In the Crease (Assassins Book 11)

by Toni Aleo

  Silenced stretched between them as he threw the blankets off, getting out of bed and taking the suitcase from her before throwing it on the bed. Reaching for her, he pulled her into his arms before he wrapped an arm around her neck. “Mum said not to miss Wells’s wedding, that she has everything under control. But if that changes, she’ll call us.”

  She blinked, a tear rolling down her face. “What do you think?”

  He shrugged. “I want to go, but my mum knows what she is doing. I also know I’ll feel like shit if I rush out there, miss my best friend’s wedding, and everything is fine. But then, what if I don’t go, and he di—” His words fell off. Closing his eyes, he bent his head to hers as he drew in a deep breath. “I have to trust my mum. This isn’t the first time, and we knew there would be a chance he’d lose limbs with his diabetes.”

  Holding on to him, she kissed his jaw. “I’m sorry, Jensen.”

  He nodded against her head. “He’ll be fine. I know it.”

  “Yeah, but maybe we should pack, just in case.”

  “Or let’s sleep. We have a big day today,” he suggested.

  “Like you’ll sleep,” she countered, and he shrugged.

  “I am mostly worried about you sleeping.”

  “Don’t. I’m fine. Let me worry about you.”

  A smile pulled at his lips as he cuddled her in tight, feeling completely and utterly secure. He was worried, and it ran deep, but he trusted his mum. He knew if it was serious and he needed to come, she would tell him. Plus, Wren had him.

  He trusted that entirely.

  “I don’t know how I ever made it without you.”

  She scoffed. “Please, you were fine. I was the hot mess express going straight into a wall,” she joked, kissing his jaw before taking his hand in hers, hitting the light, and dragging him to the bed. They cuddled together, their legs tangled, their hands all over each other. He kissed her temple before she reached over him, taking his phone and laying it on the pillow above them. “Just in case.”

  He nodded. “She said she’ll call me in a couple hours.”

  “So we’ll hear it.”

  “Yeah,” he agreed, moving a piece of hair out of her eyes.

  “I’m worried,” Wren whispered, and Jensen nodded.

  “Me too.”

  “Maybe we should call?”

  “You can, get the wrath of Emma Monroe.”

  “That’s not fair,” she complained, and he smiled against her hair.

  “She’ll call.”

  But Wren was already moving. Reaching for his phone, she was pushing buttons, and then he heard his mom’s voice. “Hey, no, it’s Wren. Is everything okay? Oh, okay. Yeah, no Jensen said. Oh, okay, well, do you want us to come up there? Oh. Okay. No, I understand. I know, I love you too. But we should…or not. Yeah, you’re right. Wells would understand, though. Yeah, okay, so call us as soon as you hear something? I know you told Jensen that, but I just want you to know it doesn’t matter what’s going on. Call us. Okay. All right. Love you too.” Hanging up, she gave him a grim smile. “She told me I was distracting her.”

  “Yeah, I figured she would.”

  “She said she’s got it under control, and she’ll give us updates.”

  “That’s what she told me.”

  Wren seemed annoyed as she set his phone back in the spot by the bedpost before lying back in her spot. “Does she always do that to you?”

  He laughed. “Every single time.”

  Still annoyed, she lay down. “Fine, I’m going to try to sleep,”

  “Good plan,” he said as she kissed his cheek, his eyes falling shut before she wrapped her body around his.

  As she lay there, her heart was pounding in her chest, and the rhythm was mind-altering. He wanted to say he was about to fall asleep, but that wasn’t going to happen. His mind was moving a million miles a second, and he was worried for his dad. He wanted to call his mum again, but like she had done with Wren, she would do to him, but worse. He sort of wished he had let Wren take him away.

  But that wouldn’t be fair to Wells, or even to his father.

  Antoine would get so mad if they made their way up there and missed Wells’s wedding. His father was untouchable in Jensen’s eyes. The diabetes was just a setback, he would be fine, but Jensen wasn’t naïve. His father was aging, and he wished he had listened to Wren, bought a house up there and never left. But then his dad would have really had killed him for giving up his dreams. Antoine was Jensen’s biggest cheerleader when it came to him living his dreams. Because of that, Jensen knew he was going to be there for his son the way his dad had been there for him.

