CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Jeo

 

“Here, have a cold one,” Blaze said, handing me a beer.

“Thanks, Bossman,” I took a drink from the cold bottle. “What happened to your eye?”

“Nasty right hook from one of the fuckers running that dog fight we busted up the other night. The other guy looks a lot worse, of course.”

I grinned. “Goes without saying. I would’ve helped with that if I’d gotten your message in time.”

Blaze sat on the couch and spread his arms along the back. “I get it. You were fucking your boyfriend. Happens to the best of us. No need to explain.”

“I hate I let you guys down.”

“Man, it’s no biggie. It all went down very last minute. We got the call and took off, calling in as many of the club members as we could get. Dante had been working late, and Foghorn had been having dinner at Cupcake’s parents’ house, so you weren’t the only one who couldn’t make it.”

“Ever since Celine’s parents moved to town, seems like they spend a lot of time with her family. I wonder how Jesse feels about that,” I said.

Blaze chuckled. “Foghorn’s gonna be cool with whatever the little wife wants.”

“Yeah, and you’re just like him. You just don’t have to deal with Lake’s family.”

I knew Lake was estranged from his mother but didn’t know the details.

“Does Nick have family? Other than Julianne and her kids, of course.”

“He’s got an asshole of a father who makes him feel like less than nothing. Met him at Nick’s grandmother’s birthday party last weekend.”

“That’s rough. I’m sure he was glad to have you there with him.”

A little embarrassed at how perceptive Blaze was, I said, “We aren’t serious.”

“Why do you say that? Are you dating other people? No. Do you care about him? It’s obvious you do, and I think Nick’s liked you for a long time. You even hold hands with the guy and make goo-goo eyes at him.”

“You can be an obnoxious son of a bitch, you know that?”

Blaze laughed. “What I don’t get is why you don’t want to admit it. There’s no shame in caring about the person you’re seeing.”

I gulped down half the bottle before attempting a reply. “I’m just saying that me and Nick—we’re not what you and Lake are. We’re just fooling around, and going bare’s one of the perks of being monogamous.”

“And that’s another thing,” Blaze said. “Jeovanni Mendoza in a monogamous relationship is something I’ve never known to happen before.”

I snorted. “Come on. I dated that girl from Kenya for three weeks straight.”

“While boinking about five other people on the side,” Blaze reminded me.

“I wasn’t cheating—she had an ex she still slept with. We were in an open relationship.”

“And we were talking about monogamy,” Blaze reminded me.

Oh, yeah. “Doesn’t matter I’ve never done it before. I turned over a new leaf, remember? I’m not fucking around. I’m being responsible and all that now.”

“And Nick just happens to be the guy you start being responsible with.”

“Fuck you, Blaze. I haven’t slept with anyone in a year, so—yeah, I decided to get back in the game. What’s your point?”

Impervious to my ire, Blaze said, “My point is you’ve liked Nick a long time. I saw it back then, and I see how much more you care about him now. So stop trying to convince everyone this is just a fling.”

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Okay.”

“What?” Blaze sounded surprised.

I looked at him. “I goddamn said okay! I like Nick. We’re not fucking other people. Shit, Blaze, I forgot what we were even talking about before this interrogation.”

Blaze broke into laughter, “God, that was easier than I thought it would be. Well, okay, then. This feels a little anti-climactic, to tell you the truth.”

“Again, fuck you.” I saluted him with my beer bottle before draining it.

Blaze shook his head, still chuckling.

I thought of something. “Is Matteo thinking of moving to Cane’s building?”

“He hasn’t mentioned it to me. Why?”

“Just something he said about wanting to see Nick’s apartment.”

“Oh, my God, are you jealous?”

“No!”

“Yes, you are. You really think Matteo would go after your guy?”

I looked away.

“Jeo, he wouldn’t.”

“It’s just he was looking Nick over like he was dessert, and he asked him if he could see his place. I’ve not seen Matteo interested in anybody in a long time. Not since that guy he dated years ago.”

“Well, he’s not going after Nick. Now cut that jealous bullshit out.”

I sighed. I knew he was right. It just infuriated me when I thought of Matteo being alone with Nick.

“In other news,” Blaze said, “Dante and Isaac want to have the Fourth of July barbecue at their house. Your job is to help get the fireworks. Okay with you?”

“Sure,” I mumbled. “By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask when you and Lake are gonna make things official. I mean, Jesse and Celine, Zeke and Morgan, Dante and Isaac—all three in the throes of marital bliss. Even Axel and Caleb are engaged. But here you and Lake sit, stagnant-”

“We’re not stagnant,” Blaze said, and I couldn’t help but smile because revenge was sweet.

