22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Andy

I opened the front door and let Caleb and Mika in. This was the first time we'd gotten together, just the three of us, since my car had burned. I'd been so wrapped up in this thing with Jesse that I let too much time go by without seeing my friends, so I'd been thrilled when I sent out a group text suggesting they come over, and they both said yes.

Keith and Robert had dropped them off on their way out of town. I wasn't sure what they were up to, but it was good to see them hanging out together again. Things had been a bit rocky there when Keith first started seeing Caleb. I got it. It probably would be weird to find out your best friend was sleeping with your son, but it all worked out in the end.

"Man, it feels like I haven't seen you two in forever," I said.

"I know. So much for our Sunday wine day plans, huh?" Caleb held up a bottle of wine in each hand. "But wine Wednesday sounds pretty good, too."

"It does, but we shouldn't have waited so long to start it," I insisted.

"In your defense, you have been a little busy… getting busy." Mika grinned and waggled his eyebrows like the goofball he was.

"Get on in here, you two. I have snacks, and Caleb brought wine, so let the first-ever Wine Wednesday begin."

Caleb handed me the wine and took a look around. "This house is really nice. It isn't what I expected from Jesse."

"I know, right? I said the same thing at first, but now that I know him better, I think it fits his personality perfectly. It's warm and cozy, and well, just feels like home. Not to mention the fact that his grandmother lives next door, so I have cookies for us to eat that she made for us."

"She made us cookies?" Caleb asked.

"She did. When I told her I was having friends over tonight, she asked me what I was feeding you. I gave her my list of store-bought snackage, and she wasn't impressed. Then she went home and made these." I held out a plastic container filled with what Gigi had called peanut butter blossoms. But I just called them delicious. Truthfully, the guys were lucky to be getting any cookies at all because I seriously thought about serving them chips and dip and keeping the cookies for myself.

"Oh wow, are those peanut butter blossoms? Those were my favorites when I was a kid." Mika reached in and grabbed one.

"How about if we go out on the back porch and sit? That's like my favorite spot in the house. Well, I don't guess it's actually in the house, but you know what I meant."

We grabbed up the food and our wine glasses, and they followed me out the back door onto the screened porch. Seph came with us and flopped down on the pillow that I'd put out there for her.

"Seph looks right at home here."

"She has Jesse wrapped around her paw. Isn't that right, girl?" I reached down and scratched her behind the ears.

"I like this yard." Mika took a drink of his wine and sighed. "Are you going to stay here or are you going to go back to your place?"

"I don't know. I mean, Jesse made it very clear that he didn't want me to go home until they caught the guy who set my car on fire, but that isn't exactly the same as him telling me he wants me here." I shrugged, trying for an it is what it is look, but the truth was I didn't feel anywhere near that casual about it. What I wanted was for him to say it. To tell me that even when they caught the guy, he still wanted me to stay.

"Well, I'm pretty sure he wants you here. One of the things I've learned about having a Daddy is sometimes they just assume we know what they're thinking because, to them, it goes without saying," Caleb said. "I think for Jesse, it's probably already a done deal in his head, so you might have to give him a nudge to get him to actually say it. That is, of course, assuming you want to stay with him. Do you?"

I smiled and nodded. "I do. I like it here. I like the neighborhood, I like the house, and most of all, I like sharing a space with Jesse."

Mika let out a long sigh. "You two are so lucky. You both found the best Daddies. Well, the best Daddies for you, anyway."

"We are both lucky. You're right about that. And one of these days, you will be, too." Caleb handed Mika the container of cookies. "But in the meantime, at least there's wine and cookies."

"At least there's wine and cookies." Mika nodded and clinked his glass against Caleb's, and I did the same. "And also good friends I can live vicariously through. Tell me all about it. Did he give you rules to follow?"

"Just a few."

His eyes lit up, and he leaned forward on the edge of his seat. "Oh, do tell. What are the rules?"

I chuckled because, seriously, Mika was adorable. "Only three so far. I have to tell him where I am so he doesn't worry. That doesn't count work stuff, of course, and I have to keep my phone on me at all times, although that one is a pain, so I think I'll get a smartwatch instead."

"Okay, that's two. What's the third one?"

There was no way I was telling him that I had to ask permission to come. That was TMI, no matter how much I liked Mika. "Well, that one's private."

"I bet he makes you go naked in the house all the time, doesn't he? Do you guys have a no-clothes rule?"

"Good heavens, no. I told you his grandmother lives right next door and stop guessing. I'm not telling you."

He let out a little huff. "How am I supposed to live vicariously through you if you don't give me all the deets?"

"Why does it have to be me? Why aren't you asking Caleb all these questions?"

"I already asked him, so it's your turn."

"What we need is to find you a Daddy of your own. Let's go to the club."

"It isn't even Daddy Night," Mika whined. "You just want to go see Jesse."

He wasn't wrong. I did want to go see him. I didn't like it when he was gone. Which was silly. "Okay, you got me. Let's just stay here, but next time it's Daddy Night, we're going to find you a man."

"Now, what do you guys want to do? We could watch a movie, or we can just sit out here and drink."

"I vote drink." Mika drained his glass and held it out for me to fill.

"Okay then, here's to wine Wednesday."

Jesse

I'd never been one of those guys who didn't want to come to work. I'd always enjoyed owning the club and all that entailed. At least that was the case before Andy. Now here at the bar was the last place I wanted to be on the nights Andy was off shift. Which was just ridiculous. His schedule meant we were able to spend more time together than anyone I'd ever dated.

My weird work hours were what Marcus had insisted would be the thing that kept me from ever having a boy of my own. So why was I the only one in this relationship who felt like my job was an issue? Didn't it figure that now that I found someone who didn't have any issue with my hours I was the one thinking about changing them.

