by Geri Glenn
Her heavy breathing eventually turns to shouts and curses. Finally, with a deep, hard thrust, she screams my name as her body shatters with her release, and I feel my own building low in my spine.
It’s not until her hooded eyes meet mine that I finally follow her over the edge. My sweat slicked skin slides against hers as I lay her back down on the bed and fall down beside her. The two of us lie side by side, our fingers tangled together as we pull ourselves back together.
“Jase? I…” I look down at her, my eyes studying hers as she seems to be having some sort of internal struggle. “I was wondering if you were hungry.”
I cock my head and watch her for a moment, wondering what she was really going to say, but decide to drop it for now. “I could eat.”
She places a kiss on my lips before crawling from the bed and slipping into my T-shirt. “Pancakes sound good?”
Ellen
“Mom,” Bryce calls from the front door. “I’m home.”
My eyes land on Jase and my nervous butterflies go crazy. Maybe this isn’t a good idea. After spending the entire weekend together, lounging in bed, making love, and watching countless scary movies, Jase had told me that he thought it would be a good idea for him to be here when Paul dropped Bryce off. I’d been worried that it would just make things worse, but Jase asked me trust him, spouting off something about guy codes and messages. Something I don’t understand, but Jase assured me Paul would.
“Relax,” he whispers, standing from the couch. “It’ll be fine.” He pulls me to my feet and motions for me to go ahead of him. I move towards the front door, Jase right on my heels.
Paul and Bryce are standing just inside the door, Paul watching Bryce take off his shoes. Both of their heads whip up when we enter the front hall. “Hey, Bud,” I say with the brightest smile I can manage. “Did you have a good time with your dad?”
Bryce shrugs and looks over my shoulder. “What’s he doing here?” he asks.
Jase squeezes my shoulder in a silent show of support that I couldn’t be more grateful for. I can feel Paul’s angry eyes boring into me, but I keep my focus on Bryce and smile. “Jase is staying for dinner.”
Bryce shrugs again and turns to his dad, ready to say goodbye, but Paul isn’t paying any attention to his son. I watch as Bryce’s shoulders droop and he looks down at the floor, his face sad and defeated.
“I don’t believe we’ve met,” Paul states, holding his hand out to Jase, his jaw set in a hard line. “Paul Chapman.”
Jase leans around me, grasping Paul’s hand and giving it a single pump. “Jase Matthews,” he says formally, and I can’t help but grin at the look on Paul’s face. If I know Jase, he’s squeezing the shit out of Paul’s hand right now.
He finally releases him, and I watch as Paul opens and closes his hand, his features frozen in anger. “Ellen, can I talk to you alone please?” He words it like a question, but he isn’t asking. His tone is clear.
My mind races for an excuse, but Jase beats me to the punch. “Actually, Paul, that won’t be necessary.”
“What?” Paul asks, like he can’t believe what he’s hearing.
“Bryce,” I rush out. “Why don’t you take your stuff to your room, okay?”
Bryce looks from me to his father, and then to Jase, a deep frown creasing his brow. But thankfully, he doesn’t argue as he grabs his backpack and walks to his room. We all watch him go, and then Jase picks up where we left off.
“I said no, Paul. No. You won’t be talking to Ellen alone. From what I understand, you’re kind of an asshole to her, and she doesn’t feel comfortable with you.”
Paul gapes at me. “Who the fuck is this guy, Ellen?”
“This guy,” Jase continues, “is her man. And this guy doesn’t like how things have been going between you two lately, so he intends to be around to make sure things change, for everyone.”
Paul’s face flushes with anger, a little vein on his left temple threatening to burst. “I thought it was agreed on in court that you would stay away from this son of a bitch.”
I smirk and prop my hands on my hips, my back leaning against Jase for support. “You were wrong. It was brought up, but I never agreed to anything.”
Paul curses and glares back at both of us, then turns and slams his way out the door, every window in the house shaking from the force.
Bryce comes rushing out of his room, his face ashen as he looks around Jase and I. “Where’s Dad?”
The look on his face nearly breaks me. Damn Paul for making him crave his affection so much, and damn him straight to hell for never fully giving it to him. “He went home, Buddy, but he said to say goodbye, and that he’d see you in a couple of weeks.”
Bryce’s lips press into a thin line and he shakes his head, turning to go back to his room. “Hey, Bryce,” Jase calls. “Your mother was just about to start supper. I was thinking you could show me how to play some of those video games I saw in the living room.”
Bryce stares up at Jase. “Whatever.” He wanders into the living room, calling back behind him, “What game?”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Jase
Riding along behind Ryker, I finally feel like my life is starting to fall into place. I’m VP of a club that I would lay down my life to protect. My best friend is taking huge steps to show me that he doesn’t think of me as a joke, helping to make my dream a reality. I’m building a relationship with a hilarious kid that’s turning out to be one of the coolest people I know, and I have a gorgeous, kind, funny woman that I’m starting to wonder how I ever lived without.
The garage itself is just outside of town, a short stretch down a country road. The idea of driving to work every day is new for me. I’ve only ever had to haul my ass out of bed and drag it across the parking lot to the garage at the compound. This, though, I could get used to.
