All In:Playing the Fool(13)

"Pierce? No!"

"Yes! I'm no longer allowed to do the firms IT work, and if I have any  contact with Lacy he's firing our company and I'm out the door. Fucking  prick."

"Holy shit!"

"I need some anger management ASAP."

"God, that's fucked up."

"Tell me about it."

"I do have some good news for you. I talked to um, Katie, and she agreed  that after you turn in proof of twenty-five community service hours  she'll dismiss your case."

"That's something at least."

"Yeah, and I bet Jules could give you some hours at Safe Haven, right?" he asked.

Dylan had built my sister a multi-million dollar shelter for runaways,  which she managed. It was a great place that was already making a  difference. "Yeah, I'll check with her and let you know when I've  finished up."

"Damn, Will, I'm sorry about all this. Don't let Pierce get to you. And  your boss is not going to actually fire you over that overprotective  jackass."

He had no idea. The law firm's account basically paid my salary. If Bill  lost it, they'd get rid of me to cut their losses. "Right. Thanks, Joe.  I'll talk to you later," I told him, ending the call.

I dialed Dylan next.

"Will, I can't talk right now. I'm at work," he answered, clearly being sarcastic.

"Right. Do you think your boss will give you a lunch break today?" I asked.

"I don't know. He's a mean son of a bitch," he laughed. "Of course I can  take lunch. I can do whatever the fuck I want. Why, what's up?" he  asked.

"I'll tell you over a beer."

"A lunch beer? It must be bad."

"You have no idea."

"Alright. Ham's at noon?" he asked.

"Yeah, that'll work. See ya then."

I rode around just killing time, trying to calm my raging blood pressure  while waiting for lunchtime to roll around. I didn't even make it to  the restaurant before Joe called me back.

"Joe?" I answered.

"That son of a bitch!" he exclaimed in my ear, so loudly I had to pull the phone away.

"What's going on?"

"Now he's threatened my job!" Joe exclaimed.

"Pierce? What is wrong with that man?"

"He's fucking serious, Will. Leave Lacy the hell alone or we're all going to be unemployed! Jess too."         

     



 

"Oh God."

"You have no idea. The woman is in tears. He blames me and her for you  and Lacy getting together or some shit. We didn't even know about you  two until after the fact!"

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," he said with a sigh.

"You want to vent at lunch over a beer? I'm on my way to meet Dylan at Ham's right now."

"I'll be there. Probably with a hysterical Jess," Joe replied.

 …

"So let me get this straight. You got arrested last night for fucking that knockdown gorgeous blonde in public?" Dylan asked.

"Not really arrested, we were just given citations for indecent exposure."

"Hell, you should've received an honorary medal, not a citation. But  since she's some attorney's daughter you're now forbidden to see her?"

"Yeah. See or talk to her. No contact," I told him, as I chugged back my first beer, Daughtry's of course.

"And if you contact her, her dad will fire GCS, and in turn, GCS is  going to fire you?" GCS was short for Gate City Computer Solutions.  Yeah, it had another "C', but everyone skipped it.

"Yep."

"That would be awesome!" Dylan exclaimed.

"Excuse me? How the fuck is me getting fired awesome?"

"You can start your own company."

I gave him an exasperated sigh, knowing where this conversation was going. "No."

"Why not?"

"You know why not, and I don't want your fucking money."

"It'd be a business loan. You could make me a partner."

"No."

"We'll pull our contract with GCS and give it to you if you leave."

"No."

"Okay, then come be Daughtry's in-house IT administrator and manage all the breweries."

"No."

"Why the hell not? You could easily handle all of our shit, and as much  as we pay GCS we could hire our own damn IT department that you would  manage."

"No."

Luckily, Joe and Jess appeared to derail the conversation. The look on  both their faces made me feel even shitter. Even though I shouldn't, I  couldn't help but blame myself. Then Tyler showed up.

"My wife could get fired because you can't keep your dick in your  pants?" Tyler yelled, too loudly for public while in his police uniform.