Fridays and Saturdays were pretty much off the table. If we wanted this club to thrive, our presence was necessary on those nights. But the other nights? Maybe we could work something out. Vic had been saying for ages that we needed to hire a manager, but I'd been hesitant to give up control.

For some reason, bringing someone in to run things had always felt like I was pushing off my responsibilities on someone else. Victor hadn't fought me on it, probably because he didn't have any more of a life than I did at the time.

It was pretty busy here for a Wednesday night, but not as busy as it could have been. Up to now, we'd been keeping our themed nights to the weekends, but after seeing that crowd at The Spotted Dog the other night with Andy, I was thinking that maybe we were missing an opportunity to increase business on the other nights of the week. Not that I thought we should start having pool tournaments, but surely there was something we could do on the slower nights of the week to increase traffic.

"So I have a question for you, Vic."

"What's that?" He leaned back in his chair and took a long drink of his scotch.

"I was thinking about what you said about adding more theme nights and events. What do you think about trying to do something to get business up during the week?"

"What are you thinking?" He leaned forward, paying attention now.

"I don't know. We could move the Trivia Night to Tuesday or Wednesday. They're pretty popular, and since they only last a couple hours, it might be over early enough for people who have to work."

"It might work. We could try it anyway. You thought the Daddy Night would be profitable, and it was."

"Yeah, but that one I had experience with. This one is just a guess."

"Well, you know I was thinking about it already. Let me run some numbers and see what we can come up with."

"Jesse, Vic. Trouble at the door. Eric needs you," Shae called over to us.

We both stood up and headed to the front door. Eric was one of the newer security guys we'd hired, but he'd been doing a great job, so if he was calling for assistance, there must be something going on.

At the front door, our bouncer, Mitch, was standing guard. He pushed open the front door and motioned to the left. "Out there."

We turned and went down the short walkway that led to our covered smoking area outside. I hadn't known what I would find when I got there, but what I hadn't expected was Sebastian Demarco. He was sitting on the bench looking pissed as hell with a bloody lip while Eric glowered down at him.

"What happened here, Eric?" I asked.

"Mr. Demarco here didn't seem too happy when I reminded him he wasn't welcome inside your establishment."

"The asshole hit me," Sebastian slurred. I wasn't sure if it was from the swollen lip or if he'd shown up already drunk, and to be honest, I didn't care.

"Sorry, sir. He took a swing at Mitch when he wouldn't let him in. Then thought it would be a good idea to get back behind the wheel when he's obviously intoxicated. Even though he was that way when he showed up and never went inside, I didn't feel good about letting him drive away."

"You have nothing to apologize for, Eric. You were just doing your job."

"Doing his job, my ass, he's holding me hostage here."

I bit back a laugh at just how pathetic Sebastian looked, but laughing in his face wasn't the best way to de-escalate the situation. "Trust me, no one is holding you hostage. You're welcome to leave as soon as you call a cab."

"I drove here just fine. It's none of your business how I get home."

"That's where you're wrong," Victor said. "As soon as you set foot on our property, it became our business. Now it's up to you… either call a cab, or I'll call the cops."

"Assholes," he ground out.

"That isn't an answer, Sebastian. Are you calling for a ride or not?"

"Fine. But my car had better not have a scratch on it when I come get it tomorrow."

Eric crossed his beefy arms across his chest, and damn, he was intimidating. I was glad he was on my side.

"Are you good to wait with him until his ride shows up?" I asked.

"Yeah, I got this. I only called you out here because I knew you'd want to know he'd been here."

I nodded at him and then looked at Sebastian. "This whole area is on camera, and I won't hesitate to call the cops if you try anything stupid."

Victor and I turned to go back inside. As soon as we were out of hearing range, Victor said, "What the hell was he thinking showing up here drunk?"

"He wasn't thinking at all, which is what Sebastian does best. He probably thought it'd been long enough that we'd let him in." Sebastian had never struck me as the smartest guy, so it wouldn't surprise me if he thought we would just let him back in.

"Either that, or he probably thought that since it's the middle of the week, no one would be paying attention. To bad for him, we increased security. I feel so much better about our ability to keep everyone safe now."

"I do, too, but it isn't enough. We knew he was a problem, and it took way too long for us to understand that he really was a threat."

We took a seat back at our table. "I agree, but what could we do?"

"I'm not sure. Some kind of reporting system? Maybe a three-strikes rule of some kind. I'm sure there are other clubs with a system in place we could duplicate."

"I bet you're right. I'll make some calls and see what we can come up with."

"Sounds good."

Victor picked up his drink and swirled the scotch around in the glass. He had an expression I was very familiar with. The one that told me something was on his mind.

"How are things going with my brother?"

Okay, that wasn't what I thought he was thinking about.

"Good. We're doing really good. He's…" I inhaled deeply, trying to decide what I should say. "He's everything I wanted and more. I want to be with him all the time. As a matter of fact, I was thinking maybe we should do like you'd said and hire a club manager."

He chuckled. "You know I liked the idea. I just didn't expect my brother to be the reason you finally gave in."

"So you're still on board with the idea?"

"Even more so than ever. This vacation has me thinking that maybe it's time to enjoy life. Don't get me wrong, I love what we're building here, but… damn, Jess, when I was in that car going so fast…" He shook his head. "I've never felt more alive, and I want more of that."

"You know you and your brother are a lot alike."

He nodded. "Yeah, we come by it honest. Did I ever tell you my dad loved to scuba dive? One year, he and my mom went to Oahu on vacation so he could go down in one of those cages surrounded by sharks."

"No way!"

"Yeah, not that I want to swim with sharks, but I want to experience life, and I don't want to leave you here doing everything on your own. So I think hiring a manager would be good for both of us."

"Okay, let's see if we can find someone."