Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

Eros

F or the next two days, Zeppelin buried himself in his work. He took on extra clients and walk-ins. Usually, he tried to keep his schedule as open as possible since he was very much a spur-of-the-moment kind of man and liked to have the availability to do as he pleased, but I knew he was trying to hide from the shit in his head.

It was a rough cycle we went through every two weeks. I knew he’d come out of it eventually. The therapy appointment and whatever flashback his brain decided to supply him with determined how long these spells lasted.

And guessing by the fact that Zeppelin was currently saying hello to Heather, my receptionist, it seemed we were coming out of this spell today. Thank fuck. Because I missed my husband. He’d been a shell of himself the past couple of days—barely eating, barely sleeping. Hell, barely functioning. I’d been silently worrying myself sick over him.

“Hey,” I said, smiling at him when he pushed through the door that separated the lobby from the back area. “Decided to quit early?”

He shrugged. “No appointments, and I knew it was near your quitting time, so I left Shane and Miranda to deal with any walk-ins.” Miranda was his receptionist. She was a blue-haired, tattooed woman with a give-no-fucks personality that was always fun to be around. Shane was quieter, ex-military, and heavily tattooed. He was a damn good artist, and he was nice. Just not talkative, which was fine.

“Are we grabbing dinner or something?” I asked. It was yet another part of our usual routine after a therapy appointment for us to go out to eat somewhere once he came out of his head.

Zeppelin smirked—a decidedly devilish one that was full of mischief. Oh, boy . This meant trouble. “Yeah, we are. Except we’re taking Jaxon with us. He hasn’t given us an answer about dinner yet, and I’m tired of waiting on him to make up his mind.”

I cocked my head to the right just the tiniest bit. “Maybe we should just leave him be, babe.” Zeppelin frowned. “It’s clear that even if he is bi or whatever, he’s not interested in exploring it.”

Zeppelin scoffed, shaking his head. “Oh, he’s interested, alright. He’s just scared to step out of the comfortable little box he’s nestled himself in.” He grabbed my hand, waving at Heather as he tugged me past her desk. She just watched us with amusement glimmering in her eyes. “You can lock up, right, girly?”

“Yep,” she said, popping the P. “My boyfriend will be here in a bit to pick me up.”

“Good. I don’t want you locking up by yourself,” I told her as Zeppelin towed me through the door and into the lobby.

She waved me off. “You worry too much, Eros. No one wants to rob a veterinarian’s office.”

I didn’t get a chance to respond before Zeppelin was towing me out of the front door and to his car. He’d dropped me off this morning like he always did. The only time I ever drove myself to work was if he had a tattoo appointment he knew would run past me closing up for the day or if he just couldn’t bring himself to leave the house, both of which were pretty rare for him.

“One of these days, he’s going to call the cops on us,” I warned Zep as he backed out of the parking spot.

Zep shook his head. “No, he won’t. Trust me, if he had plans of calling the police, he would’ve done so already. We’re breaking him down, babe. Just a little bit more nudging, and we’ll have what we want. Then, the three of us can be happy.” He looked at me, a grin tugging at his lips that melted my heart. He looked so hopeful, I didn’t have the heart to fight him on it any longer. “I want him for you. For us . And I know he wants us, too. He’s just an old, grumpy man set in his ways.”

I snickered. “He’d probably kick your ass if you said that to his face.”

Zeppelin wiggled his brows, making me laugh. “I’d probably like it.”

I barked out a laugh.

There was a Jeep Wrangler parked in Jaxon’s driveway, so Zeppelin slid his Camaro alongside the curb and parked there. After meeting at the hood of the car, Zeppelin grabbed my hand in his. We made our way up the drive, coming to a stop on the cement stoop. Reaching forward, I rang the doorbell. The door swung open so fast, I could still hear the ending of the ding-dong echoing through the house.

I blinked in surprise at the tall, broad-shouldered blonde guy standing in the doorway. He arched a brow at us, a frown pulling at his lips. “Who are?—”

A boy with wavy, dark hair hanging into his eyes, so many tattoos I could barely see his actual skin, and dark eyes wrapped his arms around the blonde guy’s waist and peered at us. Rings adorned each of his fingers, including his thumbs, and I could see the glint of a chain hanging from his pants.

“Oh, you must be the ones sending Jax into a fucking crisis. You two ever heard of giving someone space?” the gothic-looking boy growled, pulling the blonde guy back so he could step in front of him. The blonde one sighed, rolling his eyes at who I presumed to be his boyfriend.

“Jesus Christ, Logan,” I heard Jaxon snap, his voice coming closer to the door. “Stop being a douchebag. I don’t need a guard dog.”

“You sure, old man?” Logan asked, not looking away from us, his eyes hard and unforgiving. He set me a bit on edge, though Zeppelin was looking more amused by the second. I just kind of wanted to turn around and leave. “Your head’s so far up your ass right now, all you can smell is your own shit.”

The door swung open wider, and Jaxon’s hand shot out, pushing Logan back a full step. My chest clenched in my chest. Jaxon looked… rough. Dark shadows rested beneath his eyes, and he looked like he’d dropped a little bit of weight. His hair was a mess, and his shirt was wrinkled, along with his sweatpants.

Had we done this to him? Guilt rode me hard, and I tightened my hand around Zeppelin’s, seeking his support.

“Sorry about my kids,” Jaxon muttered, turning to look at us. He seemed to be so tired, he didn’t even want to fight with us. “Come in. They were just getting ready to leave anyway.”

“Not until you eat,” a boy said, coming out of the kitchen. He looked like Jaxon, only smaller and shorter. He smiled at us, much friendlier than the other two boys. “Hi. I’m Spencer, his biological son. The asshole who was a dick to you is my fiancé, Logan, and the one who answered the door is my other fiancé, Ezra.”

“Eros,” I said, holding out my hand to him, my shoulders relaxing. Zeppelin nodded once at Spencer but didn’t offer his hand. I sighed. “This is my husband, Zeppelin. I promise he’s not as rude as he seems.” Jaxon cleared his throat to hide his snort. Zeppelin shot him a grin.

Spencer didn’t seem put off in the slightest that my husband had rudely not offered to shake his hand. “It’s good to meet you two—finally.” Zeppelin smirked in Jaxon’s direction, arching a brow. Jaxon just heaved a sigh. “We’ll get out of your hair. There’s pizza and breadsticks. Can you please make sure he eats?”

“I will. Promise,” I assured him.

He grabbed Logan and Ezra’s hands before looking up at his dad. “Bye, Dad. Call me if you need me. Don’t make me come over here and break into your house again.”

Jaxon grunted in response. When the front door shut behind them, Jaxon just walked to the living room and settled heavily on the couch. I looked at Zeppelin for guidance.

Something was definitely wrong with Jaxon. My chest tightened even more, anxiety flooding my gut. Was it something we could fix? Was he like this because of us?

“Come on,” Zep whispered, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “I think he needs us.”

I looked at Jaxon again as Zeppelin quietly led me into the living room, and after a moment, I figured Zeppelin was right. Jaxon clearly needed someone, and maybe… maybe we could help him.