“Then I better take you to bed and give you something to remember me by.”
Jason smiled. It was something Patrick would miss, but he would not give him up. First, he needed to find a way to bring down a mob boss.
CHAPTER 17
JASON
It was Sunday brunch. His brothers surrounded him but he felt miserable. It had been three weeks since he last saw Patrick, and he’d heard nothing. He knew it would take time, but Jason was not known for his patience. Not being able to talk about it with anyone was also a challenge. He was an open book, often too open, but he’d had to just accept the consoling from his brothers. It felt wrong to lie to them, but he didn’t have a choice. Langdon suspected Grant was involved, but thankfully hadn’t pressed the issue.
Gregory was back from his honeymoon, and smiling like someone who was regularly having a lot of sex. It wasn’t so much the sex Jason missed from Patrick, although that was incredible; it was the intimacy. After Patrick had given Jason a thorough fucking that last night, he’d held him in his arms and they’d fallen asleep. They’d set the alarm so there was time for Jason to get dressed and leave. Patrick had offered him a shower, but Jason had wanted to keep the smell of his daddy on him for as long as possible. Something he didn’t vocalise, because it would probably sound creepy, even though it was sweet and romantic in his head.
“Are you okay, Jason?” asked Paolo.
What was he supposed to say to that? He just shook his head. At least that was the truth.
“Do you want me to talk to Patrick?” asked Charlie.
“No . . . don’t do that. We . . . erm . . . we said everything we needed to say.”
“Maybe you should take your own advice,” said Langdon.
“You need to narrow it down. I give out a lot of advice.”
“There he is. Our feisty baby brother.”
Jason smiled, but it was forced, which Langdon picked up on because he frowned.
“You were saying?” Jason prompted.
“The best way to get over a man is to get under another one.”
Jason gasped. There was no way. As far as his heart was concerned, he and Patrick were still together. The last thing he was going to do was cheat on him. They hadn’t discussed it, but he’d assumed neither of them would sleep with other people. What if Grant now expected Jason to have sex with him? Could he refuse? Grant was his husband, but if he didn’t comply, would he suspect Jason and Patrick were still together? Grant had also been quiet. Other than a text that acknowledged he’d broken up with Patrick, there had been nothing. It was driving him mad.
“Jason!” said Langdon, snapping him out of his doom spiralling.
“What?”
“Do you need a wingman to go out with you?”
“I’m not interested.”
Four jaws dropped in front of him. He’d said many a thing over the years that had shocked his brothers, but nothing that had gotten them all at the same time. He couldn’t help but laugh. To be fair, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d gone three weeks without sex. Gregory looked out the window, like he was trying to find something.
“What are you looking at?” asked Jason.
“Seeing if there was a pig flying.”
“Since when do you make jokes?”
“Since you last had sex.”
It was Jason’s turn for his jaw to drop as the others all laughed. He couldn’t help but laugh with them. This is what he wanted– Sunday brunch with his brothers, his work, and Patrick by his side. That would be his life complete. In a week’s time, he wouldn’t have any of those things. Charlie’s wedding was on Saturday, which was the anniversary of when he and Sebastian had met a year earlier. Who’d have thought that by Jason insisting Charlie go out that night after a shit day at work, it would lead to them both meeting the men of their dreams? The difference was that Charlie was going to marry his dream man in less than a week, and Jason didn’t know if he was ever going to see Patrick again.
It was Wednesday, and the week was dragging. He still hadn’t heard anything from Patrick or Grant, and Simon had been freezing him out of meetings again, and giving more time to his peers. He felt close to the edge with all the uncertainty. Now he was in a leadership team standup to give quick updates on their projects, which Simon was obsessed about. He wanted “quick wins,” which was HR speak for his probation is up at the end of the month and he wanted to take credit for his team’s work.
“Clear your diaries for Friday. I’ve booked us a venue offsite so we can have a strategy session. Alex wants a three-year plan from us by the end of the month,” said Simon.
There were looks exchanged between the rest of them, but nobody said anything. The end of the month was less than a fortnight away.
