OVERTIME (39 page)

Oh, fuck. Was it too late? Could Colton forgive him for allowing his insecurities to tear them apart? He didn’t know, but he was determined to find out and he couldn’t wait another minute. He wanted…no, he
needed
Colton in his arms again.

Abruptly he stood up, smiled briefly at the woman still standing next to him, and then tore down the hall in the direction he’d last seen Donald headed. His heart thundered as his head swiveled from side to side, searching for the man. In the final office at the end of the hall, he saw Donald sitting at a desk, black glasses askew as his fingers worked wildly on the keyboard in front of him. Jagger knocked politely but then barged in without waiting for a response. Hell, he didn’t have a minute to spare. His heart could explode at any minute.

“Sir, I’m sorry but I won’t be able to accept the job. I know this is incredibly unprofessional and I apologize, but it wouldn’t be fair to either of us if I stayed. Thank you for giving me a chance. I just…I just need to go. This isn’t the place for me. This isn’t me. I belong somewhere else.” He was rattling on ninety miles an hour and pretty much just staying the same nonsense over and over again. Finally, he said the only thing that did make sense, “I belong to
someone
else.”

Chapter 22

“Oh, please, Colton. Stop being such a pussy. I just want to make sure the cuffs work properly. I’m excited about my new toys! It’s my first shipment and I’ve got to try it all out. Let me strap you in.” Landry rolled his eyes in Colton’s direction. “It’s not like I’m going to molest you or anything. Jeez. Grow some balls, why don’t
ya
?” He teased.

Colton had been nothing more than a walking zombie since Jagger had pulled his vanishing act. His eyes were empty and his face was blank. Watching him suffer was nearly killing all of them. Rory was ready to fly to Kentucky and drag Jagger back, kicking and screaming or tied up nicely in a tight little ball, he didn’t really care which way as long as he brought him back. Riley was torn between wanting to protect his friend and support Rory, which was pretty much impossible since those contradicted each other. The rest of the guys were just trying to steer clear of Colton and pray that Jagger came to his senses and realized what he was walking away from. Landry knew exactly what was tumbling around in Jagger’s head. He might not have been in love yet, but he was a professional at shit-tumbling in the head. He wished there was some way he could help these guys understand. Things that made perfect sense to them could be a complete fog to him and Jagger. It wasn’t that his friends were looking at life through rose-colored glasses. He and Jagger were just looking through a dark cloud.

“I’m not in the mood, Landry. Can’t you use one of the other guys for your BDSM guinea pig?” Colton was lying on the stage, his head resting on a bundled-up tablecloth. He felt and looked miserable. He would have stunk too, but Landry had literally forced him to take a shower before he’d drug him down to the club to see all the new sex furniture that had arrived earlier in the day. He’d tried begging off, but Landry, persistent little shit, would have none of it, regardless of how much he complained about every inch of his body aching. He was painted with black and blue bruises—not on the outside, but his insides were beaten to the point he was nearly unrecognizable. “Just leave me alone, okay,” he pleaded weakly.

“Stand up, pussy. I need a warm body,” Landry ordered, not cutting him an inch of slack. He knew how dangerous it was to wallow in one’s own self-pity. God knew he’d done it enough in his life. He glanced at his watch. “We can leave after this, I promise.”

“I’ll do it,” Riley grumbled. “Leave the pussy in peace. He’s suffering enough without having your wrist and leg cuffs attached to him, too.” Riley stood up and started toward the stage but Landry froze him in his spot with a dirty glance. “What? I’m just trying to be helpful,” Riley argued.

Landry gave another eye roll. “You aren’t being helpful be enabling his depression, Riley. He can’t spend the rest of his life whining and crying over the one that got away. Anyway, I’ve told all of you that Jagger just needs some time to come to terms with falling in love. It’s not as easy for us damaged yet beautiful guys.” He tugged Colton up into a standing position and dragged him over to the St. Andrew’s cross he had sat up in the middle of the stage. The idiot griped and complained with every step. Landry ignored him with every step. “Seriously, how many times did I run away from you guys before I learned you could be trusted with my heart?” He asked. His hands were planted on his hips and he was sending a glare to every guy in the room. Riley looked confused. The rest of the group looked guilty.

