“That’s how it always was.” The other man knew a little bit of Border’s and Jake’s past so he didn’t have to hide it. He just didn’t want to tell Storm everything. That was for Jake…if the other man even wanted to hear it. Border had fucked up years ago, but it had been for good reason.
Over the years, he’d tried to keep in contact with Jake with letters, calls, and texts. Only, as time passed, Jake grew more distant, the calls going shorter, the replies terser. Border’s fault, he knew, but maybe he’d figure out a way to make it a little better. Plus, if he were honest about his true intentions, he wanted to know who Maya was, other than Storm’s baby sister. Jake talked about her like she walked on water after she’d kicked some guy’s ass. There had to be something more going on there, and Border wanted to know what it was—even if he didn’t have a right to know.
Bob came by and took their baskets, sliding the bill on the bar top without a word. Wordlessly, Border reached to pull his wallet out of his pocket.
“Don’t,” Storm said. “I’ve got this. A welcome home present.”
There was that word again. Home. Maybe one day it wouldn’t be like a punch to the gut just to think it.
“Where you headed?” Storm asked as they made their way to the door.
Border zipped up his leather jacket and sighed. “A motel I guess.”
Storm narrowed his eyes. “You know where he lives now?”
There was no need to explain who he was. Border shook his head. “I never got the new address after he moved the last time.” That had hurt like a bitch, but he’d known it was his fault.
“Follow me and I’ll show you the way.”
“I shouldn’t,” Border said slowly. “Not yet.”
“He finds out you were here for a full night without seeing him and he’ll get pissed.” Storm went to a large truck with the Montgomery Inc. logo on the side. Border had forgotten the family had its own company. Two, if he remembered right. Montgomery Ink for the tattoo shop, Montgomery Inc. for the construction company.
“He’ll be pissed if I show up now.”
“Then let him get pissed you’re back, not that you’re back and you didn’t bother to see him.” Something passed over Storm’s eyes, and Border lowered his brows.
“What? What aren’t you telling me?”
Storm shook his head. “Not my place to say, but Border? Be careful, okay? Jake’s my friend now because of Maya, but you were my friend first. Even if you left us without a word.” With that, he got into his truck, and Border sighed.
He got on his bike and started the engine, knowing this was going to be a cold ass ride, even without the bitter wind. Thankfully, it hadn’t started raining or throwing sleet yet, but from the taste in the air, he figured it would be soon.
Border followed Storm out of the parking lot and to the highway. They drove for a few miles before taking an exit that was familiar to him. The Gallaghers had lived off this way, and it seemed Jake hadn’t moved too far away from them.
They went down a few more streets before ending up at a large ranch house. It was early enough that the lights were still on, and suddenly, Border had the urge to gun his bike and get the hell out of there.
Storm waved out the window before leaving him alone at the curb with rocks in his belly and dread sliding its way down his back. What the hell had he been thinking? He should have ignored Storm and gone off to a motel before gathering up the courage to see Jake.
Now he was stuck here unless he drove away like a fucking coward. And he was a fucking coward when it came to Jake. He always had been. Though the one time he’d thought he was stronger, he’d ended up leaving. If he hadn’t, he’d have become the man he hated, the man who had tried to mold him in his image.
Border rolled his shoulders and got off his bike, trying not to throw up the burger he’d just eaten as he made his way to the front door. The place looked lived in, but taken care of. He knew Jake’s brothers worked in building restoration, while Maya’s worked at Montgomery Inc. in construction, so it shouldn’t have been much of a surprise that the place looked like someone took care of it.
He didn’t know why he kept thinking of Maya as living there, but from the way Jake had always talked about her, it just seemed right. The fact that he felt that way and still found himself there spoke volumes about his mental state at the moment.
Border didn’t know what he wanted, why he was there, but he knew he had to be there. Call him a fool, but he knew it.
He let out a breath and knocked on the door, knowing he was either making a huge mistake or on the path to what he should have done all along.
When the door opened, he felt as though the breath was knocked out of him.
Holy hell.
In all these years, he’d never seen Jake. He’d spoken to him and written to him, so he knew the way the man wrote, knew the way he spoke and how his voice was deep and went straight to the core of him.
But he’d never set eyes on him.
He’d changed.