Long Pass Chronicles 02 - Canning the Center (29 page)

Chapter 18

D
ON
’
T
SPEED
.
Don’t speed
. Jamal took a breath and kept his foot relaxed on the accelerator while negotiating the residential streets. Damn, he was hungry. For food, for knowledge, and most of all, for Trevor. But truth, he really wanted to know what Trevor had to do with the takeover of the team.

He pulled up in front of his folks’ house. Ev’s car took up the driveway, and Will and Noah’s POS was on the street under the big tree. Trev better be with Ev or he was turning right around and driving back to LA to find him.

He hopped out and jogged up to the front door. “Hi, I’m finally here.”

The whole crew was assembled. Big John, Ev, Will, and Noah. The smells from the kitchen signaled his mom’s presence also. His stomach rumbled. Two hours at the reception and not a mouthful of food. Trev sat on the couch looking almost as in charge as he’d appeared at the press party. Jamal sat beside him and took his hand. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For coming back. For not letting me screw everything up.”

He smiled, and Jamal’s heart tripped. “Bunny, we both did our fair share of screwing, and I mean that in the worst possible way. Thank God Ev finally called me and told me the truth. At least somebody was making sense.”

She leaned back on her end of the couch. “When I heard you’d come in and interviewed at Global Strategies, I knew I had a chance of making this whole mess come out right.”

His mom walked in from the kitchen, wiping her hands. “We’re so proud of you, Trevor. Evangeline says they were thrilled to get you.”

He ducked his head and nodded. “They were really nice. Even gave me a car and a driver.”

Ev laughed. “They practically offered him the moon to come on board from what I heard.”

He nodded. “They were very generous.”

Jamal covered Trevor’s hand with his big paw. “So it went well?”

Trev sat back, and his face lit up. “It was amazing. They gave me proofs to do, and they were hard. I mean, I really had to think.”

Ev laughed. “I’ll bet that was a first.”

He nodded, his face shining. “And then I asked if I could have more proofs to work on, and they were kind of surprised because I guess not too many people finish, but I had so much fun and I was so scared they wouldn’t want me.”

“Fat chance. They were printing the contracts in the back room by then.”

“Yeah, but I hadn’t told them I was a drag queen yet.”

Jamal took his hand. “You told them?”

Trev nodded. “I was scared to death, but I took a breath and said it. The guy who was interviewing me, Fred, just stood up and took me to this beautiful building with all these plants and offices. It’s the place I’ll work in. He introduced me to a bunch of people who are at least as weird as me and two of them had even seen Trixie and they want to come see me again and Fred wants to come too and I can’t wait to start.” He gasped for breath and the whole family applauded.

Ev said, “See, I tried to tell you.”

Jamal laughed. “I thought I was going to be the breadwinner in the family. Get to take care of you for a change.”

Trev flashed his eyes in a sideways glance. “I think we take pretty good care of each other.”

Jamal’s stomach growled. “I assume Ev’s told you guys everything about our party, so all I have to do is eat dinner. I’m starving.”

His mother held up her hand. “Nobody in this house eats until Trevor tells us what he did to topple Lex Arondel. He wouldn’t say anything until you got here. So start talking, or we’re all going to starve.” She crossed her arms. Not a good position for cooking.

Jamal looked at Trevor, snuggled against his side. Jamal stroked his hair. “I’m dying to know.”

Noah scooted down on the floor to get closer. “Me too.”

“Talk so we can all eat.”

Trevor gave him a look. “Remember I told you that I read that Arondel and his wife didn’t get along?”

“Yeah.”

“So I took a chance and went to see her. Turns out she only stayed with the asshole because most of the money is hers from her father, but she didn’t have enough bargaining chips to get her money out of the marriage.”

“Okay.”

“So I gave her some.” He grinned.

Jamal cocked his head. “What?”

Trevor pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Remember when Arondel decided to show Trixie his study?”

His mom gasped. “What did that horrible man do?”

