Looking For Love (Semper Fi, The Forever Faithful Series Book 2)

by Stella Starling

  Lately, his glass hadn’t just been half full, it had been overflowing.

  17

  Zach

  “No,” Jake Hansen said, leaning into his husband’s side with a smile. “That’s never going to happen.”

  “Come on, Jakey,” Gabe said, grinning down at his man. “Jumping out of planes is fun, right, Zach?”

  “Absolutely,” Zach said, tipping his beer up to his mouth. He looked out over the group of friends that had gathered for his birthday in Gabe and Jake’s backyard and found Micah over near the barbecue, standing in the middle of a cluster of Marines twice his size. His hands fluttered through the air as he talked about something that had them all laughing, and Zach grinned, loving that Micah was starting to come out of his shell around his friends.

  “My job is keeping people safe inside the plane,” Jake said, rolling his eyes. “I have no interest whatsoever in falling out of one.”

  “Jumping.”

  “Semantics.”

  “I bet I could convince you.”

  Jake laughed, removing his husband’s hand from his ass. “No.”

  “You sure you don’t want me to try, Petal?” Gabe whispered to him.

  Zach laughed, pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to have heard that part… or the dirty suggestion Gabe made afterward. Zach’s eyes strayed back to Micah. Even though it hadn’t been meant for him, Gabe’s suggestion was… inspiring.

  Micah looked up as if he’d felt Zach’s gaze on him and Zach winked at him, getting the predictable insta-blush and full-body smile in return.

  “Shit, dude, you’re sprung, aren’t you?” Gabe teased, laughing as he nodded in Micah’s direction. “This one a keeper?”

  Zach smiled. “I hope so,” he said, nursing his beer. The barbecue had started a few hours ago and it was only his second one, but he had no desire whatsoever to move any faster or drink anything harder. It had been a month since his surfing accident, and even though a light buzz was nice, he wasn’t in any hurry to repeat anything close to that experience.

  Gabe snorted, eyes still on Micah. “What is he, twelve?”

  “Gabe,” Jake said, smacking his husband’s shoulder. “Don’t be an ass. I like Micah.”

  “What? I like him, too. Just sayin’, Z might need us to back him when the boy’s mama comes around looking for him.”

  “He’s twenty-two,” Zach said, grinning. “I think I’m safe.”

  “He’s fucking tiny,” Gabe said. “What does he weigh, a hundred pounds soaking wet? You sure you’re not gonna break him, Zach? Although a guy that size, I bet you can have some fun, huh? You ever try picking him up and—”

  “Gabe,” Jake said, smacking him again. “Stop it.”

  “What, Jakey? We both know you like it when—”

  “Can we not speculate about our friends’ sex lives, please?” Jake interrupted, talking over him.

  “Uh, no, we can’t not speculate,” Gabe said, giving him a lascivious grin to go along with his double negative. “But I mean, if you insist, we can wait and just do it in private. Might be more fun that way, anyway.”

  Zach laughed, but then the vibration of his phone distracted him from the rest of their bickering. He pulled it out, watching as Micah got a little overly enthusiastic and tripped over nothing, tumbling into a few of the guys he was talking to. Brody caught him, sending Zach a dirty smile, but then—luckily for Brody—he managed to help Micah get his balance without getting too handsy.

  Zach laughed, swiping to wake his phone up as he shook his head at Brody’s relentless flirting, then he sighed when he saw who the notification was from.

  Can you please call me, Zach? I need your help.

  Janis. It was the first he’d heard from her since the night he’d found out about his father, and he’d hoped that maybe she’d gotten over her persistent… whatever it was. He honestly couldn’t imagine that she thought they might get back together, but Micah had told him that she’d claimed something exactly like that when she’d brought him into the emergency room.

  He took another sip of his beer, putting off replying the way he wanted to… with a “hell no.” He really didn’t want to get involved with anything that involved “help” and Janis—or, really, anything that involved Janis at all—but the truth was that he did owe her for that night. He hadn’t done anything that stupid in years, and as much as Janis pushed his buttons, he couldn’t deny that from all accounts, she’d saved his life.

