Page 33 of Jayce

With the hand she holds out for me, the sting of rejection quickly evaporates.

Neither of us men nor our love can comprehend the mutual pain they share.

As much as it hurts me, I release Shay’s hand and step back, allowing her to weep with Priscilla. She doesn’t hesitate to pull Cill in closer as they bury their faces on each other’s shoulders.

Nikolaos walks over with two beers. Anjal places his arm around my back, and I reciprocate.

We both watch helplessly as the women who hold our hearts break down. Until they explain their onslaught of emotions, I can only assume they are feeling a combination of hurt and relief.

“What’s the matter with you two? Nik, napkins, something. Gosh, are y’all just going to gawk or do something useful?” Tara says from behind us.

Nikolaos rushes over with a roll of paper towels. “You’re not allowed in here,” he scolds Tara.

She takes the roll and tears off pieces, slipping them into Shay and Cill’s hands.

“Did you already forget I turned eighteen yesterday, Nik?”

He tries pulling her off to the side, but she refuses to budge.

Her presence has momentarily distracted our mates who’ve turned to watch how this plays out.

“This is a bar, Tare, twenty-one and up,” Nikolaos grits out through a clamped jaw.

Shay moves beside Tara with Priscilla, joining on the opposite side. They circle their arms around the new adult’s waist.

Shay speaks up before Tara can defend herself. “Eighteen-year-olds can enter bars. I know because I walked into them with my friends for three years in college before I could drink.”

“What she said?” Tara adds.

“Fine, Tare, but why would you want to come in here when you can’t drink?” Nikolaos looks like he might have an aneurism at any moment.

“I need a job.”

He steps back. “Doing what?”

“Anything. Wiping down tables. Washing dishes. Serving.”

A throat clears behind us. Nikolaos sighs with relief. I’m sure Tara will resume her plea in a bit, despite Nikolaos booking it behind the bar as fast as his feet will carry him.

“I know I didn’t get a 9-1-1 text because of a domestic squabble,” Willow jokes.

Chapter 23

Shay

I sit in the booth next to Jayce. The lightbulb above our table burned out, making it dimmer than it usually is at Twins.

I nurse on my glass of wine as my thoughts travel back over the last weeks living with Jayce.

I’ve barely scratched the surface of the rabbit hole I’d sunk into when my attention’s yanked back to reality by the entrance of a woman.

At first, I can’t explain why my heart’s suddenly in my throat. I glance at Jayce out of the corner of my eye, before locking eyes with Priscilla’s, whose back is to her. Cill lifts her nose and sniffs the air. Like a bolt of thunder, we both gasp at the realization that our birth mother just stepped inside.

My mind races, emotions swirl, and I struggle to maintain composure. Damian falls to his knees at the woman’s feet like gravity quit working for him momentarily. I turn my head at the odd gesture.

My shock doesn’t allow me to hear what he’s saying to this woman who had been a mystery until recently.

I have a mother. I have a father. The two people who loved and raised me.

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