Jack tensed beneath my touch for a millisecond before answering, “It was what my team called me.” His words were spoken quietly and with reverence. It was then that I noticed the names and dates hidden amongst the scales on the dragon. I knew immediately they were in honor of his fallen brothers and it broke my heart to know the sorrow that Jack must still carry deep in his heart along with the ink on his skin. I kissed each name and date as I discovered them as if they were wounds I could heal. Jack’s skin tremble beneath my lips with every kiss. I slid a hand around his waist and up to cover his heart.
I had no words to say to him, no magic to take away his pain as I kissed the ten names I found in his tattoo. The dates weren’t the same, they spanned several years and probably many battles that he found himself in. If only I could find a way to shoulder some of the burden he carried; to ease him. Jack covered my hand over his heart and I realized that maybe my small gesture did bring him some comfort after all.
I suspected that Jack wasn’t going to easily tell me what he was feeling inside. He had always seemed so stoic and reserved. I would need to be patient and understand that we all handle our emotions and reactions differently. I wore my heart on my sleeve and openly communicated how I felt, which was why keeping my identity from Chase for so long, as well as fighting my growing feelings for Jack, nearly ate a hole in my stomach. Jack would probably pull inside himself and put up a wall when times get tough. I would just need to find a way to scale the wall to get to him.
We stayed that way for several minutes, giving and taking comfort from one another without a single word spoken. I discovered that it wasn’t awkward in the least, in fact it was the exact opposite. I had heard about couples having a comfortable silence between them, but I had never found that for myself. I witnessed it with my parents when my mom would curl up on the couch with my dad and read a novel while he read the paper or watched a show on ESPN. It felt really good to just breathe with him and not feel the need to fill the quiet with words. I was quickly learning that a touch could do, and mean, so much more than words.
Jack’s growling stomach interrupted the peaceful moment and made me laugh. “Let’s get out and get dressed so I can cook you breakfast to thank you for last night,” I said against his broad back, not even trying to hold back my sassiness.
Jack turned and pulled me into his arms again, staring down into my eyes. “I can take you out to breakfast, Liam. We don’t have to hide away in my home; I’m not ashamed of us.” If my heart hadn’t already belonged to him, it would have right then.
“I know you’re not ashamed of us,” and I believed that, “I’m just loving being in your space and I don’t want to leave yet.” I smiled at him to show how happy his words made me. “Plus, there’s just something about making a meal for someone to show them how much you care.” His eyes turned greener as unspoken emotion welled up inside him. Good or bad, I wasn’t sure until a beautiful smile split his face. “How do you feel about pancakes?”
“I love them,” Jack replied enthusiastically as he shut off the water. He grabbed two towels and handed one to me before he began to towel himself off. I stood staring, mesmerized as he ran the towel all over his body until my body pebbled with goose bumps as the steam began to dissipate in the cooler air. Jack’s eyes met mine and I thought I heard a soft growl emanating from his throat. “Liam.” His voice was a dark warning to get moving or pancakes would be delayed. Would that really be such a bad thing?
I borrowed a pair of too-big sweats and t-shirt from Jack to wear. I loved the feel of Jack’s clothes against my bare skin and tried really hard to ignore the semi-hard erection that sprung up when I put them on. I turned my focus on finding the ingredients I needed to whip him up light and fluffy pancakes while he started a load of clothes, including mine from last night. It seemed so normal and domestic; it felt so fucking right. I had expected to be nervous about the morning after, but I wasn’t.
“Tell me about your family.” Jack had re-entered the kitchen area and was leaning against the counter, drinking a glass of orange juice I poured for him. “What are they like?”
I poured batter onto the hot griddle pan. “My mom met my dad when I was four years old. She had answered a job ad for a receptionist at a car dealership in town that had recently opened its doors. She had been working a few part time jobs and I spent a lot of time with my grandparents while she tried to provide for us. She wanted a full time job so that she would have evenings and weekends with me. She got a lot more than just a job when she applied,” I said with a smile. I loved hearing my mom and dad talk about their love at first sight beginnings. “I can’t remember a single day in my life that Jamie wasn’t present. He was a father to me long before the adoption took place. Jamie was the one who taught me how to ride a bike and cast a fishing pole.” I laughed as a memory occurred to me. “He was also the one who talked to me about safe sex practices.”
“He sounds like an amazing man,” Jack said. “What about your mom?”
Bubbles began to surface on the pancakes so I slid the spatula beneath them and turned them over. “She’s all kinds of awesome.” I didn’t try to mask the obvious adoration I had for the woman. I told Jack about my coming out experience and made him laugh. “My mom is compassionate and caring, but she’s also tough. It’s her house and her rules,” I said with a mock sternness in my voice. “She never had to speak a harsh word or raise her voice.”
“Sounds like my dad.”
I slid the cooked pancakes onto a plate and turned off the stove. “My sister, Leah, is an adorable teenaged brat, but a brilliant one. She’s already taking college classes while she’s still in high school.”
