Test Drive (Crossroads Book 3) (6 page)

Justin groaned, shook his head, and buried his face into the couch cushion. It was cute watching him cuddle into the couch, but it couldn’t be very comfortable.

When Drew got the same reaction the second time, he sighed, set the water on the coffee table, and then got a blanket for Justin. He covered the other man up, looked at him for a second, and then made it all the way to the bottom of the stairs before he heard a soft, “I’m sorry.”

His heart ached for the sleepy man on his couch. “You have no reason to be,” Drew replied, unsure if Justin was talking to him, or about his situation with his family. “You have no reason to be,” he said softly again, before turning off the lights, and heading upstairs.

Justin woke up to two conflicting things—a pounding headache, which sucked. And the smell of bacon, which didn’t suck.

He rolled over, thankful that Drew had a large, comfortable couch, and saw a glass of water and a bottle of pain killers beside it.

Thank God.

He sat up, feeling a little lucky that his head didn’t spin too much, opened the bottle, and took two pills. With his elbows resting on his knees, he rubbed a hand over his face and bit back a groan. He couldn’t believe he’d gotten so drunk last night. The last time he’d done that had been his twenty-first birthday, except for then, there had been vomit. He was really fucking thankful there hadn’t been vomit last night.

He felt like a fool, though. It wasn’t as if he’d done anything major last night, but he and Drew both knew he’d drank to forget, and he felt a little embarrassed about that. He was too old for that shit, and it had never been his style anyway.

Still, when he heard Drew whistling in the kitchen as he cooked, Justin couldn’t help but smile.

He glanced at his phone to see it was eleven, before he pushed to his feet. He hadn’t slept this late in years. There was a nagging voice inside him that said he needed to call Joy and check on his dad, but he didn’t. Maybe that made him a bastard, but he wanted a little more time away. To pretend this all wasn’t happening. He was just a guy who passed out before a hookup, and now they would have the awkward morning after.

Justin carried the glass through the living room and into the kitchen. It was a large space with an island in the middle of it. The counters were all marble, and all the appliances stainless steel. Drew stood in front of the stove, with his back to Justin, wearing sweatpants, no shirt, and an apron. He chuckled. “Mornin’, Cinderella.”

Drew looked over his shoulder and gave Justin a half-smile. “Mornin’, Sleeping Beauty.”

“Ooh. We have pet names for each other. Aren’t we fucking cute?”

“Well, I am.” Drew shrugged and Justin laughed. It made his brain rattle a little, but not too badly.

“Last night you said I’m sexy,” Justin reminded him.

“I believe you’re the one who said that about me.”

Obviously. He’d have to be blind not to see how attractive Drew was. “Well no shit, but I’m pretty sure you returned the sentiment.” Justin set the glass of water on the island and walked over to Drew. He leaned against the counter, far enough away that he didn’t get popped with grease, and crossed his arms.

“Why do we always end up having this conversation?” Drew didn’t make eye contact with Justin as he flipped the bacon. It was obvious he kept his eyes diverted on purpose, not because he was frustrated, but because he was smiling.

“Because I’m a cocky motherfucker who likes getting my ego stroked.”

That got a laugh to jump out of Drew’s mouth, and it somehow made Justin’s head hurt slightly less. It felt good just to laugh with someone.

“Shut up and get the egg whites out of the fridge.”

Justin dropped his head back and looked at the ceiling. Drew was going to kill him. “Egg whites? You’re fuckin’ killing me with this shit. People deserve yolk.”

There was another laugh, a throaty, deep laugh that Justin liked the sound of. “People deserve yolk? Is that what you’ll have on your sign when you march? And yes, you deserve yolk sometimes, but not all the time. We’re making up for the bacon, and I’m telling you, I make an incredible egg white omelet. You won’t know the difference.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I will, but since you’re cooking, I won’t complain.” Justin pushed off the counter and walked over to Drew’s stainless steel fridge. Plastic containers were stacked inside labeled with days and lunch or dinner and suddenly Justin’s head started to hurt again.

He wasn’t sure why seeing this surprised him. It didn’t feel like Drew for some reason, but it wasn’t as though he really knew the guy. So instead of commenting about it, he grabbed a carton of egg whites and set them beside Drew. For the first time, he noticed a plate with chopped onions, peppers and grated cheese, making his stomach growl.

“Oh my God, you are my fucking hero. I’m starving but next time, I cook, and I can promise you it’ll be fried.”

Drew cocked a dark-blond brow at him. “What kind of oil?”

“I don’t know. Tell me what the worst kind is and that’s what I’m getting.”

“I’m not sure I can hang out with you anymore.” Drew winked, and as Justin stood there watching him make the omelets, he realized he felt good. Not okay. Not alone or angry or sad or like he didn’t belong. But good. He wished like hell it could last.

***

They ate mostly in silence. Drew’s eyes darted up numerous times to watch Justin as he ate. He didn’t say much but he seemed to be enjoying the food. So far, in some ways the day felt very much like the morning after a random hookup, but not in others. There was a comfort between the two of them, or at least Drew felt it on his side. This didn’t feel like it was one of the first meals they shared. They were friends who could laugh together and talk together, but who weren’t uncomfortable with silence either. There was just something welcoming and comfortable about Justin that Drew enjoyed.

“You have onion on your lip.” Justin shifted his way, and Drew tapped his own mouth to show Justin where it was. Justin didn’t turn away as he grinned, let his tongue slip out of his mouth, and ran it across his bottom lip.

