Fever (Breathless #2)(42)

It may seem ridiculous, but Ash’s family was f**king poison.

After a few years of either Jace or Gabe or both accompanying him and witnessing firsthand the dysfunction that was the McIntyre family, Ash had told his family to f**k off and he hadn’t gone back. Not for lack of trying on their part. Jace knew that Ash was deeply shamed by his friends seeing his family and instead of letting them continue to see his family in action, he’d simply pulled the plug. Which suited Jace just fine. Ash was a better person when he wasn’t around the cesspool. He was happier.

“We’re done with this conversation. Don’t call back. I won’t take your call next time,” Ash warned.

He hung up the office phone and then swiveled in his chair. He did a double take when he saw Jace standing in the doorway and then he frowned.

“What are you doing here? Would have thought you had shit to do.”

Jace sighed again and sauntered farther into the office. He slouched in one of the chairs along the wall and put his hands behind his back, leaning so he could pull Ash into his gaze.

“Look, man, I was an ass**le. You know it. I know it. I also know you just got finished talking to your bitch of a mother and now you’re in a shitty mood so you’ll bite at me. I deserve it, so I’m okay with it. What I’m not okay with is this space between us.”

Ash’s lips tightened. “You put it there, man.”

“Yeah, I get that too. I’m trying to apologize here, Ash. Don’t be a hard ass. Let me do it.”

Ash leaned back and drawled in a familiar tone that sent relief through Jace’s chest, “The mighty, arrogant, demanding bastard Jace Crestwell humbling himself to make an apology? Do go on. This I gotta see.”

“Fuck you,” Jace muttered. But he was already grinning.

Family.

Just as he’d observed in Gabe’s office. Just as he knew—had always known. This was his family. And it was a family he wanted Bethany to have too.

“Now that’s an unusual apology,” Ash said. “Fuck you . . . I’m sorry . . . They sound almost the same.”

Jace laughed. “God, you are such a dickhead.”

Just as quickly, he sobered and met Ash’s gaze.

“I’m sorry, man. I was a dick. I overreacted. I know you were trying to help. Trying to look out for me. I appreciate it. More than you know. But I’m good. I promise. You may think I’m crazy. That I’ve lost all perspective. But I’ve got this. I’m solid.”

“What do you have?” Ash asked curiously. “You have to see this from my perspective, man. We have a threesome with a woman. Not unusual. Woman disappears next morning. Not unusual. The only atypical part of this equation is that she walked away instead of us issuing her the walking papers. So when you go apeshit over the fact she left, I’m thinking, okay, he’s pissed because he wasn’t the one cutting her loose this time. And I get it. Maybe you weren’t done with her. You’re a control freak like me. You like to make the rules. She broke them when she walked out. What I did not expect was for you to turn the city upside down looking for her.”

Jace sighed. Yeah, when Ash described it, things sounded bad.

“If you could have seen yourself these last two weeks, Jace. You looked like shit. You were absentminded. The very last thing on your mind was work. Mia came in to see you twice and you blew her off both times.”

Jace’s brows came together. “Bullshit. She didn’t come in to see me.”

Ash sighed. “You don’t even remember her coming in? Or do you just not remember being a dick to her?”

“Christ. She really came to see me?”

Ash nodded. “You bit her f**king head off, which prompted Gabe to want to bash your skull in. I told him to back off, that you were having a bad day.”

“Shit.”

“So there you are, barely existing in those two weeks. Acting like some insane, obsessed person. So I do some checking. Then you find her and go off half-cocked. Then I don’t see you again until a few minutes ago and you act like nothing happened. All of this after you told me to stay out of it and that it didn’t concern me.”

Jace blew out his breath and rubbed his hand over the top of his head. “Okay, you’ve made your point. I was a dick. That was out of line and we both know it.”

Ash made a rude noise. “I don’t give a f**k that you were a dick. You think this is about my feelings being hurt? I’m worried about you, Jace. Worried about how wrapped up in this woman you are. I’m worried that she’s all wrong for you and you can’t see it because she’s got her fingers wrapped around your balls.”

Jace breathed through the instant surge of anger that hit him. Ash was his friend. He was worried. Jace was going to be rational about this if it killed him.

“She needs me,” Jace said, fully aware of how lame it sounded. But f**k, he couldn’t even explain it himself. How the hell was he supposed to explain it to Ash?

Ash studied him a long moment and then his lips parted with a sigh. “This is going to piss you off, but it needs to be said. I could back off, let you do your thing, but we both know if the situations were reversed and this was me acting the way you’ve been acting that you’d be in my face and you wouldn’t back off. So hell if I’m going to do it. You’re my brother. More of a brother than my own. You and Gabe both. We busted his balls over Mia. He deserved it. Now I’m going to bust yours over Bethany. Because someone has to.”