by Hadley Quinn
“And he’s super patient,” Melanie added, sliding her arm around Jay’s waist to give him a playful hug. “He likes to talk shopping, makeup and hairstyles, and most of all, how to look skinny in a swimsuit.”
The entire room was laughing at Jay’s expense, but he didn’t care. What was most distracting was Melanie’s arm around him and the sweet scent of vanilla that came with it. She was literally spinning his world upside down. This rollercoaster with her had to stop, but the ridiculous part was that it had almost become a necessary evil in his life.
With a shrug he replied, “Make fun all you want. I’m still a guy and nothing will change that.”
“Ooh, you know that’s a country song, right?” Melanie teased him.
“I don’t fucking care,” he half chuckled, but he had no doubt that she was going to make him listen to it someday.
She gave him one last squeeze, but before she returned to the couch she whispered, “And you smell really good.”
And I want to taste you again is what he could have said but didn’t.
He watched her drop onto the couch next to Camryn and ease right into a conversation about dysfunctional families, which was a topic that they could all relate to without thought. Tyse was slowly appearing to be more comfortable around the group, but with three women to hold his complete attention, Jay could understand why.
Teague was somewhat on the outskirts of the gathering like Jay was, but all it took was a silent conversation from across the room and the two headed out back for the shop.
“Good God, how many more surprises does this family have left?” Teague stated as they entered the garage. “To be honest, I keep waiting for more of my own half-siblings to show up on my doorstep one of these days.”
“No shit,” Jay chuckled. “Not gonna lie, I figured you’d have more than just Max to deal with by now. But fuck my dad… Why the hell didn’t he just ditch me and Kell like my mom claims he threatened to do all the time? He did Tyse a fucking favor. I don’t understand what the hell he’s doing here if his mom warned him to stay away from my dad.”
“I’m sure it’s not about your dad,” Teague answered matter-of-factly. “Seriously, if you found out you had a brother and sister, and an entire half of family that you never knew you had… Wouldn’t you want to explore it a bit? Meet them?”
“Fuck no. I’d be happy I didn’t have a second side of the family. Less shit to deal with.”
Teague laughed and shook his head. “I saw that coming.”
“Then don’t ask obvious questions,” Jay laughed. “And why the hell would anyone want to get into the McCallan family if it wasn’t for the money and status?”
Teague didn’t reply at first as he walked around the Boss to look it over. He seemed deep in thought, like he was thinking of a response. Jay knew much of Teague’s life was spent resisting the McCallans after his mom died and he was forced to live with his dad at the age of four. A lot of things had happened over the years, but Teague was solid when it came to being his own man. And he’d always been there for Jay while he was dealing with all the shit from his own dad at the same time.
Through thick and thin.
Finally Teague looked at Jay and said, “Think about you and me, pal. And Kellie. And Camryn. And Melanie. We’re pretty fucking awesome, and I think Tyse could benefit from that, you know? There are parts of the McCallan family that have been redesigned, Jay. We did that, man. We stepped away from something we didn’t like, and blazed our own trails. There are other aspects of this family that don’t include lying and cheating and caring about how we look to the fucking public. Even grandpa has been more in-tune with this since everything came out about Chase. He’s actually been pretty cool to get to know again. And he and Blaire have been great for Melanie. She really—”
“What do you mean ‘great for Melanie’?” Jay interrupted, not even caring how interested he sounded.
Teague shrugged. “She’s been going over there two or three times a week to swim in the pool. Grandpa invited her after hearing that she wanted a different way to work out besides walking.”
Jay narrowed his eyes in thought. Melanie had never mentioned going over to the McCallan mansion. “How long has she been going there?” he asked, moving across the garage to unnecessarily put away a few tools. He needed the distraction while his thoughts developed.
“Uh, just the last few weeks, I guess. Camryn has even gone with her a couple of times. They like spending time with them, especially Blaire.”
Jay grunted his surprise. His grandfather’s wife was nice enough, but he’d never spent more than five minutes talking to her. Blaire was wife number…four? Hell, he wasn’t even sure.
