Chapter One
Present day…
“So I was thinking,” Jesse said as he whipped into the gym parking lot. “We all need a guy’s night out.”
“No can do, man,” Clay said through the car’s hand’s free speaker. “I’m busy.”
“I haven’t even told you when, dude.”
Clay was silent a moment. “I’ve got a lot of things going on right now… I’m sure I can’t make it.”
“This have anything to do with Adam?” The pair sometimes acted more like brothers than friends, and the arguments sometimes got heated. At times they seemed like oil and water, and Jesse wondered how they could be friends at all. But more often, they were like peas and carrots and it made you forget those times when they were butting heads.
Clay was silent again. “What the fuck does that mean?”
“I got the suspicion last time I talked to him that you two had pissed each other off,” Jesse said, pulling into a spot and throwing it into park.
“Man, I don’t have time for this,” Clay said.
“Take care of your shit… find some time to come hang out with your friends,” Jesse said firmly. “We all haven’t been out together in a long time.”
“I said I was busy,” Clay said. “Next time. I’ll catch ya later.”
Jesse heard the tell-tale click, and the line went dead. After turning off the car and grabbing his gym bag, he headed inside and searched the interior of the gym. As he passed, he smiled and winked at a couple of hot girls on the elliptical machines. Both were dressed in skin-tight spandex that didn’t leave much to the imagination. Jesse tried not to be that guy, but it was hard not to. When he ran into a piece of equipment and nearly busted his ass, he learned a valuable lesson.
Don’t be that guy.
Face flaming, he climbed off the floor and walked away, hearing their twittering laughter behind him. In the past six years, he’d shot up five inches, bulked up a bit, grew into his ears and nose, and he’d even been called hot by a few girls he’d dated. He knew he wasn’t a Hayden-level god, but he wasn’t half bad. Yet that loser he’d been still liked to slip out and remind him of one patent fact. That inside, he was still the same guy he’d always been. There was no getting away from him.
I just want to get away from everyone who just saw me take a dive.
Luckily, he saw Benji on the leg press not far away. He walked closer and jumped on a machine nearby. “Hey, man.”
“What’s up?”
“Same shit, different day.”
Benji chuckled before pushing the heavy weight higher, his face twisting into a grimace. It was too much weight. Benji wasn’t a big guy, but he tried to force it.
“I don’t know what’s up with Adam and Clay, but it appears they’re not on speaking terms at the moment.” Jesse twisted on the seat and turned to look at Benji.
“They get into another argument?” Benji asked.
Jesse hopped to his feet, the clanking of metal upon metal and grunting of lifting gym patrons ringing in his ears. “No idea. I can’t get either one of them to talk about it. Adam completely shut me down yesterday when I asked. And Clay—well, he pretty much did the same just now.”
Benji extended his legs, another grimace on his face. As he held the weights for a moment, he turned to Jesse. “I’m sure they’ll work it out. They typically do.”
Jesse shook his head. “I get the feeling that’s not going to happen this time around. The vibe I got… it was just weird.”
He walked closer and lifted a hand, forcing Benji to stop. After pulling out the pin, he reset the machine for a better weight. “I keep telling you less is more. It’s about the repetition, not the amount of weight. You’re going to hurt yourself.”
“I need to build muscle mass,” Benji said.
Benji wasn’t a big guy. He just wasn’t built that way.
“Why?”
Benji frowned. “I just do.”
“You know… that I know a thing or two about the body, right?”
Benji narrowed his stare. “Just because you considered becoming a doctor doesn’t mean you know what you’re doing.”
“It was sports medicine. And hey, I took all those anatomy classes and worked part time as a PT assistant for a year before I switched degrees.” Jesse now worked as a financial planner, following in his father’s footsteps and working at the family business. He hadn’t wanted that, but it had been easier.
Now, he learned it sucked as much as he’d thought it would.
“Still doesn’t mean shit, Jess.”
