OVERTIME (33 page)

“Why was he sad?” Jagger, like Rory had said, couldn’t imagine Colton with a sad look on his face. He was fairly certain he’d never seen him look anything but arrogantly handsome. Confident. Dangerously sexy. Sad? Fucking,
never
.

“He hated his parents—absolutely, positively hated them. They’d forced him to move to Key West and in doing that, had taken something away from him.” Rory cocked a brow. “Anybody got a fucking clue what that was? What Colton lost that put him in such a dark place? I’ll give you a hint—it starts with a Wild and ends with a cat.”

Laughter drew their attention away for a few seconds as two teenagers walked by, acting like they were having the time of their life and like they were
safe
. Jagger studied their demeanor and body language as they shuffled by. Their faces were bright with animation over whatever video game they were discussing but their young bodies, still gangly and clumsy, were tense…prepared for something to go wrong. He recognized it. He still felt it threatening him every fucking day. It pissed him off to see children suffering that way, knowing what they’d been through would haunt them every day for the rest of their lives.

“That’s Michael and Morgan. They’ve been at Haven for almost two years. Good kids. You wouldn’t want to begin to know what they’ve been through. Neither of them smiled for the first year. I was beginning to fear we would never break through their protective barriers. Hell, we still haven’t broken all of them down, but we’re making progress.”

“Brothers?” Riley asked.

“Nah, just friends. They were living on the streets, prostituting themselves to survive. Landry hooked us up with these guys. They’re the only ones on the campus without a parent. Damn near broke my heart, those boys.”

“They seem to be doing pretty good now,” Riley commented, completely fooled by their outward fun-loving demeanor.

People were so easy to fool. Hell, even when he hadn’t even been trying to fool people, hadn’t been trying to hide what was happening at his house, nobody had noticed. The few teachers that had bothered to ask about his bruises had just nodded when he’d told them he’d fallen down the stairs. He guessed there was no way they could have known it, but there weren’t even fucking stairs in his house. He’d grown up in a different time—he knew that. Teachers didn’t turn a blind eye anymore. He didn’t blame them. He blamed himself for being a weak bastard that let it happen.

“So, back to my bestie Colton,” Rory broke into his thoughts. “Since I couldn’t get away from the persistent devil, I was forced to listen to stories about Colton’s Kentucky sweetheart. I heard how he tried and tried to woo you into friendship and you consistently shut him down. I heard how pretty you were. I heard how hard you worked at everything you did. I listened to how you loved animals and rescued every stray you could get your grubby little hands on—even the feral cat that scared every other kid away. He thought you were the most mature little dude he’d ever come across in his entire life.” Rory leaned up and started massaging Riley’s
shoulders as he talked. “I had to listen to that shit for four fucking years and to be honest, I really wanted to punch you in the face. I knew there was no way you could possibly be the saint he presented you to be and I couldn’t wait for you to tumble your ass right off that pedestal he’d put you on.”

“I definitely wasn’t a saint,” Jagger murmured. He felt like a fake. Colton had lied to his friends about what kind of person he was and it made him feel weird. Hell, he didn’t know how he felt. He knew Colton pushed every single one of his buttons, physically and emotionally, but he also knew he didn’t have anything to offer Colton. He was partially dead on the inside—probably incapable of loving. He wanted to. Hell, he wanted it more than he wanted anything in this world. He wanted to be the man Colton pictured him to be more than he’d wanted his mother to come and rescue him from his torture that first year after she’d abandoned him. But, he had to be honest—he wasn’t that person. He was trash—Jameson trash.

“The little devil grew on me and before I knew it, he was my best friend.” He leaned his head against Riley’s back and his eyes landed on Jagger. “I didn’t know how the hell to handle his infatuation with you, though. I didn’t know you, so I couldn’t figure you out—didn’t know how to help Colton get over you. Finally I told him to try and become the man that this mysterious Jagger would fall in love with.” He snorted out a laugh. “Being the shallow bastard I am, I figured he would invest his money into some adventure that would make him a millionaire and then he could go and buy your love. I had all sorts of random ideas dancing around in my head and I’m ashamed to say they all involved him using his money to woo you into his bed. As it turned out, I was so far off fucking base I didn’t even get up to bat. You know what he did, Wildcat? You know what he dreamed up so he would become the man you would fall in love with?”

