Page 36 of For the Love of the Broken Man

Mickey slid an envelope across the table to him with Danny’s name on it. “Would you give that to Dan, please? Jon was gonna mail it, but it’s easier for you to take it with you.

“Now, why didn’t you remind me about the birthday party? I’m so damn caught up in our life here with our kids, I don’t think about things with the otherkids in the family. Jonny and I can’t come, but I’da made sure you could get there Jase. From now on, you’ll get Saturday afternoon, Sunday, and Monday off. You have Ally’s truck to use, so you go to Holloway as much as you’d like.”

Jase couldn’t believe his ears, so he simply nodded.

“Now, let’s talk about something a little more serious.” Mickey placed a box of condoms—multi-sized—on the table and next to it, a bottle of lube. Jase felt his face catch fire.

“Oh, stop it. You’ve got virgin written all over you, and based on your upbringing, I’m gonna guess you have a lot of questions, so ask ‘em,” Mickey demanded.

Once again, Jase felt giddy at the prospect of having someone care about him. Tears sprung into his eyes and fell before he could stop them. “Shit, kiddo. We love ya here. You’re like a little brother to me, and Meggie and Terry think you’re the best thing since sliced bread. I hope you won’t leave, but I know how much love pulls us in directions we never suspected.

“So…Let’s talk about sex.” Mickey began singing a song Jase had heard on a ‘90s radio station at Savannah’s house once. Jase cracked up. The guy was so damn great at breaking the tension, it made Jase wonder how he ever lucked into getting a job at Wonderland.

And talk about sex they did. For an hour, Mickey regaled him with details regarding blow jobs, frottage, sixty-nines, rimming, and anal intercourse.“Make sure you use protection, Jase. Sex is incredible, but it’s not worth dying over. After you start having sex, I’ll give you the name of our doctor so you can start getting tested. Make sure Danny gets tested, too, and use condoms.”

That part of the discussion was something that shocked Jase a little, but he remembered sex ed in school and knew what Mickey wasn’tsaying, explicitly. He was right. Better safe than sorry.

An hour later, Jase was standing at the French doors of the main house with his bag in hand. He looked down at his scruffy sneakers and knew he needed to make a few stops before he got to Danny.

He let himself into the house, seeing Miss Ally sitting at the center island with her cell phone. “Hang on, Clarice.”

Ally took the phone from her ear and smiled. “Can you take these for us? I should have mailed them, but I was so caught up with things here I forgot.” She handed him two cards.

“Yes ma’am.” Jase accepted the two envelopes she extended.

“When’s your birthday, Jason?” she asked with her sweet smile.

“It was in May, ma’am.”

“Taurus or Gemini?” she asked.

“Um, I think it’s almost both. May 20th is my birthday, and on some astrological calendars, I’m one or the other.”

Ally laughed and pulled him forward, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “You have fun in Holloway, Jason. Say hello to everyone for Ham and me, will you?”

Jase could only nod because she reminded him so much of DeAnne Stanford, he felt his heart lurch. He was glad he’d brought the cell phone the girls had given him so he could call Savannah to extend his best wishes to her family. If he thought about it, he’d been blessed… he just hadn’t realized it until that moment.

As Jase drove US-460, he felt pretty good about all he’d accomplished that day, even if it meant he wouldn’t get to Danny’s house until about six o’clock that evening. He’d opened a checking account and been able to take out some money so he could buy gifts for Ryan and Rocky for their birthdays and get something for his Kayley.

He also wanted to take Danny and Kayley out for dinner, hopefully on Sunday night before he had to leave Monday morning to return to Dillwyn. The party was on Saturday, and he was excited about it. Mickey had told him it was a lot of fun.

When he turned off US-460 onto SR-131 leading into town, Jase thought about the discussion he’d had with Mickey that morning.“You won’t be a pro at everything, but if you were, Danny would worry if you lied about not having experience, so just ask him what he likes. I had to do it with Jonny, and he gave me a road map to all his hot buttons. You can’t do anything wrong—well, don’t use teeth, but other than that, you’ll be fine.”

He knew Mickey was referring to giving a blow job when he mentioned not to use his teeth. As Jase thought about it, he could understand why. The pain of scraping teeth—not sexy at all.

When Jase pulled in front of Danny’s house, he saw nobody was home, not surprisingly. He hopped out of the truck to place his bag on the porch before he took a deep breath because he wasn’t exactly prepared to show upat the ranch.

He knew the Friday swim party was at Marty and Miss Jeri’s house because they had the pool, as Kayley had told him when they’d spoken on the phone a few weeks prior. He got back into the truck, backed out of the driveway, and drove to the ranch.

When he arrived at the Circle C, Jase drove down to the barn, sure he’d find someone there. He walked into the large building, seeing a hot guy in a baseball cap with the bill facing backward as he brushed down a dark brown horse. “Um, hi,” Jase greeted.

The guy turned to hm and smiled. “Hey. I’m Jeremy Brown, one of the summer hands here. Can I help ya?” The guy seemed to be about the same age as Jase.

“I’m looking for Danny Johnson. I’m Jase.”

Jeremy chuckled as he continued to brush the horse. “I just started working here, but I’ve heard about you from little Kayley. Are you Jase Langston?”

Jase couldn’t help the smile. His Kayley had been talking about him. “I am.”

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