Chapter 24 - Jack

Early in the afternoon, roused by Isaac’s wailing, Jack and Craig settled in the living room in front of the television. The Netflix browsing screen was still open. Jack picked up the controller and flicked through the selection. They settled on something mindless. Jack put the controller back down.

Craig rocked the cradle with his foot. Jack curled up to his side and ran a hand along the course of Craig’s body. His fingers trailed up and down Craig’s thigh and along his side until Craig turned his head and kissed Jack all over again.

Jack melted into the kiss.

Craig was the kind of man he could kiss for hours without realizing it. The sweet hint of mint on his breath and the certainty of his lips were addicting. Jack thought he’d never grow tired of tasting him.

They’d had sex twice that morning. Craig had taken him each time. Jack was sore but satisfied. He’d achieved the impossible. Not only did he have a straight man in his bed, but that straight man was his best friend. No one was going to believe him.

At least, not until he showed up with Craig, and Craig kissed him like he was doing right now.

The kisses they shared were tired, but sweet. Jack adored them. The passion they shared between the sheets was one thing, but to know that Craig felt such genuine affection for him was another thing entirely. Craig wasn’t in it just for sex—the kiss was too loaded with emotion for that to be true.

“We should probably eat something,” Jack mumbled against Craig’s lips. “When’s the last time we ate? We’ve been so concerned about Isaac we forgot.”

“Mm, concerned about Isaac and wrapped up in you,” Craig replied. The kiss deepened, but only for a second. It broke right after. Still, it endured long enough to leave Jack foggy-brained and hungry for more.

He still couldn’t believe it was happening.

After the rocky start back in the hotel, Jack was certain that Craig wasn’t ever going to touch him again. He was wrong. What had started a mistake had corrected itself over time.

Jack didn’t know if Craig wanted anything serious, but at this point, Jack didn’t care. All that mattered was that he had Craig. Even if was only for a little while, it was enough.

“So… food,” Jack said in an attempt to set them back on course. “What do you want? There’s not much in terms of delivery around here, but we can make something if you want.”

“I’m too lazy for that,” Craig said. “What can we have delivered?”

“Pizza. Questionable Chinese. Uh. I think that’s about it.”

“Slim pickings.”

“This is middle-of-nowhere North Carolina, not LA.” Jack pressed a kiss to the corner of Craig’s mouth. Before he could pull back, Craig turned his head and kissed him in full. Jack whimpered in delightful surprise and closed his eyes.

“Chinese,” Craig said with finality against Jack’s lips when the kiss broke. “I’ll eat anything, and I don’t have any food allergies.”

“I knew about the anything part, Mr. Pineapples-On-His-Pizza.” Jack grinned. He sat back and took his phone from his pocket. “I’ll go find the menu. You sure you trust me?”

“Should I not?” Craig arched a brow suspiciously.

“Mm, well, I’ll let you learn the hard way.” Jack winked and left the room. The take-out menus were in a seldom used kitchen drawer. He found the Jade Sun menu and looked down the list. Jack tended to order the same thing every time he called, but with someone else to think about, he wanted to try something different. He figured out his order, placed the call, and listed off his payment information.

While he was concluding the call, there was a knock on the front door.

“I’ve got it,” Craig said.

Jack stood in the kitchen doorway as the man on the other end of the call rattled off the things he’d ordered. From Jack’s position, he could see the front door.

Craig opened it. A woman stood there.

It wasn’t often that their street got foot traffic. Sometimes, especially in the spring and summer, Girl Scouts came around to sell cookies. From time to time, Jack also had landscaping companies come to his door to try to sell him services. But it didn’t look like the woman was selling anything.

“Hello, Craig,” she said.

Red flag number one. Jack narrowed his eyes. He confirmed his order and his address, then hung up and went to stand by Craig.

Craig said nothing.

“I bet you weren’t expecting to see me,” the woman said. Her dark hair was long and in need of a brush. It framed a pointed chin and a long, elegant nose. She was pretty, but she was disheveled. Jack didn’t recognize her at all.

“Craig?” he asked.

Craig didn’t respond to him. His eyes were locked on the woman. “Synthia?”

A single word was all it took for Jack to realize what was going on. Synthia was Isaac’s mother, and now she was here to take the baby. That had to be it.

“It was pretty low of you to run off to North Carolina,” Synthia said. “Pretty fucking low.”

“I told Nadine before I left,” Craig said. “It’s not like I purposefully tried to deceive anyone. I even gave her the address where I was staying and the number she could reach me at. She was your contact with the outside world, and I had her blessing. I did what was within my right to do.”

“To do what?” Synthia snapped. “To take my son across the country so I couldn’t see him? What made you think that was going to be okay?”

“You were in rehab,” Craig said lamely. “I wasn’t going to stay here. It was only going to be for a few months while I got my life in order.”

Jack’s heart pounded against his ribs. He wanted to slam the door shut in Synthia’s face and keep her out of their lives, but he knew that he couldn’t do that. No matter what he felt on the inside, Isaac wasn’t his son and Craig wasn’t his boyfriend. Jack had no right to either of them.

Synthia did.

“I want him back,” Synthia said. “I want him right now.”

Jack glanced up to Craig to gauge his expression. Craig was stony-faced and solemn. Jack had never seen him look so serious before. Was this what it was like for him back in LA? Was that the man he was forced to be? Rigid and emotionless. Battered.

No wonder he’d wanted to leave.

“You just got out of rehab,” Craig said.

“And I drove all the way out here to come get my son,” Synthia insisted. “I don’t care where I was or what I was doing. I want him right now.”

