Ink Enduring (Montgomery Ink #5)(23)

The fact that he could do that in Denver while trying to find a way back to a life he’d thought he wanted had made the idea of coming home worth it.

Only Jake kept pushing him away without even trying, and Border didn’t know how much longer he’d last before he blew up at the other man.

Jake stormed into the living room, clay on his forearms and a mark on his forehead. He’d washed his hands, but they were still wet and fisted at his sides. He growled to himself.

“Problems?” Border asked. He stirred a big pot of chili and raised a brow at the other man.

“I’m fine,” Jake bit out. The other man opened the fridge and looked in without grabbing anything before closing the door. “Why are you cooking?”

Border kept stirring the pot, doing his best not to stir another pot—namely the one between him and Jake. “I’m hungry and wanted food. I’m tired of eating out so I don’t bother you, so I’m cooking dinner for both of us. You used to like my chili.”

So much for not stirring the pot.

“I barely remember your chili,” Jake growled.

Border rolled his eyes. “You remember just fine. Don’t be an * because you’re in a bad mood.”

Jake ran his middle finger over his eyebrow. “Actually, I think being in a bad mood is the perfect time to be an *.”

Border snorted. Jake had him there. “I guess you’re right.” He dipped the wooden spoon into the chili and brought it up to his lips. His eyes still on Jake’s, he blew on the spoon to cool the bite of chili.

“Want a taste?”

Jake’s throat worked as he swallowed, and he nodded. Border moved the spoon toward Jake’s lips, and the other man opened his mouth. When Jake clamped his hand around Border’s wrist to steady him, Border held back a groan.

Jake’s tongue snaked out and tasted the chili before he took the bite, his gaze never leaving Border’s.

Beans and meat had never been so f*cking sexy.

Jake licked his lips and nodded. “Really good. Not too spicy, but it has a kick.”

Border let out a slow breath before washing off the spoon and setting it to the side of the pot. “Good. That’s what I was going for.”

Jake leaned against the fridge and folded his arms over his chest. “What are you doing here, Border?”

Border moved so he could rest his hip on the counter. He mimicked Jake’s pose unconsciously but didn’t move back. Jake wasn’t talking about the chili, and Border wasn’t going to bother to pretend that he was. “I’m moving back.”

Jake’s eyes widened. “For good?”

“Yeah, for good. I told you that already.” Didn’t he?

“You might have mentioned it, but I wasn’t sure if I believed it, you know? You were gone for a long time, and there are other places you could have stayed.”

“And I stayed in those places. I wanted to be here.”

“Here as in Denver, or here as in with me? Because I don’t know what you want, Border, let alone what I want.”

Jake wasn’t ready for this conversation, and they both knew it, but it wasn’t as if Border could back away now.

“I ran for too long, saw some shit I didn’t want to see, did some things I didn’t want to do. Now I want to come home. Because no matter where I went, Denver was always home.” You were always home.

“Is that really the case? Because I have no idea what you were doing the entire time you were gone.”

“And you never asked.” Yeah, it hurt that Jake hadn’t asked. And, apparently, Border was going to be a dick about that.

Jake threw up his hands and scowled. “I’ve been a little busy dealing with my own shit life at the moment, thank you.”

Border shook his head. “Shit life? I don’t see a shit life. I see a man with a f*cking fantastic family, a man with a job and a home he loves. I mean, f*ck, you can work from home, and I’ve seen your art.” He gestured around the house. “I’ve seen it here, and out and about. You’re talented, and you always have been. Yeah, Holly dumped you, but you told me yourself you were done with her.”

“It’s not that simple!” Jake yelled.

“It never is, but hell, Jake. Make it was it is, not what you think you need it to be. You’re not pissed off because you and Holly aren’t together anymore. You’re pissed you didn’t get to do it. You’re broken up because she’s the one that did it first.”

“Fuck you, Border. You don’t know me. You don’t know what I’m feeling.”

Border leaned forward. “And whose fault is that? Whose fault is it that I don’t know the man you are now?”

“Yours, you f*cking *. Yours.” Jake straightened. “You’re the one who left. You’re the one that decided I wasn’t good enough. So don’t get all butt hurt over the fact that you don’t know me now.”

He’d stepped into that one for sure. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Yeah, well, it’s what you said. I wasn’t good enough. I wasn’t a chick. You didn’t want to really be f*cking me, you just wanted to get your rocks off and call it a day. I get it. But don’t act like you did nothing wrong. Don’t act like you have a place in my life now.”