Page 5 of Tangled Desires

3

JAGGER

“Excuse me, what did you say?” I pull the phone away from my ear, thinking I must be hearing shit. After Luke and I had another beer, ate some dinner, and talked for a bit longer, we went our separate ways. Luke going to his condo near the hospital and me heading back home to my quiet place in the woods. That was three nights ago.

“I said Lyric was at your parents’ house today,” Jude tells me when I bring the phone back to my ear and gives me the exact same words a second time.

“What in the actual fuck is going on?” I grumble, not expecting an answer from my friend, more or less making a statement.

“Well, about that. You wanna meet the guys and me at Undercover Lovers? There’s a lot to fill you in on, and I’m just now getting the information after tapping into my resources.” I’d rather go to my parents’ house and figurethings out directly from the source, but my mom would run interference on any questions I’d toss Lyric’s way.

“Yeah, I’m done for the day anyways.” I put my phone on speaker. Nobody’s in the office at this time of day to hear what’s going on in my office. The laydown yard, where we keep supplies, house trucks, and have a trailer set up, is empty. There’s a small reception area where my administrative assistant sits, a small seating area, a bathroom, and my office is located in the back. The door I usually have closed is open. Joss tends to leave it that way after she says her goodbyes for the day. I was so absorbed and in my own bubble, I didn’t bother to tell her to shut it when she left. There are days I’ll have employees stagger in after completing a project to drop off paperwork on Joss’ desk, and if they see my door open, well, that usually means they get chatty, my work takes longer, and while I try to keep a somewhat open-door policy, the last thing I want is to be here till midnight.

“Good, don’t bother with food. Lennie made enough to feed an army, and everyone will be there. Apparently, the girls have news they want to deliver, too.” I already know what one the girls’ update will be, Winnie’s to be exact; she sent me a text yesterday with a attachment of a sonogram picture and a promise for me to keep quiet. While I give Johnny hell and aggravate the piss out of him, Winnie is like my baby sister, plus I’d never cross a line like that even though I pull enough shit to have him questioning me at times.

“Alright, I’ll be there in fifteen.” I grab my keys off the desk.

“Later.” Jude hangs up. I do the same with a press of abutton before scooping my phone up, depositing it in my pocket, then walk through the office. I turn out the lights and lock the door on my way out before heading to my truck. Since I knew I wouldn’t be on any job sites today, I didn’t bring my work truck, preferring a vehicle where the air conditioning works all the time instead of some of the time. I’ve worked on the near twenty-year-old truck so much, I gave up on dealing with certain things. As long as it’s still running and gets from one job site to the other, I’ll deal with the rest. On the days I don’t need the old beater, I drive the new truck. The Chevy Silverado High Country is a bit over the top, and it was a damn a splurge, but it’s also extremely comfortable.

The moment I hit the key fob, the headlights illuminate the dark sky and the doors unlock. My mind goes back to the news of Lyric being not only back in town but also at my parents’ house. That shit is messing with me. Jude told me she was back a month or so ago, except she really wasn’t at that time. Only that the house next door to my parents is now hers and apparently has been in their family’s name the whole damn time. I had no idea until Jude broke that down for me. I might see my parents on a weekly basis, but talking about the house next door doesn’t happen.

“Christ.” I climb inside, start the truck, and reverse out of the yard. We’ve added a third project manager and a second general contractor, plus summer is here, so we’ve got a slew of summer interns between the local high school and community college. The pay isn’t the best, and the job also doesn’t come with benefits, but the experience they’rereceiving will help beef up their resumes when the time comes for them to head into the real world.

I pull out of the parking lot of Jagged Edge Construction and head to Undercover Lovers.

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“You’regonna want a beer for this conversation.” Jude hands me one the minute I walk into Johnny’s office. True to his word, the place is crowded with our crew. The only ones missing are the kids: Briar, Kennedy and Trent’s daughter, who is from a previous relationship Kenny had, and Sebastian, Johnny and Winnie’s son, who’s been formally adopted by the two when Winnie’s sister passed away.