“That’s different, Landry. He was supposed to be
in love
with Colton. You shouldn’t run away from the one you love,” Rory argued. Yeah, Rory was the maddest. Landry suspected it was because he didn’t want Colton to get hurt but he also understood why Jagger was struggling and that made it even tougher because he couldn’t just hate Jagger for running. He had witnessed too much at Haven not to understand.

Landry puffed up. “I might not have been in love with you idiots but I loved you…and I still ran away. It terrified me. In my mind, I wasn’t worthy of breathing the same air as you did.”

“That’s bullshit,” Colton growled.

His eyes were still dull but at least this conversation was adding a tiny spark of anger to their beautiful green shade.

Landry snapped one wrist into a cuff. “It might be bullshit to you, but it was my reality and I bet its Jagger’s reality, too.” He trapped the other wrist into the cuff and locked it. “Comfy?”

A small smile tugged at Colton’s lips. “No, it’s not comfy. I prefer to do the restraining, not the other way around.” He tugged at the restraints but they held firm. “I’m putting my trust in
you, Landry. You told me to give him some time. I’m giving him five days and then I’m going the fuck after him. Hearing you say shit like you didn’t think you were worthy to breathe our same air? That shit makes me mad and sick at the same time. See, we feel totally opposite—we think we aren’t worthy to be with you guys. You’ve both been through so damn much and you still walked away from it like a hero. You’re about to open your own business and Jagger earned a fucking basketball scholarship and graduated with a 4.0 GPA. Why the hell can’t either of you see that?”

Landry shrugged, tired of the speech that made perfect sense yet couldn’t penetrate his self-loathing. “Spread your legs. I’ve got to get these ankle cuffs on you,” he answered like Colton hadn’t just screeched his heart out. From the corner of his eye, he saw Rory stomp off in a huff, heading straight for the exit. They both always became furious whenever he talked negative about himself. Now he guessed he could add Jagger to that list, too. Over-protective, loving bastards. He didn’t have a clue what he would do…where he would be without them.

“Are you even listening to me, Landry?” Colton hissed but spread his legs at the same time. “You’re as bad as he is. No matter what I saw, neither of you will accept how beautiful you are.” He allowed Landry to trap his other ankle into the cuff. “It’s fucking frustrating, Landry.” Looking down at the younger man that had stolen all their hearts, his own heart filled with love but it only made the ache for Jagger hurt him even more. The boys looked totally opposite but their eyes were haunted by the same sadness.

He couldn’t imagine Jagger being alone in Kentucky right now. What if he cut himself? What if he got depressed, lost the little bit of confidence he’d gained? Hell, he would have even sent Riley to be with him if he’d thought it would help. Landry had insisted it wouldn’t. Five days and he had three under his belt already. He could do this.
Dear Lord, please let him realize how much I love him and make him come back to me
.

Landry stood up. They still weren’t eye to eye since Landry was a tiny little thing but his eyes were latched onto Colton’s gaze. “We may be frustrating, Colton, but I assure you,
we are well worth the wait.”

“I already know he’s worth the wait. Hell, he’s worth
everything
to me, Landry. I’m just sick with worry that he won’t come back to me. What if he hurts himself? What if I’m not
enough
?”

Landry just continued to smile at him. It was beginning to piss Colton off. He was tired. He was sad. He wanted to go back to his boat and hit the bottle. He didn’t want to deal with well-meaning friends at the moment. Fuck, he wanted Jagger back. That’s the only thing that would make this better.

“It’s nothing to smile at, Landry. My freaking heart is breaking and you’re standing there grinning like the cat’s-meow. What the fuck?”

“You just look so cute all tied up like that. It’s pretty hot. Maybe I should take a pic and sent to Jagger? That might make him come running back,” Landry teased.

Well, at least Colton had thought he was teasing but the bastard whipped his phone out and took a picture. Landry wasn’t usually so brutally insensitive.

