Always for You: Jack (Sergeant Joe's Boys #1)

by Alexis Morgan

  After that, they all got busy building sandwiches and passing around the chips. Jack was seriously running on empty and quickly devoured his first sandwich. The food helped restore some of his energy, but he was going to crash soon. Meanwhile, he fixed another ham sandwich and listened as his mother and Caitlyn did the heavy lifting in keeping the conversation going. When he was halfway done with his second sandwich, his mom disappeared into the kitchen again. When she returned, she was carrying four bowls of vanilla ice cream along with a variety of toppings and a plate of brownies.

  When she sat a bowl in front of Caitlyn, she stared at it for a few seconds. “You are an evil woman, Marlene Lukash, but I can’t resist the temptation of ice cream and brownies.”

  She broke off a piece of her brownie and put it in her mouth. The soft sound of utter happiness she made sent a high-voltage shock right to a certain part of Jack’s anatomy. Damn, he wanted to ask her if there were other kinds of temptation that she was especially susceptible to, but this wasn’t the time nor the place for that particular discussion. Something of what he was thinking must have shown in his expression, because when he made eye contact with Caitlyn, her eyes widened in surprise.

  After making sure his mother was busy talking to Ricky, he winked at Caitlyn and grinned. She arched an eyebrow and immediately ate a second bite of her brownie, chewing it slowly as if savoring every second. When her tongue darted out to lick the corner of her lips, he almost groaned. Oh, yeah, she was a wicked, wicked woman all right.

  Jack shot her a quick look that promised retribution. Then he realized Ricky had caught the exchange and didn’t much like it. Damn it, even as tired as Jack was, he should’ve known better than to flirt with the kid’s teacher. Caitlyn had gone from relaxed to uncomfortable, so she’d clearly picked up on the boy’s displeasure, too.

  It was time to bail. Jack took another couple bites of his ice cream and then pushed the bowl away. “I’m sorry to leave such good company, but I really need to hit the sack.”

  Caitlyn started to stand up at the same time he did. “And I should be going.”

  Ricky remained seated but continued to frown as his gaze bounced back and forth between Jack and Caitlyn. Rather than stand there doing nothing, Jack picked up his empty dishes. Caitlyn followed suit, which really didn’t help matters, but he couldn’t very well order her to park her butt and let him clear the table.

  When they reached the kitchen, she set her bowl and plate beside the sink. “Well, that was awkward.”

  He huffed a small laugh. “Yeah, it was. Sorry about that. Again, write my behavior off to being tired. I apologize if I embarrassed you in front of your student.”

  “Don’t shoulder all the blame, Jack. I was just as guilty.”

  “I shouldn’t have been staring at you.” As much as he’d enjoyed it. Her fresh beauty was a nice respite from the grim week he’d just spent as a highly paid babysitter in a hellhole of a country.

  She grinned up at him. “And now we sound like a pair of grade school kids arguing over who started it.”

  Damn, he wanted to kiss that sassy mouth to see if she tasted of vanilla ice cream and fudge brownies. She knew it, too, because she immediately backed away and shook her head. “Jack.”

  The single word rebuke was enough to stop him in his tracks. “You’re right. Ricky is your student. That takes priority.”

  He figured he didn’t need to point out that the kid wouldn’t be her student forever. After that, all bets were off.

  “When does school start?”

  She blinked at the abrupt change in subject. “The Wednesday after Labor Day. However, I have to report in before that to get ready for the school year. I’ll probably have to stop all my tutoring before the end of August.”

  Jack walked over to the calendar hanging on the kitchen wall and did some mental calculations. Okay, he could wait that long. Maybe, but then again maybe not. He suspected he’d be facing a lot of long hours pounding on the big bag followed by some icy showers. Damn.

  He picked up a pen and circled the first day of school and then looked at Caitlyn with a hint of a grin. She cleared her throat. “Well, um, maybe I should go help your mom finish clearing the table.”

  “I’ll stay here and load the dishwasher.”