He sighed. “I just don’t want you getting hurt. Again.”
Benji rolled his eyes.
“Anyway… Adam and Clay…”
“Those two argue all the time. Give it a few weeks and they’ll be fine,” Benji said.
“No. I think we need to get them in the same space and make them face one another,” Jesse countered. “That way we can gauge the temperature and see how bad it is this time.”
“If they’re pissed off at one another, how are we supposed to get them to come?”
Jesse grinned. “We lie.”
“That’s not cool.”
“If it’s for a good cause?”
Benji lifted a brow.
Jesse continued. “We tell each one of them that the other can’t make it and then persuade them both to come. They show up, and we go all ninja on them and don’t let them go until they’ve made up.”
Benji looked up at him from his seat on the leg press. “Fine. But we need to eat this time. Hayden got blasted last time because he hadn’t eaten first—and I hadn’t had much myself. The following day wasn’t fun.”
“You’re such an old man,” Jesse said with a smile.
“You two gonna use the equipment or run your mouths?” a big buff dude asked, moving in close.
“Almost done,” Benji said, frowning. He lifted the weights too quickly—apparently forgetting the loss of weight. They clanged hard, the noise hurting Jesse’s ears.
“Amateurs,” the big dude said before sauntering off to find another piece of equipment.
Jesse looked back at Benji. “That new Chinese place opened up around the corner from Jackson Street.” Jackson Street was more or less Bar Row. The street was closed to traffic, and there were three whole blocks of bars, clubs, and pubs—something for every taste. “We can hit there, grease up the old stomach, and take a walk on down. Say Friday night?”
“Sounds good,” Benji said. “You are going to call Adam and Clay, right?”
“Can you call Clay? I just tried a little bit ago. I don’t want to sound like I’m nagging.”
“You know I suck at lying,” Benji said.
“Come on, Benj—you can do it!”
Jesse smiled as Benji rolled his eyes.
“Fine,” Benji said.
“Good. I’ll call everyone else,” Jesse said. He looked to the right and saw big and beefy walking back. “Better finish up before we piss off the natives.”
Benji pushed his legs up again, slower this time. “Hey, you think it would be cool if I brought my new neighbor? He’s new in town. Seems like a good enough guy.”
No was on the tip of his tongue. The whole point was for them to have a guy’s night—just the five of them. But Benji was often the odd one out in the mix. He and Hayden were close. Adam and Clay were close. Benji just sort of bounced around. “Sure… if he’s not a prick.”
“Seems pretty chill,” Benji said.
“I’ll make reservations for six.”
Benji lifted the weights a couple more times before tilting his head. “On another note… what’s up with Hay?”
Jesse stiffened at the question. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know… he’s always been… for lack of a better term, a lady’s man, but it seems like he’s been in overdrive here lately.”
“Hay’s just being Hay,” Jesse said. “Women throw themselves at him. He can’t say no. It’s always been that way.”
Hay had that something special that no one could replicate or bottle. Jesse had learned long ago that was just the guy’s thing and had learned to live with it. Even if he was still slightly invisible in Hayden’s presence. The last couple of years had gotten a bit better.
Although, Benji did have a point. Hayden had been jumping from bed to bed more than usual the last few months.
“I just hope he’s being careful,” Benji said before starting another set. “But then, I suppose he is. It still amazes me no women have come out of the woodwork, claiming he’s a baby daddy.”
“Maybe he’s shooting blanks,” Jesse said with a grin. The grin faded though as the image of Hayden settled down with some woman and starting a family came to his mind.
Why that thought unsettled him, he wasn’t sure.
Benji finished his set and slid off the machine. He wiped it down with a towel and began walking over to another piece of equipment. As he walked, he looked over one shoulder at Jesse. “Are you going to work out or just run your mouth?”
Jesse growled. “You’re starting to sound like these gym rats.”
“Thanks,” Benji said with a wide smile.