Page 122 of Melt For Us, Daddy
“Jacob.” Though Cordelia said his name quietly, there was no mistaking the authority in her voice and his gaze was drawn to her instinctively, a moth to a flame. “You okay, baby?”
“Yeah. I, um, just need the bathroom.”
Ivy smiled up at him, so brightly it nearly hurt to look at her. “No problems. I’ll take you.”
“I’m not a child, Ivy, I can go to the bathroom on my own.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he wished he could take them back. Not just because he’d certainly just landed himself in hot water with both of his women, but because Ivy looked so… hurt. Emotion darkened her eyes and her bottom lip trembled slightly.
Unable to bear the pain in her eyes, pain he’d put there, he spun away from the table and strode away, completely ignoring Cordelia’s furious voice when she called for him.
Heart pounding, lungs burning from lack of oxygen, he wound his way through the crowd, desperately searching for somewhere to hide. He needed a minute, just a minute to get himself under control.
Relief flooded him, nearly driving him to his knees when he spotted the sign for the restrooms. Behind him, he could hear Cordelia calling for him, her voice drawing closer and closer, and he ducked into the safety of the bathroom before she reached him.
It was empty but for a single man washing his hands at the row of sinks. He looked up, his eyes an even brighter green than Cordelia’s and lit with curiosity. “You look like you’re being hunted for sport, son.”
“I sort of feel like I am.”
His expression changed, ever so slightly. The curiosity remained, but there was something else in the green, almost like pity but more… genuine. “You want to talk about it?”
“Yes. No.” A bitter laugh slipped past Jacob’s lips as he ran his hands through his hair. “I don’t know.”
Before the man could respond, the door behind them swung open and Holden walked in, his expression a mix of worry and amusement. “Delia sent me in to fetch you. You okay, Jacob?”
“I don’t know,” he repeated, shame heating his cheeks as he dropped his gaze to the floor. How was he supposed to look any of them in the eye after the way he’d acted?
“Give us a few minutes, would you, Holden?” the man at the sink said. “I’ll send him out to the lovely Cordelia once he’s had a chance to calm down a bit.”
“She’s not going to like that, Killian.”
The other man laughed, sounding surprisingly cheerful about the news. “Oh, I know. And I have no doubt she’ll find a way to make me pay for my sins.”
“Do you want to stay in here with Killian, Jacob?”
Did he? He sure as hell wasn’t ready to face Cordelia’s wrath, and something about Killian seemed… safe.
Unable to speak past the humiliation gripping his throat, he nodded, and Holden sighed. “All right. But I’ll only be able to hold her back for so long, so keep it brief.”
“Noted,” Killian said, again with that same cheerfulness that seemed so out of place in the current situation.
Holden hesitated a moment longer before turning on his heel and heading back out the door.
“You all right, son?” Killian’s tone was gentle, soothing, and the band around Jacob’s chest loosened even further as he nodded.
“Good. Let’s have a seat on this couch over here and chat for a bit.”
Jacob let himself be guided over to the deep leather couch in the corner of the bathroom. When they were both seated, he finally gathered the courage to force his head up, meeting Killian’s calm, understanding gaze. “Why are you being so nice to me?”
A wide grin stretched across Killian’s face. “I’m not sure anyone’s ever called me nice before. But to answer your question, you looked like you could use a friend. Especially since you seem to have pissed off the one woman in this club even I wouldn’t take on.”
Worry churned in Jacob’s stomach. “That’s not really helpful.”
“Sorry, kid. I tell it like I see it.” Tilting his head to the side, Killian seemed to study him, and Jacob got the uneasy feeling he saw far more than most people did. “Want to tell Uncle Killian what you did to get her so riled up?”
“Not really. It’s embarrassing.”
“Fucking up usually is, especially if you fuck up with an audience. And considering Cordelia and Ivy are never without their entourage, it seems safe to assume you had a rather large audience.”