  Marlene joined them in the kitchen with an armload of dishes. “No, you won’t.”

  Jack leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. “Won’t what? I won’t load the dishwasher or Caitlyn won’t be clearing the table?”

  “Both. You’re dead on your feet, and she’s a guest.”

  His mom set the tray she was carrying on the counter. “Jack, you go get cleaned up and then sleep. I’ll see Caitlyn out and then take care of the kitchen.”

  Caitlyn dutifully followed his mom out of the room, stopping in the doorway long enough to say, “Bye, Jack. I’ll keep you posted on Ricky’s progress.”

  “Thanks.”

  Contrary to his mother’s orders, Jack started rinsing the dishes and putting them in the dishwasher. When she returned with another load from the dining room, she sighed. “Stubborn man, you never could take orders very well. I’m surprised you lasted in the army as long as you did.”

  Jack just grinned. “Don’t forget that a lot of the people giving orders in the army are carrying weapons. That tends to make you take what they have to say a little more seriously.”

  Marlene laughed. “Maybe I should start carrying my rolling pin with me. Perhaps you’d listen better.”

  She stepped back and watched him work for a few seconds before speaking again. “Ricky is going to hang out with his friends for a while, but he promised to be home for dinner.”

  Jack winced. He really wished he knew more about the boy’s friends and what they did when they were hanging out together. Now probably wasn’t the best time to get answers out of the kid on that subject. “Is he upset?”

  At least his mother didn’t pretend not to understand. “He’ll get over it, but I wouldn’t make a habit of flirting with his teachers in the future, at least not right in front of him. I think he considers Caitlyn to be his friend. I’m guessing he’s never had many adults in his life that he trusted. Sharing her with you might not come easy to him.”

  “We realized that a little too late, but it won’t happen again as long as she’s working with Ricky.”

  “And after she’s not?”

  He stuck the last plate in the dishwasher and set it to run. “Well, we’ll just have to see, won’t we?”

  Then he headed out the back door before she could do much more than sputter.

  Chapter 8

  Ricky kicked a rock as he walked down the sidewalk alone. Even as he tracked its trajectory, he kept a wary eye on his surroundings. His friends were all making themselves scarce today, which made him wonder what had happened to send them into hiding. Most of them had been living on the streets long enough to have several hidey-holes in the surrounding area where they could stay out of sight if necessary.

  However, this early in the day on a weekend was prime panhandling time. It wasn’t like them to miss out on the chance to hit people up for enough money for a quick meal. Maybe the police were patrolling the area more frequently than usual. When that happened, the street folks often moved to another neighborhood for a while. He’d try a couple of other places and then head back home.

  That thought brought him up short. It wasn’t home. It was just where he was hanging out these days. Free meals and a safe place to sleep were worth the price of doing a little homework and pretending to care what Jack and his mother had to say. He did feel bad about how much money they’d spent on his clothes, because he’d most likely have to leave most of them behind when the time came for him to take off. Then there was all the time and money involved with Caitlyn tutoring him. It wasn’t like he really expected to ever be back in school like some regular kid. He couldn’t risk hanging around that long.

  She and Marlene meant well, but they sh
ouldn’t be wasting their time on him. He couldn’t tell them that, though. Besides, it was kind of nice being fussed over and pretending that the future was all bright and shiny now. Then there was Jack. Ricky still hadn’t figured him out yet. He wasn’t the usual do-gooder setting out to reform the world. Most of the time, Ricky actually liked Jack with his no-bullshit attitudes about stuff. Well, except when he’d caught the guy eyeing Caitlyn like she was the real dessert at lunch.

  It still weirded him out how Jack was able to guess so much about Ricky’s past without knowing any of the details. Maybe it was true that the two of them had a lot more in common than Ricky had originally believed. He tried to picture someone beating the crap out of Jack, but that was hard to imagine. Of course, the man said he hadn’t always been built like a linebacker. If Ricky planned on sticking around, maybe he would take Jack up on the offer to use his gym to pack on some muscle after his arm finished healing.