****

Rory stormed toward the door. He was pissed at Jagger for breaking Colton’s heart. He was pissed at Colton for letting his heart get broken—he should have tied Jagger’s ass to a bed and forced him to stay! He was super pissed at Riley for refusing the whole ‘bottoming’ thing because
clearly
, he was the bottom in their relationship. Then add Landry’s dumbass comments about not being good enough to all of that, and he thought he might be about to blow a gasket. If Riley didn’t give it up soon, he was going to explode right in his pants like a high schooler.

He needed some fresh air and he needed it about ten minutes ago. So lost in the rantings going on inside his mind, he wasn’t paying any attention and ran smack-dab right into somebody coming through the door as he was going out. An apology froze on the tip of his tongue when he saw who it was.

Jagger—the breaker of his best friend’s fucking heart. He was torn between punching him in the face and hugging him tight enough to break him in two. At the very least, he wanted to run back into the club, grab one of Landry’s leashes, smack that bad boy right around Jagger’s neck, and then hand the lead over to Colton. Instead of acting on any of those brilliant ideas, he growled, “What the hell are you doing here? Didn’t you do enough damage your last visit?”

Rory felt bad. He really liked Jagger and knew Colton loved him. Hell, he even half-way understood why the poor kid had run away but even that knowledge couldn’t stop him from being pissed because Colton had been jerked around by the pretty little fucker his entire adult
life. He knew parts of what Jagger had been through, knew he’d been beaten by his parents, but he still stood his ground, glaring down and invading Jagger’s personal space. He didn’t touch, but he damned well did everything but that. He expected Jagger to turn tail and run…then he would have to go after him because if Colton heard he’d ran the Wildcat off again, he would be dead meat!

Jagger stood his ground—didn’t even back up a baby step.

“I’m sorry about what happened, Rory, but I really don’t have time for you to kick my ass for it right now. We can get to that some time tomorrow. Right now, the only thing I know is that you are standing between me and the man I want.” He took a step toward Colton, causing their chests to bump against each other. “Move. Please.”

Inside, Rory was applauding. Outside, he kept his angry mask securely in place. “You
gonna make me, Wildcat?”

“Well…yeah, if you make me, I guess I will,” Jagger answered slowly. “Colton belongs to me and I want him. He’s
mine
.”

“Is he, now? Since when? Last I heard, you scampered away from Key West and Colton like a scared little kitty-cat instead of a wildcat.” Rory leaned casually against the door frame, his huge body blocking the only path to Colton. He tried to look as intimidating as he could. There were reassurances from Jagger that Rory needed because regardless of how he felt about the kid, his main objective was to protect his best friend. “Colton’s not really a kitty-cat kind of guy so maybe you’d best just run along.” He glanced over his shoulder. “He’s kind of tied up tied up right now, anyway.”

Being mean to Jagger was one of the hardest things he’d ever done. What would be even harder was falling down on his knees and begging Jagger to forgive him when he tried to run away. Fuck, he was confused. He’d learned a lot while working with Haven, but he wasn’t equipped to handle Jagger. Not even close. The boy was all kinds of frustrating.

Jagger stood as still as a frozen ice figure, hard and unmoving but cold and untouchable. He throat worked, causing his Adam’s apple to bob up and down. Rory could see his chest moving as his heart thumped wildly against its prison. There was a vulnerability swirling in his dark blue eyes, but there was also a strength he hadn’t noticed before.

“Hurt me tomorrow, Rory. I deserve it,” Jagger spoke softly. “Tomorrow. Right now I need to see Colton. I need to touch Colton. Please don’t try to stop me,” he pleaded.

Rory wilted. “Nobody’s going to hurt you, Jagger,” he whispered. His hands itched to reach out and cup the side of his face, but he knew touching was off-limits for Jagger, so he kept them crossed over his chest. “Nobody’s ever going to hurt you again and you do
not
deserve it,” he stressed. “I just need to know you’re really here this time. Colton has been a walking dead man since you left. If you don’t, or if you
can’t
love him, please don’t keep messing with him. That boy loves you more than he loves his own life. You have some much power…so much control over him. Don’t abuse it, okay?”