  “Everything okay, Z?” Gabe asked, nodding down at Zach’s phone. Gabe’s lip quirked up. “No bad news allowed on your birthday, ’kay?”

  “No, it’s fine,” Zach said, looking around. Jake had wandered off and Zach hadn’t even noticed, but Gabe was right. Zach didn’t want to let Janis cast a cloud over his birthday.

  His phone buzzed again:

  Are you really going to ignore me? Where are you, Zach?

  He snorted. And she thought his location was her business… why?

  Of course, he could always just mute his phone, but he knew that would just postpone the inevitable. He needed to find out what she wanted and repay his debt, then make it clear that he was done.

  “I’ve got to make a call, Gabe,” he said, holding the phone up. “Mind if I head inside?”

  “Do whatever you need to, Z,” Gabe said, waving him toward the house. “I’ll go keep your boy toy company and see if I can protect him from O’Shay.”

  Zach grinned. “Micah can hold his own with Brody.”

  “Dude, O’Shay is a beast. You don’t want him scaring your man away before you can seal the deal. Seriously, Z, you’re different around him.”

  “Around Brody?” Zach deadpanned, just to give Gabe a little shit.

  Gabe snorted. “Whatever. The day will never come when O’Shay makes anyone look the kind of happy you’ve got going on with Micah. I’m just sayin’, I’m happy for you. You deserve it.”

  Zach grinned as he headed into the house. With Micah in his life? He was pretty damn happy for himself, too. All the more reason to get whatever Janis wanted handled and done with, so he could get back to what he really wanted to be doing.

  She answered on the first ring.

  “Zach.” She sounded almost surprised. “I thought you might try to dodge me.”

  He took a breath, determined not to let her spoil his mood. Did she know him at all? He may not always like stepping up, but he wasn’t one to dodge his responsibilities… although maybe he had been, in this instance. He had yet to call and thank her for taking him to the hospital. Her attitude once she’d gotten there left a lot to be desired, from what he’d heard, but that didn’t change the fact that he really should have found some time during the last month to let her know that he appreciated what she’d done for him.

  He’d take care of that today.

  “What do you need, Janis?”

  “Something’s happened, Zach, and I don’t have anyone else to turn to,” she said, her voice cracking. He heard her start to cry quietly. “You always said you’d be there for me.”

  He stifled a sigh. Had he? Sure, back when they’d been together. But he’d kind of figured that her infidelity had meant she’d found other people to turn to when she got needy. And frankly, her tears moved him a hell of a lot less than before she’d been such a royal bitch to the man he loved.

  “What’s this about, Janis?” he asked, hoping like hell the conversation wasn’t going to drag out into an hour-long sob fest. In fact, scratch that. He wasn’t going to let it. “Actually, save it, okay? Today is not the day.”

  “But, Zach—”

  “I’m with friends, it’s my birthday, and I’m just not in the mood, Janis.”

  “I… you… is it? I mean, happy birthday, baby,” she said, stumbling over her words. “Can I come by and help you celebrate?”

  “No.”

  She sucked in a sharp breath, and for a minute, he thought she was going to cry again. Instead, her voice took on a sharp edge.

  �
��Do you know what would have happened if I hadn’t been at the beach with you that night?”

  He put down the empty beer bottle and rubbed at the back of his neck. Dealing with Janis was his penance for being so stupid, wasn’t it? Note to future self: don’t get blackout drunk, no matter how bad shit gets.

  Right. As annoyed as he was by her persistent attempts to get back in his life, and as genuinely pissed as he’d been when he’d heard how she’d treated Micah, he did owe her his gratitude for that.

  “I honestly don’t remember much about what happened, Janis, but for getting me to the hospital… thank you.”

  There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment. And then…

  “Well, good,” Janis finally said, his graciousness making her sound a little flustered. “You really don’t remember it?”

  “Not much,” he admitted. “I have a blurry memory of you showing up at the beach. Sitting with me… but that’s pretty much it. I don’t even remember going in the water.”

  Or why she’d joined him there in the first place.