“Christ.” I grab the bottle and take a deep pull from it before making my way into the inner circle. The rate our group is growing, it won’t be too much longer until we’ve outgrown Johnny’s office.

“At least there’s food. We’ll let the girls feed us and wait for them to move off to the side before I give you the information on what I found out.” I nod my response and head toward our friends.

“How are you ladies doing?” I ask. My target just so happens to have two out of the four women. My arms wrap around Winnie and Maci’s shoulders, and I kiss each of them on the cheek.

“Never better,” Winn says. “What about you? Working hard or hardly working?” She pats my chest.

“You know me. A bit of both.” I give her a smirk.

“That sounds like a bullshit answer,” Maci replies, calling me on my lies. “I’m doing good. Finally done with the sickness that sneaks up at any given time or in the weirdest of places, and now we’re on to the planning part of the nursery.”

“Oh, and Kennedy has news. You may want to grab a bite to eat before everything commences,” Winnie says, grabbing a plate and piling it high with salad and bread. She’s been off meat the past few weeks. From what Johnny says, he can’t keep up with what she likes and doesn’t like.

“I think we can all guess what that is, too,” Maci says with a wink, then she heads to Tysen. I tip my head toward him, giving him a silent hello and a shit-eating grin. He saw where I beelined it, too, and there are two other ladies I still need to greet before heading to my brothers. Tysen shakes his head. He knows my game; they all do. Anything to get a rise out of them and to keep the focus off what I’ve got going on.

Lennie and Kenny are chatting away in the corner. I give them a few minutes to finish their conversation, and in the meantime, I finish my beer. I’ll be grabbing another one, then call it a night when it comes to drinking since I’ll be driving home. I could very well tie one on and one of the guys would drive me home, except four out of our group have a woman and their own family to get home to. The last singles in our group besides myself are Jude, the app developer in our group, Luke, the obstetrician and gynecologist,Matthew, the lawyer who came in handy when Kennedy’s ex tried to act like he wanted to be an active part of Briar’s life, popping in and out whenever he chose to, and Crew, our engineer, who also helps a lot at Jagged Edge.

Jesus, I need to get ahold of my damn self, figure out what Jude has to say about Lyric.

“Excuse me, can I have your attention, please,” Trent says, stopping me in my tracks. So much for Winnie spilling the beans about the gender of their baby. I’d bet anything Kennedy told the girls in their group chat, and Winnie decided to keep her news for another time.

“Trent and I have some exciting news we want to share with you,” Kennedy takes over. My eyes glance around the room, noticing everyone is aptly waiting to hear the news, but I’m pretty sure we can all figure it out. “I’m pregnant!” All the girls crowd in on Kenny, and while they did this to tell everyone, I’m pretty sure this is more for the girls than the rest of us. The guys make their escape after giving Kennedy a hug and a kiss, and I’ll wade in once things settle down.

“Alright, now that the girls are busy, Jude, go ahead. Take the floor and make it quick,” Asher says with sarcasm in his tone. Once the girls get to talking, nothing will stand in their way.

“As I told Jagger today, Lyric was at the house today and then stopped at your parents’. I’m not sure if she went there or your mom saw her and went over. You could always ask your parents, but that’s up to you. The other news I have sucks.” He pauses for a moment before he continues with his eyes on me. “Her mom passed away twelve or so years ago, battled with cancer. As much as she tried to fight it, nothinghelped. Her dad’s health declined as well. Lyric was and has been his primary caregiver up until he passed away this year from dementia.” I rock back on my heels. Fuck, that’s damn brutal. “I’m still waiting on more details about the house situation and what’s going down in that area. It might take a few more days. I do know Lyric isn’t sleeping there. She’s currently at Oak Haven Bed and Breakfast.”

“Well, damn,” Asher breathes. He must have gotten off work, grabbed Lennie, and came right over. He’s still wearing his blue firefighter uniform that he wears when he’s not on a call.

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