Page 12 of Cash

“Nah, hang on. I got this shit.” Jules’s brow furrowed with concentration as he stood beside the chair next to Brick. He grinned triumphantly and then shoved his phone at Brick. “Here! Told ya’ I’d find them.”

The first photo Brick saw was of two men in white shirts with an enchantingly beautiful tropical beach behind them. The taller of the two men was a mature GQ sort of guy with fierce eyes, and the shorter was younger with big doe eyes and a bright smile.

“Aw! How cute!” Brick gushed. “They got married on the beach? Ugh, that’s so romantic. Which one is your brother?”

“The grumpy lookin’ one.” Jules chuckled. “That’s Roderick. His husband is Jimmy.”

“They’re super cute together. Is it safe to scroll?”

“Eh. Safe-ish.” Jules winked.

Brick swiped to see a few more candid pictures of the happy couple, pausing on one of them staring adoringly at each other. “God, they’re so cute, it’s disgusting. And that beach is insane.” He was about to hand Jules’s phone back when it dinged with a text:

Book 100k. Found fence. Sending loc now.

Jules pulled the phone back before Brick could read the name of the person who sent it—Razz or Razzle?—and he made a sour face.

“Everything okay?” Brick asked worriedly.

“Work shit.” Jules was texting something back, and he did not look happy.

Brick’s stomach dropped. “Do you have to go or something?”

“Yeah. I’m real sorry, man.” Jules sighed and stared longingly at the bowl of yukgaejang. “Tell you what. How about a rain check, huh?”

Brick worked fast to mask his disappointment. “Oh! Of course. I mean, I can pack you some to go—” He started to get up.

“No, it’s all right.” Jules fixed him with a firm stare and an even firmer hand on his shoulder, pushing him back into his seat. “You’re gonna sit right there, eat that delicious fuckin’ lookin’ dinner, finish that wine, and relax.”

“O-oh.” Brick’s skin got hot. “All right, Daddy.”

Shit.

He hadn’t meant to say it. It had just popped right out, and it wasn’t Brick’s fault that Jules was really hot when he got bossy like that. He hoped Jules would take it as a joke and not be offended, and he shivered as Jules’s hand lingered.

“Good boy.” Jules winked, chuckling under his breath as he withdrew.

Brick laughed with him, perhaps a bit too much, and cringed inwardly.

“You free tomorrow?” Jules asked.

“Yeah, sure.” Brick forced a smile. “I can reheat this and we can try again.”

“Fuck yeah. Thanks.”

Brick stood to walk Jules over to the door, and he watched him switch out the monster slippers for his boots. His guts were heavy with disappointment and prickling with hot flashes of embarrassment over that Daddy comment, but he remained confident as he confirmed, “So, tomorrow night?”

“Yup.” Jules grunted. “How about six?”

“Are you gonna show up early again? Maybe reseed my lawn?”

“I just fuckin’ might,” Jules teased.

Brick opened the door and draped himself against it. “It’s a date then.”

“All right.” Jules laughed. “Have a good night.”

“Good night.”

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