“Tomorrow, Jacob. You’ll call me tomorrow. I want to hear how your first day goes.”
I smiled because I knew if I “forgot” to call her after my first shift, she’d just call me over and over until I answered. Despite her overbearing, overprotective ways, I loved my mom. She was one of the best, most loving people on earth.
“I’ll talk to you soon. Love you, Mom.”
“I love you too, Jakey. Tell Beckett hello for me. And be safe.”
“Always.”
* * *
The driveto Beckett and Preston’s converted warehouse took less than ten minutes after a quick stop at the grocery store for some beer and chips. I still remembered the first time I’d walked into Preston’s house when helping Beckett move his things over from Atlanta. I had been utterly impressed with how he’d converted the old warehouse into such a beautiful home. The entire lower floor was dedicated to his art, complete with a workshop twice the size of the house I was renting now, and he even had a professional showroom where he could meet with his clients. The upper floor of the converted building was their home. I fuckinglovedthe kitchen and thought it was completely unfair my best friend would end up having such a stunning kitchen with all new, high-end appliances when he couldn’t even boil water. I’d give anything to whip up a nice meal on that stove. I was sure someday they’d let me cook up some of my signature dishes for them.
There was a sign attached to their front door when I arrived and I recognized Beckett’s rough scrawl.Come on up!
Classic rock music greeted me as I got to the top of the stairs and my stomach growled as soon as I smelled the delicious food. I had been so focused on unpacking I hadn’t thought to eat anything all day. I set the bags of chips down next to a huge bowl of pasta salad and looked around for a cooler to place the beer in.
“I’ll take those,” a familiar voice said.
Beckett was grinning from ear to ear when I turned to face him, which was still something that took me by surprise. In the nine years I’d known Beckett Sanders, he had always been such a quiet, stoic, and seemingly emotionless guy. After he reconnected with his life-long love and childhood best friend, Preston Miller – who I later learned was previously known as Riley Tanager – he’d become a completely different person. Happier than I’d ever seen him.
“Glad you made it,” Beckett said, sliding the beer carefully between the watermelon and bottles of iced tea in the fridge. Other than the constant smile, he looked the same as he always had. Tall, solid build, thick dark hair that was longer on top, and hazel eyes that seemed to shift color with his mood.
“Free food,” I replied with a smirk. “Of course, I was coming.”
Preston laughed as he came around the island to greet me, wearing denim shorts and a red T-shirt with The Puffed Puffin logo on it. His dark hair was lighter than Beckett’s but cut shorter than I remembered. “Told you it was the food,” he said to Beckett.
I reached out my hand to shake Preston’s before he slid his arm around Beckett’s waist. Beckett grinned at him and leaned in for a kiss. If I ever needed proof that love actually could last a lifetime, I only needed to look at those two. How Beck managed to still have such strong feelings for Preston after ten years apart was beyond me. But I also couldn’t help but be in awe of it either.
I made a playful gagging noise at their show of affection and reached for a plate just as two dogs nudged my hip, looking for food.
“Quinn! Lady! Go lie down!” Preston snapped at the dogs. The German shepherd mix dropped his eyes, but Lady, the golden retriever, didn’t budge, too eager with anticipation. I heard Beckett chuckle and mumble something about not being used to having so many people to beg from.
I greeted the dogs before piling food onto my plate.Beckett pointed at the ribs, explaining that Preston had used a homemade barbecue sauce on them, but there were also hamburgers and just about all the sides you could think of. I recognized the bright green Jell-O salad with multi-colored marshmallows and knew that meant Beckett’s sister Tosh had to be around here somewhere.
Just as soon as that thought crossed my mind, a familiar squeal came from the opposite end of the house, making me look up with a grin. I had just enough time to put my plate down before a small girl jumped into my arms, dark curls flying around my face.
“UNCLE JAKE!”
“Hey, Sunshine! How’s my girl?”
Beckett’s niece, Harper, put her arms around my neck in a tight squeeze. “Mommy said you’d be here!”
Harper was the only child in the world I willingly interacted with, with the exception of those on calls of course. Harper must have had magic in her fingertips because something about the seven-year-old just melted right through my usual aversion to kids.
Maybe it was because she called me uncle when I wasn’t really her uncle.
I hugged her tightly. “Well, I live here now.”
She frowned. “I know. I don’t like that you moved away with Uncle B. I’ll never see you.”
Beckett spoke up from beside us. “That’s not true, Rugrat. I’m still working on convincing your mom to let you come visit us once a month, okay? I promise you’ll be here all the time. Riley and I will make sure of it, even if we have to come to kidnap you!”
I gave him a mock scowl. “Don’t start making kidnapping jokes around me. Iama cop.”
Harper giggled. “They wouldn’treallykidnap me ‘cause I’d go with them!”
“Well then, you’d be a runaway and I’d still have to arrest your uncleandtake you back.”
