Page 42 of Street of Dreams
“That’s it?”
“I help my mother sometimes with shopping and around the house. Or I hang out with Skylar.”
Jake grunted, placed one hand under his head and stared up at the ceiling. “You got it easy.”
“What do you do all day?” Mac asked.
Jake’s thoughts went to Ben, and he looked at the time on his phone. He had called Henry last night and said he wouldn’t be home. It was the first time he wasn’t there to make breakfast for his little brother. The first time he ever stayed out all night, and a pang of guilt made him frown. “Give me a sec,” he told Mac. “I gotta call my brother.”
“Get lucky last night?” Henry asked, when he answered the phone.
Jake couldn’t help the smile that was prevalent in his voice. “Yeah. I did.”
“Oh, man! Are you still at her place? Or did you go to a motel?”
“Not important.” Obviously, Henry thought Jake met a chick, but Jake never mentioned gender. He’d just said he met someone, and he wasn’t coming home. “How’s Ben? Did he eat breakfast?”
“Yeah. He didn’t understand why you weren’t here. I told him you had to leave early this morning to take care of business and you’d be home later.”
“Good. Thanks for taking care of him.” Guilt hit Jake like a ten-ton brick. He should have gotten home before Ben woke up, but, for once in his life, he was being selfish. Doing something that made him happy. And he wasreallyhappy. He laced his fingers through Mac’s, and the smile returned to his face. “Put Ben on the phone.”
Henry’s footsteps, clunking up the stairs like a horse, thumped in the background. Then Ben’s little voice came through the phone. “Jake? Where are you?”
The guilt crippled Jake, and he slumped against the headboard as all the strength left his body. “I needed to take care of something. Sorry I wasn’t there to make Sunday morning pancakes. Did Henry make breakfast?”
“No. Danny did. Lumpy oatmeal.”
Jake imagined Ben making a face, and the corners of his mouth curled into a tiny heartwarming smile. He was about to tell Ben that he’d make his favorite mac and cheese for dinner, but Danny yelled something in the background, and Ben said, “Mrs. Johnson is here to pick me up for swim class. Then she’s gonna take me and Billy to the movies. Bye.” A series of loud thuds in Jake’s ear indicated that Ben dropped the phone, all gripes about breakfast quickly forgotten.
“Still there?” Henry asked.
Jake chuckled. “Yeah. I guess he’s excited. I’ll be home in a little while. I just wanted to check in.” When he disconnected the call, Mac was smiling at him with puppy dog eyes. “What?”
“Sunday morning pancakes.” Mac put his hand over his heart and jutted his lower lip forward. “You’re so good with him.”
Jake felt his cheeks blush. “Stop.” He returned the puppy dog eyes. “Do you want Sunday morning pancakes?”
“You mean, like, at a diner?”
“No. I’ll make you pancakes.”
Mac blinked a few times. “You’re going to cook for me?”
“Yeah. I cook for Ben every day.”
Mac stared at Jake with wide eyes. “I would love for you to make me pancakes.”
It turned out that Mac had next to nothing in his cabinets and very little in the refrigerator. But there were eggs, bacon, butter, and English muffins, so Jake made eggs benedict.
“Oh my God.” Mac brought his hand to his lips when he took his first bite. “How did you make this out of the basic staples I have here? It’s amazing. I can’t believe you can cook.”
Jake displayed a cocky grin and rocked back on the kitchen chair. “Yeah. I’m the total package.”
Mac nodded around a mouthful of food. “You are. I mean it.”
“Yeah. Well. You’re not so bad yourself.”
Jake “got lucky” three more times over the next two weeks. Spending the night at Mac’s place, although a risk, brought so much light and bliss into Jake’s life that he couldn’t resist. He made sure he was home in time to make Ben breakfast though, because he couldn’t live with that kind of guilt. He and Mac were spending more time together on the car, as well, and it felt like a real relationship.