We come to the top of a hill and just up ahead, I see it. The garage is large, and in need of a paint job, but that’s all cosmetic. As we draw closer, I count six separate bay doors, and what looks to be a large customer service area.
Pulling into the driveway, we pull our bikes into a line with Ryker at the head. Reaper, Tease, and a couple of the other guys came along, wanting to check the place out as well. We all climb off our bikes and look around. As I do, all I can see is potential. This place is fucking perfect.
“Catch,” Ryker calls. I turn just in time to catch the keys he tosses at me. “Go check it out.”
I grin back at him and move to the door, turning the lock and pushing inside. The customer service area is filthy, and the counter is falling apart. The linoleum is faded and ripped in several places. There are bright rectangles and squares on the wall where the paint is brighter from being covered with posters.
Pushing through the door towards the garages, the guys follow me, all of them making comments about the work that needs to be done. I pay no attention to them and take in my surroundings. Each bay is connected and wide open, with no walls separating them. There are steel shelves lining the back wall, and auto lifts located in front of all six doors. The place is bright from the many windows that reside high up on the cement walls.
“What do you think?” Ryker asks. “This is the first I’ve really checked out the inside. I didn’t realize it needed so much work.”
“Are you kidding? That’s the best part. It means I can make it exactly the way I want it. This place is fuckin’ incredible, Ryk.”
“You ladies want us to leave so you can make out?” Reaper drawls. Ryker and I both turn without a word, giving him our middle fingers.
I walk back into the customer service area. “No, seriously. Think about it. This wall is all windows. We can replace the panes with one solid piece of glass. We can rip out the service desk and put a smaller one over there. New paint, new tile, and rip out the little waiting area. This whole room will become a gorgeous fucking showroom to show off some of our best choppers.”
We spend the next hour wandering around, making plan
s and suggestions for all the changes that need to be made. The garage itself is pretty much perfect and ready to use. As soon as Reaper finishes taking inventory of everything he needs to build me a kick-ass security system, we lock up and return to our bikes.
“So what are you gonna name it?” Tease asks as he climbs onto his bike.
“I have no idea.”
Ellen
I unlock the door to my house and glare at Bryce as he hurries inside, heading straight for his bedroom. I grit my teeth, ignoring the urge to go down there and rip a strip off him for the shit he pulled today.
Shortly after one o’clock this afternoon, I’d received a phone call from the school asking me to come in right away. Since I was at work, I had to get someone to come in early to cover the rest of my shift, then take the twenty-minute bus ride to the school. By the time I got there, school was getting out for the day.
I’d walked down the hall and found Bryce sitting in the office, looking worried. I didn’t even get a chance to talk to him before the principal had pulled us into her office, where she informed me that Bryce had been caught fighting with another boy. The other kids that had witnessed the fight all confirmed that Bryce was the instigator. I’d looked at my son and been shocked by the angry and distant look in his eyes as he refused to tell me what had happened.
Thankfully, the principal had been gracious, letting Bryce off with a warning, but part of that warning was that next time Bryce got caught fighting at school, he would be suspended for three days, without question.
The entire way home, I’d tried to talk to him and find out what had gone down, but he kept saying that I wouldn’t understand. By the time we got here, I’d reached my limit in patience. I check my watch and realize that it’s later than I thought, and that Jase will be here any minute.
This is the second night this week that Jase has been over for supper, and to get to know Bryce a little better. Bryce is still unsure about the whole thing, but I think he’s slowly coming around. Jase has been extremely understanding of Bryce, and how our relationship affects him, never pushing himself on either one of us.
I move to the kitchen and begin preparing dinner, trying to come up with some sort of solution on how to deal with my son. I’m at a loss. As a mother, I feel like a failure—like there’s something I should be doing to fix this for him, but I have no idea what that something is.
The doorbell rings and I hurry down the hall, wiping my fingers on a dish towel. I swing the door open and when my eyes land on Jase, all the tension in my body fades. His perfect smile hits me, and I practically throw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck.
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
I pull away, motioning for him to come in. We move into the kitchen where I grab him a beer and go back to cutting potatoes while I tell him what had happened today. “I don’t even know what to say to him right now. It’s like everything I do say pisses him off even more, and sometimes it even feels like he hates me.”
Tears form in my eyes as I think about what the hell I’m supposed to do about this whole mess. Jase’s smile is gone.
“I’m sorry,” I say, moving towards him and collapsing against him. “You don’t want to hear about this.”
“Yes, I do,” he states matter of factly, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. “I was just thinking. I hate seeing you so upset about this, and I hate that something is going on with Bryce.”
“Thank you.”
He places his arms on my elbows and holds me away from him. “Do you think it would be okay if I talked to him?”
“Honestly, I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. I mean, you barely know Bryce, and he’s not exactly the nicest kid lately.”
“Look, I won’t talk to him if you don’t want me to, but maybe it would help if he had a man to talk to.” I study his face, my mind racing over all the possible outcomes of this little talk. He holds his hands out in surrender. “I promise, I won’t push him. I’ll just test the waters.”
