Breaking through the Bond (Espen Jetties #2)

29. Jamie

29

JAMIE

The video played on the screen as I watched for any adjustments I would need to make in the code. After playing with Hayes a few times over the last week or so, I wanted to create something for the two of us. King never wanted to join in, but he was happy to watch.

Video gaming might seem juvenile to some, but understanding how the code translated onto the screen always made it more exciting to me. And watching someone I cared about enjoy what I’d created was even better.

While King and Hayes had been to my place on multiple occasions, I still hadn’t brought them into this room. The one I spent the most time in. This room housed the computer I’d built for myself, plus multiple monitors, and any other equipment I needed to create the technology I loved. It was the place where I first built Molly.

I noticed something in the video and stopped the playback, wanting to fix the program before I lost the position. Just as I started typing, Molly alerted me to someone arriving. Only a few people had direct access to my place. And with Hayes and King not training in the city, I figured it must be my brother checking up on me. Ever since I’d quit my job, he’d been stopping by more often. Since he didn’t push me anymore about what I wanted to do next, I didn’t give him shit for coming by. I hadn’t told him about what was happening with King and Hayes yet. Maybe if I did, he wouldn’t be so worried.

I walked down the stairs. “No work today?” I asked when I neared the bottom, knowing he’d be able to hear me.

“Retirement means I don’t have to work.”

Fucking hell .

Of all people who had access to my place, I didn’t expect to come downstairs and find my father standing in the living room.

“Hey, Dad. What are you doing here? And where’s Mom?” Even in retirement, he dressed like it was business casual day in the office.

I reached a hand out. Dad was always proper. He shook my hand, a huge smile on his face. “When I heard, I took the first flight back to the US. Mom’s still in Italy, she sends her love. The sooner we get started the better.” He clapped his hands together in his excitement over God only knew what.

“Did you want something to drink?” I asked heading toward the kitchen for a bottle of water.

“Coffee, please.”

Thankfully, I had a single brew pot, so it didn’t take as long, and Dad always drank it black. No need for cream and sugar. I carried the drinks back to the living room where Dad was already seated on the couch. His bag, which I hadn’t seen before, open on the floor in front of him. I could see different files sticking out the top. I set the mug down in front of him and took the seat across from him.

“Okay, so what do you need to get started on?”

He tugged a couple of the files out of his bag. “Finding you a business to buy. Now that you’ve finally let go of that ridiculous waste of time, we can work on getting you in the position of a CEO and running a business for yourself.”

I placed the cap back on the bottle of water. My fingers gripped the plastic so tightly, I feared I’d crush it and send water everywhere. “You flew all the way from Italy to buy me a company so I can be more like Tim and not the disappointment in the family.”

“You’re not a disappointment, but working as a simple software designer is not what you’re meant for.”

I scoffed and stood, unable to keep my ass planted in the chair any longer before I threw something across the room. “Oh, because being a CEO of a company is what I was born to do, right?”

“Well, we have our work cut out for us. Tim went to the Wharton. MIT definitely limits the options.” As usual, the man completely ignored the anger in my tone and went right to what he wanted. He picked up the folder and started to thumb through it. I grabbed it from his fingers and tossed it to the table.

“Jesus fucking Christ—”

“Language, James.”

This was not how I wanted to spend my day. “When are you going to figure out I’m not Tim? I’m never going to be him.”

Dad sighed and collected more folders from his bag and set them on the table. “Tim mentioned you ending things with someone that you were seeing. We can talk about this later.” He patted the top of the folders. “I’ll leave these here for you to look through. We have the rest of the month while I’m here to figure it out.”

He picked up his bag and walked toward the elevator. I heard the chime of it and picked up the folders, chucking them across the room. The man never listened. Whatever he had his mind set on, he got. Made him a great businessman, but a less than desirable father.

Fuck water. I walked over to the bar and reached for the bottle of vodka when my phone chimed. I dug it out of my pocket and saw Tim’s name.

Tim: I’m sorry. I didn’t know he’d fly in. I wouldn’t have mentioned it otherwise. Lunch this week?

I wanted to be mad at my brother. Wanted to call and give him an earful for what I just had to deal with, and what I’d now have to suffer through for the next month until he went back to Italy. But, knowing my dad, he made some comment about my career and Tim thought he was defending me. With the ten-year age gap between us, he’d been out making his own way when Daddy dearest had started with the comparison shit. Tim hadn’t been witness to most of the conversations where my dad told me that what I wanted to do with my life was a waste of time. That I’d never make any money doing it.

The crazy part—it was never about the money. I loved everything about technology and computers. Had since I was a kid. I always wanted to do what I loved. Unfortunately, we don’t always get what we want.

Me: I’m in for lunch. I’ll text you when I’m free.

The phone went off again and I felt the smile curve the corners of my lips before I even read the message.

Hayes: Want to come over tonight? We have a place you can park in the garage. King would love to see what you drive. Ever since I told him you had a nice car; he’s been trying to get more out of me about it.