  “I’ve never seen you drink that much,” Janis said in a softer voice. “I know you weren’t close to your father… I guess I was surprised it hit you that hard, though. Did you end up getting to know him after we broke up, before he died?”

  “No,” Zach said, happy to leave it at that. Back when he and Janis had been together, he’d told her a little about the situation with his parents, but he didn’t have any desire to delve into all the feelings it had stirred up in him now. Especially not with her. “Look, Janis, if you need some help with something, I’m open to doing what I can, but not today, okay?”

  He half expected her to try to insist, but to his surprise, she backed down.

  “Okay. Um, could we get together tomorrow, maybe? I’d rather talk to you in person anyway.”

  The next day was Sunday, and he’d been hoping for a lazy day with Micah. Still, he was pretty sure Micah would understand, and maybe meeting face to face would be the best way to get Janis to understand that they were really done.

  “Sure,” he said. “Let’s meet for lunch.”

  “I can come over to your place—”

  “No.” He named a sandwich shop they used to eat at. “Noon?”

  “Thanks, Zach,” she said, her voice cracking again. “I knew I could count on you.”

  He tucked his phone away after they ended the call, grabbing his empty beer bottle and heading deeper into the house to find the recycle bin. Lending her a hand with something was the decent thing to do after she’d been there for him at the beach, and hopefully, whatever she needed wouldn’t take up too much of his Sunday. One way or another, though, once that was done? He needed to make it clear to her that they weren’t going to be a part of each other’s lives anymore.

  At all.

  They were halfway up the stairs to his apartment a few hours later when Micah tugged on the back of Zach’s shirt to get his attention.

  “I thought you said they didn’t allow pets here?”

  “Right,” Zach said, unable to turn around and face his boyfriend given the oversized object in his arms. A picture, he could only imagine, given the size, shape, and weight, but he was more than happy to humor Micah by not guessing too hard until he could unwrap it and see for himself.

  He made it up to the balcony and set down his birthday gift, then peered over the rail in the direction Micah was pointing. The scruffy Shepherd-mix that Ana liked to feed was huddled under the spiny gooseberry bush again.

  “I don’t think that’s anyone’s pet,” Zach said. “She looks either neglected, or like a stray, and she’s pretty skittish. Ana calls her Preciosa, even though I think ‘raggedy’ or ‘flea-bitten’ might be more appropriate.”

  “Those are horrible dog names,” Micah teased him, giving Zach a disappointed look. “What does Ana’s mean? Precious? My Spanish isn’t very good.”

  “You’ve lived in San Diego all your life, and you can’t speak Spanish?” Zach teased, wrapping an arm around Micah’s waist and pulling him against his side, just because he could. “How is that possible?”

  Micah grinned up at him. “There are a lot of things I haven’t done even though I’ve lived here all my life, but I plan on changing that. I want to do everything.”

  Zach laughed. “I know you do, and I love that about you, baby. And yes, it means ‘precious,’ so now you can tick learning Spanish off your to-do list.”

  “I’m pretty sure one word doesn’t count for the whole language,” Micah said, leaning over the rail again. “Precious doesn’t look very good, though, does she? I think she’s limping. Someone needs to take care of her.”

  It was late, so the light was bad, but Zach could still tell that Micah was right. The stray was looking even scruffier than he remembered. He knew Ana was probably right that calling animal control on the dog wouldn’t have a happy ending, but was it any kinder to leave her to fend for herself when that didn’t seem to be going very well?

  “I’m going to go get her,” Micah said firmly, pushing away from the railing and heading for the stairs. His movement drew Precious’s attention, though, and by the time Micah made it down to ground level, she’d slunk away. “Shoot,” he said, his brow furrowing as he glanced around. “Where did she go?”

  Zach shrugged, joining him. “I don’t know, but she’s been coming around for a few months. I’m sure she’ll be back.”

  Micah still looked worried, so—even though Zach had no idea how he’d manage it—he promised, “I’ll try and get close enough to get a good look at her next time, okay? See if she’ll let me check her out.”

  “She should go to the vet,” Micah said. “What if she doesn’t have a family?”

