I’ll get the street cred I’ve been looking for since I joined this brotherhood. Fuck, all I have to do is find this bitch that ran away.
Chapter Seven
JACK
I don’t want to be a shitty son, but I watch as Mom’s call goes straight to voicemail.
When it shows up as a message, I hit Play.
“Hello, Jack. Your dad and I are on speakerphone,” Mom says.
“Afternoon, son.” Dad’s gravelly voice comes through the message. “Just calling to check in. Your mother wanted me to be here when she—”
Mom cuts in. “You’ve only been gone twenty-four hours after coming home because you needed to regroup after that mess with Ashley, and already Linda from down the street called to tell me you have a new lady according to some photos on glamour.com. Jack, I don’t know what game you’re playing, but when a girl’s heart is involved it’s no joke.”
“Well, I don’t think this is about hearts and true love, Sadie,” Dad says, laughing softly. “Think this is about our boy sowing wild oats.”
“Oh, Hudson, enough with that.”
“Jack, just give your poor mother a call.”
The message ends and I toss my phone aside.
All afternoon I’ve been dealing with this shit. One phone call after another. Publicist, agent—those I took. Ace, Landon, McQueen—well, I didn’t answer those. What the fuck was I supposed to say, after Tess explicitly requested I say zilch about her and me, about last night?
God, my cock twitches at the memory of her soft skin and dirty mouth.
The only person I haven’t heard from is Tess, and I’m hoping that’s because she hasn’t seen the shit show. I’ve tried to call her a few times, and it went straight to voicemail.
The only thing I can’t figure out is who would have told the photographers to come here.
But they must have known. And the fact that mere hours after the pictures were taken they were already posted to online gossip sites adds suspicion to the whole thing.
Someone presses the intercom from the lobby, wanting to be let in.
“It’s me, asshole.” Ace’s voice comes through the speaker, and I get up to let him in.
When the elevator opens into my loft, out come the boys. I look around, relieved that their women aren’t with them. I can’t fucking deal with them, too.
“What the hell, man? You sleep with her and then sic the press on her?” Ace asks.
McQueen walks straight to my fridge and grabs a beer, pops the cap with his key, and takes a swig. I follow his lead and grab a few more, then hand one each to Landon and Ace.
“It’s not like I did it on purpose,” I explain. “I feel like shit.”
“For sleeping with her?” Landon asks, plopping down on my couch.
“Why would I feel like shit for that?”
“Because it’s Tess, asshat,” Ace says, shaking his head. “Tess has had a thing for you for months. It’s not cool to, like, mess with her. You have any idea how much bitching I’ve listened to today over this? Tess wouldn’t answer Emmy’s calls, so the girls all went over there to find out what happened.”
“Nothing happened. We hung out. She fell asleep. Bad timing with the news story. Nothing that exciting.”
“You already said you slept with her, idiot,” McQueen snorts.
“You guys really come over here to chew me out for this thing with Tess?”
“We came over to chew you out on behalf of our women,” Landon says. “Claire seems to think Tess is this innocent princess who will be ruined if you sink your teeth into her.”
“Why is your woman hating on me? I’m not a player like you guys.”
“Yeah right. Before Ashley, how many women did you sleep with?” Ace asks.
“I have no fucking clue.”
“That’s something a player says. The girls seem to think Ashley had your nuts in a grip for the past year, and now the moment you’re free you’re gonna become a sex addict.”
“Sex addicts and players are two different things,” I say, raising an eyebrow. Hell, I had Tess once and I already feel like I’m going through withdrawals. And, oddly, I have no desire for anyone else.
“For the record,” McQueen says. “JoJo doesn’t care who you sleep with as long as it’s not me.”
“Why the fuck would JoJo think I’d sleep with you, dick weed?” I ask.
He looks offended. “I’m McQueen, everyone wants me.”
Ten minutes with these guys, and my head is starting to pound. The last thing I wanted was to hurt Tess, and now these guys are sitting here saying I have.
“Okay, you fuckers can stay and drink my beer and avoid your women. I’m gonna go find Tess and apologize. See? Not a player. I’m a fucking man.”