OVERTIME (26 page)

“Here he comes. I hope you’re ready. That guy has got it really bad for you, Jag. I know this all knew to you and you’re bound to be confused but you need to be careful with his heart.” Jagger frowned as he looked at Riley, clearly confused by the statement. “It’s painfully clear how he much he cares for you, Jag. What’s unclear is how you feel about him. You don’t have to fall in love…this is your first time with a guy and odds are against him being the one, but that doesn’t mean you don’t weld the power to hurt Colton…badly. Just be careful.”

Colton opened the front door and stepped outside onto the porch, wedging his big body between Jagger and Riley. An arm slipped around Jagger’s waist and tugged until Jagger stopped fighting and allowed himself to be suctioned up against Colton’s heat. It felt like it was right where he belonged. The no-touching rule never seemed to apply with Colton.

“I’m beginning to think you lied about that free throw, Riley. I’m pretty sure you’re just shitty at shooting free throws and you’re using this as an excuse to cover up your
shittiness.”

“Shit,” Jagger grumbled and sent an elbow straight into Colton’s midsection.

Riley studied them both for a few minutes before offering his come-back to Colton. “Here’s what I know to be facts, Colton,” he started. “First of all, you are the hardest person in the world
to like and I’m not sure I’ll ever master the feat of learning to like you. Secondly, I never miss free throws, especially not under pressure so the way I see it, you owe me a debt you can literally never repay…but you should at the very least spend the rest of your miserable life at least trying. Thirdly, if you ever make me regret doing what I did, I’ll make it my life’s goal to ruin every single relationship you try to have.” He leaned around Colton and kissed Jagger on the cheek. “I only put up with your shit because you made my boy’s eyes come to life for the first time since I’d met him.”

“Stop kissing mine,” Colton growled but there was a silly smile on his face.

Riley touched his lips to Colton’s cheek next. “Take care of what’s
yours
and I won’t have to get involved.”

The slamming of a car door interrupted their Hallmark moment. All eyes went to the driveway. A huge smile spread across Colton’s face. Riley suddenly looked incredibly sad. Jagger didn’t have a clue.

“Landry! Welcome, dude! Give us some good news,” Colton yelled from the porch.

“Uh oh,” Riley whispered. “There isn’t any good news, motor-mouth. Way to shove it right out there in his face.”

Ah, the mysterious Landry. Dude was small, almost dainty, and prettier than any girl Jagger had ever laid eyes on. He wore a pink shirt, pink shorts, and some kind of weird pink loafer shoes. Pink leather bracelets decorated his wrists. Worse than all of that, if possible, was the incredibly sad look on his prettier than pretty face.

“Twink
?” Jagger asked quietly.

“Definitely, and proud of it. Dude is the coolest guy to walk this earth and he’s sad right now. We’ve all got to do whatever we can to make him feel better,” Riley answered.

“He didn’t get the loan?” Colton asked quietly. Landry was slowly making his way up the drive. He was moping.

“Yeah…about that,” Riley said. “I was thinking maybe you could help Landry out, Jagger. I brought your computer and shit.” He turned to look at Jagger with pleading eyes. “Do you think you could look over his business plan and see what went wrong at the bank? It would mean the world to me.”

“And me,” Colton quickly added. “He deserves that club. He will turn that club into nothing but pure gold. Why the fuck did the bank decline him? Did he change his mind and go
with one of the tougher banks instead of the one we all thought would be the easiest to get the loan pushed through?”

Landry continued walking toward them, moving much slower than a human should. It was clear how distraught he was over what was going on. The look on his face was one of pure hopelessness. Jagger knew that look fucking well. He’d sported it for years and years when he’d been younger. Unfortunately, he was certain he couldn’t do a thing to help Landry. His major had been Accounting, not Business Management…or whatever it needed to be to help him write up a business plan that would help him get the loan.

“He went with First National, the one we were certain would push everything through, no questions or hardships. Shit, what the fuck did we know?”