  Zach was pretty sure she didn’t, with as skinny and mangy as she looked, but he highly doubted they’d be able to do anything about it at the moment. It was too dark, and the dog was clearly good at staying out of sight.

  He wrapped his arms around Micah. “How about I look for her tomorrow, in the daylight—” after he survived lunch with Janis, “—and we start from there, okay?”

  “Okay,” Micah said, sighing. Then he smiled up at Zach. “I know she’s not your responsibility, but I hate the idea of her not having anyone, you know?”

  Zach grinned. “I love you.”

  “I know,” Micah said, sounding delighted. Then he slapped a hand over his mouth and laughed. “I mean, thank you? No, I love you, too. I’m still not used to saying it out loud. Oh my God, Zach, that reminds me, I want you to see your present! I don’t know if you’ll like it—”

  “I will.”

  Micah laughed again, dragging Zach up the stairs by the hand. “Well, I mean, I hope you do, but if you don’t, you don’t have to use it. Er, show it? Display it. Oh jeez, am I giving it away? Do you already know what it is? I’m horrible at surprises.”

  Zach unlocked his door and picked up the wrapped probably-a-picture from where he’d left it leaning against the balcony rail, laughing hard enough that answering Micah’s latest round of excited babbling was a challenge. Eventually, he managed it, though.

  “Trust me, baby, every moment with you is a surprise.”

  “A good one?” Micah asked with a cheeky grin, practically bouncing as he tugged the gift out of Zach’s hands and propped it up against one of the living room walls. “Wait, don’t answer. You love me, so I already know it’s yes.”

  “Yes,” Zach said anyway, loving him so hard it hurt. “So do I get to open this now?”

  “Maybe,” Micah said, trying to pull off a sly look that was fucking adorable. “Sam said I should give you, um, something else for your birthday, though.”

  “You mean I don’t get this?” Zach asked, running a hand over the top of the picture.

  Micah bit his lip, blushing. “Maybe both?”

  “What’s the ‘something else’?” Zach asked, his voice getting a little husky.

  The way Micah was looking at him, he had a pr
etty good idea that whatever “something else” was, he was going to like it. He tugged on Micah’s pouty lip, saving it from his teeth, then ran his thumb over it, rubbing away the bite marks. Micah swayed closer with a needy little whimper. Zach leaned in, incapable of resisting, and licked them away, too.

  “Zach,” Micah said, breathless and delicious and just a little bit bossy. “Stop it. You’re going to distract me.”

  Zach laughed, pulling away because Micah had asked, and reached down to adjust himself.

  “You’re definitely going to have to open this one first,” Micah said, patting the picture as his eyes locked onto Zach’s rapidly swelling bulge. “Otherwise I’ll probably forget.”

  “You’ll forget you got me a birthday present?” Zach teased, grinning down at him and miraculously managing to keep his hands to himself. “One that takes up half my living room?”

  “Oh my God, is it too big?” Micah asked, his eyes jerking away from Zach’s cock as he glanced around the living room. “It’s just that the rest of the room is so, um…”

  Zach raised an eyebrow, biting back a smile as he wondered how Micah was planning on ending that sentence. Because Micah’s face? An open book.

  “Never mind,” Micah said, flapping a hand at the picture as he dodged having to find a suitable synonym for boring. “Just open it already, but don’t lie, okay? I mean, if you don’t like it, you don’t have to pretend. But I think you will. Maybe? At least, you should. I mean, not that you have to, but I tried to make it feel like you, so hopefully you will?”

  Zach had been having too much fun teasing Micah to have given any thought to what the picture would actually be, but now he was intrigued. And then, when he finally unwrapped it a few moments later, he was speechless.

  “You hate it.”

  “Micah…”

  “Okay, I know. You’re too nice to hate it,” Micah said, deflating. “But I mean… it’s just rocks. Sorry. I thought—”

  “No,” Zach said, cutting him off. He pulled his eyes away with an effort, and cupped Micah’s face in his hands. “It’s our rock, not ‘just’ rocks, and it’s… Micah, I don’t even have words. Thank you.”