Stay, p.3
Stay, page 3
“Not even close to the same thing, man.” Braden still couldn’t pinpoint exactly what the fascination with Wes really was. There was something about him that made Braden curious, though—made him wonder about the distance Wes had in his eyes, despite the big heart he obviously had. Braden saw it when he looked at Jessie, saw it when he helped Noah and Cooper out, yet when it came to himself, he always pulled back.
There was that part of him that just wanted to push the more Wes tried to pull, though. His mom would give him hell for that. His parents were still happily married after almost forty years. His siblings were all happily hitched, but again, he’d never met someone who held his interest, despite how much his mom wanted him to.
He’d never had a relationship that lasted longer than a couple months, and even then he’d only had two. The longest lasting had been Gavin. They dated when he was eighteen, but were much better as friends.
He was twenty-nine years old, and since he moved from home at eighteen, he’d lived in four different states. He just hadn’t found anything that made him want to stick.
Cooper grinned. “That doesn’t mean you’re not driving him crazy.”
Shaking his head, Braden replied, “Fuck off. What’s the point if it’s not the kind of crazy that leaves us both sweaty in bed together?”
“So move on.”
Move on? What the hell did he mean by that? “It’s not like I’m stuck on him. I’m not waiting around for him, either. Just because you went and fell in love, don’t start looking for it everywhere else.”
Cooper laughed. “I’m giving you shit. But you have to admit you haven’t been going out as much.”
Picking up a magazine from the table beside him, Braden threw it at Cooper. “That’s because my dumbass friend nearly got himself killed, and then I was trying to be a friend to Wes. He lost his sister and gained a kid. Gotta be tough.” He’d talked to Wes one other time since he apologized, having called him up to check in. He wasn’t kidding when he said that’s how his mama raised him. You were there for your friends; at least, Braden was.
“Now can we shut the hell up and turn some sports on or something? You need to get your ass back to work to keep yourself busy. You’re turning into a damn gossip.”
Coop laughed and hit the power button on the remote.
“And just so you know, I’m going out tonight.” Cooper was right. He hadn’t been out in too long. It was time to change that.
***
“What am I supposed to do, Lydia? I have an interview in an hour. I need to get a job. We have bills to pay.” Wes paced the living room, his heart dangerously close to breaking through his rib cage.
“Don’t get an attitude with me. I didn’t know you had an interview today, and it’s no one’s fault she’s sick. I can talk to my boss and see if I can get off. We’re shorthanded today, though. You might have to reschedule.”
Because rescheduling a job interview was a great idea. It wasn’t as though Blackcreek and the surrounding areas had a plethora of hospitals for him to choose from. “Dammit. Why did she have to get sick today? I did everything right. I scheduled the appointment when she’d be in preschool!” He’d wanted to do this without help. He could have tried for the afternoon when Lydia would be off work and could watch Jessie, but Chelle had left Jessie to him, not Lydia. He wanted to do right by her, and the first time he tried, things got fucked up.
Wes fell into the chair, elbows on his knees, leaning his head into his hands.
“These things happen. I know it’s tough, but it’s part of being a parent. Let me talk to my boss. I’ll see if I can leave early. You’re doing a good job, Wes.”
Yeah, he wasn’t so sure of that. “No. It’s not fair for you to have to figure this out. I’ll...I’ll take care of it.”
Wes ended the call, rolling his cell around in his hand. A low cough came from the bedroom and he jogged over, peeking in to see Jessie still sleeping. Maybe he should cancel the interview. What if she needed to go to the doctor? What if she was really sick?
He shook those thoughts from his head. Her fever was only one hundred point four when he’d given her medicine. Lydia would have told him if he needed to take her in.
That didn’t help him with the interview, though.
Wes went back down the hall. Fuck the job. Jessie was more important. If they didn’t understand, then he probably wouldn’t do well working for them anyway.
Though he guessed he could ask Noah. He trusted him with Jessie. Jess did well with just about anyone. Noah was really the only person he knew well enough to want to leave Jessie with. They didn’t come more responsible than him.
