by Bates, Aiden
"You know me when I can't sleep." He tried to make it joking, but his voice cracked on the last word. That should have been the end of it, but Luke couldn't stop himself from filling the silence. "I stayed a couple weeks at his family's lake house the summer after you graduated ."
"Ah."
"Dad was on some last minute couple's thing in the Caribbean, and Uncle Robert was in Hong Kong on business. I was going to go home with Kurt, but he had that cruise." Luke took a sip of water, trying to stop the flow of words before he said anything he'd regret .
"I remember that. They went to Europe, and Marizza and Venice got food poisoning." His voice was so bland, so nonjudgmental, that it dragged the story out of Luke like a magnet .
"His stepdad is a grade A creep, and he kept putting Jay down for painting instead of taking summer classes. I almost punched him twice in the first day," he said, details that he'd forgotten popping into his head as he spoke. "First Dad and then this guy, and I was just angry at everything. The cook caught me wandering around in the middle of the night, and she gave me permission to use the kitchen as much as I wanted ."
Marcus smiled. "Did you leave them any flour ?"
"Not as much as I should have," Luke said, heat creeping up his neck when Marcus chuckled. "I guess Jay's schedule was out of whack because of his painting. He smelled the cookies and came down like a starving bear." Grinning at the thought, he gestured broadly, almost hitting the waitress as she set down their tray of food. "Sorry ."
"I can't take you anywhere," Marcus teased as she assured him it was fine .
They were silent for a moment, each of them digging into their food. The potatoes were just as spectacular as Luke had hoped, and he sighed contentedly as he stuffed another piece into his mouth .
"Speaking of starving bears," Marcus said a few minutes later, looking pointedly at Luke's half empty plate. "Don't you feed yourself in California ?"
"My flight was delayed six hours in Chicago, remember?" he said with his mouth full .
"That's disgusting ."
Luke grinned. "Seriously, though. I've never seen anyone put away as much food as that night ."
Marcus narrowed his eyes skeptically. "Not even Kurt ?"
"Not even Kurt. Jay tore through an entire container of cookies before he even noticed I was there." He laughed when the other alpha still didn't look convinced. "I'm serious. Ask him sometime. I had to be careful not to put the fresh trays next to him because he refused to wait for them to cool ."
"I thought he only eats the broken ones ?"
"Usually, he does. He was so embarrassed when he realized what he'd done that he refused to take any more cookies. He helped me bake all week, and he only ate the ones that didn't turn out." Luke's smile faltered when he saw the way Marcus was watching him. "Whatever you're thinking, no ."
"It just seems like you got along well," he replied mildly .
Staring at his plate, he pushed a piece of green onion around in the remains of his potatoes. "We did." Marcus opened his mouth, but Luke didn't let him ask. "His parents kicked me out after his stepdad caught us naked in the boathouse ."
Marcus stared at him, eyes wide. It was obvious he hadn't been expecting that. "I'm sorry ."
Luke laughed, louder and sharper than he'd intended. "I got off easy. I just had to walk to town in the rain. Victor Danville disowned Jay ."
They sat in silence for a few minutes, their food getting cold as they picked at it. "Well," Marcus said finally, his voice sympathetic but entirely devoid of pity, "this calls for drinks ."
* * *
"I 'm going to puke."
Against his better judgment, Luke peeked around the edge of his door. Jay was standing in the living room of the condo that the brothers kept as a guest house for visits to New York. He kept fussing with his collar in the mirror, his hands shaky. He was so frazzled that he didn't seem to notice that the collar wouldn't lay flat because he'd skipped a button on his shirt, and even at a distance, it was easy to see the beads of sweat on his brow .
"You'll be fine," Marcus said, turning the omega around to fix the buttons on his shirt. "This is a formality. Piper will do all the talking, and you just stand there and focus on not passing out ."
"I can still make you a martini," Kurt said. He was curled up on the couch with a phone in one hand and his account ledger in the other .
"No, you can't." Marcus smoothed his hands down the shoulders of Jay's shirt. "Ignore him ."
Kurt rolled his eyes, and Luke ducked back behind his door a second too late. "There are snickerdoodles in the kitchen," he said pointedly, still staring at the doorway when Luke peeked again .
"Those are for the party," he said firmly. He felt bad when Jay almost jumped out of his skin .
They hadn't spoken more than a few words since Jay had gotten into the car last night. Even though Jay's light had been on at 3 a.m. when Luke put the last batch of cookies in the oven, the omega hadn't come out .
"Kris wouldn't mind sharing a couple cookies with Jay," Kurt insisted, and Luke's eyebrows crept up to his hairline .
"Have you met Kristoff? He'd sell me his older brother for a chocolate chip cookie." Padding into the kitchen on bare feet, Luke pulled down the container of cookies he'd hidden inside a casserole dish. "Fortunately, I may have made a few extra ."
"Yes!" Kurt shot to his feet, and Luke pinned him with a glare .
"Not for you." Ignoring the dramatic whining that erupted, he held the plastic bin out to Jay. "Double chocolate chunk," he said, turning to stare out the window. It was raining, big drops rolling down the glass and making the whole city look miserable .
