Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
JETT
My nerves were getting the best of me.
The next week had gone by very quickly, and before I knew it, I was standing inside the airport waiting for Dusty to arrive.
I stood rigid, my jaw clenched, and hands balled into fists at my side. All week I couldn’t stop wondering how I would feel when I saw my friend after the time that had passed. When I’d last seen her, she was still in the hospital, and I wasn’t sure what to expect.
A part of me worried that being around her would make the memories and nightmares worse, causing me to slide backward, losing the tiny bit of progress I’d made. I felt awful thinking that way. Dusty needed a friend. She was alive; that’s what mattered.
You’re alive too, idiot.
I felt Patience’s hand touch the center of my back, and she began moving it in circles. Even through the barrier of fabric, her touch soothed me.
We stood outside the gates where she would come through, my stomach in knots, but it twisted painfully when I got my first glimpse of her with the cane she was using and the prominent limp in her step.
When I pulled in a swift intake of breath, Patience moved her hand to mine and entwined our fingers.
“It’s okay,” she whispered, leaning in close to my ear and giving a gentle squeeze.
Dusty hadn’t seen us yet, and I worked to pull my shit together, pasting on a happy smile—a fake one, but I was trying.
I owed her that much. Fuck that; I owed her a lot more. It killed me to see her hurt at all, knowing that I couldn’t stop it from happening.
Lifting a hand in the air, I caught Dusty’s attention, and she made her way over to us. I should have gone to her, but I seemed to be frozen in place watching my friend, trying to judge how she felt and her mood.
I should have known what to expect.
Dusty may have let me hear a few seconds of vulnerability in her tone on the phone and admitted for a brief moment how she was feeling, but in the end, it wouldn’t last long. She didn’t usually dwell, called it like it was, and she also gave me more shit than any of the people I’d served with.
Her eyes lit up, then immediately narrowed when she moved in front of me. “Wipe that fake-ass smile off your face and stop the guilty bullshit running through your head.” She gave me a light punch to the arm. “I’m here for fun, not so we can drown ourselves in tears.”
Throwing my head back, I roared with laughter, and a genuine smile hit my face as Patience giggled.
“Wow, I love her already!” Patience said.
Dusty turned her attention to my wife and gave her a silly grin. “I don’t swing that way, but if I did you would be just my type. You're even more beautiful and adorable in person.”
Patience’s laughter was always magical, and it echoed like musical notes through the whole airport as she blushed at the compliment, as well as her crazy comment. Dusty joined her, and watching the two of them bond like a flash of lightning was amazing.
Without thinking, I raised Patience’s and my joined hands so her ring sparkled in front of my friend’s eyes. “You’re too late; she’s already mine.” I wanted to add forever but I chickened out at the last second.
The blissful sigh at my acknowledgment from my wife didn’t go unnoticed, but Dusty’s reaction took precedence right then.
Smacking me upside the head with her free hand, her eyes darkened, and I knew I was busted. “You went and got married?” It was a rhetorical question, the answer clear, so she didn’t let me respond before carrying on. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”
With how everything had come about, I wasn’t sure if telling her would be right. It all started out of convenience to help Patience and Griffin. When I let my wife go and moved on, the less people that knew, the better. And the less that would be mad at me.
But…
“It’s not real,” Patience whispered.
Gone was the laughter; sadness shone bright in her eyes. Fuck, I’d messed up again. Me not telling the one other friend I truly had outside our group seemed to speak volumes to the woman beside me. The misery on her face was soul-crushing.
Before I could do damage control or tell her that I was a fool and, of course it was real, Dusty jumped in.
She snatched Patience's hand out of mine. “Hogwash.” My friend looped her arm through my wife’s. “This fool has been wanting to marry you since the day he set eyes on you.”
Patience gasped, but Dusty was already pulling her away from me. “Let’s go get my bag. You can tell me all about how my neanderthal friend managed to get everything he ever wanted but didn’t bother to tell me on the way.”
I followed, my wife’s gaze looking over her shoulder, a stunned look on her beautiful face. Dusty wasn’t wrong, but I didn’t have words, so living up to the neanderthal part, I just shrugged my shoulders.
What could I say? I was a dumbass.
I hoped one day I’d get my shit together.
For my wife’s sake.
My wife was enamored with Dusty, just as my friend was with her.
