulder.
The HellCats part, giving Torren and me a clear path. Each one nods, showing respect to Torren and eyeing me with either disdain or curiosity.
When we reach the bar, Angelique grabs both sides of my face and kisses me. “Now that was an entrance, baby.”
She reaches into Torren’s insanely cool leather jacket and grabs his smokes. “You know what to do,” she says to him with a cigarette wedged between her lips.
Torren lights it for her and asks, “Will the lady of the house pour me a whisky neat?”
“Anything for my favorite Kay brother,” she sings before exhaling circles of smoke.
Torren turns to the three of us. “Let’s get some drinks and snag a table.”
The rest of us order, and Gabe asks me to get him a ginger ale.
He normally doesn’t drink, so it’s not unusual, but this whole thing’s got me in my head, so I ask, “Should I not drink?”
Gabe leans closer and whispers, “You should definitely drink. Not a ton, but don’t look like a teetotaler, either. Everyone’s watching.”
I subtly scan the room to find that Gabe is correct. Everyone is watching me, making my skin prickle.
I try to play cool as the four of us take a seat at a high-top table, but I’m tense as hell, knowing everyone is judging me.
My fists clench, ready to bitch out the next guy who sneers at me, when Torren holds out his pack of cigarettes to me. “Smoke?” he asks.
“Thank you.” He lights one for me, and Gabe rests his hand on my leg, settling my racing heart.
Felix, seemingly oblivious to everything going on around us, dives right in. “Alright! Spill it. I want to know everything!”
I chuckle under my breath, knowing how freaking weird and complicated our story is. Then I turn to Gabe and see sadness in his face, and it hits me that our story is kind of sad.
But it doesn’t have to be anymore.
“Gabe’s been my best friend for my whole life,” I say. “We had a falling out a couple of years back, but that’s behind us now.” I wrap my arm around Gabe’s shoulder and add, “He’s the only person in the world I trust.”
I look at Gabe, and the mix of shock and deep emotion in his eyes makes something unfurl inside me.
“Oh, my God,” Felix gasps. “Are you two gonna kiss?”
I crack up while Torren pinches the bridge of his nose. “They might have if you hadn’t ruined the moment, babe,” Torren says to Felix.
“No! Please! You have to kiss. Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” Felix chants while clapping his hands.
I pull Gabe closer and kiss his temple. “There. That’s all you're getting.”
Felix boos, and then the three of us crack up. From there, the conversation flows. We banter and keep things light. Torren’s still intimidating as fuck, but he’s very sweet with Felix, and it would be hard not to be. Felix is equal parts engaging and freaking hysterical.
And I think Gabe picked up his sass-game from Felix.
Throughout it all, Gabe says nothing. He smiles and gives a thumbs-up here and there, but he’s silent the entire time.
Eventually, someone comes over to chat with Torren and Felix—a HellCat in the money-laundering vertical, and Torren introduces me.
“Jason,” I say, rising to shake his hand.
The guy nods and says, “That was a damn good fight the other night.”
Another guy, one that’s been looking at me like he wants to dump my dead body in a dumpster, walks over and asks Torren, “This your friend, boss man?”
“He is,” Torren replies. “This is Jason.”
The guy looks me up and down, his sneer slowly easing into neutrality. “How do you know Torren Kay?” he asks me.
“His buddy is my best friend.”
“And stepbrother,” Felix chimes in with a smirk.
Oh, Jesus. “And stepbrother,” I add.
“He’s like family,” Torren adds in a tone that would make a statue flinch.
The guy nods slowly. “Welcome to the HellCats.” He shakes my hand, and it feels like it’s the signal for other HellCats to lighten up.
A few more guys walk over and introduce themselves, each one cold at first, but warming up as soon as Torren introduces me as a “good friend” or “like family.”
They start fucking around, laughing and taking shots—boasting about people they fucked or their most dangerous jobs. Some deal drugs, while others work in extortion.
I haven’t met anyone in theft, but I’m hoping the goodwill I’m building now will trickle over to those guys too.
Things start to get rowdier as folks get a little more tuned up, and I catch Gabe at the table, alone. So, I excuse myself from the guys and check on him.
“Can I do anything for you?” I ask.
“No, why?” he asks.
I shrug. “I don’t want you to feel left out.”
Gabe smiles. “I’m great, and you’re doing amazing. People like you, and not just because of Torren. You’ve got this.”
