by Hadley Quinn
She made a move for him again, and even though she managed to put her hands against his chest, Jay easily countered her.
“If you care about him, then you will not do this,” he said firmly. “But beyond that, Beck is my boy and I would never fucking betray him like that. Now get the fuck out. I’m not gonna say it again.”
Jay yanked the door open and stood there until she moved, which took several long seconds. Finally she brushed past him without a word, but he could tell she was pissed like hell. He waited until her car disappeared around the corner before he flipped off the lights and locked the door behind him.
He took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Holy shit…”
Chapter Thirteen
There was no way that Jay could keep this secret any longer. It’d been three days since Jess had thrown herself at him in Beck’s shop, and what Jay thought would be something easy to sweep under the rug had turned out to be something he just couldn’t look past anymore.
Even now, while he and Beck were touching up the Chevelle for a potential buyer, his buddy was going on and on about Jessica and how amazing she was. Jay didn’t even have to respond because Beck hardly gave him a chance, but after nearly an hour of listening to this shit, Jay had had enough.
“I get it, okay? She’s incredible. Can we please talk about something else now?”
Beck stopped what he was doing and glared at him. “What the fuck is your problem? Can’t stand to hear about someone else’s happy relationship because you’re too stupid to have your own?”
Jay let that one slide, just this once, and grabbed a clean rag for polishing. “Yeah, I’m tired of it, okay? It gets old.”
“Well excuse me for sharing my personal life with you, dickhead. I didn’t realize it was such a nuisance to you.”
“Well it is, so if you’re gonna talk about shit like that, do it with someone who cares.”
Beck was obviously disgusted with that last remark, and Jay couldn’t blame him. It was absolutely the wrong thing to say and there was no taking it back.
“That’s not what I meant, Beck,” he sighed.
“Sounds like you’re being pretty clear to me,” Beck laughed sarcastically. “Why don’t you just go home early if you’re so bitchy. Better yet, go hit the gym and blow off some steam.”
The idea had been appealing earlier that day, which is why Jay had already gone before work. But he shook his head and said, “Hey look man, I gotta be honest with you here…”
Jay did not know how to break the news, even though Beck seemed to be waiting for him to do so.
“God, there’s no way to say this without it hurting, Beck.”
“Then just say it,” Beck shrugged. “Spit it out, pal. What’s up? You’ve been acting all aloof for the past few days.”
“It’s Jess,” Jay said quickly, just so he didn’t change his mind.
“What about Jess,” Beck answered evenly, crossing his arms over his chest with narrowed eyes.
Jay took in a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. “She, uh, she stopped by here on Wednesday.”
Beck waited for a few seconds and then shrugged. “And?”
“And…you weren’t here.”
Again there was a pause before Beck replied, “The night I went to the game with Kyle. She must’ve forgot. So’d you put her to work?” he lightly laughed, bending over to polish the chrome on the bumper.
“She hit on me, Beck,” Jay finally came out with. “Like…big time.”
Beck slowly brought himself to his full height and gave Jay a level gaze. “Watch your fucking mouth, Jay.”
“I wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t true.” Jay closed his eyes and took a deep breath, but when he opened them, Beck was in his face.
“You’re full of shit!” he yelled, shoving him in the chest so hard Jay had to take a step back.
“I’m not messing with you, man. I just thought you should know. That’s why I didn’t want to hear you going on about how fucking fabulous she is, because she would have had her damn tongue down my throat if I’d let her!”
Beck’s fist went right into the side of his face and caught him by surprise. “Shut your goddamn mouth, Jay! That is bullshit!”
Jay recovered quickly and shoved Beck away from him, but he didn’t throw a punch. “I’m not making this shit up, Beck! Why would I? She practically had me pinned up against the damn wall!”
“You probably said some kind of charming shit, and when she had to make a tolerant retort, you took it the wrong way! I can see that coming from you, Jay! Goddamn it!