“But no ring? Haven’t even looked at one?”

“None of your business, Mendoza.” Blaze stood, grabbed my empty bottle, and strode into the kitchen, my laughter following him.

****

Back at Rainbow House, I found Katy and Mike in the kitchen baking.

“Cookies? Really? What about dinner?” I asked.

“Cookies sounded better,” Mike said. I was happy to see him slowly coming out of his shell.

“You gotta have something nutritious in you first,” I said.

“Yes, Daddy.” Katy snickered.

I pulled my head out of the refrigerator and looked at her. Had she overheard me and Nick? But she continued dropping dough onto the greased pan and chatting with Mike, so I figured she was just razzing me for bossing them around.

Feet thudded down the stairs and Nathan appeared in the kitchen.

“The coffee shop took me on full time!” He flashed white teeth in a grin.

“That’s great, man.” I slapped Nathan on the back as Katy and Mike congratulated him.

“Yeah. Now I’ll be able to afford my own place soon.”

“Nobody’s in a hurry to get rid of you,” I said.

“I know.” Nathan reached for the cookie dough, and Katy swatted his hand away. “But the sooner I leave, the sooner a new bed opens up for someone else.”

Mike groaned. “I need a job.”

I snapped my fingers. “Hey, that reminds me. Can you work on cars?”

Mike shook his head.

“What about a register?”

“I’ve done some. I worked at a grocery store for a while before I came to New York City.”

“My friend Zeke mentioned he needs someone to work in the garage he runs with his old man. You interested?”

Mike’s face lit up. “Yeah, of course! Do you think he’d hire me?”

“I’m positive he will,” I said, sending a quick text to Zeke. The reply came back quickly. “He says you can start tomorrow. I’ll give you the address.”

Mike hugged the life out of me.

“Thank you, Jeo,” he said.

“No problem. The best thanks will be to see you on your feet and getting closer to being the person you want to be.”

Noticing the overflowing trash can, I tied it and headed outside to the can. As I approached the back door to come in again, I overheard Mike say, “Jeo’s so great. I want to be just like him someday.” The words sank in, completely foreign and very flattering. Had anyone ever said they wanted to be like me before? Maybe my little brothers once upon a time, but that had been in another life. I’d been feeling lousy about myself for so long, I didn’t know how to take it.

I walked into the house, pretending I hadn’t heard. “How about we order a few pizzas?”

The others agreed, and I made the call. Afterward, I entered the living room, finding myself suddenly wanting to talk to Nick. I dialed before I could think too hard about why.

“Hello?” Just the sound of Nick’s voice did something to me. My heart sped up, and I felt inexplicably…better.

“Hey,” I said as casually as I could.

Nick cleared his throat. “Hey. What’s up?”

I immediately knew something was off.

“You upset about something?”

“What? No, I’m just tired. I’m helping Tony unpack some stuff,” Nick said.

“Oh, well, how about taking a break? I just ordered some pizzas. Katy and Mike are making cookies.”

“Okay.” Nick sounded surprised. “I’ve pretty much finished here. I’ll go down and take a shower. Be there soon.”

When we disconnected, I immediately texted Tony, telling him to call me as soon as Nick left.

“What’s going on?” he asked when I answered his call.

“Nick gone?”

“I can follow directions, Jeo,” Tony said irritably.

“What’s wrong with him? He sounded funny on the phone.”

Tony exhaled loudly. “Nothing serious. You should ask him.”

“T,” I said angrily. “Tell me.”

“It’s not a big deal!” He sighed. “He just accidentally got locked in the bathroom.”

I frowned. “And?”

“And it freaked him out. Remember, Bruder locked Nick in a closet for hours. It’s made him weird about small spaces. He panics. When I finally got the door open, he had to breathe into a bag for five minutes in order to calm down.”

I wondered why Nick hadn’t told me. I guessed he was too embarrassed.

“Was he okay when he left?”

“Of course. God, you think I’d let him leave if he wasn’t?”

“Guess not,” I muttered.

“Jesus, Jeo. You need to figure out what your feelings are. I swear, if you up and dump Nick when it’s obvious you really care about him, I’m going to kill you.”

Where the hell had that come from?

“Mike, you set the napkin on fire!” I heard from the kitchen.

“Gotta go, T.” As I raced into the kitchen to see what the fuck was going on, I wondered if Nick would tell me about his panic attack if I prompted him a little. The thought that he might not bothered me more than it probably should.