Bump and Run (Wide Open #6)

Chapter Thirty-Four

Jones

I pushed past Ollie the second he opened his front door and dropped my overnight bag on the floor. I didn’t want to be here right now. This was all Charlie’s idea. He wanted us to spend the night apart before we officially got married. I thought that it was ridiculous, although a little romantic. I wanted to be in bed with my soon-to-be husband. Wrapped in his arms, his skin against mine. The scent of him all around me. Not here with my best friend and his boyfriend, who was going to slit my throat when he found out. I glanced around the living room before I spun back around to face Ollie.

“I want to sleep with Charlie tonight.” I sounded like a spoiled child, but I couldn’t help it.

What if he changed his mind and left me at the altar? Or courthouse or whatever? What if I went there tomorrow morning and Charlie never showed up? I wasn’t sure I couldn’t survive losing him a second time. It might ruin me forever. Anxiety began to niggle its way inside my head.

Ollie chuckled as he closed the door. “I bet you do.” The bruising around his eye looked a little less ugly tonight. A little less black and blue. A little more green and yellow. The swelling had gone down, which helped a lot. It still made me angry to think that Kit claimed to care about him yet hurt still him. He dragged a hand through his red hair and grinned at me.

“It’s not... Stop that.” I felt my skin grow warm at his innuendo. “Like Kit hasn’t been keeping your bed warm every night this week.”

Ollie beamed at me, his green eyes crinkling around the corners. “You’re not wrong.”

“Does he know that I’m here? That I’m spending the night at your place?” I knew how jealous Kit got, and I was worried about what he might do if he showed up and found me in my pajamas tomorrow morning. Or tonight. I shuddered at the thought.

“Trust me, he already knows.” Kit’s angry voice carried from behind me.

I turned to find him scowling at me, his tattooed arms crossed over his chest. Did the man ever smile?

“You’re in the guestroom tonight, Matthews. No one sleeps in Ollie’s bed but me. Not anymore.”

I could agree with that. “I wasn’t actually planning on sharing his bed. Although we’ve—”

“That’s enough.” Ollie slapped his hand over my mouth. “Kitten, you know Jones and I are just friends. We’ve never kissed or fooled around or anything like that. We’re friends. Nothing more.”

Kit narrowed his eyes. “But you told me you would have. Once. When you were younger and spent all those days riding dirt bikes together. Mooning over Matthews like he was the best thing on earth. You wanted him. You wanted to fuck him. ”

His words caused my cheeks to burn with embarrassment. Why did he have to say things like that? It was crass and gross.

“Not anymore,” Ollie promised as he dropped his hand from my face and took a step toward Kit. “We talked about all this earlier. You’re the one I want, not Jones. Only you.”

Kit’s blue eyes darted between us as he huffed loudly. Pink stained his cheeks as he muttered something under his breath we couldn’t hear; then he moved closer to Ollie. Kit grabbed his hand and linked their fingers together. There might have a been a slight smile that tugged at his lips, but I didn’t want to get too crazy. Ollie was absolutely delighted and dropped a kiss on his hair.

“I’m getting married tomorrow, Kit,” I reminded him, but he only snarled at me, and that made me want to tease him more. He obviously cared about Ollie, even if he couldn’t admit it to anyone. “But maybe the three of us could sleep in the same bed tonight. Ollie in the middle. You know, like snuggle buddies.”

Kit started toward me. “Why you little—”

“Stop.” Ollie placed a hand against Kit’s chest and then yanked him flush against him. I watched in fascination as the smaller man, not much bigger than me, molded his body to Ollie’s. “What did we say earlier? No more violence, no more yelling, or overreacting. You promised me.”

Kit nodded. “Sorry.” He pressed his forehead against Ollie’s chest. This was a different side of Kit, and I was here for it. Especially if he made my best friend happy. He turned around to give me a nervous smile. “Sorry, Jones. ”

Wait a second... Did I fall and hit my head or something? Was I unconscious right now?

“Yeah, no, I totally get it. I’m not about to share Charlie, either.” I grinned and held out my fist. Kit rolled his eyes but surprised me again when he bumped my knuckles. “See, we’re already besties.”

Kit rolled his eyes. But again, his lips twitched like he was trying to hide his smile. “Hardly.”

