Heat Stroke (Beach Kingdom, #2)(59)

“I should have told you and Joey sooner, but I don’t think anyone realizes how much pressure dudes put on each other. It’s like never-ending. Getting laid, scoring phone numbers, does she have a friend. It never fucking stops. And you know something? I don’t think women are desperate enough to sleep with a lot of us pricks in the first place. Most of the bragging is just bullshit and posturing and…I finally realize that now. I’ve been scared of nothing. Being accepted? Maybe I don’t accept them. I just want Jamie. I don’t care who knows it anymore.” He swallowed the knot in his throat. “I hope you can still love me, Dad. And if you can’t? Tough shit.”

Marcus and his father stared at each other across the dining room for long minutes, nothing but the sound of the foot traffic passing outside. The extended silence made Marcus’s throat feel thick and parched, but he refused to be disappointed. Not in his father or himself. He would not treat the best thing that ever happened to him like a tragedy.

Assuming his father needed time to think their conversation over, Marcus turned on a heel and strode toward the door, pulling it open—

“Son, wait.”

*

Jamie stared out the window of the Main Squeeze in disbelief.

Late last night, he and Joey had hung a Grand Opening sign outside, thinking it would attract some interest. It had—to put it mildly. There were at least fifty people in line. Look what you built, he said silently to Marcus, pride straightening his back. You did this.

“We ready to go, pal?” Joey said, coming up beside him, rubbing his hands together. “Finally got these recipes down, let’s make some fuckin’ juice, huh?”

“That wasn’t the deal.” Jamie backed away from the window. “I told you I’d get the place set up, then you’re on your own.”

“Marcus is on the way. Just help me out for the first few minutes,” Joey cajoled, once again harpooning Jamie in the heart by reminding him of Marcus. “You don’t want to be late opening on day one and sink this place with bad Yelp reviews, do you? Come on.” He threw some shadow punches in the vicinity of Jamie’s ribs. “Where’s your sense of team spirit?”

“You’ve been napping on a crate for the last two hours.”

“Ahhh. I was just resting my eyes.”

Jamie snorted. Outwardly, he was keeping it together. He hoped. On the inside, he was in a panic thinking of Marcus walking through the door. How was he going to walk away again? He didn’t know, but he had to find a way. For now, though, he was stuck. He hadn’t worked around the clock for two days to send the whole operation down the tubes in the eleventh hour. “All right, open the doors. You take the register, I’ll juice. I’m giving you twenty minutes.”

Joey whooped and stepped around Jamie, keys in hand. Jamie went to stand behind the counter, putting on his gloves and firing up the juicers. For the next little while, everything was a blur. One second, the shop was quiet, save the buzzing of the halogen lights. The next, it was brimming with CrossFit bros—and he’d been right about hanging the wall mirror. They were clustered around it like moths to a flame. There was a lot of ball busting, shoving and insults, too. If these were the guys Marcus was around at the gym every day, he probably felt a lot more than just pressure from his family to stay in the closet, didn’t he?

Don’t think about it now. Doesn’t matter now. Joey called out the orders and Jamie’s hands moved, taking out the fruit containers and scooping the appropriate amount into the juicers, plunging the food pusher into the chute and pulverizing carrots and apples and ginger. Just when he was pretty sure Joey would have to hop off the register and help him clear the backed up orders, Rory and Andrew sauntered in through the front door, shouldering their way through the crowd. Wordlessly, they watched Jamie for a couple minutes, then fired up their own juicers, all three of them leaning over continually to consult the recipe list.

Jamie had never loved his brothers more than he did in that moment. They didn’t understand why he was helping Joey, the man who’d fucked up his face. They’d tried to save his ass from this awful depression he’d sunk into, but they’d showed up for him anyway.

“Thanks,” he muttered around the lump in his throat.

Andrew and Rory gave him identical whatever shut up looks.

Jamie shook his head and reached under the counter to grab a fresh plastic cup to hold yet another hangover cure order when he heard a cheer go up in the shop. Without glancing up to confirm, he knew Marcus had just walked into the Main Squeeze and his stomach sank down to the floor. He wanted to soak in the sight of him, but he couldn’t allow himself to do that or he’d eliminate the iota of progress he’d made toward moving on.

Who are you kidding, liar? You haven’t even made an iota.

“Time to go,” he said to Rory and Andrew, wiping fruit debris on the legs of his jeans. Doing his best to appear casual, Jamie made sure all the orders were lined up so Marcus could pick up where he’d left off. But when he turned to leave his post behind the counter, Jamie stopped short, his heart climbing into his mouth.

Marcus blocked the exit and Jesus Christ, he looked like shit.

He’d grown a dark beard and lost weight.

His hair hadn’t been brushed.

His eyes were cradled by dark rings.

He was the most beautiful human Jamie had ever seen.