Page 80 of Trade Deadline

I nod. “Yeah?”

“I’m not mad at you, Blaine. I’m not going to doubt you unless you give me a reason. I know you’ve been with a lot of people, but I’m not going to hold your past against you…” He sighs, then gives a small smile. “I was just taken aback by how jealous I felt about him touching you, that’s all.”

My heart leaps in my chest, and my words come out more gleefully than I expected. “You’re jealous?”

“Yeah,” he laughs, “I was tempted to come over and stake my claim on you, but then I realized I don’t need to do that.”

“Why not?”

Alex leans over, pressing his lips to mine, and ignores the heckles from my brother. “Because you staked your claim on me the other night in front of an arena full of people.”

Twenty-Four

Alex

“I’m reallyglad you’re feeling better.” I smile at my brother.

Jacob’s finally up and about. He’s gotten some color back in his cheeks, and thankfully, the wicked cough has gone.

“I never want to feel like that again,” he admits.

I’m not sure how he’s going to take this, but considering how sick he’s been from stress and burnout, I’m hoping he’ll take the suggestion I’m about to make seriously.

“About that… I’ve been doing some thinking…” I rub the back of my neck nervously, hoping he doesn’t immediately veto my idea. “I think it’d be a good idea to close the shop one day a week. It’s not healthy to work the hours you’ve been doing seven days a week. It’s not sustainable, and I don’t wanna see you get sick again.”

Jacob sighs, wrapping his hands around the hot cup of tea I made.

“We’ve been so busy this past week that I think we’ll be able to manage without losing too much income. We’re pretty much booked up for custom orders until after Valentine’s, and the demand’s been insane since Blaine helped out.”

A small smile plays on his lips. “I still can’t believe he stepped up like that.”

I laugh.

I’m still in disbelief that he didn’t hesitate to throw on an apron and jump around the counter.

“I know! That was some seriously good marketing, even if it was unplanned.”

He smiles, and I can tell he’s mulling my suggestion over as he takes a sip of tea.

“You need a rest, Jake, or you’ll burn yourself out again, and I don’t think I’d cope with seeing you hospitalized.”

“I know, you’re right.” He sighs, “I do think it would be a good idea; maybe we could do a Sunday or something?”

“That would work, plus it’s always the quietest day of the week.”

He nods. “Thank you for everything, for holding the fort while I was out. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

I take his hand across the table, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I love you. You mean the world to me, and I wanna take care of you. I know we’ve got shit to deal with, but we’ve got this, I promise. Your health comes first.”

Jacob’s smile is sad, but I know he means it wholeheartedly when he says, “I love you too, Alex.”

“Good, because I’ve offered to bake a cake to bring with us for Christmas.”

“You didn’t.” He rolls his eyes lovingly. “How many are going?”

“Um, Blaine mentioned it was him, Elliot, his parents, Zach, and the two of us.”

When I told Jacob that Blaine had invited us both to his place for Christmas day, I could tell he was hesitant.

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