Ace pulled back, his big smile back on his face. “If you need help with the bachelor party…”
“Yeah, uh, Jack’s my best man, so he’s gonna take care of it.”
Ace waggled his eyebrows at Jack. “We could make it a team effort.”
“Um…let me get back to you on that,” Jack replied, eyes slightly wide.
Good luck with that.Joker held back a grin. Ace’s inserting himself into the bachelor party arrangements was Jack’s problem now. His friend was looking better than when he’d visited Joker at the hospital. He’d shaved, brushed his hair, and the dark circles were gone from around his eyes. His brothers were so damned stubborn sometimes. Joker turned, and Leo was there, with his hands behind his back.
“Hey, pal. Thanks for loaning me your fishy pal. Did King get it back to you?”
Leo nodded. “Yep. And you’re welcome. I know he always cheers me up when I see his happy fishy face. I hope he was good company. Also, I made you something,” he said, handing Joker a cellophane bag containing a big cookie shaped like his favorite Goldfish cracker, with “Get Well Soon” written in icing. “It’s a Blondie cookie because I know that’s one of your favorites. Technically, this is Blondie 2.0 because her predecessor ended up a little on the crispy side when I forgot to check on it, so King helped me with this one.” He frowned. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
Joker couldn’t take the sad Leo puppy eyes. “Come here.”
“I’ll put it on the counter for you,” Ace said, popping up from who the hell knew where. He laughed when Leo peered at him, his expression full of distrust.
“Is she going to make it intact?”
Ace raised his hand. “I promise. No harm will come to your fishy cookie friend.”
“Okay.” Leo handed the cookie to Ace, then turned and carefully hugged Joker. “Don’t ever scare us like that again.” Leo pulled back, gave him a curt nod, and walked off.
“He’s adorable,” Gio said, standing next to Joker.
“I hate that I put them through this. I don’t like that they were scared for me,” Joker murmured. His family must have been terrified, hurting, so many buried emotions coming to the surface.
“They love you. Of course, they were scared.”
Gio must have sensed Joker was exhausted because he thanked everyone for coming, promised they’d talk soon, and walked them to the door. The only ones who stayed behind were Fitz, Jack, and Duchess, who was curled up on Chip’s bed, fast asleep, with Chip next to her, on his back, legs up in the air. He was such a dork.
Jack turned to Joker as he rubbed his eyes. “I guess we should head out.” He yawned, and Joker met Fitz’s gaze. Fitz nodded, and Joker leaned into Gio.
“They’re gonna stay the night.”
“Of course,” Gio replied quietly. He went to prepare one of the spare bedrooms upstairs on the second floor.
“Come here, handsome,” Fitz purred, patting the couch next to him.
Jack seemed like he wanted to say something, but Fitz’s warm smile and welcoming gesture were too tempting. He sat, and Fitz patted his lap.
“Lie down.”
Jack kicked off his sneakers, lay down with his face towards Fitz, his head resting on Fitz’s lap, and almost curled up around him. Then he was out.
Fitz ran his fingers through Jack’s hair, heartache in his eyes. “I’ve been so worried about him,” he murmured. He met Joker’s gaze. “I know he lied to me. He hasn’t slept more than a few hours in days. I’m so glad King insisted he take time off.”
Yeah, none of them needed Jack spiraling any more than he already had. “Wait, you knew?” Joker frowned. “But you were so happy when you came in.”
“You and Gio are getting married. I was, and am, so incredibly happy for you both. My worry for Jack doesn’t change that.”
“Why didn’t you say anything to him?” Joker asked, carefully sitting on the couch across from them. He’d had way too much movement for one day and was exhausted. Everything hurt. Probably time for some more pain relievers. Every time he got annoyed, he could picture his doctor wagging her finger at him and telling him to take it easy and be patient. Ugh. This sucked.
Fitz smiled gently. “Because it’s different this time.” He looked down at Jack, his smile disappearing. “I’ve never seen him like this. But then he almost lost one of his brothers, almost lostyou. All I can do is be supportive and wait until he works through what he’s feeling.”
“Right now, he’s feeling shitty that he lied to you, knowing you’ll be upset.”
Fitz sighed. “I’m not upset. I mean, I am, but I understand why he did it. You know what he’s like when he feels helpless. And then add sleep-deprived to that, and he’s…”
