AllFreeNovel
Share Us
10
JJ
Without Dexen in front of me, without Greer here, I wondered if what Greer and I discussed was smart. Having Dexen and Greer seemed like a fantasy, nothing we could make a reality. But the way Dexen kissed me, the way he held me. How could I dismiss it? How could I let him slip through my fingers when being with him felt like coming home?
On the flip side, how could I forgive him? Greer tried to make me see reason. Yes, Dexen did it out of love, but that wasn’t what I wanted from him. I didn’t want him to become my dad and go around acting like lives were disposable.
Dexen didn’t really do that though, did he? He killed to save me. He killed to keep the people he loved safe. And my dad was there to help him clean it up. Fuck, I still couldn’t get over that. I knew Dexen had no love for my old man, but that they somehow worked together on this when it pertained to me, it was hard to wrap my head around. The whole damn thing with Dexen was. My heart wanted him. My head said it wasn’t smart. My stomach was in a knot of anxiety over it.
“Jay, you’re about to fuck that up,” Val said, his voice had what was in front of me coming into focus.
I glanced down where I was making tweaks to a prototype we had built. If I had moved another inch, I would have severed off a crucial component. I put what I was holding down and stepped back. I couldn’t function at work. Not when I was such a fucking mess.
Val took my arm and pulled me off to the side, where no one would hear us. His eyes were this muted blue that on anyone else might seem dull, but not on Val. Today, they held concern for me. Worry. “You need to get out of here, even if it’s just for the rest of the day. You’re not doing any good. If you would have screwed up just now, I would have decked you.” I wouldn’t have blamed him if he had. We’d been working toward this for weeks, finally having a working prototype in front of us.
“But we’re in the middle—”
“We will be tomorrow too. You’re useless today.”
“Gee, thanks,” I deadpanned.
He smiled. “You know what I mean.” Val was the type of guy who didn’t sugarcoat anything. He told you how it was whether you wanted to hear it or not.
“Fine, I’ll go.” I didn’t have to tell anyone I was leaving. I reported to Junior but whether I showed up or not wasn’t contingent on me getting money from my stake in the company. “How will you get home?”
“Bridget can give me a ride. Right, Bridge?” I looked over in time to see her flip Val off with her painted black nail. She had come with us from my shop. She was damn talented.
I grabbed my bag, shoving my laptop into it. I didn’t know why I brought it home. I never ended up using it. I was in the shop when I felt like working. Maybe it was a trust thing.
My keys and wallet were already in my bag and my phone was in my pocket. I had no clue where the hell I was going, but the moment I hit the outside and the warmth of the day settled over me, I knew I had to take advantage of the weather. It wasn’t every day it was warm like this in October.
Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I opened the text I had with Greer.
Me: How busy are you today?
Greer: Is that rhetorical?
Me: It’s gorgeous outside.
Greer: Are you going to lunch?
Me: Val sent me packing before I turned our idea into a pile of scrap metal.
Greer: What’s the plan?
Me: Meet me at my shop in thirty? I want to take you for a ride.
Greer: Is this the kind of ride we need lube and a condom for?
I laughed, drawing the attention of a woman walking past me.
Me: Bring whatever you want.
Greer: See you soon.
I shouldn’t have been fucking off to who knew where with Greer. We both had jobs to do. As I climbed behind the wheel of my truck, I found I didn’t give a shit. I was going to spend this beautiful afternoon with him. I wasn’t sure where we’d go or what we’d do. He needed to be on my bike with me though. Wrapped around me. The vibration between our thighs. Yeah, it was just what I needed.
At home, I changed into a pair of jeans, ones that were clean and hadn’t been worn in the shop, and a maroon Henley. I wore uniform clothes sometimes when I worked there. More often than not, I was in jeans and a T-shirt. I put on my Doc Martens and my leather jacket. It was warm out now, but the temperature would eventually dip. With the way the wind whipped around me when I was on the bike, I had no desire to be cold, though I had a feeling Greer would keep me warm.
