Page 44 of For the Love of the Broken Man

He unzipped his gown, reaching into the pocket of the new suit slacks he’d worn to pull out a flask of first-class bourbon. He toasted to himself—because he was all he had to depend upon—and he took a long sip before he put it away and pulled the mortarboard off his head where Brittany had secured it with bobby pins. He was examining how much of his hair had been pulled out when he felt a tug on his slacks. When he looked down to see Megan Wells, he grinned broadly as he picked her up.

“Oh, sweetness, I’ve missed you. Thank you for coming. Who else is here?” He kissed her cheek and looked into her beautiful brown eyes. Her brown ringlets had been tamed into a bun, and she looked as lovely as she’d ever looked to him. He’d missed her intensely.

“I missed you, too, Jase. You’re comin’ home, right?” she asked.

Home. Jon and Mickey’s… well, Ally and Ham’s... horse farm had become his home, though he always thought he’d have a home with Danny and Kayley Johnson. He felt tears in his eyes as he remembered the last time he’d seen them, and he knew he had to get ahold of himself before he completely melted down.

“I am, for a couple of weeks, at least. I have a job waiting for me, you know.” He kissed the adorable girl’s cheek again.

Mickey walked over to him and gave him a big hug. “So, honors in three years? I hate you.” Mick fingered the gold braided cord around Jase’s neck and pretended to choke him with it. Mickey had another year to go for his degree, but Jase respected the man more than he could say for all his accomplishments considering the challenges he’d faced.

Mickey Warren had a lot on his plate, and the late nights Jase had seen from his carriage house apartment window with the man at his computer taking tests and submitting worksheets in his online classes had impressed Jase enough to make him want to do the best he could, if for no one other than Mickey. The cowboy had been a mentor to him for several years, and Jase owed him a mountain of gratitude.

“Hey, I had a lot of luck on my side, along with those grants and scholarships you helped me find. I couldn’t have done this without you,” Jase admitted.

Mickey blushed, which surprised him. He’d missed him since Christmas. “Where’s Jon and Terry?” Jase asked as he looked around to see two family members missing.

“They’re outside,” Meggie answered as she wiggled to get down from Jase’s arms, which was a new thing. She usually loved being held.

Before the three of them had a chance to walk out of the pavilion to find Jon and Terry, Jase felt a pull on the back of his robe. He turned to see the one he wished he’d not let get away.

Devon Shea was a gorgeous guy from Boston. He had bright blond hair, cute freckles that speckled his milky white skin, and eyes as green as Mickey’s. Two dates, which had both been amazing, but Jase still cut him loose and came up with a lot of reasons why he couldn’t go out again. Jase determined himself to be a stupidly, stubborn man.

“I guess this is goodbye,” Devon said as he pulled on Jase’s hand, leading him into a more private area.

“Look, I’m sorry I was such a prick, but I wanted to get school behind me, and with your good looks, you had the potential to derail me, Dev. How about you? Prospects?” Jase asked, using the guy’s nickname.

The guy’s full name was Devon O’Donnell Shea, and he was as Irish as Irish could be, without the brogue. His build reminded Jase of Daniel Johnson, and that made him taboo. He wasn’t going down that road again.

“Law school, actually. Goin’ to Georgetown as a matter of fact. You?” the young Irishman asked.

“I’m going to work for a firm in Rockville. We should exchange numbers. You’re not that far away. I believe the metro goes to Georgetown, or somewhere nearby.” Jase offered a sexy smile as well.

Just then, he felt an arm around his waist and a head on his shoulder. He turned to see Mickey standing next to him with a bright smile. “Baby, who’s this? I’m Mickey, Jase’s someone. You’re a classmate?”

Jase was too dumbfounded to speak, but Dev wasn’t. “You truly are a fucker. Good luck.” He then stormed away, leaving Jase stunned as they stood in the lobby of the pavilion.

Jase wheeled on Mickey and had to fight an instinct to slug him. He’d worked out and built some muscle over the years. He played on an intramural softball team at school with some other geeks who were out to prove a point, plus, he’d taken up boxing along with yoga. At six feet, four inches, Jason Langston felt he was able to take care of himself, but what Mickey had done? That was unconscionable.

“What thefuuudge? That guy had no gag— What are you trying to do to me? He’ll be about ten miles away when I get a place in Rockville.” Yes, Jase was whining, but he was entitled. Dev was sexy as hell.

Mickey exhaled. “You are far too special for someone like that, Jason. Let’s go.” Jase threw his hands in the air in disbelief, but he followed Mickey outside anyway.

“We need to explain some things to you, Jason. There’s shit you need to know, and I’m not sure if you’ll hate all of us when you find out the truth, but it was never my idea for things to go this way. I was sworn to secrecy by Jonny’s attorney-client privilege, but you need the truth. You’re old enough to make your own decisions.” Mickey was cryptic as hell.

It was par for the course when it came to his friend. The guy talked in circles a lot of the time, but Jase knew Mickey loved him like a brother, so he was prepared to listen to whatever was on his mind.

Chapter Seventeen

“You’re a stubborn goddamn fool for not coming with us.” Mickey had chastised Danny over the phone for not going to Jase’s graduation.

Feeling like a fool wasn’t a strange emotion to Danny, but he still believed he’d been right. He’d done the hardest thing he’d ever set out to do, send Jason Langston off into a better life than Danny could ever provide for him. He’d kept tabs through the family, and he was proud of Jason, graduating in three years. Nobody could take that away from Jase.

“You tell me, Mick. If you were in my shoes, what would you do? He’s too damn special to be stuck here in Holloway with me or in Dillwyn with you shovelin’ horseshit. He has so much potential, he needs to move on with his life,” Danny had argued and ended the call.

Danny felt Kayley standing next to him with the beer he’d asked her to bring as he remembered the conversation they’d had the previous Sunday. It was Jason’s graduation day, and Danny wanted to be there more than anything, but Jason wasn’t his anymore.

Dan had no right to the man’s time or attention, but he could imagine how the ceremony would go without having to be there to witness it. He’d been to his own high school graduation, and the ceremony when he’d graduated from boot camp, so he knew the progression and activities involved in ceremonies of the sort. It was enough knowledge to feed the fantasy in his mind.

---