His words settle into my chest. “Yeah?” I ask.
“Absolutely,” he assures me.
I lean a little closer and whisper, “I needed to hear that.”
He gives me a knowing look and nods.
Of course, Gabe knew I needed to hear that.
Because he gets me.
My chest feels too small for everything I’m feeling.
The lighting in the bar casts a warm glow on his face. His mouth parts slightly as he looks up at me through his long lashes, and a warm buzz washes over me.
I rest my hand on the small of his back. “Gabe…”
“Who wants more liquor?” Felix chirps, snapping us out of the moment.
“Get me a whisky, babe,” Torren says.
Felix slinks over to the bar, and Gabe gets up. “I’ll help him,” he says to me. “Want anything?”
I shake my head. “I’m good.”
As I watch him walk off, missing his presence already, Torren approaches and asks, “What are you and Gabe?”
The question startles me, and I’m at a loss for words for a second. “He…he’s my best friend,” I say.
“Yeah?” Torren raises a brow, looking suspicious. “Did you decide that, or both of you?”
My jaw clenches, but then I remember who I’m dealing with. “I don’t understand what you mean.”
Torren folds his arms over his chest. “I’ve seen Gabe look at a lot of people, but I’ve never seen him look at someone the way he does you.”
I know Torren’s interrogating me, but I can’t help but feel my chest squeeze hearing his words. It means something—knowing that people can see it. It feels even more real, and it’s already terrifying.
“We matter a lot to each other,” I say. “I don’t take his friendship for granted—not anymore.”
Torren stares, his eyes boring into me like a physical force. He takes a deep breath and says, “Just know that if you hurt him, I’ll kill you.”
He says that with zero irony, and I’m not dumb enough to think he’s joking.
I look down at the table, the grains of wood reminding me of the wood paneling in the trailer and all of the ways I wasn’t there for Gabe during the worst moment of his life. “I would want you to kill me if I ever hurt him again.”
Torren’s eyebrows shoot up. He leans back and says, “Is that so?”
“Yes, and I’m glad Gabe has you—you were there when he really needed it.” I almost stop there, but decide to continue because the comedy of it all might help bridge the divide. “I was so jealous of you when I got back—mad as hell that Gabe had a new best friend.”
Torren laughs, but then he raises a brow and says, “Well, he doesn’t talk to me, Jason.”
His eyes are a little kinder now, and I feel good knowing I’ve convinced Gabe’s surrogate dad that my intentions are pure.
Well…kind of…
Gabe and Felix have been gone for a hot minute, so I look to see how they’re doing, and the air leaves my body in one fell swoop.
They’re both leaning over the bar, Felix chatting with Angelique while Gabe listens.
But Gabe’s camo pants have fallen a bit, revealing the top of his ass.
Is he wearing a jockstrap?
His black shirt is cropped, a new look for him, and it rides up his back, giving me the most mouth-watering view I’ve ever seen.
Not to mention he’s wearing a camo baseball cap and, for whatever reason, it makes the look all the more sexy.
Torren clears his throat, and I have to literally shake my head to get the filthy thoughts out of my brain and focus. “That’s quite a view up there, isn’t it?” he asks.
“I didn’t even know he owned a freaking jockstrap,” I exclaim. “He doesn’t play sports.”
Torren leans back and guffaws. “Well, I recognize the jockstrap. It’s Felix’s, meaning Gabe asked to borrow a pair of underwear for the occasion.”
You could hang a coat on my dick right now.
Gabe’s looking at Felix, listening to whatever he’s talking about, but then he looks over his shoulder and glances at me.
And the look on his face when our eyes meet…
He knows exactly what he’s doing.
“Daddy Kay,” I say to Torren. “I have a confession. My intentions with your daughter are very impure, and I’m gonna lose it if I don’t drag that ass downstairs.”
Torren almost does a spit take. He cackles, holding his gut while laughing. “Just don’t get her pregnant,” he finally says once his laughter dies down.
“I can’t keep that promise, sir.” Gabe’s still looking at me with a wicked grin on his face.
“Torren, in all seriousness, I have to go smash my best friend downstairs, or I might spontaneously combust. I hope you’ll excuse me.”
Torren waves me off. “Have fun—just take care of him,” he adds.
Oh…I’ll take care of him, alright.
As I walk over, our eyes lock, and Gabe licks his lips.