5. Jason
5
T he second I walked into the venue, I regretted going in the first place.
But witnessing the straight-up lust on my little witch and her fiery brown eyes as she checks me out makes up for enough to get me through half the night.
“Does Hunter know you’re parading with his ex?” There’s an edge to her voice that pleases me to the core.
“Julie, you remember Mia?” Sarcasm drips from my question, because we both know she hasn’t forgotten about the girl who won prom queen in our senior year.
She can’t stand her.
A slick hand slides onto my upper arm, and Julie’s big brown eyes turn from heated to two different shades of green. Clearly disgusted by my choice of date, her gaze falls on the women beside me with something that I’m labeling as jealousy because, fuck me, this is what’s going to get me through the other half of the night.
“Mia, of course, one of Hunter’s groupies. What is it that you wanted to be when you grew up? Actress? Singer?”
Julie’s blonde hair cascades over her shoulders in perfectly straightened strands, the tips dancing over the golden sequins of her dress as she puts her phone in her bag to try to hide the long roll of her eyes.
Amused by her annoyance, my pulsing heartbeat tempts me to scan her curves, creating unwilling action beneath my pants zipper.
Her sleeves are long, the fabric covering her entire upper body, with a little golden band that accentuates her waist. But it’s the combination of that sparkly dress and those long, exposed legs moving underneath it that pushes my teeth into my lip. The welcome pain enables me to prevent the throbbing limb between my legs from growing at the sight of her.
“Model,” Mia cheers because, apparently, she’s oblivious to Julie’s lack of sincerity.
“Oh, yeah, tomayto tomahto.” Julie waves her answer away, with no sign of a ring on her finger, might I add, then shoots me an unapproving glare. Whatever.
“No date, Jules? Jacob stood you up again?” But I almost swallow my words when the young version of my father comes strolling around the corner with that same devilish gleam, as always.
What the fuck?
My fingers start to tingle, and I force them into fists, squeezing tightly to keep my cool. Which is a fucking challenge because I’m aching to punch him in the fucking face just for existing.
His arrogant gaze finds mine for a split second, before he removes all disdain from his features and plasters a dashing smile on his lips when he fixes his attention on Mia.
“Oh, yay, there he is,” Julie clips with annoyed eyes.
“I remember you. Mia, right?” Smoothly, he slides behind Julie, placing his hand on her lower back before taking the spot next to her like he belongs there, then offers Mia his free hand.
I can’t believe she would choose him over me. After all he’s done to her. After all the times she cried in my arms. After our night together.
My heart feels like it’s being ripped out of my chest all over again just by looking at these two because I just can’t comprehend it.
“Mia, this is Jacob,” I mutter. “My idiot brother.”
“Hi, Jacob.” Mia beams, her eyes fixed on Jacob, and now it’s my turn to roll my eyes.
Of course, they’ve met. They’ve probably fucked too, because when Jacob graduated and went to a college close to home, he decided that fucking his way through my senior year was also a good idea.
“Brother, nice to see you still have that stick up your ass,” Jacob says.
For a moment, I’m debating how pissed my mother would be if I gave him a black eye to match his tuxedo. She’d probably make me do chores every time I visit for a year. Hmm, it could be worth it.
“What do you think, Jason?” Jordan comes to stand beside me, Ford joining in next to him, the same annoyed energy rippling from his body before his gaze finds mine. “Shall I try to pull it out and hit him with it over the head?”
I blink at my younger brother, not sure what to think about the noise that just rolled out of his throat.
“Is this your way of sticking up for me?” I am questioning, genuinely having no clue.
“Yeah, literally.” He shrugs with a look that says duh as I hear Julie chuckle and change the direction of my glare.
“It’s not funny.”
“It’s a little funny.” She puts her thumb and index close together, leaving a small space open between the two digits, a sassy grin peering up at me behind it before she gives my brother a short wave.
Jacob clears his throat, his vile glare burning at our baby brother.
