Suddenly, marble didn’t seem as important. “Holy shit!”
“We didn’t know until we got there.”
“No one was hurt?” Caleb took mental stock of everyone in the living room. “Bo, Penelope…” A horrible realization hit him square in the face. “Holy fuck, where’s Jayne’s brother? His son? Everett, there’s a motherfucking baby missing and no one seems to give a shit!”
“He’s fine, he’s fine. Both of them are okay.” Everett held out a hand, palm extended toward Caleb as if to tell him to stop. “None of us were hurt. I don’t know whether there were any tenants trapped in the apartment at the time, but all of us are okay.”
“Then where’s the tiny ax murderer at?” Caleb asked, frowning. “And baby Glitter-Chest?”
“They’re…” Everett bit his bottom lip nervously. “They’re at a friend of Jayne’s brother right now… with the Jag.”
The words should have made sense, but Caleb had a hard time deriving meaning from them. He cocked his head to the side and squinted at Everett, trying to figure it out.
“The car’s fine,” Everett clarified. “Jayne called Shep when we were on our way back to check in with him. He had a little bit of a hard time figuring out the stick shift, but—”
“Oh fuck.” Caleb clawed at his face. “Mytransmission.”
“If it’s blown out, I’ll replace it.” Everett rested his elbows on his thighs, his hands hanging between his knees. “I was in a tight spot and I had to make a decision. It was either Jayne or the car. I chose Jayne.”
The horror of learning that a teenager who knew shit-all about manual transmissions had gone for a joyride in his XJR lessened. “Well, duh.” Everett looked stunned, so Caleb continued. “Even if the kid totaled the car, so what? I can buy another one. Jayne’s kind of a living, breathing human being. If we lost him, we wouldn’t be able to get him back.”
“You’re serious?” Everett asked uncertainly.
“Is this where I’m supposed to say, ‘Just kidding! Fuck you!’ and then kick you out of the condo?” Caleb snickered. “Look, I know that I don’t always have my priorities straight, but I’m not a total asshole. You made the right choice, Everett. Even if the idea that Jayne’s kid brother is out there with my high-end, supercharged, stupidly expensive luxury car makes me want to puke a little, I support you. People before possessions, right?” Caleb paused, looking Everett over. His hair was messy, and he looked entirely out of place on the marble kitchen counter in his casual blue jeans and ordinary fitted t-shirt, but fuck, was he gorgeous. Unable to help himself, Caleb pushed off the counter and came to stand in front of Everett, sliding his hands up Everett’s thighs. “And, just for the record, the way you’re showing off that heart of yours today? Sexy asfuck.How the hell did I get so lucky to land a guy like you?”
Everett blushed, and fuck if he wasn’t even sexier than he’d been before. “You would’ve done the same.”
“Doesn’t make what you did any less fantastic.” Caleb tilted his chin up and leaned forward to brush his lips over Everett’s. “I love you so goddamn much. How about you and I—”
Before Caleb could invite Everett to their bedroom, a sound from the hall connecting the living room to the kitchen startled them both. Caleb jumped back from Everett, heart racing, fearful that it was Bo. No one knew about him and Everett, but if Bo discovered them nearly kissing, it wouldn’t stay that way for long.
Thankfully, it wasn’t Bo—Jayne leaned against the hallway wall right at the corner. The sound they’d heard had been his knuckles lightly rapping the wall to get their attention.
Jayne looked disheveled, but he pulled it off well. His hair was messier than Everett’s, and the remnants of last night’s makeup darkened his eyes, but he wore both with confidence. The top button of his shirt was still undone, and the way he’d cocked his hips revealed a sliver of skin that Caleb couldn’t get enough of. Last night, with Everett’s help, he’d stripped Jayne from his dirty clothes and spot-cleaned the dirt from his body. Neither Caleb nor Everett owned makeup wipes, but there had been a pack of baby wipes in the bathroom, which they’d used to take off the worst of Jayne’s makeup while he’d been unconscious. Apart from what lay beneath his boxer-briefs, there wasn’t much of Jayne’s body that Caleb hadn’t seen, and yet, that tiny strip of skin held magnetic power over him.
Pained, Caleb jerked his gaze to Jayne’s face. The dull look in his eyes broke his spell, and Caleb’s cock took a back seat to his heart.
Caleb didn’t know Jayne, but the hurt in Jayne’s eyes cut deep.
“Sorry to scare you,” Jayne said. He sounded as dead as he looked. “I didn’t want to interrupt, but—”
“You’re fine.” Everett hopped down from the counter and brushed off the back of his jeans. “What’s up?”
“If you can believe it, the kids passed out.” It sounded like Jayne wanted to punctuate his statement with a laugh, but couldn’t follow through. “I laid them on the couch and used a blanket I found to tuck them in. I don’t blame them. I can’t imagine how stressful today had to be for them.” Jayne glanced at Caleb, then back at Everett. “Does he know?”
Everett nodded. “Yeah.”
“Good.” Jayne swallowed, then steeled himself and stood up straight. He came a few steps closer, then shook his head as if he were chasing off a dumb idea and came to stand within arm’s distance of Caleb.
“Uh, hi?” Caleb asked, grinning to show that Jayne had nothing to worry about around him.
Jayne didn’t answer—he dropped to his knees instead.
16
Jayne
GlitterDoctor: Remember how we were talking about how this particular Saturday sucked bigger-than-average donkey balls?