He could feel eyes on him, but he ignored them all, tearing angrily into the cookie he'd grabbed for himself .
"Thanks," Jay said quietly .
"Today is going to be fine," Luke told the window. "Just ignore your stepdad and listen to your lawyer ."
"You're my lawyer ."
Luke's head snapped around so fast that his neck popped, but Jay was staring out the windows, his teeth digging into his lower lip .
"I'm going to go finish getting ready," Marcus said loudly. "We'll head out in ten minutes." He grabbed Kurt by the arm and dragged him to his feet .
"You're already ready to go," Kurt muttered as he followed along, grabbing a cookie on the way past .
"Shut up, Kurt ."
The longer the silence stretched, the more tempting it was for Luke to retreat back into his room. The air was so charged that all his hair was standing on end, his lizard brain telling him to get under cover before he got struck by lightning .
"I..." He cleared his throat and tried again. "I'm not licensed in New York," he said. He could feel the offer to go to the court date welling up in his throat, and he stuffed another cookie in his mouth to keep it from escaping .
"I know," Jay said, picking at the edges of his cookie until a small pile of crumbs formed between his feet. "I just... I don't know anything about law, so I just have to blindly trust this stranger. I wish it was you." He didn't appear to notice what he was saying, sighing heavily. "Do you remember the boathouse ?"
Luke choked on a chocolate chip. "Yes," he managed to squeak .
"Victor tore it down." He glanced over out of the corner of his eye, long lashes shielding the flash of blue. "We fought all summer about college and my future. He wanted me to finish off my business degree and give up my art. Said it wasn’t profitable. He wasn’t about to hav
e a son who couldn’t buy his own country club membership ."
He walked over to the window, his voice getting fainter until Luke had to follow him to hear the rest of the sentence. "I sold a painting to one of Mom's friends. Six hundred dollars," he said with a sour laugh. "I was so proud. 'Look at this,' I told him. 'I can support myself with my art.' He tore the shed down the next day ."
Luke ground his teeth, his fists clenching as he imagined planting one in Victor Danville's face. "I'm sorry ."
"When I get the house back," he said, his voice distant as if he had forgotten Luke was there, "I'm going to build it again. This time, though, I'm putting in a south-facing window ."
He didn't mean to laugh. It was the window that did it. Jay had related the whole story without getting upset, but he sounded so viciously offended when he mentioned that stupid window. Luke had heard hundreds of rants from Liam against rooms with north-facing windows, and he couldn't help it. The laugh caught them both by surprise, bouncing loudly around the empty room as Jay stared at him in surprise .
"Every window can't face south," he said, shaking his head .
Sticking his nose in the air, Jay sniffed. "Says you ."
"Unless you want to set up camp at the North Pole and sling presents for the fat guy," he said, offering the omega another cookie, "then you're going to have at least a few rooms with a northern exposure. It's just a fact of life ."
"You can have those rooms," Jay said, grabbing a cookie in each hand. "I'll take the ones with the decent light ."
Luke stuck his tongue out. "How magnanimous of you ."
"Big word," Jay said around a mouthful of cookie. "You must be angling for a raise ."
"Oh, shut up." Luke ducked his head to hide his smile as Marcus and Kurt clattered loudly around the corner .
"Sorry to interrupt," Marcus said, "but we're going to be late if we don't leave now ."
"Shit." All the tension rushed back into Jay's shoulders, and his cheeks paled to a sickly green .
In slow motion, Luke watched from outside himself as those big blue eyes turned to stare at him, terror swirling in their depths. He could feel a bad decision welling up in the back of his throat, and he tried to stall by chewing his cookie slower. It was like his body had been taken over by an outside force. "Let me grab my shoes," he said lightly, his voice echoing from a long way off. "I'll come with you ."
The grateful look that Jay flashed him made something warm light up in his chest, and he cursed himself for a fool all the way to his room, his arms and legs moving without conscious thought. Marcus looked away pointedly as he passed, hiding a grin behind his hand. Kurt, on the other hand, never content with subtlety, smirked openly as Luke joined them .
He didn't stop smirking until they got to the courthouse .
12
"I 'm seriously going to puke." Jay tipped his head back, pacing across the marble floor of the courtroom's antechamber .
"You're fine," Luke said, catching him by the arm. "Just breathe ."
"Why isn't she here yet? What if she doesn't show up?" The woman he was trusting with his only hope of saving the lake house was over half an hour late .
"She's on her way. She called Marcus a few minutes ago." Big hands stroked up and down his arms, and against his will, Jay found himself breathing in time .
"I didn't know that," he said when he could get words past his dry throat. He felt like he was going to fall apart at any moment, full of optimistic energy one second and desperately wishing he could drink himself into oblivion the next .
Luke chuckled, a puff of warm, chocolate-scented breath flowing over Jay's face. "You were in the bathroom. She was fifteen minutes out, so she should be here any minute ."
"I'm sorry I'm such a wreck," he blurted, suddenly seized by the urge to throw himself into the alpha's arms and hide from everything. "I'm not usually this... dramatic ."