“Still following the honey dripping from his ass, Jordan? Oh wait, Mama told me. It’s Cash now, isn’t it? Cash Jordan? Country Music Star? Can I get tickets to your show at the mall?”
Most brothers—no, let me rephrase that. Normal brothers would be proud of their younger brother for pursuing a career in music. Not Jacob. Jacob is a sad little bitch who wants everyone to be miserable and makes it his soul mission to suck the fun out of everything.
Including the blonde next to him, who’s looking like someone fed her a lemon while expecting a popsicle.
“Still better than all the shit following you,” Jordan bites back.
Ford whistles, drawing Jacob’s attention away from Jordan and I. “Wow, family dinners must be a blast at your house.”
“You have no idea,” Jordan grits out.
“Hey, man. I’m Ford.” He reaches out his hand, and Jacob takes it, once again plastering that fake ass smile onto his cheeks.
Fucking psychopath.
“Don’t trust everything dumb and dumber told you. I bet these two have painted a pretty bad picture about me, haven’t they?”
“Jesus Christ.” I rub a hand over my forehead.
Tell me I’ve been switched by birth, please.
“Nah, you’re doing a pretty good job yourself.” Ford shakes his head, his tone casual, and it rips a chuckle from my chest.
I remember why I like this knucklehead again.
“Jules, you do know you can do so much better, right?” Jordan aims his focus at Julie, who’s looking like she’s ready for the ground to swallow her whole, while Jacob takes the moment to kiss her hair with a smugness someone needs to slap off.
I volunteer for tribute.
A tight smile slips onto her pink lips, one that grinds my molars together because I can’t stand that Jacob is making her feel uncomfortable. “Right now, I’ve had my stomach full of Spencer boys, no offense.”
Jacob tugs her against his side, growing the discomfort.
“Wait a couple hours and you’ll have something else full of Spencer.”
That motherfucker.
How dare he say shit like that to her at a work event?
I inch farther, about to give every nerve in my body the pleasure from showing this son of a bitch this entire gala with my fists before Jordan subtly tugs me back. Exhaling through my nose, my fury sizzles at my big brother until I notice how the blood has disappeared out of Julie’s cheeks.
He embarrasses her.
She glances up at him, her gaze a mix of hatred and sadness that pierces through my heart like a dozen needles at the same time.
I hate him.
“You are disgusting. I need to go to the bathroom.” She worms herself out of his grasp, her eyes set to the floor as she struts away, and I imagine my shoes are glued to the spot to not run after her.
You need to stop doing this, Jason.
“Trouble in paradise, Jake?” Jordan taunts, and my glare roams up.
Jacob ignores Jordan. Instead, he fixates on me, wickedness dancing in the small rise of his eyebrow, fueling my rage like I’m at a fucking gas station.
Why can’t I fucking let this go?
Why does it still bring out this primal beast inside me when he treats her like that . Like dirt. Like shit. What the fuck is keeping her with him?
I don’t get it.
“Maybe.” Jacob shrugs. “But it will be all gone when her legs are wrapped around my waist in a couple hours.”
Breathe, Jason. Count to ten. Walk away. Anything.
“You don’t deserve her,” I manage to grit out.
“But I still have her. I win, brother .” He winks.
And I lose it.
A roar tears from the depths of my gut, raw and loud, and it’s followed by my clenched fist that connects with my brother’s jaw a mere split second later. The moment my knuckles are slammed against his face, a burst of energy releases, rippling through every single cell with a rush of adrenaline.
There’s a faint registration of people shrieking, gasping, and calling my name around me, but not enough to calm my mind and take the high road.
I’m not a fighter. Hunter, my best friend, is a retired MMA fighter. Jensen, my buddy, the NHL player, he’s a fighter. I am not. I like the challenge of destroying you with my words, always balancing the line of what I can and can’t say.
But, man, does it feel absolutely glorious to punch Jacob in the face.