  His son.

  Man, his heart ached.

  Opening his eyes, he watched as she stared at the wall, and a grin pulled at his lips. “Hey, babe.”

  She looked up at him, her eyes wide and ready to go. “Yeah? You wanna go?”

  He shook his head, his throat closing up as his mouth went dry. “I won’t ask again.” Her face twisted in confusion, and he figured he’d given her nothing there. “About the douche that knocked you up. This baby,” he said, pressing his hand on her belly, “is mine.”

  “He is.”

  “So I won’t ask, and I appreciate your reasoning because I think you’re right.”

  “You do?”

  “Yeah, I don’t want that either. I like the thought that I’ll only see you, and maybe me, in him.”

  “I love you too much to allow you to do anything else when I know you love Gunner so much.”

  “I do, but, Wren?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I love you just as much.”

  Her lips curved as she ran her finger along his jaw. “I love you too.”

  “And thank you for wanting to run off to be with my dad.”

  “Of course.”

  As their lips met, Jensen knew they were going to be better than okay.

  They were going to be great.

  Jensen exhaled hard, letting the phone fall to the bar as he looked up at Wells and Vaughn, who were sitting across from him in the kitchen. “They aren’t going to have to amputate Dad’s leg.”

  “Oh, thank God,” Wells said as Elaine came over, wrapping her arms around him.

  “So he’s good?” she asked, and he shrugged, hugging her back.

  “They are getting the infection under control, and it seems that way. Things are still up in the air, though. Dad claims he’s fine. But Mum said she’ll send me updates as she gets them. She wished you a beautiful wedding,” he said to Wells, and his best friend smiled.

  Getting his phone out, Wells said, “I’ll text her.”

  “I’m so glad. I was very worried,” Elaine said, and Winston nodded from the breakfast nook.

  “So was I. I’m texting him now, and he says he’s fine,” Winston said with a laugh, and Jensen smiled.

  Man, what a weight off his chest. He felt a lot better, yet he was still very tired since he didn’t catch a wink the rest of the morning. He felt like shit that Wren hadn’t slept at all either. She’d stayed wide awake beside him, holding him before they both decided there was no point and got up for the day. She even made it to her hair and makeup appointment, which was surprising to all, especially Elaine since Wren had thrown a fit that she didn’t want to leave Jensen.

  Reaching back for his phone, he dialed her number. “Hey, you good?” she asked.

  “Yeah, my dad just called.”

  “Oh! Did he? What did he say?”

  “Things are good. They don’t have to amputate, and they think they’ve got it under control.”

  “Oh, thank God! I’m so happy. I’m gonna call them.”

  “Okay, love you.”

  “Love you,” she said before hanging up, and he set his phone down, shaking his head.

  “What?” Wells asked, and Jensen grinned up at him.

  “She was really worried, and I like hearing her peppy after being pretty down this morning.”

  “Yeah, she love
s your parents. We all do. I would have understood if you had to miss it, dude. Plus, I would have been pissed if you hadn’t gone and something went wrong.”

  Jensen nodded. “I know, and I appreciate that.”

  “We all would have understood. Antoine is family.”

  Drawing in a breath, he exhaled it hard before saying, “I’m just glad he’s okay.”

  “We all are,” Elaine added, rubbing his arm softly. “Very much so.”

  While he was happy his father was okay, he still felt a bit of guilt as he stared down at his phone. Maybe he should have been there. Stayed in Canada a bit longer, but he knew that couldn’t happen with the plans in Colorado. “I feel like I need to visit more. I don’t because I’m always so busy, and man, it’s about to get harder with Gunner coming.”

  Wells looked up, nodding his head. “Yup, life is about to get busy as hell for all of us, and that’s cool. That’s life, but you’ll make the time to go see your mom and dad. I know you will.”

  Vaughn agreed, “Yeah, maybe we can all go up at the end of the summer. He’ll love having all of us, and Brie has been wanting to check out Canada.”

  Jensen loved the sound of that. “We’ll have to see if Wren will be allowed. She’s getting big.”