“Here, let me show you.” He clicked through his photos and held one up that showed Trixie and Arondel reflected in a mirror, side by side.

Jamal looked at it. “Okay. We know the slimeball propositioned you, but this photo doesn’t prove anything.”

Trevor showed the picture around. “No, but it does help prove that
this voice
is Arondel’s.” He clicked a button on his phone. “You see, when I put the phone back in my purse after taking that picture, my finger seems to have slipped onto my recorder.”

Son of a gun
. “You devil.”

“Lean in so you can hear clearly.” He grinned.

Jamal stared at the gorgeous man beside him.
Holy shit
. He seemed so delicate and sensitive.

And there it was. Arondel’s voice. Propositioning Trixie. And then, best of all, vomiting his contempt for most of the men on his team by virtue of their race.

Jamal stared at the phone. “Holy mother of crap.”

Trevor clicked off the phone and sat back. Will applauded, and Trev smiled. “I considered what to do with the information. I thought of going directly to the press, but I decided that would be uncomfortable, plus I couldn’t discover what the rules are about owners of football teams. I wanted a solution that would guarantee Arondel wouldn’t keep the team. So I went to Karin.”

“Mrs. Arondel?”

“Yes. I told her she had to assure me that she’d use the information to take the team from Arondel in private negotiations. She could use it for anything else she wanted, but that’s what I wanted.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

He put a hand on his hip. “Because you dumped me, Bunny.” He shrugged. “Then she asked me not to tell anyone until she did her meeting with the lawyers and had the papers signed. The only bargaining chip she had was not revealing this recording to the world. Of course, I had no assurance that Karin Arondel could make this whole thing stick, but she came through.”

Noah fell back on the floor, clutching his chest. “Holy crap, don’t get on Trevor’s bad side again, Jamal.” He pointed at Trev. “You, my man, are scary. But in a good way.”

Trevor gave that a double snap.

Big John asked, “Why did you care who owned the team?”

“Because I didn’t want Jamal to have to work for such a despicable person.” His eyes dropped. “I didn’t know if I’d ever see him again, but I wanted him to have a better life.”

Jamal’s heart swelled and cracked at the same time.

Ev leaned forward and looked at Trevor around Jamal. “I notice you were pretty damned brave when you were taking care of someone else.”

Trevor looked up with the deer eyes.

Ev smiled. “So realize that sharing your brilliance with the world isn’t just for you. It’s for Jamal and all of us.”

He smiled. “It’s for my mother.”

Jamal stared at him. “What?”

“I got the job so I can support my mother and put her in a better hospital. So she doesn’t have to depend on my brother ever again. I need to take care of my mom. She’s the only person who ever loved me, even if she doesn’t remember.”

Jamal smiled. “The only person—until me, you mean?”

Trevor’s aqua eyes gazed at Jamal, misted, and then Trevor smiled. “Until you.”

When Jamal looked up, his mom was wiping away a tear, and Noah was blinking hard.
Okay, enough
. He was starving. “How many people will it take to get dinner on the table? I’m one.”

Will jumped up. “Two.”

Noah sniffled. “You guys have no romance in your souls.” Will reached down and kissed him. “Okay, I’m three.”

Trevor got halfway up before Jamal’s mom shook her head. “Trevor, you stay where you are. You’re the man of the hour. We all owe you an enormous debt.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

She smiled at him gently. “Why don’t you call me Clarissa? And perhaps we can set about thanking you over the next few decades.” She winked at Jamal and walked into the kitchen.

Two hours later, they’d eaten dinner, consumed too much lemon meringue pie, cleaned up, and Jamal walked to the door with his best dessert under his arm—Trevor. No, not just dessert. This guy was the whole meal.

They walked to the car, Jamal held the door, watched Trev’s cute butt slide onto the seat, then went around to his side. In the car, he gazed at the man he’d learned he couldn’t live without. “I really am sorry.”