He tried Noah’s cell first but he didn’t answer. Their home phone rang for times before, “Cooper and Noah’s love shack.”
“You dumbass!” Cooper yelled as Wes said, “Braden?”
“Aw, miss me did, ya? Calling all around town looking for me?” Braden asked, his voice a mixture of sex and humor.
“I don’t have time to play games. Is Noah around?”
“He’s at work. What’s wrong?” Braden spoke much more seriously that time.
“I have a job interview in forty-five minutes. It’s a thirty-minute drive. Jessie’s sick, Lydia’s working, and now Noah is, too. Fuck!” He’d only been at this a few weeks and he already didn’t know what to do. Wes leaned against the wall, dropping his head back to rest on it.
“Gimme ten and I’ll be there.”
At Braden’s words, he jerked his eyes open. “You just answered the phone ‘Noah and Cooper’s love shack’ and now you want to babysit my sick niece?”
“Actually, I said Cooper and Noah, but yeah. And too bad for you, you don’t have time to argue.” The line went dead.
Wes squeezed the cell in his palm, almost throwing it across the room. Couldn’t one fucking thing go right?
He shoved his feet into his shoes and went to the bathroom to fix his tie, hoping the distraction would help him forget that he had no choice but to leave Jessie with Braden Roth.
A few minutes later there was a knock at the door. It wasn’t until he opened it that he realized he’d never told Braden where he lived. “How’d you know where our house was?”
Braden slipped inside, brushing against Wes as he did. He wore a long-sleeved shirt, camo, with a leather necklace around his neck. For some reason, Wes wondered if he wore the black leather bracelets that he usually had on his wrists. He couldn’t see because of his shirt. But he did notice the scent of soap drifting around Wes when Braden passed.
“I asked Coop, who had to call Noah at the shop. I drove, he called me with the address as I did, and abracadabra, I’m here. Where’s the Squirt?” He crossed his arms, looking completely comfortable leaning against Wes’s deep green couch.
How in the hell did they get here? He’d fucked this man after knowing him for an hour, and now he would babysit Jess? He’s Cooper’s friend. He works for the fire department. He could trust him.
“She’s in the second room down the hall. She’s sleeping right now. Maybe go check on her like every ten minutes or so. I gave her medicine two hours ago. She gets a teaspoon every four hours, but only if she’s not feeling well or has a fever. It’s on the bathroom counter. I’ll keep my phone on vibrate. Text me every little while to let me know how she’s doing. If you need me, call. I don’t give a shit if she just has a runny nose and wants to talk to me. Call.”
It wasn’t till he finished talking that he realized the right side of Braden’s mouth kicked up in a partial smile. Dark stubble, matching his chocolate brown hair, teased his jawline. Fucker. Why did he have to be so sexy? “What?”
“I have six nieces and nephews. I can handle it. You better go before you’re late.” Braden crossed his arms, his deltoids flexing when he did. Wes loved those damn muscles. They’d always been his favorite.
Braden’s smile grew. “Aren’t you running short on time?”
Wes shook his head, adjusted his tie again. Yeah, he needed to go. Go to his interview so he had money to take care of his niece, who slept in the next room. These were the things he needed to focus on. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
He turned toward the door when Braden’s voice stopped him. “Wes.”
He looked back. “What?”
“The suit? Holy shit, what I can imagine doing to you in that thing. You look good.”
Wes closed his eyes. He couldn’t do this right now. Really couldn’t. Maybe not ever. He wasn’t good at this kind of thing. Didn’t really know how to open his mouth and accept the compliment. And at this time in his life, dealing with a man wasn’t something he needed to worry about. Not that he even knew what he’d say regardless.
Wes opened his eyes and turned for the door again. This time he got as far as opening it before Braden called his name again.
“What?” Wes groaned out, this time without turning around.
“You’re doing real good with her. Just thought you should know.”
His fist tightened on the doorknob. He wanted nothing more than to do right by that little girl. The words thank you lodged in his throat; not because he had a problem thanking someone, but because Braden’s words meant something to him. They made his chest fill and blood rush through him.