"She's not going to get fired," I assured him. Jess gave me a reassuring half-smile.

"If she does then she can come be my assistant," Dylan chimed in.

Tyler, Joe and I all told him to shut his mouth.

"What? I need one, and Jess, I'll pay you double whatever that jackass's  firm is paying you, and give you all the time off you need for the  girls."

Her eyes widened and Joe groaned. "Quit trying to steal my assistant."

"Quit waving your goddamn money around," I told him, maybe a little  harsher than I should have. It sucked that he'd never had to worry about  keeping a job and paying bills. And maybe I was a little jealous that  my life had never been that easy. In fact, I bet Lacy's dad wouldn't  have minded a bit if she'd been screwing Dylan instead of me in public.

"Hell no!" Tyler yelled at Dylan. "She's not working for you, dickhead.  Don't think I've forgotten about that naked lap dance where your cock  'accidentally' ended up in her while the two of us were dating."

Jess's face turned red at the memory and so did Dylan's. Joe choked on  his beer, hearing that particular story for the first time.

I couldn't help but smile at the incident, which I'd been a very happy witness to.

"Wipe that smile off your fucking face and stop thinking about my wife naked," Tyler barked at me. Damn he was on edge today.

"Jess, do us all a favor. Get your man off a few times so he'll calm the  hell down," I told her. She giggled while Tyler glared icy blue daggers  at me.

"Speaking of getting off, what happened last night, Will?" Dylan asked with a smirk.

"Ooh ooh, let me tell it!" Joe was all too eager to jump in. "The cop  said he heard a woman's screams halfway across the parking lot and  approached the vehicle to investigate. When he reached the truck he saw a  topless woman," he cleared his throat and said in a deep, mocking tone,  "bouncing up and down on a man's lap."

Now my face was red.

"Damn, Will!" Dylan laughed. "Don't you know you're supposed to cover  her mouth? Well, unless your girl's an exhibitionist too, and in that  case-"

"Shut the fuck up," I told him, not wanting to hear about what he and my sister did together.

"I find that all very hard to believe," Tyler said. "Who was the cop?"

"C.B. Wright. You know him?" Joe asked.

"He's an older guy, sort of a jerk. I'll ask him what actually happened," Tyler said.         

     



 

"I swear, that's the story he told," Joe responded. "And I'm pretty sure he watched until they finished."

"Ew," Jess said.

I couldn't help my mind from replaying that night. Lacy looked so damn  amazing when she was frantically fucking me, and it had been incredible  to go bareback for the first time ever. Shit, I was hard just thinking  about it.

Oh God. I had to stop thinking about her. I wouldn't risk my friends'  jobs for her. Wasn't it a bitch that I wanted to see her even more now,  after I'd been told I couldn't?

"Aw. I'm sorry, Will. It sucks you met such an incredible girl and now you can't see her," Jess said, reading my mood.

"Yeah, it really fucking does."





Chapter Six




Lacy



I was so pissed at my father I didn't know what to do. I had to find a  job and get the hell out of his house so he'd stop trying to control my  life.

A few days later, after I'd been crashing at Kylie's to get away from my  dad, I parked in front of the huge Safe Haven estate and headed to the  front door. Jess, who was quickly becoming one of my favorite people on  the planet, told me about the new place for runaways and suggested I do  my community service with them. When I'd called earlier, I was surprised  to find out Will's sister Julie was managing the place. She happily  told me to come by any afternoon to get started. So, here I was on a  Friday night, giving back instead of going out with friends. I needed to  get the community service over with ASAP so I could find a job.

I'd had to show ID at the gatehouse, and when I walked in there was a  locked down foyer with a window where I waited to check in.

A man who looked to be a security officer let me through the door into  the facility, and led me to Julie's office. The security here was  impressive, but I guess it had to be to keep the kids safe.

"Hey, Lacy! Thanks for coming by to help out," Julie enthusiastically greeted me.

"Well, it's something I should be doing anyway, but now it's mandatory."