She huffed as she pulled back from the embrace. “Thank God you finally answered your phone. You had me freaking out this morning that something had happened to you, too. Where the hell were you?”
“I had some business outside of town.”
Wyatt sniffed. “Yeah, right. Was the business blonde or brunette this week? Or maybe both?”
“Fuck off, Wy,” Jace said, shooting his brother an annoyed glance. “Not all of us want to spend our time jerking off to Excel spreadsheets.”
Leila raised a palm to each of them. “Can it, boys. This is not the time. Here comes Dad.”
Jace glanced over his shoulder to find his father stalking toward them. How the man managed to be in a full suit even though it was a weekend and his mother had supposedly been rushed to the ER in the wee hours of the morning was a wonder. Perhaps he’d taken to sleeping in them.
Jace knew the second his father registered his presence because his lip curled in that derisive way that seemed especially reserved for his youngest son. “Well, look who decided to show up.”
Jace ignored the remark, as he did most of the things his father said to him.
Wyatt rose from his chair when their father stopped in front of them. “How’s Mom?”
“She’s tired. Said they’ve poked and prodded her so much she feels like a head of cattle. They haven’t determined what the exact problem is yet, but I’m not sure if that doctor would know an ass from an elbow. I’ve requested a specialist.”
Leila sighed. “Daddy, that doctor was the specialist. One of the top in the field from what the nurse said.”
“Yeah, I wonder how much he paid her to say that,” his father muttered.
“Can I see mom?” Jace asked.
“Oh, so now you’re concerned?” his dad asked. “Seems she ranks pretty low on your list since you couldn’t even bother to get here until lunchtime. Wyatt’s been here since five and even Leila got here by seven and she had to drop the kids off at a babysitter.”
Jace clenched his teeth. “I got here as soon as I found out.”
Leila touched Jace’s arm. “She’s in room three thirty-three.”
Jace stepped around his father, trying to keep his smartass gene in check, and headed toward his mother’s room. He was here for her. Not to spar with his dad.
When he tapped on the door and peeked into the room, he was met with a view of his mother linked up to a tangle of beeping machines. Her skin was paler than he’d ever seen it and her light hair, always perfectly coiffed, was sticking up on end. The whole scene made his chest hurt. She looked like she’d aged ten years since he’d seen her.
Reid had told him how rundown his mom was looking, but Jace still hadn’t rushed over there to see her. He’d been a damn coward. Thank God she was okay. If she had . . .r: Roni Loren
Andre frowned. “I don’t know if we have to spell that out. What if she doesn’t want to leave? What if we don’t? A lot of possibilities could open up.”
Jace stared at Andre as if he’d spoken in tongues. “Possibilities?”
He shrugged. “Maybe the three of us could work out something less . . . time limited.”
“Like be the guys she comes to on weekends to get her off so she can go back home to the good doctor with a smile on her face?” The thought made the muscles in his neck tighten. “I’m not some . . . concubine. Or whatever the dude version of that would be.”
Andre’s eyebrow arched in a way that rose Jace’s hackles. “Oh, right. ’Cause what? Having a woman use you just for sex makes you feel cheap? News flash: That’s your fucking MO, man.”
Jace crossed his arms over his chest, the dig landing squarely. He knew it was his method—no strings, no commitment, just a good time. But something about having only that tiny piece of Evan while knowing she’d be giving everything else to someone else would be too much to tolerate. “Not an option.”
“So maybe we can be the guys she comes to without Dr. Dan in the picture at all. We can offer her a lot more than he can.”
Jace scoffed. Now Andre was venturing into the ridiculous. “You’ve officially lost your mind, amigo. We can’t compete with all that fairy-tale shit—the dream wedding, the famous husband, the picture-perfect two and a half kids I’m sure she wants. All we are is good in bed. Women fuck around with guys like us, but they want forever with guys like him.”
“Don’t give me that pile of bullshit, Jace. You know that both of us are more than capable of giving her what she needs even if it’s not in the traditional way. And don’t pretend this is all about sex. What just happened between the three of us in there felt a hell of a lot different than some carefree fuck.”
“You really have been drinking tainted Kool-Aid. What little picture have you painted in your mind, dude? A cute little house in the suburbs where we live together and share Evan? Maybe give her a kid or two and figure out who the daddy is by the hue of their skin? Have the neighbors call us fags and Evan a whore? Yeah, that sounds like a lovely life for all of us.”
Andre paled a bit. “No, of course that wouldn’t work. And I have no clue where things could lead. But maybe one of us could be with her publicly. No one else has to know what’s going on behind closed doors.”