It was unfair how model-perfect Luke looked when he smiled. Jay dragged his eyes away from his soft-looking lips and tried to focus .
"Actually," Luke said, "I have it on good authority that you're a huge drama queen ."
For a moment, Jay was hurt. Luke looked so pleased with himself that Jay paused. He'd never known the other man to be needlessly cruel. It only took a moment for it to dawn on him. "Hey!" He punched Luke on the shoulder, popping his knuckles and making him laugh and catch at Jay's hands .
He was so close that Luke's warm, sweet scent filled his nose, half baking cookies and half masculine musk. Those green eyes were swirling with heat, scorching as they dropped to Jay's lips, and he wanted nothing more than to lean up on his toes and see if kissing him was as good as he remembered .
"Sorry, I'm late ."
Jay bit back a curse as Luke jumped back like he'd been burned. The woman who ran up to them was pretty, if a little frazzled, and she shook their hands confidently .
"I always forget how much I hate driving in the city," she said. "It's nice to meet you finally, Mr. Collins ."
Somewhere deep in the expansive court building, a clock chimed the hour, and all the anxiety he'd managed to set aside rushed back .
"Breathe, Jay." The soothing heat of Luke's hand on his shoulder melted away some of the tension. "You're going to be fine ."
The woman, Piper, was watching him. "I've dealt with cases like this a dozen times before," she told him gently. "I'm not going to be caught off guard ."
"I might be." He tried to force a smile, but it didn't feel like he succeeded .
"We're up next ."
Jay cursed, his voice echoing across the marble, as Marcus appeared next to him. His only consolation was that Luke had been just as startled. He was trying to pull himself together enough to tease Luke about it when four men in tailored suits rounded the corner .
"I can't do this," he whispered, watching them approach, their long strides confidently eating up the ground. They were all alphas, six feet tall if they were an inch, and clearly chosen to be intimidating .
"Yes, you can." Luke stepped forward so that all Jay could see were his broad shoulders. "You ignore everything but the judge, you hear me? Don't look at them, don't talk to them, and definitely don't let them provoke you ."
"Maybe he should sit this out?" Piper said when Jay swayed a little. She eased him down to sit on a nearby bench, making sure to keep him from having to look at anything but Luke's suit. "Meatheads like that don't scare me ."
Staring up at Luke's eyes, Jay wondered what had happened to his green canvas. It had been sold that first week, and once the ecstatic feeling of success had worn off, he'd been sad to see it go. He'd never admit it out loud, but it was the best effort he'd ever made at recreating the vibrant shades of Luke's eyes that night in the boathouse. The color had plagued his dreams for months, years, even, and every so often he had to make another go at exorcising the memories. There was more jade than emerald in the green today, and his fingers itched for paint .
"Do you want to sit this out?" Marcus asked .
"You can do this," Luke said, his voice so soft that Jay was willing to bet that even Marcus hadn't heard .
Everyone was staring at him. Behind the screen of bodies blocking his view, someone cleared their throat loudly, and Jay automatically straightened his back. "No," he said, even as he fought the urge to hide in the warm folds of Luke's jacket. "I didn't come all the way back here to chicken out at the last second ."
Sticking his nose in the air, he marched into the courtroom, following Luke's advice and completely ignoring the men who crowded in after him.
It was harder to ignore the warm feeling in his chest at the pride on the alpha's face .
The first few minutes were a blur of introductions, he was so focused on keeping his breathing even that it barely registered. The judge was a younger man, friendly and approachable despite the dark circles under his eyes. He made a brief speech that Jay didn't catch a word of and then settled into his seat .
"Your Honor," Piper said when everyone looked at her expectantly, "we would like to allow the opposition to present their case first ."
Jay's heart skipped a beat, and instinctively, he turned to Luke for reassurance. Seated a few rows back, the alpha winked at him. It loosened the knot in his chest enough for him to breathe .
He wasn't surprised that his stepfather's lawyers were slick, or that they loved to hear themselves talk. Their opening salvo lasted almost an hour, and by the time they were done handing in a dozen cases of precedent and going in circles around the point, Jay had forgotten what the question was .
Piper didn't look impressed, and as the four lawyers took their seats, she got to her feet with a yawn. "My colleagues make an excellent case, your honor," she said, her voice dry. "However, they've neglected to mention that their client is in no way related to the property in question. Jack Collins died two decades ago and left the property to his son, not his wife, and the will was not disputed ."
The judge sat up a little straighter, looking like he wanted to yawn as well. "Is that true?" he asked the other group .
"Your honor, in her grief, Mrs. Collins never considered challenging the will. She was never advised that she couldn't use the property, and thus, never realized that it wasn't part of her husband's legacy." The lead lawyer smiled like a shark. "No one could blame a widow for being too shaken to consider such things ."
Jay wanted to snort. His mother had willfully ignored everything having to do with his father's death. It was one of the reasons that his father had left Aunt Carol in charge of just about everything. Victor, on the other hand, hadn't wasted any time taking back his mother's finances when they were married. He would have been well aware that the lake house didn't belong to his wife .