“It’s a start, though. My best friend and my boyfriend sort of getting along.” Ollie looked so happy. All bright-eyed and beaming like the sun. I wanted that for him. Ollie was an amazing man. One of the best ones I had ever had the pleasure meeting.

“Matthews gets along with everyone. Well, probably not Watts, but you did hit his brother with your car. Ow!” Kit turned to stare at Ollie. “Did you just pinch me? For what? Telling the truth? I saw it on the replay over and over again. It’s not like I’m lying. Everyone saw what happened.”

Ollie spun him around to face him. “Don’t be rude, Kitten. That was an accident. I’ve been hit by drivers before. It’s part of our job. It’s happened before, and you know that it’s going to happen again. Holt doesn’t hold a grudge, and Watts will get over it.”

“Who?” A low growl escaped Kit’s throat, and it only grew louder as he stared up at him. “Who hit you, Ollie, because I will go to their house right now and—What are—Oh.” He gripped the front of Ollie’s shirt when their lips collided.

I shook my head as I looked away, then wandered down the hall toward the guestroom. Hanging on the closet door was my suit, the one I had fitted for my wedding, and my heart thumped in my chest. I walked over to the garment bag, slid down the zipper, and ran my fingers over the soft, soft fabric. I was getting married tomorrow. Holy smokes, I was going to become Jones Callahan. Wait, did Charlie want me to take his name? I could hyphenate. Jones Matthews-Callahan. Or maybe he wanted to take my name. Oh, poop. We should probably should have talked about that before we jumped into this thing. I looked up at the sound of footsteps.

“You good?” Ollie leaned against the doorway and folded his arms over his chest.

I nodded. “Yes, perfect.” I tried to swallow around the lump in my throat. “Should I hyphenate my name?”

“What?” Ollie chuckled softly.

I shrugged. “I should, right? I mean, everyone knows me as Jones Matthews. If I suddenly become Jones Callahan, that could confuse people. What if Charlie doesn’t want me to take his name?”

“What I think”—Ollie walked into the room and placed his big hands on my shoulders—“is that you should talk to Charlie about this. Call him or text, whatever works better. Just because he wanted you to spend the evening apart doesn’t mean you can’t reach out to him. Don’t get all worked up for nothing, Jones.”

“You’re right.”

“Duh, of course I’m right.”

I snorted and gave my best friend a quick hug before I pulled away. “Thank you, Ollie. For everything you’ve done for me. For being my best friend and my honorary brother. And, for not hating Charlie.”

“Who said I didn’t hate him anymore?” Ollie barked out a laugh when my mouth dropped. “I don’t hate Charlie, Jones, but I can’t say I one hundred percent trust him. But he makes you happy. Happier than I’ve ever seen you. I can maybe grow to trust him again,” He held up a hand. “If you can trust Kit.”

“I think I can agree to do that,” I assured him.

His skin flushed, which made his freckles look darker. “I love him, Jones. I love him, and I want to be with him. Kit has a lot of... uh, stuff going on. We’re working on that.”

“But he makes you happy. Happier than I’ve ever seen you.” I repeated Ollie’s words he said to me just moments ago. “He loves you, too.”

Ollie glanced behind him, like he could feel Kit even without him being in the room. “He hasn’t said it aloud, but it’s okay if he never does. What Kit can’t tell me, he shows me in other ways.”

“No, please don’t say things like that.” I wrinkled my nose and then grinned at my best friend.

“Are you two fucking done?” Kit grunted from outside the room. “You’re making me sick with all this love shit.” But when he stuck his head in the room, he only had eyes for Ollie. Big hearts nearly leaped from his gaze before he grunted loudly.

Ollie held out his hand. “Come on, Kitten, don’t hover.” And when Kit linked their fingers together, Ollie pulled him into his arms. “We should go celebrate your last night as a single man. ”

“Let’s just watch a movie or something.” I clapped my palms together before things got too X-rated for me to watch. “Get dinner, chill out. Tomorrow is a big day.”

Ollie cupped Kit’s jaw. “What do you say, Kitten?”

“Whatever.” Kit grumbled, then rose on his toes and kissed Ollie’s mouth. “As long as I’m with you, Ols.”