Me: Love to.

Spending time with King and Hayes would surely help me take my mind off my dad being in town. Hopefully, I could skate by. It was just a matter of reminding myself that he would be flying back and whatever pressure he put on me only had to be ignored until he was gone.

Taking the stairs two at a time, I stopped by my computer room and saved the program I’d been working on before heading to my room to shower and change.

I left my building, drove into the garage, and up the ramp to the level Hayes texted me. It wasn’t hard to find King waiting next to one of the pillars. I rolled down the window and his mouth dropped open. When I came to a stop next to him, he still hadn’t moved. Quickly, I stepped out of the car and went right to him.

“Are you okay?” I took his hands in mine and shook them, trying to get his attention.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” He pulled his hands away and walked toward my car. “A Vantage? You own a fucking Vantage?” He reverently placed his hands on the car and caressed the hood in a way that made the blood drain from my head to move farther south. I reached down and adjusted my hard-on. The memories of the way his hands touched me like that raced to the surface. Hell, I missed his hands on me.

It had been weeks since we’d first decided to try being a triad instead of a couple and so far, nothing more than kissing King had happened. My lips still hadn’t touched Hayes’s. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d gone that long without sex. My body and mind craved it at this point. But I didn’t want to push. I wasn’t sure if we were waiting on Hayes or something else. We’d promised to talk, and I had to bring it up tonight because it was starting to drive me crazy.

“You could always touch me like that. I promise I won’t mind.”

King glanced up from where he was admiring my car, a big grin on his face. “Oh, I always want to touch you. It’s all I can think about sometimes. You, Hayes, me sandwiched in between.” He groaned. “But you didn’t tell me you owned a Vantage. This car is sexy as hell.”

I gestured to the open door. “Would you like to go for a spin?”

King groaned, “More than you know, but dinner is almost done.”

I walked forward, wrapping my arm around his waist, and pulled him back against me. There was no hiding my rock-hard cock. “So domestic. Don’t worry, I’ll let you take it out anytime you want.”

He reached back and cupped my dick. “Glad to hear it, but I also want to drive the car. I’m a master at a stick shift.”

I pressed up into his hand, then stepped away. “Why don’t you park it for me then?”

King’s eyes lit up as he slid behind the wheel. He drove it a little farther down from the elevator and parked next to his Jeep. When he came back, he leaned into my side and ran his tongue up my ear. “There’s cameras there to watch it.”

Like always, King was the perfect medicine for a shitty day.

We took the elevator up to his floor, the entire time his lips were pressed to mine. I wanted more than the brief kisses we shared when we were coming and going lately. I wanted my hands on him again.

King led me inside and straight to the dining room where Hayes was placing things on the table.

“You asshole,” he said taking a tray out of Hayes’s hands.

“What did I do?”

“You could have told me that Jamie had a Vantage.”

Hayes grinned. “You liked it, didn’t you?”

I chuckled. “He practically came all over my car.”

“I’ve never spontaneously come at the sight of something before, but it was damn close. The only other thing I think that could do it is seeing you two naked in my bed.” I didn’t miss the way King’s eyes roamed first down my body, then moved and did the same to Hayes. No way any of us could miss the sexual tension floating through the room.

Hayes shivered before turning to me. “Want something to drink?”

I’d never had that drink earlier, doing my best to get ready in a flash and drive over. Thoughts about my dad started to creep in, even as I tried to lock them away for the night. “Yeah, vodka on the rocks.” Hayes watched me for a moment, then turned and took a glass from a cabinet, filling it with ice.

I finished that glass before dinner and King poured another. I could see the question in his eyes and I almost answered him out loud. No, we weren’t going to have a repeat of that night. I had no desire to get into a conversation about my dad tonight. Which left the vodka to settle my frayed nerves so I could enjoy the company of the men in front of me.

Dinner was delicious. King outdid himself. I finished the second drink with dinner and sipped the third vodka of the night. I felt calmer than when I’d left my place. Nowhere near drunk, but just barely buzzed so I didn’t have to think about the earlier part of the day.

“I like when we have date nights,” King said, propping his feet up on the coffee table. I sat with King to my left and Hayes to my right.

“Date night?” Hayes asked. “You look like you’re ready to head into a weight room.”

King glanced down at his clothes, basketball shorts and a T-shirt, and back to Hayes who wore a polo shirt and khaki shorts. Hayes had dressed to impress. Their clothes didn’t matter to me, they both looked sexy as fuck, in very different ways. Which made the conversation fade to background noise.

I couldn’t keep my eyes off the column of Hayes’s throat as his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down with each swallow. His tongue darted over his lips, catching the last bit of liquid there. Forget talking. Actions always spoke louder than words. I reached my hand around the back of Hayes’s neck and tugged him in until our lips connected.

Hayes’s entire body stiffened for the briefest of moments. A groan rumbled from him, and his lips parted. His hand cupped my cheek, deepening the kiss.

Fuck, this was better than I thought it could be.