  The thought had him rubbing his cast, although his arm didn’t really hurt. He couldn’t afford to make plans beyond the moment. Jack said Ricky could stay with them as long as he wanted. Maybe he even meant it, but people made promises all the time without planning on keeping them, even family. Why would a bunch of strangers do better? For now, he’d enjoy sleeping in a room with a door that locked and eating on a regular basis, not to mention this was the longest he’d gone without a new set of bruises in a couple of years.

  He kicked the rock again, this time sending it flying out into the street where it bounced off the bumper of a passing car. When the driver honked at him, Ricky offered him a one-fingered apology and kept walking.

  At the next corner, he stopped. Which way now? Maybe they’d gone to the park, the one where Jack had shared his lunch with Ricky that first day. At the time, Ricky hadn’t trusted him at all, but he’d been only too happy to eat the man’s food and take his money. He’d actually surprised himself the next day when he’d headed back to see if Jack had really meant it when he’d offered the same deal if Ricky showed up again. The forty bucks he’d earned had fed him and some friends for a couple of days.

  It had felt kind of good to earn his meals instead of mooching for them. That got old, and he was really tired of having to be on the constant alert for both cops and predators. Always being on the move was exhausting.

  At the last block before the park, he spotted one of the older teenagers who roamed the area heading straight toward him. Although he’d known the guy for several months now, Toby stared right through Ricky as he came closer. What the fuck?

  When Toby drew even with him, he muttered, “Follow me. Keep your distance.”

  Ricky nodded and kept walking for a few more steps. Then he knelt down as if to tie his shoe and scanned the area for any obvious sign of danger. When he didn’t immediately spot anything out of the ordinary, he turned back in the direction Toby had gone. The older boy was waiting for him beside some tall bushes a short distance down the cross street.

  “What’s up?”

  Toby shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “Someone has been asking about you. An older guy driving a pickup with California plates on it. I’m guessing it’s your old man.”

  A shiver of pure dread settled in Ricky’s chest. “My dad is dead. Why do you think this guy is looking for me?”

  While scanning the street around them, Toby kept shifting his weight from one foot to the other, clearly not happy about staying in one spot for so long. Or maybe he was jonesing for his next fix. “He asked for you by name. He also described the exact clothes you were wearing the last time I saw you. You know, that blue hoodie with the big hole in the sleeve.”

  His eyes finally settled on Ricky’s broken arm. “Is he why you’re sporting that cast?”

  There was no reason to deny it. “Yeah.”

  Toby didn’t look particularly upset by that fact. They both knew the streets could be a brutal place to live. “So where have you been hiding? No one has seen much of you for a while.”

  As much as Ricky appreciated Toby caring enough to warn him that he was being hunted, he didn’t trust him enough to let him know where he was staying. The last thing Ricky wanted was for his stepfather to track him down again. That bastard wouldn’t just come after Ricky. No, he’d target anyone he thought had been helping him. Jack might hold his own against him, but Marlene and Caitlyn wouldn’t stand a chance.

  “I’ve been on the move since I got booted out of the hospital.”

  “Good idea. You wouldn’t want him to find you.”

  Ricky shivered at the thought of his stepfather getting his hands on him again. He was lucky to have survived the last time. “Thanks for the info. I’d better get going.”

  Before he could move, Toby’s hand shot out to catch him by the sleeve of his hoodie. “You’re wearing new clothes. Where’d you score those?”

  “They gave them to me at the hospital. My old ones were torn and covered in blood, so they threw them away.”

  Toby might have believed that part of the story, but it wouldn’t take him long to question how the clothes had stayed so clean if Ricky was still living on the streets. Rather than risk him connecting all those dots, it was time to get the hell out of there. He considered sharing some of the money Jack had given him with Toby, but that would only stir up more questions Ricky didn’t want to answer.

  “Thanks again, man. I’m out of here. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell any of the others that you’ve seen me.”

