Catch and Release

by BA Tortuga

  “Yes, ma’am. We were all just counting our blessings.”

  Dakota muttered so soft. “They make cocksucking blessings?”

  “Christ, I hope so. Those are probably the best kinds.” He couldn’t meet Dakota’s eyes, he just couldn’t, because this poor woman would think they were making fun of her and….

  Dakota was shaking, he was laughing so hard.

  Jayden made a noise, sort of a cross between a duck quack and a burp. “I need to use the restroom. Be right back.”

  “Chicken,” Dakota whispered after him.

  Oh, he totally was. Bawk, bawk. He hit the head and splashed water on his face, trying to banish the laughter. And the image of Dakota sucking his dick, which was so not funny, but no more for public consumption than their laugh fest.

  He wasn’t sure what had happened last night in the storm, and he didn’t suppose it really mattered, but something in Dakota Landry seemed to have let go. Something was either washed away or beginning to grow.

  Whatever it was, it let Dakota breathe, and it let the man laugh.

  That had to be good.

  Jayden was selfish enough to hope he’d had a little something to do with the shift.

  He walked out of the bathroom to find Sage and Dakota waiting patiently. They looked pious as saints.

  God knew what the little fucks had done. “I swear to God, if you set me up on a date with the lady at the counter….”

  Dakota clapped a hand over his mouth, the gurgling sound too damned ominous. Oh, Lord, not that….

  The lady came out from behind the counter then, with a stack of croissants on a tray. There were little bowls of what he assumed were sauces, and a chocolate drizzle covered the top croissant. That was where the giant sparkler-type candle was sizzling away.

  “Happy birthday to you!” the lady began singing. Sage joined in, his voice surprisingly good.

  He arched his eyebrow, his lips twisting. Oh, these two were totally going to pay. Like Bengay in the lube pay. Like replacing all Sage’s toothpaste with Preparation H pay. Like calling Win and telling pay.

  And that didn’t even begin to start on Dakota.

  When she finished singing, she patted him on one shoulder. “The boys here told me how sad you were about turning forty-five, honey. Let me tell you, I just passed fifty, and forty-five is a breeze. Enjoy yourself.”

  “Oh. Thank you.” He couldn’t force anything else out, but she just batted her false eyelashes at him.

  “I’ll get those egg-and-sausage croissants out in five, fellers.”

  “Thank you, ma’am,” Dakota chirped like a mean, evil little fucking bird. “You totally rock.”

  He waited until she ducked back behind the counter. “Forty-five is stretching it, boys.”

  “And you look so young!” Dakota said.

  “I’m going to have to beat you to death, you realize that.”

  Dakota gave him a long, considering look, then grinned. “I bet I can take you.”

  His cheeks heated, because he didn’t think about fighting at all when Dakota said that. Christ. He needed to put out that candle before they burned the joint down.

  “Are you going to share your birthday yummies, man, or are you going to be selfish?” Sage was in fine form, even catching the croissant Jayden chucked at him. “Thank you!”

  “Well, y’all worked so hard to get them. Oh, strawberry jam.”

  “Is there one with apricot jam? That’s my favorite.”

  Every single one of these little tidbits he filed away in his Dakota file.

  “Oh, that’s orange marmalade, honey,” said the counter lady, bustling out with egg and cheese and sausage goodies. “I have apricot in the back. Let me get some.”

  “You don’t have to—”

  “Thanks,” Jayden interrupted. “That would be great.”

  At Dakota’s surprised look, he winked. “My birthday, my rules.”

  “Your forty-fifth, right?”

  “Maybe fiftieth. I forget.”

  “That’s what happens when you get old,” Sage murmured.

  They sat and attacked their food, and Jeanne the counter lady appeared maybe ten more times with jam and jelly, cream cheese kolaches, and some kind of supersecret special coffee.

  He needed to have birthdays more often.

  Hell, he’d pay good money to have days like today more often—apricot jelly, good coffee, and….

  “Pecan rolls.”

  All three of them groaned.

  “You’re gonna have to wheel my happy ass out of here in a cart,” Sage murmured. “Guess they didn’t get their normal Sunday crowd on account of the storms and all.”