  “Yeah, she is. My nephew is gonna be huge,” Wells added, shaking his head.

  “He’ll be perfect, just like our Jensen,” Elaine cooed from the sink, and Jensen chuckled as Wells and Vaughn made faces at her.

  “Gag, Mom,” Wells teased, and Vaughn scoffed.

  “Yeah, Mom, we all know who your favorite is. You don’t have to keep reminding us.”

  She glared. “I love all three of you the same.”

  “Lies, all lies, Jensen’s her favorite,” Winston called from the table, and she glared back at him while all three men laughed. There wasn’t a moment growing up that this hadn’t already happened. Everyone was always fighting for the love of Elaine Lemiere.

  No wonder Wren felt so left out.

  But she’d never feel left out again.

  Not with him around.

  “Oh, look, I gotta get to the salon.”

  “Why didn’t you go with Wren and Brie?” Wells asked, and she waved him off.

  “I don’t have as much hair as they do, so my appointment was later,” she answered, reaching for her purse. “Now listen, all of you need to be at the venue by three, get ready, and be ready to go by five. There are drinks and food there.”

  “Like beer? Right?” Vaughn asked, and she shot him a look.

  “No, I’m not giving you three beer so that you can’t act right at this wedding.” She paused and then shook her head. “Who am I kidding? You three can’t act right together sober. Alcohol wouldn’t have mattered.”

  “This is true,” Wells said as she rolled her eyes, going out the back door as Vaughn laughed.

  “Are we really that bad?” he asked and Jensen nodded.

  “We weren’t good, that’s for sure.”

  “For damn sure,” Winston added.

  “My dad was telling Wren about that summer we went up there and all those girls were next door—”

  “Maxie, Trinity, Layla, and Selena,” Vaughn said with the stupidest grin on his face. Jensen and Wells both looked at him with such perplexed gazes.

  “How the hell do you remember their names?” Jensen asked, completely flabbergasted since he couldn’t remember them to save his ass.

  “You always remember the girls who gave you blow jobs and who you had sex with.”

  “You had sex with all of them?” Wells asked, his eyes wide.

  Vaughn shrugged. “I mean, you weren’t hollering at them. Poor Layla was in love with you, and I told her I could give her more, so I did. And then Selena and Trinity were all about Jenny, but I told them my dick was bigger. And that’s how that happened. But Maxie, that was my sweetie, and man, she rocked my young little heart.”

  “I’m disgusted,” Wells said, shaking his head while Jensen laughed.

  “I can’t believe you.”

  “Hey, some of us love sex.”

  “Yeah, all of us, just not with multiple women—or men, in Wells’s case.”

  “Thank you,” Wells said with a nod, and they all laughed as Winston just shook his head.

  “Man, it’s like old times with you three home.”

  They all nodded, sharing a familiar moment as Winston got up, heading out of the room toward the bathroom. Watching as his father left, Wells shook his head. “How’d he not know?”

  Jensen shrugged. “Denial, probably.”

  “Yeah, because you never brought home a girl. Oh! But remember, man, what was his name?” Vaughn said, snapping his fingers, and Wells scoffed.

  “So you can remember all the girls you were with, but not my first boyfriend?”

  Jensen laughed at that as Vaughn shrugged innocently. “Yeah, sorry.”

  “Nicolas,” Wells said, shaking his head with a grin pulling at his lips. “Man, I loved him.”

  “Yeah, and I’ll never forget your dad catching you guys kissing. I heard him down the road,” Vaughn laughed.

  “I wouldn’t leave my room. Neither would Wren,” Jensen chuckled. “We sat on the bathroom counter and just listened to the screaming.”

  Wells’s face didn’t change, a grin on his face as he shrugged. “That’s when I came out to him. It was nasty.” Exhaling hard, he looked out the door and shook his head. “At least he stopped screaming at me about it, and he’s coming to the wedding.”

