My Grumpy Old Bear - Jayda Marx Page 0,50

up, though. “It’s important,” I added.

He stared at me for another long few seconds before shrugging. I figured I wasn’t going to get permission beyond that, so I took my seat quickly. “Thank you. I, um...I actually wanted to talk to you about...your dad.” Way to ease into things, Noah.

Jonathan’s brows folded in again. “You know Lee?”

A pain shot through my chest at his question. Brooks wasn’t even on his radar as a dad. “No, not Lee. I know your biological dad; Brooks.”

Jonathan rolled his eyes and grabbed his tray. He looked like he was about to bolt, so I touched a gentle hand to his arm and gave him a desperate expression. “Please don’t go.” His familiar eyes studied my face and his features softened. He shrugged again. “Thank you,” I repeated, not sure what else to say.

“So what, are you another one of his bastard kids or something?”

“No, nothing like that.” I let out a long breath. “And I’m sorry you feel that way. I promise you that wasn’t his intention. He never meant to hurt you, Jonathan.”

“I go by Jay,” he answered gruffly. I smiled, thankful for any tidbit about himself he felt comfortable giving me. “So how can you claim to know this shit?”

“I know Brooks very well, and he talks a lot about you.”

“Yeah, well, it’s a little late for that, don’t you think?”

I shook my head no. “Jay, he didn’t know you existed until you were ten. He happened to run into your mom one day and saw you. She told him you were his, but she begged him not to interfere because you already had a life with her and Lee. He watched you grow up through Facebook. He loved your photos from sports and prom. He even has your picture on his phone. He showed them to me. He’s so proud of you, Jay. He just wants to know you.”

Jay blinked hard and crossed his arms over his thick chest. “If he wanted to know me so badly, why didn’t he reach out until I was twenty fucking years old?”

“Because he was trying to do right by Beth. He was worried he would interfere. He didn’t want to cause you trouble when you were younger, even though he wanted to know you so desperately. He waited until you were an adult so he wouldn’t hurt your childhood. He wants to be your friend, Jay; even if you don’t want him as your dad. I’m not saying he didn’t make mistakes. But he doesn’t have any other kids; he doesn’t know what he’s doing with this stuff. He found out a ten year old boy was his and was told to stay away. He tried to do what your mom wanted and what he thought would be best for you.”

He licked his teeth, again reminding of Brooks’ mannerisms. He’d ever met the man, but still had so much of him genetically built in. “So if you’re not his kid, who are you?”

Shit. I’d tried to keep myself out of this because I had no way of knowing how Jay would react. But I wouldn’t lie; I was proud to be with Brooks. I just hoped it didn’t ruin things with Jay. “I’m his boyfriend.”

Jay’s eyes widened as he looked me over. “How old are you?” Okay, that wasn’t so bad. At least he wasn’t flipping his shit about his dad being with a man.

“Twenty three, but that’s not important,” I replied, waving my hand.

Jay linked his hands behind his head and looked up at the ceiling. “This is a lot to process.”

“I know, and I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to come crash your lunch and dump all of this on you. Well, okay, maybe I did a little, but I needed to talk to you. I was afraid I wouldn’t have another chance. And since you told Brooks not to contact you, I just...well, I thought…” I dropped my face into my hands. I didn’t know what I thought; I didn’t know what to do. This was so out of my wheelhouse. “I’m sorry.”

“Noah…” I shivered at how much Jay’s voice sounded like Brooks’. I raised my head to find him looking at me with an expression I couldn’t read. “I’m not mad at you.” He scrubbed a hand over his face while he sighed. “I’m not even that mad at Brooks anymore, honestly.”

“You’re not?” I asked hopefully.

He shook his head. “At first, I was furious. When Mom told me Lee wasn’t my