Trevor smiled, and sunlight filled the car. “Just don’t let it happen again.”

“How about never?”

“What?”

“How about if you assure I don’t get into any more trouble by never, ever leaving me?”

Trevor’s mouth opened in that pretty way.

“Would you move in with me? You can do anything you want with the apartment. Trixie can have the whole extra bedroom for dresses. You can paint all the walls with that chalkboard stuff and write proofs on the ceiling. You can fill the bathroom with makeup and do experiments in the kitchen.” He shifted on the seat and leaned toward Trevor. “If you don’t like that apartment, we can get another one or buy a house. If you want me to quit football, I will. Just don’t leave me anymore.”

“Bunny, I didn’t leave you. You left me.”

He touched Trevor’s cheek. “No, I never did. My heart cried to you every day. I talked to you in my mind. I knew I was done and I couldn’t live without you. I’ve never had a serious relationship in my life because I was saving it all for you.”

Tears shone in Trev’s eyes. “You’re waxing poetic again.”

“I love you, Trevor.”

“Like my mom, before she forgot?”

“She remembers somewhere.”

He touched a finger to Jamal’s chest. “Never lost.”

Jamal grabbed his hand. “Never. I love you and I’ll always remember.”

“I’m a weird, neurotic, strange piece of shit, Jamal, but I love you.”

Jamal shook his head. “Who ever told you something like that?”

“My father. Then my brother took over for him when he died.”

Jamal smoothed his hand over Trev’s golden hair. “Your father was a stupid, stupid man.”

Trevor looked up in that abrupt, direct way he had sometimes. “Yes, actually he was. My mother had all the brains.”

“And your brother didn’t inherit any of them.”

Trevor giggled, then sobered. “They taught me I was smart but useless. Nothing to contribute. A weirdo freak who ought to hide away in a closet where I hung my dresses.” He smiled. “My mom was actually brilliant but not altogether—functional. She didn’t have any friends, because my father isolated her so much, so she dressed me in women’s clothes, and we watched films and had garden parties.”

Jamal smiled. “Is that why you like wearing women’s clothes?”

“I doubt it. Far too neat. I think I would have had the drag queen tendencies regardless. I never objected to being dressed up. I actually loved it. She gave me attention and love. She accepted me. In many ways, she was my only real friend, since my father kept me with her all the time. I never went to school until college. My father died, she lost her memory, and I escaped.” He laughed. “I made a life for myself.”

Jamal couldn’t catch his breath. “You never told me.”

“I never told anyone. I could pass all the tests easily, so I applied for the scholarships with homeschooling reports that I faked. I got into SCU because my standardized tests were so far off the charts and they loved my essays.” He sighed. “But it’s all an act. I’ve never tried to compete in the real world.” His blue eyes widened. “Until now.”

“It sounds to me like you’ve been doing nothing but competing in the real world.” Jamal leaned over the console and pulled the man he loved into his arms. Their kiss went on and on. When Trev pulled back, he was smiling.

Jamal kissed his nose. “So will you move in?”

Trevor nodded his head. “I’ll even be able to pay half the rent.”

“Want to celebrate?”

“Yes, please. At home, in our bed.”

Nothing ever sounded that good.

It took another half hour in traffic to get there, but that cold, unfriendly apartment took on a whole new glow as they walked up to it hand in hand. “I’m going to carry you across the threshold.”

“How delightfully old-fashioned of you, Mr. Jones.”

Light as joy
. He carried Trevor into their place, kicked the door closed, and walked straight into the bedroom. Setting him on the bed, Jamal sat beside him. “I have tomorrow off, so how about we go shopping for furniture? Or we can look for another place.”

“This place is fine.” He grinned. “Since I’ll have a driver, I don’t have to worry about the bike.” He put a hand on Jamal’s arm. “Tomorrow, I’d like to move my mother to Ventain. It’s such a wonderful facility, Bunny. It’ll be great for her. Will you help me?”