By the time we got in the car and had made it to the condos, the two of them were thick as thieves.
Patience and I had talked about where Dusty would stay, deciding we’d leave it up to her. I’d worried that it would bother my wife if she chose to stay in the condo I was in but fuck if my girl wasn’t the most amazing woman I knew.
Her response, if that was the choice that was made, was, “I trust you.”
That had felt so good, but at the same time, it was eating at me that I couldn’t just be in the same place as my wife.
On the drive home, Dusty had heard all about the asshole Chaz, her body vibrating with anger on behalf of Patience.
She also learned how the marriage came about, but once again responded by saying it was always meant to be anyway.
When we walked into the building, making our way to Patience's and Griffin’s door, I gave Dusty the option to stay with me or them, I was granted a snarky, verbal scolding once again.
“That’s bullshit. You need to be here with your wife and son.”
Hearing those words from her—wife and your son—I inhaled loudly. It zapped me into reality listening to someone else address them that way. She was right, but…
“It’s not that easy. The nightmares, Dusty.”
My friend may not have all the details on the terror I saw when I closed my eyes at night, but she was aware I was struggling.
Dusty’s face softened then, and she laid her hand on my arm. “I have them too. But I know you, Jett. You won’t hurt her.”
She gestured toward Patience, who had tears swimming in her eyes. And what else did I see? Hope. My wife wanted exactly what Dusty was laying out in front of us. The fuck of it was, I wanted that too.
“Let’s get you settled at the condo, and I’ll grab some of my things to bring back here.” I’d been looking at Dusty, who was looking all too pleased with herself, but then turned to Patience.
That hopeful look was brighter than ever as she bit her lower lip and stared at me, her eyes glassy with her unshed tears.
“If you want me to?” I said in way of question as I held my breath, nervously waiting for her answer. She looked like it was what she wanted, but what if she changed her mind and said no?
Shaking her head, she softly told me, “Yes, I want you here.”
I smiled like a loon as Dusty smacked me on the back. “Great, show me the way so we can get moving to your real home.”
She meant Gramps’s place. Griffin was already there waiting for us, and everyone was gathering excited to get together to meet Dusty.
“I’m going to do a few things while you get her settled,” Patience said. “Grab me on your way out.”
“Of course I will,” I told her as I took a few steps away from her. It wasn’t as if I was going to make her drive herself.
My friend landed another blow to the back of my head, making me laugh because she would fit right in with our group. The guys were always doing that to one another. It was something my Gramps would do too.
“Sweet Jesus, would you stop being a tool and kiss your wife?”
I turned back to Patience, both our cheeks flaming red at Dusty’s scolding and her stare as she banged her cane against the ground twice.
Making my way back to my wife, I placed one hand on her hip, leaned in, and softly laid my mouth against hers. It was hard not to devour her when I got a taste of her sweet lips, but I could feel Dusty’s eyes on us. Patience sighed, and I felt it down to my bones.
Not quite ready but needing to get away from prying eyes and move before I started making out in the hall with my wife like some horny teenager, I pulled away.
“Much better,” Dusty announced. “Now we can go. Lead the way.” She motioned for me to go so she could follow.
I gave one last quick glance at my wife, whose smile was radiant. “Be back soon.”
Making our way down the hall, Dusty asked, “So who’s gonna be at this little BBQ?”
Behind us, I heard my girl snicker and knew why. There was nothing small about our group and…
“Everyone.”
Dusty stopped in her tracks and looked at me, so I halted my steps too. “Everyone? Like you mean your whole group of family and friends, everyone?”
Patience, who hadn’t gone into her condo yet, was all out giggling now and it was music to my ears. I felt myself holding back a laugh right along with her.
“Yup!”
That’s it, just a yup and a split-eating grin on my face.
“Well, fuck. You could have given me more warning,” my friend said, mock irritation lining her tone.
I knew she’d go with the flow and was teasing. That was who Dusty was, but it was kind of fun to fuck with her and to see her a bit off her game.
“Payback.”
Dusty shook her head and glared at me. “Asshole.”
A deep chuckle broke free and it felt awesome.
Maybe having Dusty here would be good for me and help her too.
Another step forward.
Not a step backward like I fretted about.
And maybe I could find the words to tell my wife that our marriage wasn’t a ruse, that it was the real deal.