“Haven,” Jagger whispered.

“Yeah, Haven,” Colton answered. “He’d never shared that part of your life with me. When he brought the idea of Haven to me, he gave me enough information that I kind of drew my own conclusions, but Colton wouldn’t give me any personal information. He said it wouldn’t be fair to you.” He slowly reached across and brushed the hair out of Jagger’s face, tucking it behind his ear. “He is so in love with you, kid. So in fucking love with you. All he told me was that he failed you. He hadn’t been able to be your haven, but he would be try to be the haven for as many kids as he could.”

“Shit,” Riley said quietly.

“There aren’t words in our vocabulary to explain how fucking excited he was when he realized you guys were both going to be in the playoffs. It started with he was going to get to
see
you again. Then it warped into maybe he would get to talk with you, convince you to go out with him. When he heard about that stupid Captain’s challenge, he went crazy. He was convinced fate was involved and there was no way he would lose the challenge. You were going to be his. Finally,
his
.”

“That’s insane. There’s no way they would have beaten us if I hadn’t
dicked
up that free throw,” Riley said. He had a stupid, big-ass grin on his face that let everybody know just how proud he was he’d missed the toss.

“Fate, baby. Fate stepped in and caused you to see how badly these boys needed each other…and brought you to me,” Rory said. He grabbed Riley by the back of the head and smashed their lips together.

Jagger glanced away. He felt like he was invading a private moment between two lovers and wished he could vanish away. He wished he could be back in Colton’s bed, waiting on him to come home and make his body soar, make his insecurities disappear, and make his heart beat. Hell, make his heart thunder.

His eyes strayed back to Colton. The little boy still hugged his leg but even with the distance between them, he could see the grip had loosened. He was thinking about letting go—taking a risk. His mother was watching him closely, her eyes wide and glowing with love. Would things have been different for him if his mother had held that same strength and love in her?

“Her name is Jennifer and the little leg-hugger is Canyon. Colton’s been corresponding with her for almost ten months, trying to convince her to get out of the dangerous situation she was living in. Her husband beat the shit out of her at least once a week. She would either burn supper or the house wasn’t clean enough or blah, blah, blah. Any stupid-assed excuse he could dream up because he wanted to beat her. He enjoyed beating her. Yet, she stayed and loved the sick bastard anyway. Colton tried everything but she wouldn’t accept his help.”

“What finally changed her mind?”

“He hit Canyon. The dirty fucker decided the boy was acting too feminine and determined Jennifer was being too soft on him—turning him gay. He, being the bad-ass man he was took it
upon himself to toughen the boy up. What better fucking way to toughen a four year old boy up, right? Beat the shit out of him while making his mother watch? That’ll do it every fucking time.”

The disgust was evident in Rory’s voice. The hate even more evident. Jagger suspected if Rory had the opportunity to get his hands on Canyon’s father, the man might not be capable of ever hurting another person again.

“Fucking bastard,” Riley hissed.

Jagger kept quiet, watching the beautiful dynamic between Colton and the boy. He didn’t touch Canyon but made certain he was right there, available for whatever he was needed for. His smile was fucking beautiful. Everything about Colton was beautiful. Would his ugliness, the darkness inside him, diminish that beauty? He didn’t know how it couldn’t? He had some much inside of him, it was bound to bubble over into Colton’s life.

