“I got the job!” she said excitedly, grabbing his attention. “I start tomorrow!”
“That’s great,” Trevor said, wondering if she’d used fabric softener or if she even did his laundry. Did the woman forget about him and his needs now that she had a job? Kind of inconsiderate of her, Trevor thought, arching an eyebrow when his clearly pissed-off cousin walked around his truck and climbed in the passenger seat without a word.
“Is there something that you needed? I’m kind of in the middle of putting your groceries away and I’d like to do it before the ice cream melts,” Zoe said absently. He could hear the sound of plastic bags rustling in the background as she worked.
She got him ice cream?
He fucking loved ice cream.
“What flavor?” Trevor asked, licking his lips in anticipation of the sweet treat.
“I don’t remember right now. I bought you several half gallons because I wasn’t sure what you liked. I have to get off the phone so I can put the stuff away. The checkout line was really long and then, I got held up in traffic so-”
“No, that’s fine. I just wanted to see if you got the job,” Trevor lied. He could have just as easily asked his uncle if he’d really wanted to know. As far as he was concerned, his guilt had been washed away when he hired her this morning. Anything else was just a bonus.
“Oh, that was nice of you. Thank you,” Zoe said, sounding truly surprised, which kind of pissed him off since he was fucking nice. Didn’t he just find her two jobs out of the goodness of his heart? “I really have to go now. Bye,” she said, hanging up before he could respond. Damn infuriating tenant, Trevor thought as he turned his scowl on his cousin.
“What the hell do you want?”
“What the hell does it look like?” Jason snapped. “I need a ride home.”
“So? Go find your wife and have her drive your ass home. I have plans,” Trevor said, getting in and starting the truck. He threw his cousin an expectant look that clearly told the other man to get his ass out of the truck.
Jason simply crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back. “She already left for the day.”
“Call her and tell her to come pick your ass up,” Trevor said, giving the door a pointed look.
“She’s sleeping,” Jason said as if that should mean something to him.
It didn’t.
Sure, he liked Haley and if his cousin hadn’t managed to trick her into marrying him, he would have made an exception for her height and taken a go at her. That didn’t mean that he gave a rat’s ass that she’d have to cut her nap short and come get her pain in the ass husband.
“So? Wake her up and have her come get you. She should be awake when she’s watching the baby anyway,” Trevor pointed out.
Jason snorted. “Wow, you really are an asshole.”
Trevor simply nodded. “Yeah, pretty much.”
“She was falling asleep at her desk, so Dad called up Jill and Mary. They came and got her. One of them drove her car home for her. Dad decided to take Cole home for the night to give her a break,” Jason said, sounding exhausted.
“Why didn’t they have you bring her home?”
“They wanted to give her a break from me,” he said, pouting.
Knowing there wasn’t much choice in the matter, Trevor threw the truck in drive and headed towards the center of town. He still couldn’t believe the lovesick bastard sitting next to him was the same man who’d fucked their cousin Eric’s fiancée at the rehearsal dinner to win a bet. Granted, he’d started that bet, but that didn’t change the fact that his cousin had changed and not for the better as far as he was concerned.
Not that he’d ever admit it, but Trevor had always been intimidated by his cousin. Not in looks, of course, but just in the way that everything came so easily to Jason, especially when they were kids. Jason learned to tie his shoes at two, read at two, ride a bike by three, and pretty much dominated any sport he’d played. Trevor had to ask his mother to tie his shoes for him until he was seven and he still rode a bike with training wheels while all their friends were popping wheelies on two-wheelers at nine. He was ashamed to say that he hadn’t learned how to read until he was fifteen and that was only because a teacher discovered that he’d been getting other kids to do his homework for him, including Jason.
Finding out that he was dyslexic had been one of the worst moments of his life. He still remembered the look on his father’s face when the school counselor explained that he needed to be placed in special classes. That’s just about the same time that his father started to call him a retard, telling him how glad he was that they didn’t share the same last name, and canceling their weekend visits. When he did show up, which wasn’t often, he spent most of their visit talking about how great Jason was and how much he wished Trevor was more like his cousin.
Two months after he’d started the special classes, Trevor brought home a report card full of C-’s and D’s, but he’d been so goddamn proud of that report card because he’d earned it all on his own. His father had taken one look at his report card before backhanding him, knocking him on his ass in front of his cousins and friends.
While everyone else ran to get help, Jason took it upon himself to beat the shit out of the man. Jared and the rest of his uncles came running out of the house minutes later and had to tear Jason off his father so that they could take over.
To this day, he wasn’t sure if it was the embarrassment of getting his ass kicked by a fifteen-year-old kid or the shame of having him as a son, but he hadn’t seen or heard from his father since. After that day, he’d stopped trying in school and gave up on everything, more than happy to sit back and watch as his cousin Jason kicked ass in life.
As much as he tried, when they were kids, he just couldn’t hate Jason. He was a funny, laid-back guy, who could be an asshole and embarrass the ever-loving shit out of him, but he was always a decent guy. Trevor loved him, not that he would ever admit that. He’d never begrudged his cousin anything in life because he was family and even though the bastard was insanely smart and a Harvard grad to boot, he’d never acted like it. It made it easier for Trevor to be around him and not feel like the loser that he knew he was.