What was the right thing to do? Synthia looked manic. Jack had no idea if she was safe to conduct herself as a parent or not, and he didn’t want Isaac to come to any harm. But Jack had no say in the matter. All he could do was stand by and offer support silently while Craig faced down the mother of his child.

“Do you have anything for him?” Craig asked. “Food, diapers, a car seat, clothes?”

“No, because Nadine gave them all to you,” Synthia narrowed her eyes.

“They belonged to Nadine,” Craig said. “She was free to give them to me if she wanted to, and she did.”

“Well, give them back!”

It was the beginning of the end. Jack already saw it play out before his eyes. Now that Synthia was back, Craig would be forced to spend more time around her as they worked out their custody issues. As they smoothed out the wrinkles between them, Craig would realize that Synthia had been through rehab and was better. He’d left because of her alcoholism, after all, not because he didn’t love her anymore.

Once they got over the initial bumps, Craig was going to fall back in love with her. Maybe he still was in love with her. As the mother of his child, he’d be more inclined to give her a second chance.

Craig would walk out of Jack’s life without a second thought.

Jack took a deep breath and stepped back. This wasn’t his battle to fight.

“We need to talk about this like adults,” Craig said calmly. “Right now Isaac is settled here. He’s got his own crib and changing table. He’s got a cradle. He has all his clothes and toys. Do you really think it’s a good idea to uproot him right now so you can take him back to a hotel when he’s at home here?”

Synthia balled her fists. “He’s my son.”

“He’s my son, too,” Craig said softly. “I know that you’re upset and that you miss him, but think of what’s best for him instead of what’s best for you.”

“This is what’s best for you!” Synthia accused. “I want him back. He deserves to be with his mommy.”

Jack didn’t think that was true at all. Isaac was best where he was happy, and right now that meant in the peace and quiet of Jack’s duplex.

“Why don’t you come spend some time with him, then?” Craig asked. He played it off casually, but Jack heard the stiffness in his voice. When Craig spoke to people from back home, he was different. Jack didn’t like it at all. He hated to hear the hurt in Craig’s voice.

“You left me,” Synthia said. Her fists and shoulders were so tight Jack was sure she’d pop something. “You left me when I needed you the most and you left me pregnant. You don’t want Isaac. Don’t even pretend that you do.”

Craig stepped into the doorway. He wasn’t overly broad, but he held himself in such a way that he looked larger than he was. Board-straight posture gave him additional height, and he towered over Synthia. “Don’t you ever accuse me of something like that again. I love Isaac.”

“You sure have a funny way of showing it, abandoning us like that.”

“Hey,” Jack said. He didn’t want to get involved, but he didn’t want it to devolve into a fight, either. He wanted Craig to back down before he did something he’d regret. Jack didn’t want Synthia to become another Hunter. “Let’s take a step back and breathe for a second, okay? Everyone has a right to their emotions, but let’s not go acting on them and doing something we regret.”

Synthia’s eyes locked on him. Her brows knitted together in fury. “Who the hell are you?”

“I’m—”

“He’s my friend,” Craig said, shutting Jack out. “He let me and Isaac stay with him so I could work on getting my life together.”

“You let a stranger around my baby?”

“He’s not a stranger,” Craig said through gritted teeth. “He loves Isaac just as much as I do. He’s been going out of his way to make sure Isaac is happy and healthy.”

Synthia glared at Jack. Jack shook his head and stepped back. He knew that this wasn’t going to end well. Whether it was emotional or physical, someone was going to get hurt.

“I don’t care who he is—I don’t want him around my son.” Synthia took a step back. She moved like a caged animal, jerky and on edge. “I want you back in LA, Craig. I want you back before I get there. Because as soon as I do get back, you can bet your ass that I am going to be filing for custody, and it would be a shame if they arrested you and put you in jail for kidnapping.”

“Synthia, be reasonable,” Craig pleaded. Jack heard how thin his voice was stretched. Craig held onto decency and respect by a thread. That he could hang on at all while someone threatened his future with his son was outstanding.

“I am being reasonable,” Synthia said. “If I wasn’t, I would have stormed into this house and taken my son back on the spot. But you know what? You’re not worth my time. Not at all. I’m going to drive back to LA and I’m going to see you in court.”

“Synthia…”

“Enjoy the time you have left,” Synthia said. She shook her head. “It’s the last time you’re going to have with him for a long, long time.”

Synthia left. Jack stepped back from the door, heartbroken. He could only imagine how Craig had to feel. The woman he’d once loved had come back into his life to throw it into chaos. Jack knew how much Craig loved Isaac. He saw it in Craig’s face and all the little things he did. To think that after everything, Craig stood a chance to lose his son…

Craig slammed the door shut. He slammed the flat of his fist against it, face scrunched in rage and impossible, helpless sorrow.

“Goddammit,” he uttered. His fist slid down the door. “God fucking damn it.”

“Craig…” Jack laid a hand on Craig’s back. “It’s going to be okay. We’re going to work this out. It—”

Craig spun around and grabbed Jack roughly by the hair. For a terrifying moment Jack thought Craig was going to hit him, but Craig didn’t. He pushed their lips together instead. The kiss was brutal. Their teeth clacked and scraped. Craig snagged his lip and nipped. Jack’s jaw ached from the intensity of it.

Jack wasn’t sure whether to feel sorry for Craig, or if he was better off focusing on the scorching heat of the kiss and the things it did to his body.

“Get upstairs,” Craig demanded. He released Jack’s hair and stepped back. Jack saw feral fire burning in his eyes. Craig was furious.

“Craig?” Jack asked, hesitant. “Are you going to be okay?”

“Get upstairs,” Craig repeated. “After that, I will be.”