Jake hissed at the sharp shock of pain as Adam reared back and punched him right in the nose. Fuck. He hadn’t forgotten how to hit. And it was the second time that day that someone he gave a shit about had popped him. It was a shitty, shitty fucking day. He felt his nose.
“I didn’t break it.” Adam leaned against the wall.
“Hey, is there a problem?” A uniformed officer stopped and stared at both of them.
“Yes,” Jake replied, wincing at the pain in his nose. Adam hadn’t broken it, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt like hell. “My partner is an asshole. But you know what? He’s been that way since we went through basic together. It shouldn’t come as a surprise.”
“Ah, family matter. Well, my partner’s an asshole, too, but what are you going to do? He’s your brother, man.” The cop walked off, shaking his head.
Adam was his brother. Adam was the only family Jake had left. His parents never thought to call. Jake had to find them if he wanted to talk. His brothers had all moved on. And Jake was Adam’s only family.
“Are you going to forgive me?” Jake had to ask because suddenly he was a little worried about it. What the hell would he do without Adam? Adam had been his best friend for almost all of his adult life. He’d lived with Adam for most of that time. He’d come to just depend on the fact that Adam would always be there.
Adam was the one who planned out their days. Adam did all the little things that allowed Jake to do the big things.
They really were kind of an old married couple. Except without the sex. God, they needed Serena.
But he needed Adam, too. Somehow, someway, Adam had come to be more than just a friend. He was the odd other half of Jacob’s soul.
Adam was just staring as though trying to figure out how to handle him. But Jake was done being handled by everyone. He’d made that bed by being a taciturn son of a bitch and allowing Adam to handle anything even vaguely emotional because Jake didn’t want to deal with it. Adam had taken over with the women they shared. He’d taken over with their friends. All so Jake wouldn’t have to wade into the big, scary-ass emotional ocean. God, he’d been a coward.
“Adam, I don’t know what I would do without you, man. I really hope you can forgive me, because my life would suck ass without you, but I’m going after her with you or without you. You got me into this. You manipulated me until I fell hard for her. And I fucked up. But I won’t back down. She’s the one. She’s the one for us, but if you’re too chickenshit to try, then she can be the one for me.”
Finally, a little smile curved Adam’s mouth. It was his son-of-a-bitch smile, and Adam always used it when someone was challenging him and he decided to take it up. “You couldn’t get her without me.”
“I don’t even want to try,” Jake admitted. But he would.
“Jake, what happened?” Serena opened the door, and for the first time since he’d fucked everything up this morning, her eyes were wide with concern. “Your nose.”
“He pissed me off,” Adam admitted.
Serena walked toward him, her hands coming up, her whole body aflutter with soft, feminine concern. “He needs ice. Adam, how could you hit him?”
“After what he said to you, how could I not?” Adam asked.
Jake let his whole body sag. “I deserved it. I didn’t even punch him back. I’m sorry.”
Serena went a little pink. “There is no call for violence. We need to get him home. I think you’re going to have a black eye.”
Jake smiled at Adam as Serena moved around him. She put her hands on him for the first time since she’d slapped him. Her fingers smoothed across his arm as though she couldn’t quite withhold comfort.
He followed her to the car, listening to her lecture on how friends shouldn’t fight.
But he was going to fight. He was just glad he had his partner back. Now all they had to do was figure out who was trying to kill her.
Two days later, Adam was ready to tear his own hair out.
“Do you want another cup of coffee?” Adam looked down at Serena sitting at his desk, her laptop open. She stared at the screen, but as far as Adam could tell, she hadn’t written a single word in days.
“No, thank you.” She didn’t bother to look up, simply said as little words as she had to in that vacantly polite voice she used these days on anyone who wasn’t her dog, her best friend, or her gay husband. He was beginning to think of Chris that way. He’d sounded very husband-like the other day when he’d threatened to cut Adam’s balls off and make them the centerpiece of a lovely multimedia artwork he was planning in the near future.