“Oh Lord, here comes Gladys and her cookies,” Rory laughed. “Gladys has been with us from the beginning. Her daughter-in-law and grandchild were murdered by her son. She spent years blaming herself for raising a monster before she finally realized she wasn’t responsible for his actions. She’d done her best with him, but he’d taken a bad path – alcohol and drugs. When they got hold of him, he turned viciously violent. He killed them both on Christmas Eve one year and then showed up at her house Christmas morning ready to open gifts…like nothing had happened. She ended up turning him in to the police when he admitted what he’d done. She’s a good woman and that bastard damned near killed her,” Rory spat in disgust. Then he took several deep breaths and forced the smile back on his face. “But, that’s enough about that. She’s found a way to help heal her soul by volunteering at Haven and she has Colton wrapped around her finger. Your boy turns into mush when Gladys shows up with her warm chocolate chip cookies. They are about the only thing in this world I’ve ever seen he go all dreamy-eyed over—besides present company, of course.” He winked. “He will eat the entire plate if Jennifer and Canyon don’t bump his ass out of the way.”

Jagger smiled as he watched Colton’s face take on a dreamy look when Gladys waved the cookies under his nose. Rory was right; the look on Colton’s face was pretty damned close to how he looked when they were in bed. Colton leaned in and took a huge whiff, clutched his heart…and shook his head no.

“What the fuck? He never turns down Gladys’ cookies,” Rory muttered in disbelief.

Colton’s whispered words right before he left this morning came storming back to Jagger.
I want you to be the taste in my mouth all day long.

A soft smile touched his lips. “Take me back to Colton’s boat,” he told Riley.

Chapter 18

“Well, well, that’s about the sexiest vision my blessed eyes have ever had the luxury of lusting after,” Colton growled as soon as he rounded the corner to find Jagger sprawled out on his bed, completely naked and waiting for him with a welcoming smile. “If the Dry Tortuga tour boat leads to you naked and in my bed, your pretty ass will be on that boat every damned time it leaves the docks!” He crossed the tiny room and leaned over to place a sloppy, wet kiss on Jagger’s mouth. “Holy shit, please tell me Riley isn’t under the bed or something stupid like that? I didn’t interrupt some Wildcat-on-Wildcat hanky
panky
, did I?” He playfully peeked under the bed before returning his attention to Jagger. “Don’t get me wrong; I wouldn’t mind watching some of that as long as
my
Wildcat isn’t the one hanky-pankying.”

Jagger wanted this to be a night they would both remember and if Colton wanted to start out playful, he could go in the playful direction. Colton was his haven. “Nah, Riley fucked me about an hour ago and went on his merry way. No need to worry about him for the rest of the night.”

“That’s not funny.”

“It’s supposed to be,” Jagger countered, puffing out his bottom lip with his best version of a pout. Who the hell could have ever imagined Jagger Jameson could flirt?

“We’re going to have to get you some practice time in on your comedic skills, babe. You, Riley, and fuck do not ever need to be in the same sentence.” Colton unbuttoned his dress shirt and tossed it aside and stripped out of his dress pants. In barely a second’s time, he was as naked as Jagger and had joined him on the bed. His eager hands were already started a thorough exploration of the body splayed before him. “Seriously, though, did you have a good time today? It’s been a while since I did that tour, but I always loved it. See anything gorgeously beautiful…and if you say Riley’s name, I’m going to spank your ass until you won’t be able to sit down for at least a week.”

His fingertips were lightly stroking Jagger’s stomach, just touching enough to tease and torment, his eyes glittering promises of so much more to come.

“As a matter of fact, I did see something gorgeously beautiful today, but not on the tour. We missed the boat.”

“Missed the boat?
You
missed the boat? I bet you were ready to kill Riley! From the rumor mill, I heard you were never late for anything so it had to be that fuck-ups fault.” His hand drifted lower to trace the V from Jagger’s hip bones to his cock. Over and over his fingers explored the path, getting close but never quite close enough. “What did you guys end up doing? Did you kick his sorry ass for making you late?”

“It was my fault we were late. Somebody might have worn me out this morning and I overslept. Riley had a fiercely good time making fun of me for it, too. The bastard sat right up there on the deck, twiddling his thumbs and watching the minutes tick away, laughing at me the entire time. Apparently my punctuality is not the badge of honor like I thought.” Jagger took Colton’s hands and entwined their fingers together. “We ended up going into Marathon for some sight-seeing.”