“You’re out of your mind,” Jay shook his head with disbelief. “Jesus, Beck. I’m trying to do you a favor here. You told me that she’s been pulling away from you wanting space, and now she’s trying to get with other guys? Are you blind?”
Beck came at him again, but Jay was prepared for it. Pound for pound they were equal, but Jay was quicker and held more of a defensive advantage when they hit the ground. Beck was yelling, calling him names, and Jay was doing his best to avoid getting punched. Finally he just nailed Beck in the jaw, stunning him. Then he hit him again, splitting his lip open.
“Knock it off, Beck, before I knock the fucking shit out of you!” he shouted. “I don’t wanna hurt you!”
Beck shoved away from him as he stood, and pointed at Jay as he wiped the blood from his mouth. “You can’t possibly hurt me more than you already have, Jay. You stay the hell away from Jess, do you hear me? And get the fuck out of my garage! You’re fired!”
He pointed to the exit, but Jay didn’t move right away. This wasn’t how he expected Beck to react. The thought never even occurred to him that Beck wouldn’t believe him. But after a few seconds, Jay decided it was best to just leave. He would give his buddy time, but he hoped to God that he would figure out the truth sooner than later…
***
“I can’t even believe that the bird says ‘fucker’ and the dog comes from the other room,” Tyse shook his head. “I have never seen anything like it.”
“Well, you combine a bird with a dirty mouth and a dog named Tucker,” Melanie smiled. “Weird things can happen.”
Tyse laughed with a shrug. “Yeah, I guess. But seriously, do you ever have company that is offended by it?”
Melanie thought for a moment as they climbed into her car. Camryn and Teague had invited Tyse over for lunch, and even though Tyse had his own car, Melanie had volunteered to pick him up on her way home from the store.
“Not that I can think of,” she replied. “The first time Grandpa Neil came over, Geraldo said ‘hey there fucker.’ At first he looked really pissed, but I guess he was just confused because he had a best friend from college that used to always say that to him, and he’d just passed away recently. To the bird he said, ‘Jeffrey, you been reincarnated into a goddamn bird?’”
Tyse laughed as Melanie headed for Jay’s house. “He’s a funny old guy. I wasn’t sure about meeting him, to be honest.”
“He used to be pretty gruff and unfriendly. He’s kind of shifted his mindset a little bit, from what I’ve been told. Teague and Jay said that he didn’t used to be so approachable. He was always kind of upper crust and totally into his business life.”
“And I’m sure Jay is an expert when it comes to ‘unapproachable’,” Tyse smiled knowingly.
“I know I’ve said this before, but just give him time. You just can’t take what he says too severely or give up too soon; you’ll never get anywhere with him if you do.”
“That’s easy for you to say. You’re a beautiful female. I think he gives you a little more slack than I could ever get away with.”
“You don’t seem to be afraid of him in the least bit,” Melanie pointed out as she slowed at a stoplight. “I’m not going to lecture you on how to deal with your own brother, but I know Jay pretty well and he’s not only stubborn as hell, but he’s not afraid of much. You seem to be the same way, but I’m just warning you, Jay does not back down from any
thing. You push him the wrong way and sparks will fly.”
“I’m fully aware of that. And to clarify something, I’m not looking for conflict with anyone. The other day in the kitchen… It caught me off guard. I thought it was pretty sweet of you to bring him dinner and he practically yelled at you to get out of his house. I understand the whole Alpha male thing, and he was totally giving me a blatant warning, but I didn’t like seeing your feelings get hurt.”
Melanie sighed as the light turned green and she pulled through the intersection. “Jay doesn’t recognize that feelings are involved,” she laughed lightly. “He reacts completely and utterly on whatever is in front of him. That’s how he guards the things he feels responsible for. I’m his friend, I was in his house, and you were there—someone he doesn’t entirely trust right now.”
Tyse studied her for several seconds. “So…you really didn’t take offense to how he acted? That’s how he normally regards you?”
