Freedom (The F-Word #5) - E. Davies Page 0,26

hearty “There you are, bro!” rang out.

Jaden choked back the relief and followed the sound of Spence’s voice into his brother’s arms. Spence hugged him tightly, showing mercy by not picking him up off the ground like they were kids again. Nobody seeing their back-slapping hug would mistake it as romantic.

“How’d it go, man?”

Damn it. He had to say something now. His voice cracked the first time he tried, but with Spence by his side—his large frame shielding him from passersby and leading the way—it was easier to give it a second shot. “Gimme a few.”

Spence knew not to push when Jaden said this. He just nodded and put a hand on Jaden’s shoulder and turned him around to steer him toward the car. The weight was an added reassurance, and by the time they climbed in, Jaden let out a breath of relief and found words.

“It was good. I’m seeing him again.”

Spence whooped and pumped his fist. He climbed into the driver’s side and grinned smugly across at him. “I knew you could do it.”

Jaden tugged the seatbelt as tight as it would go and then gripped it by his hip to pull it even tighter across his lap. Only when he was wedged thoroughly into the seat did he start to breathe deeply and evenly.

“Go me,” Spence continued, starting up the car and throwing on the turn signal. “I better be your best man, you know. Or maid of honor. My legs would look great in a dress, and my beard would hold so many flowers—”

Jaden wished he could laugh, but his gut twisted with annoyance. “Wait up.”

Spence blinked and looked over at him, taken aback at the interruption. Jaden tended to listen more than talk, especially when he was pulling himself out of a stressful situation. “Huh?”

“You shouldn’t have thrown me into that situation in the first place. I wasn’t ready.”

“But is he the guy of your dreams?” Spence asked with a hopeful smile.

Jaden hated when they argued. He had no choice but to push back. He needed to say this, before it lingered between them. “I don’t know. That’s not the point. Point is, I wasn’t ready for it. I panicked several times.”

“Did you call your therapist? I mean, she wanted you to go out more, right?”

Jaden worked his jaw around. He didn’t want to answer, because the fact that he hadn’t would be seen as progress—when to him, it really wasn’t. He didn’t want to live with Sandra on speed-dial.

As glorious as this past day had been, he’d still gone through the wringer to make it happen. Tired didn’t even begin to cover it. Spence meant well, but he didn’t understand the toll it took to go through so much in just a couple days.

“No.”

“See—”

“No,” Jaden snapped. “You’re not listening to me. I’m telling you that I wasn’t ready. That should be enough. Why do I need a goddamn doctor’s note?”

Silence fell in the car, interrupted only by the hum of the engine and the click of the turn signal as Spence moved lanes.

Jaden recognized his expression—sullen, unwilling to admit he was in the wrong. It took Spence time to get past his feelings about a situation and look at the facts. But Jaden wasn’t going to soften the blow, so he bit his tongue and let the silence roll and roll.

Finally, when they were pulling off the freeway, Spence spoke again. “You’re snapping at me because you’ve had a hard couple of days. And I damaged your trust by making you go out to the bar.”

“Yeah. That wasn’t so bad, only…” Jaden waved around at the outside like they were still at the airport, meaning the whole blind date.

“You weren’t supposed to win the blind date.” Spence chewed his lip and glanced sideways at Jaden as he waited to turn the corner. “I’m glad you met a great guy, but… yeah, even I wasn’t expecting that. I knew you could do it. But I didn’t take it seriously, the possibility you’d win. I thought it would just be one night and then you could hide out and recover. I’m sorry. I should have listened to you better. Are you all right?”

Jaden knew his brother was doing it because he cared. It still sucked, but it wasn’t like he wanted to hurt Jaden. So he drew a breath and let it out. The words sounded like an offer of truce.

“I’ll need a couple days to breathe again, but I’m all right,” Jaden said.

“By the way,