  “More for us.” Jayden winked, feeling a little guilty for enjoying what was probably someone else’s good fortune.

  “Uh-huh. This is so good. I have to take a couple home for Azel.”

  “We can take goodie bags for all.” That deflated Jayden a bit, because Dakota had a roomie to share with, and Sage had Win coming home, and he had… well, he had a hellacious amount of work to do and needed to quit whining.

  He could bring some to Patrick in the morning. The little shit would devour them and then worry about fitting into his skinny jeans all afternoon.

  The thought made him smile, and Dakota smiled back at him, making him blink with the warmth he got out of that expression. Hello! That was…. Yeah.

  Yeah, that was a look Jayden thought not many men had ever got the chance to see.

  He wanted to see it again and again. He’d pretend to be the birthday boy every day.

  He’d have to work out more often, sure, but Dakota was worth that. Jayden made a mental note to check and see if his gym membership was still good.

  If not, maybe he’d ask Troy if he had any recommendations for someone on the north side of town. He could use a few hours a week with a trainer. Funny how the idea of getting naked with someone made a man want to get all ripped.

  “You okay, Jayden?” Dakota asked. “You look a little stressed out.”

  “I’m good. Pondering working out again.” Jayden chuckled. “That wears me out, just thinking on it.”

  “I don’t enjoy it,” Sage admitted. “I do it because of the knees. What about you, Dakota?”

  “I do a lot of push-ups and sit-ups in my room, especially when I can’t sleep.”

  “Insomnia sucks,” Jayden said. Man, that breakfast croissant was so good.

  “Yeah. Yeah, but it’s getting better.”

  “Is it?” Sage asked. “That’s cool.”

  Jayden nodded, thinking how well he’d slept last night despite the storm and electricity being out. “I think that I need to remember to get out of the office sometimes, unplug.”

  “You work late nights, I know,” Sage murmured. Yeah. Win had been out late a few times subbing in for the guy he’d hired to guard Jayden.

  “I do, which is stupid, isn’t it? No one is going to die over real estate law.”

  “I don’t know. Lots of people would kill over land,” Sage pointed out, and Dakota blinked.

  “Seriously? Still? I thought that was… from the old days.”

  “Nope. Hell, someone damned near killed me and shot my dog over an old family grudge.”

  “People suck.”

  “Some people suck,” Jayden corrected, and Sage hooted.

  “Some people swallow!”

  They all lost it again, and Jayden couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so carefree. Maybe college.

  This was better, because he hadn’t felt like he could come out to his frat brothers until he was well established in the house. This was truly as if he was with a band of brothers, though he felt nothing fraternal for Dakota. Nothing.

  In fact, he was solidly in the “secret fantasy” camp with that sweet body. Like stupidly.

  It was fun as hell, or would be if Dakota would look at him the same way. Jayden shook off the thought. Again. It was enough that Dakota could smile at him now, not just stare dow
n at his hands, shoulders hunched.

  “Y’all are bad.” Dakota grinned wide, hard enough that his eyes crinkled up at the edges.

  “We are,” Jayden agreed. “But it’s so fun. Thanks, y’all. I’ve had a ball this weekend, and I really appreciate it. Though if you have the urge to celebrate my birthday for real, it’s June twentieth.”

  “So soon!” Dakota’s eyes went wide. “We were close, Sage.”

  “Only off by, what, two weeks and ten years?”

  “Something like that.” His cheeks heated, because they both made such a big deal. Hell, usually his mom sent a card with some kind of vacation package in it that he never took.

  “Are you going to do something cool?” Dakota asked.

  “Camping. I think we should all go camping.”

  Sage arched an eyebrow. “Jayden, you do know it’s hot in June in Texas. Especially for your pampered, refrigerated-air body.”

  “I do know that, ass hat. I still think we should go. I’ll bring coolers and fans.”

  “Last time I went camping it didn’t end well.”

  Dakota’s words made him flush with discomfort, and he opened his mouth to take it back when Dakota went on.

  “Guess it’s about time to make it better. No girls, though, okay?”