“Fine,” I relent, deciding that it’s worth a shot.
I follow Jase down the hall to Bryce’s room. He knocks and waits for Bryce to answer, giving me a wink just before he steps inside. He knows I’m going to listen. From my place in the hall, I can’t see them, but I can hear them clearly.
“Hey, B. Your mom said you had a rough day.”
“So?”
“So, I came to see if you wanted to talk.”
“Why would I want to talk to you?”
“Because I’m a good listener and because I’d like to help you make things better.” I have to give him credit. Jase is already displaying much more patience than me at this point.
“What do you care? You’re not my dad.”
Jase laughs. “Yeah, I’m definitely not. Listen, about your fight—”
“That kid’s an asshole. He was making these annoying sounds, and I told him to shut up, but he wouldn’t listen.”
“So you made him shut up.” Silence fills the air. “If that’s the case, B, I hate to say it, but it sounds like you’re the asshole.”
“What?”
“You bullied that kid because he wasn’t doing what you wanted him to do. That’s the definition of an asshole.”
“My dad called me a pussy,” he mumbles, so low I can barely hear him. “I wanted to prove that I wasn’t.” My heart clenches. Is Paul still talking to my kid like this?
“So you were trying to be a badass?” I wait for Bryce’s answer, but don’t hear anything before Jase continues. “Well, I’m gonna let you in on a little secret, okay? You don’t have to be an asshole to be a badass. You just have to be someone who believes in himself, and not the bullshit that other people put in your head.”
“Do you really think I’m an asshole, Jase?”
Jase sighs. “No, kid, I don’t. I just think you need to find your inner badass.”
Bryce mumbles something I can’t hear, but I do hear Jase moving towards the door. “I’m gonna go help your mom with supper. You think about that, yeah?”
“Yeah. Thanks, Jase.”
“Anytime, little man. I’m always around.”
When Jase steps into the hall, I watch as he approaches. His seems unsure, probably because he knows I don’t approve of his language choices. It’s bad enough to hear the words that come out of Bryce’s mouth these days.
When he gets close enough, I whisper, “Thank you.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Jase
“Can I see the inside?” Bryce asks, climbing down from the back of my bike. It had taken a lot of convincing from both me and Bryce to get Ellen to allow this little excursion, but after more than a week of Bryce begging, she’d finally agreed.
“Sure can.” I walk up to the door and unlock it, swinging it wide open so Bryce can go running in.
The second he gets inside, he stops, curling his lip in disgust. “What a dump.”
“Hey, B?”
Bryce wanders around, looking the place over. “Yeah?”
“You need to learn to think it, not say it.”
His cheeks flush and he grins. “Sorry, Jase, but it is.”
“It’s not a dump. It just needs a bit of a facelift. You watch, this place is gonna be the coolest garage around, and you can help.”
“Really?”
I laugh at the eagerness I hear in his voice. “Yes sir. I’ve got a paint roller with your name all over it.”
Bryce rolls his eyes. “Great.”
My phone chimes with a text, and I pull my phone out to see that it’s from Ellen.
Ellen: My kid driving you crazy yet?
I look up and watch as Bryce peers into the cavernous garage beyond the door. “Cool,” he whispers and steps inside. I smile to myself and text her back.
Me: We’re cool, woman. Stop worrying.
Things have been good between the three of us since Bryce’s little incident at school last week. I’d been over just about every night, visiting with Ellen
and hanging out with Bryce. In that time, I’d gotten to know him a little better, and he’s a cool kid. He’s got a mouth on him, but in a way, that’s kind of my favorite thing about him. It reminds me of me at that age. He just needs to learn when it’s not okay to be mouthy, particularly when he’s talking to his mother.
I know that Ellen is starting to get nervous because tomorrow Paul will be coming to pick up Bryce again for their weekend visit. After finding out how he talks to her son, she’s not looking forward to sending him back there, and I have to say I’m not either, but she has a court order, and she insists on following it.
I stuff my phone back into my pocket and step into the garage, flipping on the lights by the door. “What do ya think?”
“This is cool.”
“Yeah?” I ask, unable to hide my grin.
“Definitely! We could have an entire basketball game in here! It’s huge.” He looks around the room. “What are you gonna call it?”
“I haven’t quite thought of that yet.”
“What about something simple, like King’s Garage?”
“Too simple.”
“Kings of Korruption Custom Choppers?”
“Too long.”
“I know!” He grins wide. “Korrupted Custom Choppers!”
I mull the name over in my mind. Simple, but shows that it’s a club business. “I like it. Not too boring, and still sounds cool.”
Bryce’s grin widens and his chest puffs out just a little. “Awesome.”
“We should head back before your mom has a heart attack, picturing you lyin’ in a ditch somewhere.”
Bryce rolls his eyes and lumbers towards the door, clearly not happy to be leaving. I like the fact that he wants to be here. If he likes it, I’ll bring him here as often as he wants. Maybe I can even pass along some of the mechanical stuff my father taught me.
After locking up, I place the helmet on Bryce’s head and go to climb on the bike. “Jase?”