  Toby nodded and shuffled off in the opposite direction. Ricky headed around the corner as if he were continuing on to his original destination. Halfway down the block, he cut across the street and ducked into a small store. He bought a soft drink and a bag of chips so the clerk wouldn’t hassle him over being in the place.

  Meanwhile, he watched the street outside. Sure enough, Toby reappeared a few seconds later. Ricky ducked farther back into the store when the teenager stopped to look up and down the street. After a few seconds, Toby frowned and shuffled on down the block. Ricky waited until he turned the corner and disappeared before leaving the store. As soon as he cleared the door, he tossed the drink and chips in a handy trash can and took off running back toward Jack’s place.

  After a few blocks, he slowed to look back to make sure Toby wasn’t trailing him. All clear. Good. He briefly considered calling Jack to come pick him up, but he didn’t want to endure the grilling that was sure to follow. There were too many questions he didn’t want to answer. No, he’d keep walking and hope for the best. There were enough people out on the street at this time of day to make it unlikely that even an idiot like Lawrence would have second thoughts about going on the attack.

  Just in case, Ricky kept his cellphone clasped in his good hand and sped up his pace enough to put more distance between him and Toby but without drawing attention to himself. The sooner he got back to the house, the better. Once there, he’d lie low for another few days before venturing out again. It would only be another few weeks until he got his cast off. Then maybe he’d consider leaving town, maybe head south to Portland.

  The idea had him cursing Lawrence’s name even more. Ricky’s mother had hooked up with losers over the years since his dad died, but Lawrence was the worst. From the time she’d first brought him home, he and Ricky had been at each other’s throats. A few months later, she’d been only too glad to leave their home in California behind when Lawrence took a transfer to the Seattle area, even though Ricky hadn’t wanted to move so far from his school and friends. It hadn’t come as much of a surprise that his mom chose to side with her boyfriend—now her husband—instead of her son. Lawrence might be an asshole, but he held down a steady job and kept a roof over her head. That was more than Ricky could do.

  For her sake, he’d taken to the streets, hoping they’d both live more peaceful lives. His only mistake had been going back to check on her. Lawrence had found out and came hunting for him. He’d used his fists and steel-toed work boots to make sure Ricky knew he was
no longer welcome in their house. Yeah, like he hadn’t already figured that out for himself. His mother had made that clear when she’d told him that she and Lawrence wanted to start their own family, clearly one that didn’t include him. God help their kid.

  Ricky had been so lost in his memories that he didn’t realize how far he’d come. If he hadn’t looked up, he would have walked right past Jack’s street. Being that oblivious wasn’t only stupid, it was dangerous. What if Toby had somehow pointed Lawrence in Ricky’s direction? After a quick check for anything suspicious, he made a beeline right for the house. At the last minute, he detoured toward the annex out back.

  Jack might still be sleeping, but he’d want to know Ricky was back. The fact that he’d feel safer near the ex–Special Forces soldier had nothing to do with why he was checking in. Nope, not at all.

  He knocked and waited to see if Jack would answer. When he didn’t, Ricky opened the door and slipped inside.

  —

  Jack sat on the edge of his bed and tried to decide if he was ready to get up. He wasn’t sure what had disturbed his sleep, but he was awake now. Even if he felt like death warmed over, years of experience had taught him that he got over jet lag faster if he immediately switched to living on the schedule of whatever time zone he currently found himself. That meant he’d be better off getting up now and going back to bed on his regular schedule.

  He trudged into the bathroom and splashed some cold water on his face. It helped some. On his way back to his bedroom, a noise coming from downstairs penetrated the fog clogging up his brain. What the hell was that?

  Padding down the steps barefooted, he paused halfway down to listen again. Silence this time, but he’d learned the patience of a hunter over his years in the army. If someone was down there, sooner or later he’d reveal his presence. Actually, Jack had a good idea who it was, but he wanted to see if Ricky would own up to snooping around in the annex.

  Sure enough, the kid appeared at the bottom of the steps. “Jack? Are you up?”