  “Only one I know is my mom, and she wouldn’t come,” Jayden murmured, thinking of his power-suit, power-lunch mom out in a tent with snakes and mosquitos.

  “No moms. I’m in. I don’t know about Adam, but I love camping. I can even bring a couple horses, if’n y’all want to ride. Whereabouts you want to go?”

  Hell, Jayden had no idea. “I’ll look into it. I mean, I know places up near where I was born, but I’ve never gone down here. My dad used to take me up to Oklahoma.”

  “I can’t leave the state, Jayden.”

  Sage nodded. “Complications of inviting felons.”

  “Like I said, I can look into it.” He warmed to the idea, already planning his Google attack. “Y’all just tell me when you can get a whole weekend.”

  “Let me poke Adam. It would be better with him.”

  Yeah, he thought so too. “I ought to hire him again, just for the weekend.”

  “Is that how y’all met? You needed a bodyguard? Really?” Dakota blinked at him, a little owlishly. “That’s vaguely cool, huh?”

  “I guess.” Jayden chuckled, ready to pass it off, but Sage gave him a shrewd look.

  “I bet it wasn’t that cool to have some whack job trying to kill you.”

  “Oh.” Dakota shook his head. “No. No, I was thinking more, ooh, so famous I need a person to make sure no one mobs me at the Target. I’m sorry. Really. That’s uncool.”

  “Hey, it has a certain cachet. He’s back in custody now too, so I get to be friends with Win rather than a client.”

  “Assuming he ever comes home,” Sage drawled.

  Ouch. Jayden was so talking to Win as soon as he could. The man needed to know what was what.

  Suddenly everything was a little still, a little down, so Jayden tossed a kolache at Dakota. “Catch!”

  The throw went wide, but sure as shit, Dakota palmed it like a pro.

  Sage applauded. “Nice.”

  “Never let it be said I can’t grab food when it’s in the vicinity.”

  “I bet you’re used to flying food,” Sage said. “I know we sure as shit had it all the time. There was this one guy who started a food fight that lasted damned near two days.”

  “They shut shit down pretty fast, but yeah. I got to admit, I don’t miss it.”

  Jayden wasn’t sure whether to be honored that these men were comfortable opening up to him or violently uncomfortable that the worst thing that had ever happened to him was a breakup with a live-in lover in law school. That fight had resulted in, if not a food fight, a drink being tossed in his face. Very soap opera.

  He didn’t count the whack-a-doodle, as Sage called Henry Jenkins. That was a hazard of the job.

  He decided to go with honored, because only a self-absorbed asshole would be jealous that he hadn’t had the experience of incarceration. Jayden blinked when a croissant landed in his lap.

  “You, on the other hand, have no reflexes.” Dakota grinned at him, the pure devil shining out of those eyes for a moment.

  “God no. Pampered rich boy, remember? No football. Academic scholarships.”

  “Grease spots on your jeans too.” Sage looked like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth.

  “Yep. Good thing I keep such lowbrow company.” He was immediately glad that Sage and Jayden took that just the right way, snorting and throwing more food at him.

  “Y’all suck!”

  “No, man, I told you. I fucking swallow. Ask Adam.”

  “Eew!” Dakota’s cry made him crack the fuck up.

  When they finally rounded up all their leftovers and headed out, Jayden felt a pang of real regret. Another hour or two and he’d be back in the real world, needing to look at his notes for a meeting tomorrow and make sure he had his calls set up for the morning.

  “Can I get your number, Dakota? For the camping.”

  Dakota nodded. “I pay for thirty minutes a month right now, so you can call or send a text. I get some of them too.”

  Thirty minutes a… a month?

  Jayden knew that he looked incredulous, and thank God Dakota was digging his little flip phone out when Sage elbowed him.

  He tried to wipe whatever expression he had off his face and just keep a smile going, but Jayden couldn’t even imagine. He knew some places had unlimited talk for like, thirty-five bucks. How broke did you have to be to go for thirty minutes?