“Impressive.”
“Yeah.” It was the one place I didn’t feel like I fit in with my family. Everyone was so settled on their goals and how to achieve them. I just kind of flitted around for a while, trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I finally figured out that creating food was my passion and I wanted to go to culinary school. I just needed to save money to make that happen.
“Where’d you go, Ace?” Would I ever get tired of that cute endearment? No, I knew I wouldn’t. “Did I say something to upset you? You got this adorable little frown on your face, but I’d rather see an adorable smile.” He said he wanted to know everything about me, wanted to know me better than anyone else. That particular insecurity was known to only me and I could easily give it to him. So I told him over pancakes and orange juice how everyone else’s accomplishments made me feel irrelevant. “Are your parents unwilling to help you pay for culinary school? I’m not trying to be nosy or critical, but it sounds like they could afford to help you out, even if it’s a short-term loan.” His brow was furrowed in concern, which I thought was freaking adorable.
“They’ve offered a few times.” My confession earned me a raised brow and a slight scowl. “My dad built his business from the bottom up along with my mom’s help. He started with very little and carved out a wonderful life for himself; one that he doesn’t take for granted because nothing was given to him.”
“Ahhh.” Jack’s frown was replaced with a look of respect. “I understand how you feel and I think it’s admirable that you want to do it on your own terms and at your own pace.”
“You do?”
“I do, Liam. It’s also what I did with my bar so I know exactly how you feel.” Jack leaned over and kissed my lips softly. “Mmmm, sweet. You taste like maple syrup. It’s a good flavor on you.” I leaned closer and tried to lure him in for more kisses, but he just shook his head. “I have something to show you first. Are you finished eating?”
I honestly could have eaten a few more pancakes after the night we spent, but I was too eager to see what he wanted to show me. I rose from my chair and followed him back to his bedroom. He dragged over a military style trunk from the corner of his room to his bed. He sat down and patted the bed beside him for me to do the same. Jack whistled and Charlie came running into the room and jumped on the bed.
“This locker belonged to my grandfather and no one knows about its existence except for me, and now you. I want to share this with you, Liam.” I knew how much Big Jack meant to him and I was floored that he was willing to share this with me. I wasn’t sure what was inside the box, but it must have been an awfully big secret if Big Jack kept it to himself. With anyone else, I would have joked about it being body parts or a severed head, but I knew it was not the time for my snarkastic sense of humor to rear its ugly head. Whatever was in the locker was important to Jack therefore it was important to me.
THE NEXT NIGHTI sat in my office and watched what was happening in the bar through the monitors instead of being present. I couldn’t be present in the bar with Liam that night, not with the smell of his skin so fresh in my nostrils. I had never met anyone I wanted to consume like I did Liam. I couldn’t keep my feelings out of my eyes or my actions. I knew I’d give the death glare to anyone who looked longingly in his direction. The urge to mark him in front of everyone was animalistic and ridiculous, but also fucking hot. I hadn’t given a lot of thought to the boss/employee part of our relationship, but I – we- needed to tread carefully to avoid issues from arising with the other employees and the patrons. I couldn’t ruin his tip earning potential because of my new feelings of possessiveness. Liam wasn’t a possession, a trophy I had won, he was a human being with feelings and deserved to be treated accordingly.
I kept my eyes on the activity in my bar, but my mind was on the previous day and night I spent with Liam. Hearing the sounds he made while aroused, feeling his body next to mine while we slept, and seeing him smile at me first thing in the morning were all things that were burned into my brain. But it was so much more than physical things with him.
I admired the independent spirit in him that insisted he do things on his own with no handouts from his family. He had a strength in him that I didn’t know existed and I found it to be a big turn on. I was beginning to realize that Liam had a lot of layers to him and damn if I didn’t want to slowly peel them all back – one by one.
I also loved how he let his raw emotions show when I told him about my granddad’s final letter to me and the contents of the locker. With Liam cuddled by my side, I was finally ready to look at the pictures that Big Jack kept of him and Jeremiah. Liam touched the photos reverently as tears ran down his face. It was beautiful how much he cared about someone he hardly knew because of how much I loved my granddad.
“We should try to find out if Jeremiah is still alive,” Liam had said passionately. “We don’t have to just knock on his door and out him to his family or anything, but he should know how much Big Jack loved him. Maybe he doesn’t have any of these pictures and would like some of them. I mean, look at them Jack. They were so in love.” Liam held up a picture of the two men standing in front their M4 Sherman tank with their arms wrapped around each other, both men wearing matching grins. I had flipped the picture over and saw that it was taken a few weeks before they were deployed to Normandy.
“You think?” I wasn’t sure that stirring up memories from the past would be a good thing for Jeremiah. I had no idea what path his life had taken after the German army surrendered in May of 1945. What if I caused the elderly gentleman emotional harm?