“But back to what I was saying,” Teague continued. “You’ve got a brother, Jay. And…he seems pretty decent.”
“You’ve spent ten fucking minutes with him.”
“True. But I talked to Grandpa for a bit after Tyse left his house. He called me. He’s really kind of dazed by all of this, too.”
“Why?” Jay scoffed. “Stuff like this shouldn’t be a surprise to him. I mean he’s had our dads and all their issues to put up with over the years.”
“All I’m saying is give Tyse a damn chance, okay?” Teague replied firmly. “Grandpa ended up talking to your dad. Clint told him to fuck off because he wanted nothing to do with Tyse and his mom.”
Jay cocked an eyebrow, although he shouldn’t have been surprised. His father was a world-class fucker in his opinion. But this really had nothing to do with his dad because he wasn’t going to allow it to be. As far as Jay was concerned, his dad could kiss his ass.
“Tyse knows all this, Jay,” Teague added. “He’s here because of you and Kellie. He might be a year-and-a-half older than you, but he’s still the underdog here.”
“I get it, okay?” Jay answered, dropping his tools into a drawer with a loud clank.
He faced Teague from across the garage and folded his arms over his chest. Neither of the two said anything for several long seconds, but for Jay, it was almost like reality was truly sinking in. He now had an older brother that he just knew was going to interfere with his life somehow.
It was one more fucking thing dumped into his life that seemed to be out of his control.
“Let’s go back inside,” Teague sighed, motioning to the house. “Cam and I are heading home and you can spend time with your brother.”
“Half brother,” Jay added smugly.
“Whatever, you shit,” Teague smiled at him.
As they entered the house, Jay could hear the girls sharing jokes about Melanie’s stupid parrot. Tyse was obviously amused by the phrases the bird could say because he was laughing too.
“I have to meet this bird,” Tyse said. “He sounds truly awesome.”
“You’re welcome to come over any time,” Camryn told him. “In fact, we have a spare bedroom you can stay in. It’s Jay’s old room, and since he doesn’t have anything but a couch here for you—”
“The couch is fine for him,” Jay interrupted.
All three girls looked up at him, but Tyse paused before he made eye contact. When he finally did look at Jay, it was with a smug smile.
“I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you,” Tyse told him.
“You don’t need to inconvenience them, either,” Jay replied with a level gaze. He hoped his message was received loud and clear because he wasn’t about to spell it out.
“He’s not inconveniencing anyone,” Melanie spoke up, obviously irritated with Jay. “He’s a guest and should be treated as one.”
“No, he’s right,” Tyse nodded. He looked at Camryn and said, “I appreciate the offer, but I’d rather stay here for now. With my brother,” he added as he glanced at Jay with a crooked smile.
Jay wasn’t feeling the brotherly love though, especially when Melanie and Camryn began offering Tyse invitations to dinners and shit. Even Kellie expressed that she wished she had room for Tyse in her tiny apartment. Jay really liked s
eeing his sister smile so much, but the circumstances were just not what he needed in his damn life right now.
After Teague and Cam left, Kellie stayed another half-hour. She and Melanie continued to chat with Tyse while Jay sulked in the corner haphazardly flipping through his phone. When the girls left at eleven, the house became an eerie kind of silent.
Finally Tyse stood with a heavy exhale. “Well, I should get to my couch for the night.”
Jay stood too and watched him retrieve the blanket and pillow from the corner. He didn’t say anything for an entire minute as Tyse dropped onto his back to get comfortable.
“You know, if you really don’t want me here, I can stay somewhere else,” Tyse told him. “Your grandpa said I could stay with him, too. I’d rather not be here if I’m not welcome.”
Jay didn’t reply and just left for his bedroom.
***
“So why don’t you want to give him a chance?” Beck asked as he shut the hood of the GTO he was working on.
“Because I don’t need more drama in my life?” Jay stated sarcastically. “Jesus Christ, I can’t even have five minutes to work on my goddamn car anymore.”
“So what, you need to humor him every minute of the day? Put him the fuck to work.”
