Griffin and Luc stood in the doorway, their brows raised. Griffin was one of the middle Montgomerys and a writer while Luc had married into the family when he’d wed his childhood friend, Meghan. Either way, though, they’d become Jake’s friends since the Montgomerys were good at collecting strays—even if Jake hadn’t really been a stray.
“How long have you two been staring at me like the creepers you are?” Jake asked as he stood up, trying to ignore the creak in his lower back. Apparently, he wasn’t as young as he once was, and bending over a table for so long wasn’t the best choice. He ignored the inner teenage boy giggling at that thought and went over to the sink he’d installed in the room. He also had a master bath attached to the studio, but he tried to at least get the first layer of clay and crap off his skin before he used it. His cleaning lady appreciated it.
“We just got here,” Luc said. “We brought Thai food from that place you love since we were around.”
Jake frowned as he dried his hands. “You mean to tell me you two just happened to be nearby during a workday and brought food?”
Griffin shrugged. “I finished my book last week, and I’m letting the next one stir a bit in my mind before I sit down. Autumn is at Montgomery Ink today rather than doing admin things with me, so I’m not working.”
“And I’m off today,” Luc said. He ran a hand over his shoulder, and Jake winced for him. The man had been shot by Meghan’s ex not that long ago, and while he wasn’t wearing a sling, Luc still had to hurt most days. “I don’t work full-time yet,” he explained. “So I figured instead of bothering Meghan, I’d see what you were up to.”
Jake still didn’t quite believe everything they’d said, though it sounded as if it was all truth. His stomach, however, wasn’t listening to his brain and grumbled loudly.
Griffin grinned at him and motioned him over. “Come on. We set everything on your coffee table.”
Jake sighed and followed him, knowing resistance was futile. The Montgomerys were like the freaking Borg. Even the ones who’d married into to family and didn’t carry the name tended to use their long tentacles of caring and over-protectiveness to bring others in. And if Jake didn’t feel like he needed it today, he might have felt constrained. But either way, these two were here, and Jake was going to eat some food and try to let his mind settle.
The three of them being friends at all was a little weird. Jake was Maya’s friend, not boyfriend, and Luc had been living outside of Denver for a decade or so before he’d come back home and eventually married Meghan after he’d joined Montgomery Inc.. Griffin had shut himself off from most of the Montgomerys since he was a writer and not part of either family company, but he’d slowly been working his way back into every family connection.
Jake had a relationship of some sort with each Montgomery, and yet, these two were the ones he saw the least. After all the crap that had happened recently, though, the three of them were hanging out more. He was forever woven into the Montgomery fabric, and if he didn’t have such a foreboding feeling about a certain member, he might have been able to relax more.
The three of them ate delicious curry and Pad Thai and talked about their current projects and Luc and Meghan’s kids. It was nice to take an afternoon off and just eat and talk. He had this kind of relationship with his brothers and now the Montgomerys. Jake was damned lucky, he knew that, and yet the other shoe was about to drop—he knew that, too.
“What’s going on in that head of yours?” Luc asked as he wiped his mouth. He was a decent looking guy, and Meghan was a lucky woman. All dark skin and tight muscles. Even being laid up after having been shot hadn’t hurt the way Luc moved or looked.
“Not too much,” Jake said smoothly.
Griffin snorted. “Well, we know you’re a bit empty-headed, but why don’t you tell us why you have that strain around your eyes.” Griffin looked like the other Montgomerys, dark hair, and bright blue eyes. He wasn’t as bulky as some of the other guys, but perhaps had more ink than all but Austin. Maya always joked that she had one side of her of brother’s body to work on while Austin had the other. The resulting artwork was a masterpiece.
Jake shook his head, wondering why he was thinking about Griffin’s ink rather than his words.
“Jake,” Luc said softly. “Tell us what’s going on.”
“I’m fine.” He wasn’t, and yet he didn’t know how to put his thoughts and feelings into words. He wasn’t good at that, or at least he wasn’t without talking to Maya about it first. And that was one of the problems. He relied on Maya too much. She was his best friend, and yet somehow she’d become so ingrained within him that he didn’t know how to function without her.
“You’re lying,” Griffin stated plainly while stealing the last spring roll.
“I just don’t want to talk about it, okay?”
“Does it have anything to do with the fact that someone slept in the guest room last night?” Luc asked, and Jake stiffened.
“What?”
Griffin shrugged. “Someone folded the blanket at the end of the bed differently.”
“How the hell do you notice things like that?” Jake shook his head.