Page 145 of The Wayward Son

J.T. cleared his throat. “I’m happy for you. But maybe she’s afraid you’re not thinking long term. Maybe she thinks you’re just in it for the…great sex.Maybeshe figures you don’t care one way or the other if she leaves.”

Sawyer was quiet for a few moments, then looked at J.T. “That’s a lot of maybes. Of course I’m in it for the long haul. I would hope she knows I’m not that shallow.”

“You’re not shallow, dude. Jade is fragile. I know she comes off all tough. But living with her dad had to have affected her self-worth.”

“She did tell me that she was afraid I would leave her at some point.”

“There you go. She just needs to be reassured.”

Sawyer shrugged. “Sage said Jade cried last night for a couple of hours. And Jade never cries. I mean never. One time, I saw her cry. She didn’t even cry when she had a broken arm and thought she’d killed her father with a piece of firewood.”

“I’d say that’s a pretty good sign she doesn’t really want to leave.”

Sawyer drank the shot. “I asked her to leave last night. She wanted to stay and talk it out. But I was too shocked and pissed off.”

J.T. laughed. “I can understand your reaction. But she might have taken it as rejection.”

“Sage says being an idiot about relationships runs in the family. She says the O’Connell men are all idiots.” He drank some beer. “Except Dad. Dad’s not an idiot.”

J.T. finished his beer. “I think it’s about time we smashed some balls around.”

Sawyer and J.T. played several games of pool along with several more shots of tequila for Sawyer. After a while, it all became a blur in Sawyer’s mind and he suddenly found himself in front of the barn with no memory of how they got there. He looked out the window as J.T. came around and opened the door.

“Come on, kid. Let’s get you upstairs.” Sawyer put a foot onto the ground, then fell into J.T.’s arms. J.T. grunted. “Jesus, you weigh a ton.”

“Weightlifting.”

“Yeah. I know. You can probably bench press me.” He glanced at Sawyer. “Not tonight. But when you’re sober.”

“Can we try that sometime?”

“No. Come on. Give me some help. Get your feet under you and walk.”

Sawyer took a breath and stood up straight. “How’s this?”

“Better.”

Decker and Mick ran up to them to see why the men were disturbing their sleep.

Sawyer smiled at the dogs. “Hey guys.”

Decker gave a small “woof” and jumped up on Sawyer’s leg, nearly knocking the both of them over.

J.T. shooed them. “Get down. And go on back to bed, guys.” The dogs lingered a moment longer, then headed back for the front porch and their dog houses.

The men started moving toward the barn and when they got to the door, J.T. leaned Sawyer against the wall. “Stay there. I need to open the door.” Sawyer stayed while J.T. slid the heavy wooden door open just wide enough for the two of them to walk through it. Then he put an arm around Sawyer and they crossed the barn to the stairs.

J.T. stopped at the bottom and looked up at the door. “Okay, hang in there. We need to get up the stairs.”

“Got it. Stairs, no problem.”

They made it up the stairs and into the loft, then J.T. pulled Sawyer’s coat off and dropped him onto the couch. “Okay. Let me get a fire started for you. Can you take your boots off?”

Sawyer stared at his boots for a moment. “Nope.”

J.T. sighed, then knelt in front of Sawyer and pulled off his boots. “Stand up and take your pants off. I’m not helping you with those.”

Sawyer nodded, then stood up. After taking a moment to steady himself, he unbuckled his belt and unzipped his pants. They dropped to the floor, and he sat down, then kicked them the rest of the way off.

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