“Hey, Landry. Did you bring all your paperwork with you?” Riley asked. He started to pull the guy into a tight hug as soon as he reached the top of the porch but stopped himself at the last second. It was weird. Jagger wondered if Riley thought he might get jealous if he hugged Landry. Riley hugged everybody…well, except for him. He slipped one in every now and again, but didn’t touch him nearly as much as he did with the others guys, even their team mates.

“Phst
!” Landry hissed. “I brought it…for all the good it will do me. First National was pretty much my only hope and they shot me down. They thought my business plan was weak.” He shrugged. “Whatever. I was doing fine before this and I’ll be fine after it. Something else will come along.”

“Were they fair or did they railroad you?” Colton demanded.

“They were fair, Colton. My plan sucked. When I read it, even I had questions.” His hands tangled in his bright blonde hair. “Hell, I know what I want. I guess I just can’t explain it well enough to the group that worked up my business plan. They sure as hell didn’t present it the way I’ve got it in my head.” He clapped Colton and Riley on the back and then directed his pretty pale blue eyes on Jagger. “So…you’re the infamous…or famous Wildcat,” he said softly. “It’s very nice to finally meet you.” He stuck out his hand and Jagger obediently took it. The guy’s shake was firm and solid, nothing like his soft appearance.

“I’m Jagger,” he countered. He liked Landry. There was something about the guy that just sucked him right in. He found himself wanting to do that hug thing the rest of the guys always seemed to do but fear kept his arms tucked safely behind his back.
What was it about this guy
?

“Hey, Jagger Wildcat. I’m Landry—a friend of these two idiots.” He nodded at both Colton and Riley, a warm smile on his face. “You, my friend, have got your hands full with these two. They are both pig-headed, strong-willed, and overly protective friends.” His smile grew even bigger. “You’re incredibly lucky and must be a really special guy to keep both of them on their toes the way you have.”

Jagger nearly choked. “
Ahhhh
…nothing special about me,” he answered quickly. A firm swat landed on his ass before the last word had slipped out of his mouth.

“What did I tell you? Don’t insult what belongs to me,” Colton warned. Turning to Landry, he said, “Come on in; we’ll get you a better mood.” Frowning, he added, “Have you thought any more about letting me and Rory float you this loan? You know we would love to do it, Landry. Not only are you our friend, we have the upmost faith in your abilities and you know we both support your idea.”

“That’s not on the table and never will be,” Landry answered gruffly. “Don’t mention it again, Colton. I’ve already asked you to shush about it. Don’t piss me off before I even get a chance to hit the pool and Rory’s liquor cabinet.”

Jagger felt both Colton and Riley watching him closely, wanting him to offer his services but wouldn’t say a word unless he gave the word. So, so far out of his comfort zone. He was an Accountant—a virgin Accountant that had never worked a real accounting job in his life. He couldn’t do a thing to help Landry. Fuck, he wanted to help Landry.

Comfort zone? Out the fucking door.

“Hey, Landry, I could look over your paperwork if you’d like,” he said quickly before he changed his mind. “I mean, I’ve never written up a real business plan before, but we did a bunch in class.” He felt more and more like an idiot as each word slipped out of his mouth. Hell, a professional company had worked up his business plan and he was offering his services? He was such a loser.

Landry’s face brightened instantly. He shyly nibbled at his bottom lip and shuffled nervously. It was right about then that Jagger understood their connection. Violence…physical violence had somehow touched Landry as well. The signs stood out bright and clear, like looking into a mirror and seeing himself instead of the pretty Landry.

“Riley says you’re the smartest guy he’s ever met and you always kicked ass in the business classes. Would you mind looking it over?” He suddenly looked incredibly worried…and small. Jagger had felt himself shrink just like that hundreds of times over the years.

“I’m definitely not that smart, but I’ll give it everything I’ve got,” Jagger answered truthfully. “We’ll see if the company missed something that we might be able to improve on.” Suddenly, saving Landry’s potential business was in the top five things in his life goals. He wanted to make this boy smile. This boy deserved to smile.

