My Grumpy Old Bear - Jayda Marx Page 0,62
pulled his phone out and groaned as he looked over the message he’d sent. “Oh shit, I totally see where you’re coming from. I’m sorry, Brooks.”
“Don’t apologize. He would have known exactly what you meant. It was my fault for reading the message and jumping to conclusions.” I scrubbed my hand through my rough beard but stopped when I noticed Jay doing the same exact thing.
“That’s gonna take some getting used to,” he smirked. I thought it was fucking incredible, but I kept that to myself. “I’m sorry I fucked this night up. If I’d have let him tell you what was going on and didn’t act like such a pussy, everything would have been fine.”
“Trust me, it was a dual effort. I’m great at fucking things up.”
Jay snorted. “What a thing to inherit.” I smirked at him and got a matching one in return.
“Listen, I’d love to stay and talk all night, but I’ve got to get to Noah. I’ve got to try and fix this.”
“Can I come with you?” he asked apprehensively. When I raised my eyebrow he continued, “Like you said, it was a dual fuckup; a pretty big fuckup at that. You may need a wingman.” The smirk left his face when he said seriously, “He’s my friend, Brooks. I want to help. Besides, that will give you and me some time to talk on the way. What do you say?”
I grabbed him by the back of the head and pulled him into a hug. He was stiff against me for a moment before relaxing and patting my back. I relished the feel of my son in my arms. The past didn’t matter. I couldn’t get back the time I lost, but we could build a future from here on out. This was everything I’d been waiting twenty seven years for, and it was worth the wait. “Let’s go.”
We climbed into my black Escape and I pulled out onto the highway, headed toward Noah’s old apartment. Since I kicked him out of our fucking house, I assumed he’d go back to his old place. It was the only place I could think of where he may be; it was paid up through the month and he hadn’t turned in the key yet.
I wasn’t exactly in the mood for small talk, but I also didn’t want to piss away this opportunity to speak with Jay. I cleared my throat and looked across the vehicle for a moment before looking back to the road. I can’t believe he’s actually sitting here with me.
“So, I saw where you graduated from the University of Tennessee a few years ago; cum laude, right?” Jay nodded. “That’s really impressive.”
“Thanks. I loved the accounting courses I took, so the work came easy to me. I’ve always had a mathematical brain.”
“Well, you must have gotten that from your mother,” I teased and Jay chuckled. “Does Beth know we were meeting tonight?” I hated to bring her up in conversation, but I also needed to know where I stood.
“Yeah,” he answered, but didn’t give any more details.
“How’s she doing?”
“She’s good. She and Lee got back together. They’re working things out and they’re doing well.”
“That’s great,” I said honestly. “I felt so bad when they split up. I never meant to break up your family, Jay.”
“I know.” He tapped his fingers on the window sill before looking over at me. “I’m sorry I blamed that on you; it was just such a shock, you know? But now that I’m older and things have calmed down, I realize what I did was wrong. It wasn’t all you; Mom should have been honest with Lee. And me. I didn’t know I even had a dad besides him.”
“Don’t be mad at her,” I begged. “She did what she thought was right. We were young and I was discovering myself and-”
“You sound just like Noah,” he chuckled. “He took up for everyone in the situation and told me nobody deserved judgement or harsh thoughts. He’s got a heart of fucking gold.”
“Yes he does.” Which made me feel even worse for what I did to him.
“He’s a good stepdad.” I looked over at Jay with wide eyes and he lost it. He laughed a deep, raspy sound that was eerily familiar. “Sorry; kind of an inside joke between me and him.”
“Well, keep it there; that’s fucking weird.”
Jay laughed even harder. “Oh my god, I’m so glad I came tonight.”
I replied, “That’s what he said,” before I could stop myself, and I