When it's Not Right

Chapter 9

        "Well there, Jay-bird, don't you just look ready to start the day," Lou complimented, her big smile lighting up her whole face. "You want breakfast?" she offered, pointing at the stove and toaster. Jay almost had time to inhale and reply that if Louise was cooking, she absolutely wanted breakfast, but her phone started ringing where it was plugged in beside the bed she'd slept in.

        "Hold that thought," she called over her shoulder as she jogged to the spare bedroom and answered the call. "Hi, Mom," she said as she unplugged the charger cable so she could go back out to the kitchen.

        "Hi, Jayler!" her mom answered brightly. She bubbled over with news from home, barely pausing to breathe, pushing in as many good stories as she could wring out of reality so that she could get her daughter laughing after everything that had been happening to Jay. Once it was Jayler's turn to offer up how she was doing, thankfully she was already sitting at the dining room table with hot coffee in front of her and Lou squeezing her free hand as she stumbled through retelling the events from yesterday.

        Her mom had already talked to Lou and Tony over the phone at length, and over video chat that one time, so when it became a three-way conversation of whether or not Cory could be trusted Lou's warm laugh and honest assurances set aside the parental fears way faster than Jay could've stutteringly explained. Jay's dad joined the conversation while Lou was still talking about Cory, and when they finished discussing Cory he asked a bunch of questions about the dogs – Trench and Sir specifically – and ended up laughing so hard about what Sir had done that when he slapped his hand on his jeans both Jay and Lou could hear the hit. Her parents loved the idea of Jay adopting Trench, both of them talking over one another to remind her about animal care requirements because it had been a few years since she'd had a dog.

        Her mom hedged about flying up for a visit and to help with fixing up the apartment, but Jay knew her folks couldn't afford that right now so argued about it until her mom agreed to wait for a while. The usual proclamations were spoken that if Jay needed anything – anything at all – she just had to call, then the goodbyes, and then Jay was able to hang up.

        "I just love how you start to twang whenever you talk to your folks," Lou chuckled.

        "I love that it finally goes away when I'm talking to everyone else," Jay replied with a sigh. She loved the south, but being from it and living in the north usually meant a lot of strangers saying dumb or rude things to her. Just like all the dumb and rude things she and her friends had said to that kid back in high school whose folks had moved into town from New York. What goes around definitely had a way of coming back on a person.

        Lou broke into her thoughts with a chuckle and a pat on the hand, then stood up and sauntered back into the kitchen. The puppy picked up chasing the threads on her cuff again as soon as she started walking, and Lou crooned down nonsense at the little guy while she filled up her coffee cup again. Jay wondered if Louise even knew she was sauntering rather than walking, but guessed not. The older woman was just enviably comfortable inside her well-fitting skin.

        They were discussing breakfast options when Cory emerged from the door leading down to the basement wearing loose sweat pants, the elastic at the top of his underwear peeking out above the sweats because he wasn't wearing a shirt. He'd obviously just been working out. Jayler immediately felt her face heating up when he greeted both of them and reached for a coffee mug, looming over and around Louise as he did.

        "Get your sweaty abs off of me," Lou laughed at him, the open handed slap to his ribs loud in the kitchen. He snickered and then folded in a hug around her.

        "Thanks so much for making coffee," he made his voice gush with gratefulness and snuggled with her harmlessly as she burst out laughing, exclaiming in mock disgust how sweaty and gross he was being between guffaws. He left off after a moment, laughing, and filled the coffee mug he'd taken out of the cupboard.

        "Get gone, kid," Lou grabbed a towel off the oven handle and snapped it at his ass as he walked toward the table. He stopped and backed up, sticking his butt out toward her.

        "Don't leave me hanging," he implored.

        "Go clean up and put some clothes on or my foot is the only thing your ass is going to meet this morning," Lou responded, her voice taking on a threatening tone. He laughed again and straightened up.

        "You doing okay today?" he asked, turning his attention to Jay and then taking a sip of coffee. His nose wrinkled up and he set the cup down to start mixing in cream and hot cocoa.

        "I... um..." she swallowed the surging embarrassment at suddenly not being able to talk and tried to look away from the long scar cutting through the squad tattoo on the back of his shoulder before he caught her staring as he put the cream back in the fridge and turned around. Nope, she'd failed miserably at not being noticed staring. "I'm doing better," she said, glad her voice was working again. He nodded and looked around at floor level while he stirred his coffee.

        "Where's Trench?" he asked, careful not to drip on the counter when he reached over and dropped the spoon into the sink.

        "I put him out already," Jay hated that her voice rose into a half question.

        "You're not sure?" Cory smirked as he leaned a hip against the counter. He chuckled again when Lou smacked his arm with a backhanded flip of her fingers, half-turning so that he could talk to her instead of Jay. "What? You said last night that I should –"

        "Shut your mouth from flapping, Cory Reaper, or I'm tossing three pennies into it and punching you hard enough to knock some sense into your brain with enough teeth to hold onto it," Lou threatened him. Cory laughed again and turned back to face Jay. She quickly looked away from staring at the long scar again, the blush flaring up that he'd caught her looking at it twice in under a minute.

        "Did you still want to take Trench home with you today?" Cory asked, sipping his coffee and then, this time, smiling at the cup.

        "You don't mind?" she asked, staring at her fingers laced nervously together on the table rather than at Cory.

        "Nope," he set the mug down. "I'll go pull his gear together. Might as well add dog hair to the mess I currently am before I go clean up."

        "You want me to make you breakfast, hon?" Louise asked, getting eggs out for herself and Jay.

        "Nah," he told her. "You guys go ahead and eat. I'll have a shower first so I'm not too gross to share the table with."