Page 56 of Jesse
We were pulling double orders, both of us working in silence by the end of the night, too tired to do anything but move.
Jackson had offered to drive Beck home since I was still closing the truck down, and Beck, with shadows under his eyes and flour still on his cheek, hadn’t argued. Neither had I.
We needed sleep. Heck, I still needed sleep. The banging continued, and I groaned again, throwing an arm over my face.
“Alright, alright,” I muttered, dragging myself out of bed, every muscle in my body protesting.
My apartment was still dim, the morning sun just beginning to creep through the blinds. I shuffled to the door barefoot, rubbing the heel of my hand against my eye.
When I opened it, I blinked at the figure on the other side.
“Colton?” I croaked. “What’s up, cousin?”
He didn’t smile. Arms crossed, brow pinched. He had that look, the one that said I’d screwed something up and he’d been elected to handle it.
“Cooper asked me to check on you,” Colton said dryly. “You weren’t answering your phone.”
“My phone?” I echoed, confused for a beat. Then it hit me. “Dang it. I forgot to charge it. I passed out last night.”
He stepped inside, and I closed the door behind him with a yawn.
“Sorry, man. I was completely zonked. I think I fell asleep with my shoes on,” I told him.
Colton’s sharp gaze swept the apartment, pausing on the clean counters, the folded blanket on the couch, and the faint scent of Beck still clinging to the air.
He raised an eyebrow. “It’s clean.”
I snorted. “Yeah, well, Beck stays over sometimes. I don’t want him stepping over dirty laundry.”
His brow twitched upward again, and I braced myself for the teasing. But instead, his tone shifted to serious. The kind of tone we didn’t use unless it was about pack matters.
“Jesse,” he started, crossing his arms again. “It’s good the food truck’s doing well. And I’m happy for you and Beck, really. But you can’t keep letting your pack responsibilities fall through the cracks.”
That woke me up faster than a triple shot of espresso.
“I know,” I said, running a hand through my hair, trying not to sound defensive, even though the frustration bubbled up almost immediately. “It’s not like I’m out here partying. I’m working my ass off.”
“I’m not saying you’re not,” Colton replied calmly. “But you’ve missed a pack meeting, skipped a run, and Cooper mentioned you not showing up when he wanted to brief the enforcers about patrol changes.”
I clenched my jaw. Okay, maybe I had ignored some of the things I should’ve been paying attention to, but I never did well under pressure.
With everything piling up, I chose to pour my energy into the truck and into keeping Beck safe.
“I didn’t forget because I don’t care, Colt. I’m exhausted. Beck and I have been pushing to keep up with demand, and I’m still doing my part to keep him safe. I haven’t let my guard down,” I said.
“That’s the other thing,” Colton said carefully. “If it’s too much, trying to run the truck, protect Beck, and fulfill your role, you could ask Cooper to reassign another enforcer to Beck’s detail. Just temporarily. Give you space to focus on one thing at a time.”
My blood turned hot in an instant.
“What the hell do you mean?” I demanded.
He held up a hand, but the damage was done. My wolf lunged forward, bristling under my skin, teeth bared, hackles raised.
The thought of someone else watching over Beck, protecting him, dug under my skin like barbed wire. My vision pulsed, my fists curling tight at my sides.
“He’s mine,” I snapped, the words slipping out before I could think to temper them. “I don’t need anyone else to keep him safe. I’ve got it covered.”
Colton’s gaze flicked to mine, cautious but steady. He wasn’t trying to challenge me, but he wasn’t backing down either.