“Hell no is he touching anything of mine,” Jay narrowed his eyes.
“He’s been here for five days. What has he been doing?”
Jay slightly shrugged. “Hanging out at the McCallan mansion, I guess. I really don’t give a fuck what he’s been doing.”
“Well if he’s out of your way, what the hell are you complaining about?”
“The fact that I can’t let down my fucking guard.”
“What are you worried about? Is he that devious? Melanie seems to like him.”
Jay’s attention was grabbed more aggressively with that comment. “What do you mean?”
With a shrug Beck answered, “She said he’s easy to talk to, kinda mellow, and just…nice. I don’t know.”
“When did you talk to Mel?”
“Yesterday when she dropped off the pizza for us.”
Jay’s nerves started buzzing a bit more. Although he’d been starving that day, he’d been more excited to see Melanie. She barely stayed five minutes, but being around her had rattled him for the rest of the day.
Especially when she really had mentioned Tyse a couple of times.
“Well Melanie likes everyone,” Jay stated. “She better be careful though, because Tyse might get the wrong idea.”
“The wrong idea? Maybe she really does like him.”
By the smile Beck was trying to hide, Jay knew he was trying to get under his skin. But Jay brushed it off and went back to work. He stayed late that night to lock up so Beck could leave early. He was just about to step outside when Jessica entered.
“He left early for the game with Kyle,” Jay told her as he was about to flip the lights off.
She only studied him for a moment, like she didn’t believe him, but Jay was pretty sure Beck mentioned that Jess was going out with her friends while Beck was out with his. Jay hoped to God that’s why she was dressed the way she was. The provocative clothing wasn’t something he was used to seeing her in—even with Beck.
“Yeah, I know where he is,” she finally answered. “I’m, uh, here to see you.”
Jay lifted an eyebrow. “Me? What’s up?”
Jess didn’t reply at first and casually leaned against the wall, pushing her chest out. She looked Jay over and bit her lip with a partial smile. “It’s obvious, right?” she asked in a low voice. “Come on, Jay. Don’t play games with me.”
“What games are you talking about?” he scoffed, taking a step back. Jess pushed off the wall to close the distance again and he put his hand against her shoulder to stop her. “What the fuck is going on?”
“You’re kidding me, right?” she lightly laughed. She narrowed her eyes at him and slowly shook her head. “You’ve gotta know by now, Jay. You’re not that dense, are you?”
“Know what?” he laughed uneasily. “You’re my best friend’s girl, Jess. I don’t know what I’m being dense about.”
She grabbed his wrist and pulled it off her shoulder to be closer to him, but Jay sidestepped her advancement just as quickly.
“Stay the fuck away from me,” he warned her. “I don’t know what the hell has gotten into you, but I love Beck like a brother. This is not happening, Jess,” he motioned between them.
“Out of all the women that throw themselves at you, you’re really going to do this to me, Jay?”
Her voice was mixed with anger but also hurt. But what the hell was happening? She had never, not once, expressed any interest in him in the past. At least not verbally. Hell, if she looked him over now and then, that was one thing. But to seriously try to maul him in Beck’s shop?
Holy fucking hell.
“Whatever it is you think, I don’t have any feelings for you,” he held his hands up. “You’re amazing for Beck, not me. I don’t do relationships, sweetheart. I know Beck is all for that with you. Just forget this ever happened and leave. Go back to him and make him happy with…whatever the hell it is you two do.”
“Yeah, ‘whatever the hell it is,’” she repeated. “It’s called nothing. There’s nothing there. I don’t feel anything for him anymore. I’ve just become Beck’s comfort zone. I’m not what he needs. I’m not even what he wants, he just doesn’t realize it.”
“You are what he wants. He’s told me a million times. He’s so in love with you that—”
“I don’t feel that for him. Yes I love him because…well, he’s Beckett. He’s easy to love. But love is not what I want right now. I just want to enjoy life and have fun. You and me… We are more compatible that way. I know it, Jay. I’ll prove it to you…”
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!”