Page 75 of Jordan

It didn’t matter that Jordan was someone different when he wasn’t with Hartley and me. What mattered was how he was with us and the people he cared about. None of us were saints. Jordan just was closer to the fires of Hell than we were.

34

JORDAN

I was softening, wasn’t I? What else could explain the reason why I sat at the table at my son’s house and had a fucking conversation with Greer Lynx, of all people? Did they slip me a drug? Or was this who I was now?

“Did you see the system I installed on Vail’s house?” he asked.

“No, but I heard you do good work.”

“Good?” He scoffed. “Try fucking amazing. I designed it myself. You can’t buy that anywhere. You should think about having me install it on your building. I haven’t done a commercial project yet, but I could.”

I leaned forward, staring him dead in the eye. “What is happening right now?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why the fuck are we getting along?”

He cocked his head. “You don’t know either? I have no clue, but I figured I’d go with it. It’s so strange.”

“Jesus,” I muttered and leaned back.

Hartley’s hand stroked over my thigh, a calming presence on the other side of me. How did I even sit next to Greer? Seriously, what the fuck?

I looked around for Vail, but he was nowhere in sight. After pressing a quick kiss to Hartley’s lips, I stood, putting much needed distance between Greer and myself. If I didn’t, we’d probably end up trading friendship bracelets or comparing the size of our guns. My gun was bigger, by the way. It always was.

In the kitchen, I found Vail giving cooking tips to Jordan. They were going over spices and the best meals to add them to.

Vail heard me come in and peered at me over his shoulder with a grin. “Do you want a lesson too?”

I couldn’t resist the pull to him. I wrapped my arms around his waist from behind and put my chin on his shoulder. “I don’t need one. I have you.”

“You should still learn.”

“I have Irene too.”

“He’s got you there,” Jordan chuckled. “You should come over more often. Greer’s good at cooking, but you’re better.”

“Doesn’t Xaiden cook often?” Vail asked.

“He does but he’s really into healthy shit.”

A groan came from behind me. “Half of it is edible,” Dexen said. “The other half is green shit in a blender. Don’t even get me started on the jackfruit. I don’t care what my brother says. It doesn’t taste like meat.”

My son put his arm around his partner, pulling him close. “That’s your brother you’re talking about.”

“Yeah, that’s why I can say it. And I do to his face.”

“Cody’s a good cook,” Vail said. Cody was Xaiden’s adopted son. Vail told us Cody and his partners had a cooking lesson with him.

“He is, and he doesn’t stick to only healthy ingredients.”

I felt Vail laugh against me. “That’s because he has to cook for Milo. He packs it away like a squirrel getting ready for winter.” Cody and Milo were in a relationship with Slater Meadows, Dash’s brother. I needed a fucking chart to connect all the people in their circle.

Theirs. Not mine. I wasn’t part of anyone’s friend group.

Never before had I thought about socializing. Why would I? I had multiple businesses to run and people who depended on me. I couldn’t cultivate friends doing that, especially given the nature of some of those businesses. But here with Vail in my arms and the infectious way he laughed, I wanted those friends for him and Hartley. I didn’t want to hold them back or keep them from enjoying their lives.

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