17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

WYATT

That afternoon turned into a night between the two of us. We couldn’t keep our hands off of each other, stumbling into his apartment and shedding our clothes for another couple of rounds. I’m not sure what changed but it doesn’t seem like anything did. That’s when I realized I stopped putting Reggie first in my life. That was the first day I allowed myself to be me.

I turned off my phone and decided to enjoy the life I had curated and the man that brought me joy. Over the last few days, I haven’t been able to stop smiling. Between Axel showing up to detail about his latest project or Jameson stopping in for kisses and sweets, it feels almost perfect.

Nights we spend together at my place or his but the drive is cumbersome. It’s too soon to ask him to move in but sleeping without him isn’t something I’m looking forward to. It’s been us against the world for months and it feels right. Perfect.

The bell over my café door rings and I look up, surprised to see Jameson strolling in to plop on a chair. The office is too far to spend lunch with me but he’s here. In front of me. And the way his smile doesn’t completely reach his eyes tells me something is off. I finish serving the customer in front of me before turning to him. “Hey, what is going on?”

“Have you talked to Axel today?”

“This morning. He came in for a bagel like he usually does. I was surprised you weren’t here. Why?” I tilt my head to the side and reach across the counter to take his hands in mine. His head falls as he lets out a heavy sigh before pulling away from me. “Jay, you’re scaring me. What is going on?”

“Your fucking brother had the bright idea to publicize all this shit.” He flops back and runs his hand through his hair before meeting my gaze. “Babe, I just wanted to make sure you hadn’t seen it but Reggie has lost his mind.” Jameson is obviously warring with something but I don’t know what he means by Reggie has taken all this public. My phone buzzes in my back pocket and I frown, unsure if I want to see it.

I have to face it, though. Reggie won’t just go away and we didn’t leave things on a good note a few nights ago. I dust the lingering flour off my hands and push the dough I was working on earlier to the side. A few customers interrupt the moment, giggling about the cute cupcakes before scurrying off to their next destination. Then I pull out my phone, my nonexpression morphing into horror at the tagged posts.

I open Facebook and scroll through the comments of the first post, wondering why Reggie thought this was a good idea. The second post isn’t any better. “Jay, why is he so adamant about saying I stole you? You said there wasn’t anything between you, that you never dated or so much as made a pass at him. And the other post, that you abandoned him?”

“It’s worse than that. Babe, there’s going to be an investigation into Reggie’s side business with the car sales company but since I’m his friend and I work at the company he hired as an auditor, they’re going to want to talk to me. That post makes it look like I fucking knew and he knows that.”

My heart sinks into my stomach as I slide my phone back into my pocket. Most of the comments are siding with Reggie; they’re his friends after all but there are a few just wondering what’s going on. Reggie has always been pretty laid back so for these ‘confession’ posts to appear right now, it’s not doing anyone a favor. “Do you know why he’s doing it?”

“He’s scrambling for attention. I told him he would lose us and he thinks this will bring us back. It won’t.” Jameson sighs as he pushes to his feet. “Wyatt, I know how much family means to you. I really do but I can’t do this with him. He’s going to cost me my job at this rate and whatever friendship was between us is no longer there. I understand a crush and being hurt that I never noticed him that way, but this? This is uncalled for. I’m cutting him off, Wyatt.”

I can see that it hurts Jameson to chop off that friendship. They’ve been friends for over 20 years. However, it’s been peaceful without Reggie’s snarky texts and asking for money. “After I found out he was doing all of this because he liked you, I’ve ignored him. He disrespected me because he thought I took you from him.”

Jameson lets out a bitter laugh. “Babe, I was never his. I called him before I walked in here but we’re going to meet. He has to know this won’t work, that I can’t be friends with him if this is how he acts.”

“Do you think any of this would have happened if we hadn’t said anything? If he hadn’t found out that we were dating?” I hate to believe that. I can’t give Jameson up but if it would have kept Reggie from doing all of this, I might have held onto our secret for a little longer.

He shakes his head, climbing up on the stool to reach over and steal a kiss. I’d call him adorable if it weren’t for the circumstances. “Reggie already knew. You know how hard it is for me to keep a secret. Every time you walk into a room, my eyes were right there with you. You were going to be at a party? So was I. He already fucking knew before I said anything, Wyatt. I think if we hadn’t said something, it would have been worse. We can’t take it back now and I’m not going to. I get to tell everyone you’re mine and I’m going to enjoy it.” Jameson kisses me again, doling out the attention and passion he believes I deserve.

There’s a few cheers in the café that I try to ignore as Jameson leaves. It’s the first time anyone outside of my family has seen me with my boyfriend, with my man. No one ridiculed us for being together. No one told us that it couldn’t work. They cheered. Someone yells ‘go get ‘em’. Someone else raises their mug and nods at me.

They’re happy for me.

I don’t know why I didn’t confess publicly sooner.