  Jensen and Vaughn both agreed, but only with a nod as a silence fell over them. Jensen wasn’t sure what everyone else was thinking about as they ate the pie that Elaine had made for them, but Jensen’s mind went back to his dad. He couldn’t imagine not being able to talk to his dad without raised voices. But that was Wells’s life since his dad had found out. They used to be best friends, but that all changed when Wells came out. To that day, Jensen still felt bad for them. While it wasn’t Jensen’s cup of tea, Wells was his best friend, and he loved him for him, not for who he loved. Jensen just wished Winston could see that.

  “So you’re still gonna marry him?” Vaughn asked, and Jensen closed his eyes.

  “Really, Jo?”

  Vaughn looked over at Jensen. “What? I mean, I’m just making sure.”

  Wells scoffed. “Yeah, man, I’m marrying him.”

  “You sure? We can head out, no questions asked.”

  Reaching out, Wells wrapped his arm around Vaughn’s shoulder. “I love him.”

  But Vaughn wasn’t convinced. “You sure?”

  “Jo! Stop.”

  “Hey, this is our best friend. We have to make sure, and you know damn well he doesn’t look at Alex the way he looked at Matty.”

  Jensen pressed his lips together, looking away. “It doesn’t matter. It matters what he feels. He loves the guy, leave him be.”

  When Jensen glanced up, Vaughn and Wells were sharing a look. “I only ask because I love you, man. I don’t want you to make a mistake.”

  Wells sighed heavily as he shook his head. “The only mistake I made was giving Matty my whole heart when he didn’t even give me a piece of his.”

  Vaughn looked to Jensen with his eyes wide, and of course, he was telling him clearly that he was right. But Jensen shook his head before looking over to his friend. “Do you want to marry him? Alex?”

  “Yeah, because I have to.”

  “You don’t have to do shit, son.” They all three looked to the door, where Winston stood, his brows pulled together as he glared at Wells. “If you don’t want to marry this boy, don’t. I don’t care how much money we’ve spent. I want you to be happy.”

  A little taken aback, Wells’s hand came to his chest. “No, Dad, it’s not that. I do love Alex, I do. Which is why I have to. It’s the right time.”

  Winston slowly nodded. “Then that’s that.”

  With that, he turned and headed out the back door, and Jensen assumed he was going to his
woodshed. Looking back to Wells, he found his best friend with his mouth hanging open as he watched his father cross the backyard to his shed. “What just happened?”

  “No clue,” Vaughn said, his mouth hanging open too.

  Pointing to his father’s woodshed, Wells asked, “Did my dad just accept my lifestyle?”

  “I think so,” Jensen said, a little shocked too.

  “Or we all blacked out, and this is a dream,” Vaughn supplied, but all three of them nodded.

  “That seems more believable,” Wells muttered before the three them found themselves laughing from the gut.

  Leaning on the counter, Jensen looked over at the two men who had been his constant buddies. Two men he knew he couldn’t do life without. His best friends. As Wells’s laughter subsided, he looked between them and grinned. “I’m thankful to have you two. Honestly. You’ve never stopped loving me in a non-gay way, and I truly love both of you, in a non-gay way, for that.”

  “I mean, we are all pretty much the coolest dudes ever. It’s only natural we flock together,” Vaughn said in his own cocky manner.

  Snorting, Jensen reached out, squeezing Wells’s shoulder. “Right back at you. I was just thinking the same thing, that this life would be boring without you two.”

  Rolling his eyes, Vaughn scoffed. “Whatever, you’ve replaced us with Wren.”

  “Oh yeah, she’s your life now,” Wells teased, and Jensen flipped them off.

  “While, yes, she is my everything and so is my son, I know I need you two assholes, too,” he admitted, looking down at the counter. “So I hope you two are ready to raise my son with me.”

  Wells let out a sigh as Vaughn laughed. “And my daughter with me.”

  “I can get a dog for you guys to help raise if I need to since Alex doesn’t want kids yet, but I’m so down for raising some babies!” Wells announced, and Jensen’s face started to hurt, he was grinning so hard.

  “In due time. But in the meantime, let’s go get you married.”

  “Or drunk so you can get married,” Vaughn supplied, and Jensen shot him another dirty look. “What? I still don’t think it’s gonna happen.”

  “I hate you,” Wells groaned, but then he squeezed Vaughn. “But I love you too.”

  “It’s complicated with me.”