Winning His War

6

I pushed the thought out of my head as I walked to the other side of the kitchen.

After a few minutes of looking, I opted to just cook omelets after finding everything in the fridge.

"And why can't you make your own breakfast," I asked as I finished up.

"Oh I'm not allowed to use anything that produces heat anymore. I tried burning a marshmallow on the stovetop a while ago, it worked but the smoke alarms went off and it freaked Jem out so now I have to stay away from the stove. That and I really like watching things burn so Devon gets nervous when I'm alone. He's afraid I'll light something on fire and he won't be there to stop me."

I only hummed as I placed his plate in front of him. He dug in without a second thought while I go to sit down on the couch.

I rubbed my eyes but after a while I consider just going back to sleep.

"You better not have made that," a deep voice mumbled from behind me.

I turned to see Jem glaring down at Barrett. His shirt was missing and sweat pants hung loosely around his hips. His eyes seemed weak as he glanced around the kitchen for a second before landing on a pile of phones.

"Andrew made it."

"That's even worse. We had cereal, you didn't need to wake him up," he said as he began shoving phones in his pockets and in the waistband of his pants.

Barrett made a face at mention of cereal but didn't say anything else while Jem made his way over to the coffee pot.

"I love Devon sometimes," he admitted.

"Only when he makes you coffee before he heads out."

"Love is love," Jem dismissed.

I cringe at the way he starts drinking it black but hide it when he moves to the living room.

His eyes don't move to me as he sits down on the far side of the couch. His gaze is glued to the windowed wall.

Jem always seemed like a pretty relaxed guy but now that I see him like this, I can see that there was always some tension set in his shoulders or in his face when he had to force a relaxed smile. But now even that small bit stress was gone.

"How are you feeling," he asked after a while, his eyes still taking in the sunrise bouncing off the lake. "I know last night was probably kinda stressful."

It was kind of weird to see this side of Jem. All I expected from him was anger, frustration, and flirting so seeing him like, so calm and caring, even if it was fake, was a bit of a shock.

"It feels weird not being at home but I'm fine I guess."

Jem only hummed. We sat there a bit longer before his phone started to ring. He didn't have to fumble around to figure out which phone it was but the second he answered it, he changed.

A harsh glare was set on his face as he placed the mug down on the coffee table.

"This is Jem, speak quickly," he demanded, his could voice sounded more natural and even seemed to bring out a more serious side of Barrett. Even his face lost the usual smile it seemed to hold and his eyes dimmed a bit.

"I don't want to hear your excuses, I want answers," he said boredly but his voice never wavered. "I told you what I want and I expect to get it by tonight. Figure it out or you're useless to me."

No threat was said but his words held promise of a repercussion if he didn't get what he wanted.

"Be at my club tonight. Do not make me come looking for you."

"Who was that," Barrett asked as soon as Jem put the phone down.

"Ash Dunham," Jem spat out as if it were a curse. "He's going to help us figure out this mess."

Barrett let out a loud laugh as he sat down next to Jem.

"How did you manage to talk him into it? I know he didn't do it without asking for a great deal of money and I doubt you were willing to give it to him."

"I led him to believe I thought he was the one who ordered the attack. He knows better than to piss me off so he should be willing to do nearly anything to clear his name."

"You own a club," I asked after a while. Jem's relaxed form came back a few minutes after his call ended but his eyes told me he still thinking his way through this mess.

"It's mostly just a cover but yea, I have a few actually. I can claim all my illegal money came from there so it doesn't make it obvious that I'm not supposed to have it. I don't really run it very much though. My name is just on the lease for show."

"It's been a while since we went to the club," Barrett said with his usual smile. "I'm excited to go back."

"You won't be going," Jem dismissed. "You go where ever Andrew goes. Besides, with Ash there tonight it only adds to danger."

"But you almost never leave the house without us," Barrett frowned. "Who are you going to take with you instead?"

"I'll find someone, don't worry about it." His voice left no room for argument as he stood up from the couch with a small sigh. "Before I forget, come with me."

I looked over to Barrett, expecting him to follow behind Jem but he only stared back at me.

"Well can you keep up or not," Jem teased as he looked over his shoulder at me. "You can't just sit around all day."

I jumped up quickly and rushed to follow him as he led us to a different part of the house that he didn't show us yesterday while Barrett stayed on the couch.

I slowed down when he opened a door that seemed to lead to an office and walked in. He seemed like the kind of guy who doesn't like people invading his space.

He walked to the corner of the room and stopped in front of a simple filling cabinet before getting down to his knees and opening the bottom drawer and pulling out a small box.

"You don't have to wait outside like a stranger. You live here too, for now at least. You can go anywhere you want." I waited for the usual teasing to slip into his voice but it didn't come as I stepped into the room. "This is yours, Patrick already got his this morning," he said as he handed me the small box.

I frowned down at the phone box. It was newer than the one I bought myself and probably way more expensive.

"Why?"

"Because you can't use your old one anymore, not until things go back to normal at least. Who ever shot at us last night had access to your old one, that's how they sent that text last night. It will take them a bit longer to tap this one with the amount of fire walls built into it."

"I'll pay for it."

Jem allows a smirk to cover his face as he took a small step closer. His breath tickled my neck while I forced myself to not react.

"I don't need or want your money, but if you ever want to make it up to me some other way, we never did get to finish what we started." He took a small step closer, his nose brushed against my jaw while my toes curled against the floor. "My offer still stands. If you ever get ready you can come find me when ever you're ready."

He doesn't give me time to answer before he'swalking out the door, leaving me alone in his office.

Last updated November 10, 2021