“No, I’m saying it had nothing to do with me. I think he’s stressed about a few things lately and you making an arrival in his world has him rattled.”
Tyse was quiet for quite a while as Melanie drove and she could tell he was deep in thought. Finally he said, “I think you’re wrong, actually.”
She glanced at him curiously. “About what? I’m not wrong about much when it comes to Jay.”
“I’m sure that’s true,” Tyse smiled. “But I don’t think you’re weighing the facts the right way. I only know a little bit about his personality, but maybe that’s why I can read this better. Yeah he’s rattled, but it’s about you, Melanie.”
They were just pulling down Jay’s street and Tyse’s words kind of hit her in a funny way. All this time she’d kept a certain secret to herself, but even without Tyse stating it out loud, she knew exactly what he was talking about and didn’t even pretend she wasn’t clued in.
“Jay isn’t the type to get serious about anyone,” she said. “Just ask him.”
“What if he says one thing but feels another?”
Damn, why did he have to specifically state out loud what she already hoped?
With a sigh Melanie pulled up to Jay’s house and shut the engine off. “Have you ever been in a situation in your life where one decision meant it would either make you or break you? Something great could happen, or just the complete opposite and leave you with nothing?”
“Uh, like coming here to California to meet a family I never knew I had?” he smiled.
Melanie smiled too and nodded her agreement. “Gotcha. So we are both pretty much at the mercy of Jay McCallan.” She got out of the car and shut the door.
It took Tyse a few seconds longer, but when he did, he was studying her carefully again. “I see the similarities to our situations with him, but you have options,” he said as they walked up the driveway together. “His feelings for you are plain as day.”
“Plain as day?” she narrowed her eyes at him. Then she motioned to her stomach and added, “You realize there’s kind of something that changes things, right? Jay has plans and this is not a part of it.”
Tyse stopped and faced her. “You’re saying he’s got an issue with you being pregnant?”
He looked utterly disgusted, and whereas Melanie felt somewhat relieved that Tyse disregarded that as a factor, it only complicated things more.
“Some people aren’t as accepting of things like you may be,” Melanie told him. “And I understand that. I made choices that got me in trouble and I’m willing to accept everything that comes from it. Do I wish things were different? Yes, sometimes. But I have faith that there is something good in my future. I’m not sure what, but I can’t regret past choices when I still have a future to live.”
Tyse slowly smiled and shook his head. “You’ve got your head on straight now. It’s obvious. And if Jay can’t see that, he’s a fucking idiot. I’m sorry for saying that about my own brother, but it’s true.”
“Jay’s not an idiot. He’s just afraid of himself. Once you get to know him, you’ll realize that he is afraid of letting people down. We are good friends, yes, and we’ll always be good friends. But he won’t commit to more than that because he doesn’t realize his potential. I see it in Jay, but he doesn’t. At least not in the broader spectrum. He has business goals and he has confidence that he will achieve them, but he doesn’t see that he would be amazing at a myriad of other things as well. But…I would never hold him back from his dreams. Never.”
“I didn’t say that, Melanie. I only meant that you’re selling yourself short, as well. You’re worth any changes in his life that he would have to make. He just doesn’t get it yet.”
Melanie sighed, grateful for his support. And then she hugged him because she felt it was necessary. “Thank you, Tyse. I so needed to hear something like that today.”
“Well it’s the truth,” he replied, hugging her back. “I think you two have a ways to go, but I can see it for sure.”
She lightly laughed. For some reason his confidence didn’t quite reach her own heart and it hurt a little bit.
“Thanks—” she started to say, but the rumble of an engine close by startled her and she pulled away from Tyse just in time to see Jay screech into the driveway next to them. Her heart immediately sank even lower the second she saw how pissed he looked, but he barely glanced at them as he climbed out of the Nova and slammed the door behind him.
He headed for the house without a word.