Everyone who knew him understood how hard it was for him to talk about things that really mattered. If he didn’t say them, he could pretend they weren’t true. Not feeling made it a whole lot easier when he lost them, and Wes always lost the people who mattered to him.
“Tick tock, man. You’re going to be late.” Braden saved him. Wes took the life raft he tossed and walked out without another word.
Chapter Four
Quietly, Braden slipped down the hallway for his fourth fifteen-minute check of Jessie. Fifteen minutes he could do. Wes’s suggestion of every ten was just crazy.
He pushed the door open to see her lying on her side with her eyes open. “Hey Squirt. You remember me, right?”
She nodded. “You’re Braden, and you’re not a stranger. I asked Uncle Wes.”
That made him smile. He wasn’t a stranger, huh? He had a feeling even something as small as telling Jessie that had been tough for Wes. “Your uncle had to go somewhere very important. He’ll be back in about an hour, though. How ya feeling?” Braden stepped into the room.
“Okay.”
He stopped next to her bed and saw a thermometer there. “Do you think we should take your temperature real quick?”
She nodded, looking much more puny than she had at the grocery store the other day. He told her to lift her tongue and he put the thermometer into her mouth. When it beeped, he saw her temperature was ninety-nine point nine. Not bad at all.
“Can I watch TV?” Jessie asked him.
“Sure.” TV sounded like a better idea than thinking about Wes, which is what he’d been doing before she woke up. Wes’s rambling step-by-step instructions on taking care of Jessie had been cute. Wes was already a good father to her, yet he didn’t see it. Braden couldn’t understand how he couldn’t. Those little things intrigued him, made him want to know what made Wes tick and why.
Braden helped her up, grabbing her blanket and pillow. He made her a bed on the couch and turned on the TV. She snuggled under her princess blanket as he flipped through the channels.
“Nice. Tom and Jerry is on,” he said, and she wrinkled her nose at him. “Is that a ‘I don’t like Tom and Jerry’ frown, or an ‘I’ve never seen Tom and Jerry’ frown?”
“I only watch princesses or Disney.”
Oops. Tom and Jerry wasn’t bad, was it? “Because you aren’t supposed to watch other things, or because you only like those things?”
“Princesses are pretty.”
That was a good enough answer to him. “How about we watch one episode, and if you don’t laugh like crazy, I’ll turn it. Deal?” He held out his hand to her but Jessie just smiled in response.
“Mommy paints my nails when I’m sick. Can you paint my nails?”
Umm, did he have to? “Are you bribing me into painting your nails so I can watch Tom and Jerry?” Braden tried not to laugh but couldn’t help himself. She was good.
His laughter died when she asked, “What’s that?”
Nice. Wes left him with her for two hours and he almost taught her how to start bribing people to get her way. “Nothing. Where’s the nail polish?”
He looked in the bathroom cabinet like she said and found about eleven thousand shades of pink. He grabbed two of them and took them out so Jessie could pick. As it turned out, she wanted both. He set them on the coffee table and sat down on the floor in front of her. Jessie stretched her arm out toward him, all messy curls and red cheeks.
“You’re enjoying this too much,” he teased as he opened the bottles. As he did, Jerry snagged Tom in one of Tom’s own traps and they both started laughing. “You haven’t seen the best of it yet. Keep watching.”
Jessie giggled, her eyes on the TV.
Braden wasn’t going to pretend he knew the first thing about painting nails. What he did learn was wiping the brush was a must, because her first nail had polish halfway down her finger.
She didn’t seem to mind, though, just lay there watching Tom and Jerry. Every so often he’d forget what he was doing and get lost in cat and mouse antics, but then Jessie would wiggle her fingers again and he would start painting.
The door opened while he painted her last nail. Fuck. He’d hoped to finish before Wes got back. The man stood in the doorway, looking down at Braden on the floor with two colors of bright-pink nail polish open next to him.
“Tom and Jerry’s on.” Braden winked at Wes, which seemed to wake him up.