“Shit, I don’t want to ruin your vacation. Forget it, okay. I’ll be fine. Like I said, something else will come along and I’ll jump all over it.”

“Nope. I’m going to look it over. It will give me a break away from these guys,” he motioned toward Colton and Riley as he talked. “Heaven’s knows, I could use a break away from their nonsense and constant bickering.” He gestured to the file folder clutched in Landry’s hands. “Is that the paperwork?”

He watched Landry take a deep breath, struggle to gain the courage to lean on somebody, and then hand the papers over. “Yeah, this is it—my dream. Don’t laugh,” he warned. Together, they walked into the house, neither touching but closer than anybody could ever imagine.

****

Jagger spent the last hour reviewing Landry’s business plan and there were some serious flaws that jumped off the pages. He couldn’t believe a reputable firm had put this together and passed it off as something a bank would consider supporting. While there was nothing wrong with Landry’s plan for the club he wanted to buy, it hadn’t been presented in a way that banks demanded, leading to their rejection. He felt fairly confident he could take Landry’s ideas and give the bank exactly what they were looking for. Riley had been right, this was just like the business simulations they’d done in class. He’d always enjoyed those classes so much more than the accounting classes he’d specialized in. Shit, six days. He only had six days before he was expected back in Kentucky to begin his new job…his old plan. What had been the most important thing going in his life three short days ago suddenly meant very little to him. At the
same time, he knew he didn’t have the courage to walk away from it. He wasn’t, by nature, a risk-taker…and Colton was a risk.

He drug his laptop out of the backpack Riley had brought for him and started correcting Landry’s business proposal, hoping his mind would focus on helping Colton’s friend instead of worrying about how badly it was going to kill him to walk away from Colton in a few short days. Regardless of what everybody kept saying, he was sure this was all fun and games for Colton. He, however, might not ever recover. He’d lived his entire life without ever giving his heart away in order to try and avoid the pain and loneliness he knew was barreling straight at him…

“You look entirely too serious, Wildcat,” Colton whispered in his ear. Lost in his thoughts, he hadn’t even noticed that the man haunting his thoughts had snuck up behind him. Colton stood as close to him as he could possibly get and his arms had wound possessively around him. A warm tongue flicked his earlobe, sending heat waves straight to Jagger’s cock. “Do you think you can help him? He’s pretty stoked he might actually have another chance to make his business dreams come true.”

How in the hell was he supposed to be able to think when Colton’s hot breath was tickling his ear and, even more erotic than that, he could feel the outline of his arousal pressed against his back, burning him with the same intensity he suspected a brand would?

“Uh…yeah, I think I can help. These other people really
dicked
him over with their proposal. They couldn’t have spent more than ten minutes throwing it together. It’s seriously ridiculous. Landry has some great ideas; he deserved better than what they gave him.”

“Ummm
…he’s pretty and smart.” Another tongue swipe and a hip thrust against his back. “I think I could get used to having you around, Wildcat. Oh, and those sounds you make in bed. Oh. My. God. They are to die for.”

Jagger felt his face start to burn. “Fuck you, Colton,” he grumbled. He’d sincerely hoped the sounds of Colton’s grunts and growls had drowned out the sounds of his whimpers and moans.
Shit, but when had he started sounding like a girl in bed?

“Nah…I’ll just stick with fucking you,” he teased. “I’m not kidding you, babe, those were the sexiest love sounds I’ve ever heard in my life. You’d damned well better not try to stifle those or I’ll really give you something to whimper about.”

Jagger hadn’t thought his face could get any redder but from the increase in temperature he felt radiating from him, he was pretty sure he’d been mistaken. He also couldn’t quite explain
why the
threat
of Colton giving him something to whimper about had caused his balls to tighten up with excitement. Maybe it was because he’d been reading Landry’s descriptions of the sex furniture he planned on buying to update his BDSM club? Maybe it was because the thought of Colton taking him in hand and making him whimper didn’t seem like a bad thing? No, it didn’t seem like a bad thing at all. Of course he would never admit such a thing to another living, breathing person, but it was a naughty secret he could keep tucked away just for him.