Fourth of July on Kent Street…
Jason rinsed the last of the dishes and added them to the new stainless dishwasher as Zach chopped vegetables for the veggie tray behind him at the island. A knock came to the door, and Jason dried his hands before heading for the door. Before he could reach it, Drew came right on in, followed by Golden and Jax.
“Welcome,” Jason said. “Come on in like you own the joint.”
“I did,” Drew said, rolling his eyes and heading for the kitchen. “I want to see what it looked like once you got that shit done.” Drew had spent a day helping Jason and Zach with the kitchen remodel and had gotten more in the way than helped. Yet Jason had enjoyed having the kid there, anyway. Potty mouth and all.
It was like being around a little version of his younger self. Seeing Jax and Golden adjusting to parenthood had also gotten his mind going to places he never thought they’d go. He felt his stare unconsciously go to Zach.
His instincts were proving to be right. Zach just might be the one. It was still too soon to call, yet.
“Watch your mouth, Andrew,” Golden chided.
“Yeah, yeah,” Drew said, heading down the hall. “Goldie.”
“I’m gonna kill that kid before it’s all over,” Golden said.
Jax chuckled as lifted a file folder and handed it over to Jason. “Everything’s in order on our end and signed. Consider it a done deal… as soon as you sign on the dotted line.”
Jason took the file as another knock came to the door. “Hold that thought.”
He opened it and welcomed the rest of the guys in. Good thing he had a big place. Linc and Colt took up a lot of room. Add in their significant others, and Damien and Lucas, and they had a full house.
“I thought you were leaving, Damien?”
“Don’t be so excited to see me,” Damien drawled.
Jason shook his head. “No, I meant no offense… I just wasn’t expecting to see you tonight.”
“Seems my cousins decided to make their home in Vegas instead of Los Angeles,” Damien answered.
“What brought that on?”
“I suggested they make a stop to see some of the family that’s there… made a few phone calls to some people, suggesting they show my cousins a real good time. They got the VIP treatment and seems Vegas was more their speed,” Damien said before looking at Lucas and smiling. “Crisis averted.”
“What does that mean for the partnership?” Jason asked the guys, worry filling him.
“Damien’s out,” Linc said, wrapping an arm around Damien’s shoulders. “But he will continue to offer us assistance in finding funding on future projects for a fair cut of the profits, since he’s sticking around now.”
“And here I thought you’d miss me,” Damien said to Linc.
“I still love ya, man.” Linc leaned in and kissed the side of Damien’s cheek. “Better?”
Damien chuckled and pushed the big guy away.
As soon as Damien moved away, Linc eyed Jason. “JLC is a family business and no one’s more family than you.”
Jason met Linc’s stare and smiled. Before Jax and Jason’s falling out, the four of them had been close. He’d left, unable to stay and be reminded of all the memories… and left his friends behind as well.
Colt moved in and put an arm around Jason’s shoulders. “This is the way it always should’ve been. The four of us in it for the long haul.”
Jason nodded, holding back the wave of emotion that hit him. “I suppose we get to signing, eating, and celebrating, then.” He withdrew a pen and walked into the dining room. With the flash of a pen, he was the newest partner in JLC Construction. He handed the packet back to Golden with a flourish, just as Zach brought the platter out and placed it on the table that was already filled with a ton of finger food. Drew followed him out and began snatching food.
“Eat… drink… the fireworks start soon,” Jason said.
“We have one more matter of business,” Golden said, withdrawing an envelope from his pocket. “Drew?”
Drew turned to Golden and eyed the envelope. “Yeah?”
“Wanna know who your dad is?”
Jason tensed. At first, he wasn’t sure this was the right moment, but as he searched the crowd of men, he knew this was family. These men would have his back and he theirs. In some weird way, they’d all likely play father to this boy at once stage or another, no matter what the test said. He felt a hand threading through his and turned to see Zach at his side. He smiled and squeezed the man’s hand before turning back to see Drew ripping the envelope. The kid scanned a letter once he pulled it out.
Drew turned to him. “Jason?”
Jason tensed even more, both excited and scared shitless.
“You’re not the father!” Drew said in his best Maury voice.
Jason chuckled, taking a sigh of relief—yet couldn’t help feel a little disappointed. His stare went to Zach’s and the man squeezed his hand again.
Drew handed the letter to Jax. “By process of elimination, you can figure who is, right?”
Jax looked over the letter before grabbing the kid and irritating him with a hug.
“PDA is not acceptable, Dad,” Drew said, pulling from the embrace and heading back to the food.
Jason caught the hint of a smile on Drew’s face that Golden and Jax missed. The couple was hugging over the news they’d apparently wanted. When they broke the embrace, Jax came over and gave Jason a hug.
“We good, bro?” Jax asked.
“We’re good.”
They spent the next hour or so eating, celebrating, and a big family, blood or not. When Jason heard the first sounds of fireworks shot off near the house, he urged everyone to his front porch. His house was situated near the Kent Street park, and he was pretty positive they’d have a perfect view of the show.
Luckily, he was right. He approached Zach and wrapped his arms around the man, his front to his lover’s back.
“Happy Fourth,” he whispered into Zach’s ear while rubbing his eager body against the man’s ass. “I bought you a present for the holiday.”
“When did people start giving fourth presents?” Zach asked once the next firework went off.
“It’s for the fireworks we’ll have later in our bedroom.”
“Our bedroom?”
Jason hadn’t even realized he’d said our. He stiffened a little but then realized the guy had been putting blood, sweat, and tears into helping him renovate the place—along with the fact Zach had practically moved in. Together, they’d finished the downstairs and a couple of the rooms upstairs, but they shared one bed nearly every night. It seemed a waste for Zach to drive all the way back to San Alicia each night.
But it was more than that. Jason wanted him there, commute or not. Zach could’ve lived right next door and he’d want to wake beside the man every morning.
“Our bedroom,” Jason whispered against Zach’s ear. “And I think you’ll like this present an awful lot.”
Zach chuckled, but his body tensed against Jason’s. He spun to Jason’s side and leaned in. He spoke against Jason’s ear because of the fireworks. “Might this present have something to do with plugs or sounds?”
“That and a cock cage,” Jason said.
Zach shuddered against him.
“How much longer before we can clear the house?”
Jason laughed and captured his lover’s lips with his own. The fireworks outside were nothing compared to the ones he felt inside when he touched Zach.