“Looks like I just dug myself into a deeper hole,” Tyse said, holding his hands up to show he shouldn’t have hugged her.
Melanie bit her lip as she narrowed her eyes at the house. “No, it’s something else. I can tell. I’d better find out what.”
She headed for the front door and Tyse trailed behind her. “Are you sure you want to approach him?” he chuckled lightly. “Mel, maybe you should let him cool off.”
She didn’t respond and walked right into the house and glanced around. Jay wasn’t in the front room or kitchen, so that left his bedroom.
“Melanie, seriously,” Tyse cautioned her when she headed for the hall.
“I’ll be fine,” she answered. When she got to the end of the hall, she took a deep breath and knocked on the closed door. “Jay?” she called. She waited for several seconds but there was no answer. She knocked again. “I’m coming in, okay?”
She waited again and still nothing, so she slowly opened the door. She was expecting that maybe he went straight out back to his shop, but Jay was sitting on the edge of his bed, elbows on his knees with his head in his hands. He was completely still, and Melanie’s heart started to pound from seeing him in such an idle position.
Suddenly he popped up from the bed and said, “I’ll be out in my shop.”
“Whoa, wait a second,” she got out, grabbing his arm to stop him.
He surprisingly jerked to a stop but didn’t look too pleased about it. “I have work to do,” he said evenly, but he would barely look her in the eye.
“Why are you home so early? It’s only four-thirty.”
“Does my calendar not line up properly with yours?” he retorted. “My bad. I’ll send you a text next time.”
“Cut the bullshit, Jay. What happened at work?”
She honestly didn’t expect him to tell her. She figured he would either respond with something smartass again, or blatantly ignore her and walk out of the room.
“Beck fired me,” he answered, and he pulled his arm away from her and left.
She took a minute to assess the information and finally shook her head. Beck would never fire Jay, even if he made a major mistake at work. He loved him like a brother, but not only that, Beck was very sweet and forgiving.
Melanie left the room to find Jay again, but only Tyse was in the kitchen eating out of a bag of chips.
“He went out back,” he said. When Melanie headed for the back door he added, “You’re a glutton for punishment, aren’t you?”
Yeah pretty much, she wanted to answer. Bu
t she trekked across the yard without pause and walked right into Jay’s man cave fearlessly. The usual classic rock was already blaring from the stereo in there, but she went straight to it and turned it down a bit.
“Why’d he fire you?” she asked outright.
Jay already had the hood up on the Boss and didn’t even look at her. “Because he let pussy get in the way of brotherhood, that’s why,” was his response.
Jess. That’s the only thing that came to Melanie’s mind. “What did she do?” she asked.
Jay finally looked at her, but it wasn’t out of annoyance or anger. He looked completely curious. “Why do you say it like that? –‘What did she do’?”
Melanie shrugged her shoulders. “You wouldn’t be so pissed if it was your own doing. I know that for a fact. And call me a catty bitch, but I’m not really sure if I like Jess. I’ve only been around her a few times, but I just get a weird vibe from her. Plus I’m pretty sure she has a thing for you.”
Jay leaned forward against the front of the car but was quiet for a few seconds. Finally he shook his head and stood. “She hit on me the other night in Beck’s shop. Like big time, try-to-get-in-my-pants hit on me. I got fucking sick and tired of Beck making her sound like the savior of the world today, and told him to shut the fuck up.”
Melanie came across the room, trying to push down her feelings of resentment that yet another chick had been all up on Jay. “So you told him about it.”
“Yep,” Jay replied. He walked over to the workbench and grabbed two old blankets that were sitting on top. As he draped them around the hinges of the open hood and across the windshield he said, “He didn’t believe me. Pretty much accused me of taking advantage of her or some shit like that. We got into a fight and he fired me.”
Melanie watched him use a wrench to loosen the bolts that attached the hood to the car on one side. She didn’t say anything for almost two minutes as he walked around to the other side and did the same.