“I see that. And you’re painting nails.”
“I have two sisters.”
“I had two sisters as well, and I’ve never painted a nail in my life.”
Braden shook his head while Wes smiled. He closed the door and walked over, laying a hand on Jessie’s forehead. “How ya doing, kiddo?”
“Good.”
Braden closed the bottles and stood. “I didn’t give her anything. Her fever’s only ninety-nine point nine. I haven’t checked in a bit, though. You might want to.”
He noticed Wes had loosened his tie, leaving it draped around his neck. The urge to grab it and pull him closer made Braden’s palms tingle but he held back.
“You get the job?” he asked.
Wes’s eyebrows rose playfully, something Braden had never seen from the man. “Nailed it.”
Oh, the things he could say to that comment. Wes seemed to realize it, because he added, “You say it and I’m kicking your ass.”
“That’s not nice, Uncle Wes!” Jessie called from the couch.
Wes’s jaw tightened.
“Smart kid.” Braden chuckled.
“You’re always taking his side.” He ruffled Jessie’s hair. Braden watched his eyes when he looked at her, saw how much he loved her, but the fear there, too. Damn, he respected the man. He wanted him again, too, but now probably wasn’t the best time to be thinking about that.
“Well, I guess I’ll let you guys get back to your day. You get better Squirt, okay?” Braden waved at her and took a step back. When he did, Jessie sat up.
“Don’t go. Can’t you stay? I bet Uncle Wes hasn’t seen Tom and Jerry, either. We can all watch. And I’m hungry. Do we have anything to eat? Popsicles, too. Mommy says the only time you can eat as many popsicles as you want is when you’re sick.”
Wow. That was a mouthful. Braden looked at Wes. “How do you keep up with her?”
Wes had his eyes firmly on Jessie. “I’m sure Braden has things to do.”
“Please, Uncle Wes. Please, Braden!” Jessie asked before she started coughing again.
Wes knelt beside her, stroking her hair. “Please Uncle Wes?” she asked again.
Braden heard Wes exhale, but then he looked up at Braden, question in his eyes. “Sure, Squirt. I can stay. Only if you have popsicles, though.” Hanging out with them sounded more fun than anything else he could think of anyway.
***
Wes set the bags of groceries on the counter as Braden slipped into the kitchen behind him. “She fell asleep again. I left her on the couch. I didn’t know if I should carry her to her room or if leaving her there would be okay.”
“She’s good where she is.” He kept his voice low as not to wake her. “Since she’s sleeping, you can head out if you want. I don’t want to keep you.” Being Friday, Braden probably had plans tonight.
“Nah. I promised the kid I’d make her chicken soup, so I will. It was my mom’s staple when we were sick. Unless you want me to go?” Braden cocked a brow at him. He always did that. It shouldn’t be so sexy, but it was.
He also should tell Braden to leave. The man had no business being tied into their lives. He didn’t want Jessie to get close to someone who had no reason to stick around. “Listen,” Wes peeked into the living room to see she still slept. “This is probably going to make me sound like an ass, which I’m sure wouldn’t be a surprise to you considering I have a habit of it, but we have a lot of shit going on right now. She lost her mom. I don’t know the first thing about raising a kid. I don’t have time in my life for anything else.” All the truth, but what Braden didn’t know was that he never had time for anything else. Lydia had been right about that.
It took a minute for Braden to reply. He stepped close to Wes and fingered his tie. Heat scorched through him that easily. Damn the man and the physical response he had over Wes.
“I know I gave you hell before, but I get it. It’s never really happened to me before, but you apparently have more important things in your life than fucking me.”
Wes laughed. “Always joking around.”
“Not when it’s important. I know the difference. Just friends.” He held up two fingers. “Scouts honor.”
“Don’t they hold up three fingers?”
“Don’t know. Never was a scout.” He grabbed Wes’s tie again and yanked. Wes went easily, cursing himself the whole time. His body lined up flush against Braden’s. He smelled the man’s soap again and felt Braden’s body heat seeping into him.