It doesn’t change the anger radiating off my tuxedo-covered body as I bare my teeth at him. If anything, it makes the snarl I’m aiming at him only that more menacing, but I now understand why Hunter lived for his fights when he was younger, because I’m ready for more. I’m ready to draw blood.
“You don’t win shit!” I shout.
“Jason, breathe ,” Jordan whispers close behind me.
Jacob’s eyes grow as big as saucers, his expression shocked, as he’s rubbing his jaw before I can see his demeanor change to match mine. Dark, brooding, and without limits. When I was younger, I avoided fighting with him, because growing up with Jacob Spencer as my big brother, I learned quickly that he fights dirty and without morals. He doesn’t hesitate to cross boundaries that normal people never would, but I’m done playing nice.
Oh, yeah, let’s go.
“I’m gonna kill you,” he rumbles, embodying every bit of the sick motherfucker I know he is, with an energy you wouldn’t wish upon your biggest enemy.
But he doesn’t scare me. I grew up with this asshole. I got twenty something years of pent-up frustration about this guy. He wants to kill me? I’d love to see him try.
“Bring it on, you sick son of a bitch .” In response, I amble forward, diving in again.
I expect him to be ready and catch my attack this time, but my punch pounds as hard into his face as my heartbeat in my ears, deafening and trembling, before his shoulder slams into my stomach.
I stumble backwards, forced by the impact, until my back is held up by someone’s chest. Strong arms fold around my upper body, holding me back, while Jacob is peeled off my me, trying to break loose from Ford’s grip. He continues to fight against his grasp, kicking, grunting and squirming for release with eyes that are crazed like a dog with rabies.
“Jason, this is a work event and people are looking,” Jordan hushes in my ear, and my gaze darts further than the tunnel vision I had in the last thirty seconds.
With a heavy chest, I breathe into my nose, then exhale loudly, my attention fixed at my sibling I hate with a passion.
“Yo, buddy. Calm the fuck down,” Ford booms in Jacob’s ear. “There are a handful of high executives and athletes from all over the country here. That includes North Carolina.”
Hearing his resident state seems to click something in his head, because the squirming stops and all that is left is panting breaths from the both of us.
“That’s right.” Ford continues. “You’re in real estate, right? Acting like a fucking madman is gonna instantly ruin your chances with all these people here.”
It calms Jacob down, because his body relaxes, and I shake my head when that calculated smirk slowly creeps onto his face again.
I fucking hate him so much .
“Are you cool?” Jordan asks against my ear.
No, I’m not fucking cool. I want Jacob to get the fuck out of my life and stay out of it. Send me a fucking card for his funeral so I can celebrate how the world is a better place without him with an expensive bottle of Scotch.
“Jason?” Jordan’s voice lifts a notch, but it still not louder than my boiling blood pumping through my veins like it’s the engine of the fucking Titanic.
Jacob shrugs out of Ford’s embrace, squaring his shoulders and adjusting his collar. His blue eyes hold more silver, though I know how much they look like mine. I resent that I share DNA with him, even more how our features resemble any kind of family connection.
“Jason!” Jordan sounds pissed this time.
“What?”
“Can I let you go?”
Is this a fucking trick question? No, you can’t fucking let me go. Not if you want to keep me out of jail, which at this point, I’m not sure is incentive enough for me to chill and let my brother live for another day.
“If you end up in jail tonight, it will ruin your chances at any new potential clients here tonight,” he whispers, as if he read my mind. “I want to punch him just as much as you do, but he’s not worth it, bro. Calm the fuck down .”
Motherfucking hell . Fine.
I jerk out of my little brother's arm, my jaw set as I glare at Jacob with narrowed eyes, then twist on my heels before I storm off.
“Where the fuck are you going?” Jordan bellows at my back.
He’s right. The last person I should jeopardize my business for is Jacob. It doesn’t mean I have to like it, though.
“I don’t fucking know!” I yell back without turning around.
Except I do know. I know exactly where I’m going when I make a turn to one of the halls and straight into the ladies’ room.
De-ja-fucking-vu.