  Three hundred a week and his rent was six—Jayden’s lawyer’s brain with its passion for detail offered. Fifty for utilities. If Dakota spent fifty a week on food, that left three fifty. Fifty bucks for a bus pass….

  God, he wanted to ask how Dakota managed, how he dealt, but that was none of his fucking business, and he knew it.

  Dakota touched his wrist. “You okay?”

  “Yeah. Yeah, let me get that number.” He created a contact for Dakota in his phone, tapping in the number Dakota rattled off. “Good deal. I’ll text. Are you off most weekends?”

  “I am, yeah.”

  “Cool.” Jayden took a leap. “If you ever want to just jaw at someone, holler. I’m always willing to go to a greasy spoon and have pancakes. You can just text. Here, I’ll put my number in your phone so I don’t waste any of your minutes or anything.”

  “Thanks. I’ll probably upgrade my plan soon. I just had a lot of expenses at first. You don’t realize how much tighty-whities and toothpaste can add up to until you’ve not got either.”

  “I guess not.” Jayden had to imagine it was a bit like losing everything you owned in a fire and not having insurance. Some charities gave you a few things, but then you were on your own. “You’re doing great, man.”

  “I am. I’m getting there.”

  Everyone seemed satisfied to leave it there, but there was a part of Jayden that kept flashing back to one of the pictures in Dakota’s file—this doughy kid in a Star Trek T-shirt, a top of the line laptop, a pair of headphones that had to cost what Dakota made in a week, now.

  Surely Dakota had to be pissed. Jayden was pissed, and he wasn’t the victim.

  Yes, he knew that the poor girl was a victim too, and he hated it, but how did it help if Dakota was innocent? How did all that loss make it better for her?

  Jayden was even more determined to get the ball rolling on Dakota’s case as soon as he got home. Dakota might hate him before it was all said and done, but Jayden had to see the case through. All the way.

  For Dakota’s sake.

  “Come on, y’all. Let’s get on. I need to see if the lights came back on. I got about a million things to do.”

  “Horses don’t care if it’s Sunday, huh?” Jayden asked, back to teasing.

  “Not a bit. Come on, Dakota. I’ll give you a quick and dirty lesson in cu
tting horses.”

  “Why would you cut horses?” Dakota deadpanned, and Jayden grinned.

  He really liked Sage and Dakota both. For the first time since he was a teenager, Jayden couldn’t wait to go camping.

  Chapter Twelve

  DAKOTA FINISHED hauling old shingles to the dumpster on the site, sweat pouring off him in sheets. Thank God Jim brought enough Gatorade to keep his guys from dying, because the sun was just not going to give up a bit.

  “Vato, you heading home after this? You need a ride?” Jorge was damn friendly and offered him a ride home more often than not in exchange for a pack of cigarettes a week that his wife didn’t see coming out of the budget. It was a fair deal.

  “I ain’t, no.” He was getting a ride from Sage, and they were heading to the ranch to see the horses and have supper.

  “Oh.” Jorge chuckled. “Damn. Well, you have fun, whatever you’re up to, huh?”

  Raising a hand, Jorge left him, and he wondered if he should have taken that ride home and gotten a shower. Then again, this was Sage, and he was fixin’ to muck stalls or something.

  It wasn’t like Sage wouldn’t let him shower there, for fuck’s sake.

  He waved at a couple of the other guys who called to him when they left the site, then finished up with the last of the shingles. He checked his boots for nails before stripping off his gloves and mopping up the best he could with a handful of paper towels. Then he popped open a water and sat in the shade to wait for Sage, who Dakota really thought of as his best friend.

  He hadn’t had one in a long fucking time.

  He pulled off his hat and poured part of the water over his head, gasping at the cold.

  A short honk came from across the lot, Sage waving at him when he glanced up. Yeah. Maybe he’d never had a friend like Sage.

  “Hey!” He plonked his hat back on, heading to the truck. “How goes?”

  “Hot. You?”

  “Same.” This was Austin in June. It only came in hot. Though he was really dreading August and September if June was this bad. “Thanks for the invite.”

  “Need the help. I got a couple of guys down, and you’re a fair hand with the others.”

  “Are they okay?”