Drew did his best to ignore the sexual innuendo of the movement and said, “You like my egg white omelets,” as Justin sat his fork down on the empty plate.

“Do not.”

“Do too.”

“Maybe a little.”

“Maybe a lot,” Drew added.

“Fine! You win. They were delicious and healthy and I’m not very happy about it. Do you have any cookies to make up for it?”

“Cookies with breakfast?” Granted, it was closer to lunch, but still.

“Is there a better time to have cookies? Well, other than in bed, I guess.”

Drew shook his head and smiled, not sure if Justin was serious or not. He thought most of the whole healthy food versus junk food thing was a joke—not that it mattered either way—but it just made him more curious about Justin for some reason. He was interesting, and Drew found that the more time he spent with him, the more he wanted to know about him. “I don’t know what to think about you.”

“Eh. I don’t either most of the time. I’m just your everyday guy who’s going through a tough time. What about you? What’s the deal with you and your family?” Justin leaned back, let his legs stretch out, and crossed his arms.

He didn’t ask how Justin knew there was one. Perhaps he’d mentioned some of his history with his brother. He couldn’t remember. But he also knew that Justin had seen it at Shanen’s house. Hell, maybe everyone saw the quiet tension all the time, and Drew just didn’t know it.

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and shrugged. “Like you said, family can be hard. My brother and I have always been complete opposites. We’ve never gotten along well. I mean, it’s normal, I guess—sibling jealousy, yet we’re grown
up
but haven’t outgrown
it
yet.”

“You were really never close?” Justin asked.

It was a sad question, because it shouldn’t be that way. Sure families had hard times, but there should always be a sort of togetherness there. A bond that Jacob and Drew had never felt. “It’s not that we hated each other. I just don’t think we knew how to relate to one another. Jacob is very…smart. He’s locked down tight in a lot of ways. He’s not very emotional. He goes by rules, and responsibility, and has a hard time just letting go and really living.” He shook his head. “No, I can’t really say that. To him he
is
living. We just choose to live in different ways. I played sports and went to dances and got drunk when I was too young. Jacob has always been older than his years. He couldn’t understand that kind of thing. To him, I was just an irresponsible kid who didn’t take anything seriously. To me, he needed to chill the fuck out once in a while.”

Both men laughed. “So yeah, the animosity and hell, the fact that we just couldn’t understand each other was always there. People say their sibling is their best friend, but I’ve never known that. It got a whole hell of a lot worse when I only finished part of law school and decided that there was no fucking way I could ever do that with my life. Dad’s a lawyer. His dad was a lawyer. The firm has been passed through our family. Everyone except for me, I guess. I was skirting my family responsibility to play in the gym. That’s what Jacob thinks, at least.”

There was more to it than that, obviously, but Drew didn’t feel like getting into the whole situation with Iris. Didn’t want to share that yes, in a way, he’d fucked up. He hadn’t initially pushed her away when she kissed him, but also, it hurt like hell that Jacob would think that of him. That he’d think Drew would try to take a woman away from him.

Justin didn’t reply for a moment; he didn’t look at Drew either. His eyes were lost, his brain a hundred miles away. Drew could see it in the way he spaced off. Drew immediately felt like shit for complaining about his relationship with Jacob. At least they had one.

“Maybe I should be grateful I never knew I had siblings then?” He tried to smile, but his eyes didn’t light up when he did. Sure, they hadn’t known each other for long, but he’d seen Justin’s smile. It was electric, when he meant it, but the spark wasn’t there this time.

Drew waited. Maybe he should say something. Maybe it wasn’t his business. Just when he thought he couldn’t hold back, Justin spoke. “I wonder sometimes, how our lives would have been different if we’d grown up knowing about each other. If Shanen and Landon would have come and spent summers with us, or if we would have sent Christmas cards every year. Would we be close? Hell, maybe we’d hate each other if we’d grown up together. It’s really fucking shitty to have had that taken away from us. Not to have had a say in the whole damn thing.”

The pain in Justin’s voice was a punch to Drew’s gut. Jesus, he felt bad for the man. “I’m sorry.” He wished there was more he could say.

“Yeah, me too.” Justin shook his head and then pushed to his feet. “You cooked so I’ll do the dishes. After that, I should probably head out. I hate to ask you this, but can you take me back to my car?”

Drew waved him off. “Of course. It’s no problem at all, and I’ll help with the dishes.” Somehow he knew if he told Justin not to do them at all, he would insist.

So that’s what they did. Justin rinsed and Drew loaded the dishwasher. He gave Justin the spare toothbrush he hadn’t opened yet, and while Justin brushed his teeth, Drew threw on a shirt, shoes, and socks.

It was only a few minutes later when they were out the door and heading back to Justin’s car. When they pulled up, Drew let the engine idle, and Justin didn’t get out. He felt it, the need to say something, but what, he didn’t know. That he respected Justin? To repeat how sorry he was for what he was going through? That he enjoyed Justin’s company and wanted to hang out again? All of those things were true. What he settled on was, “I’m serious about the gym. I’d love for you to come down and exercise with me. Or by yourself. Whatever.”

“You just want to ogle my ass while I work out.”

Ah, so they were back to the flirting. He liked the flirting…but he liked the other stuff too. “So? It’s a nice ass.”

“You don’t know the half of it.” Justin winked at him, and then said, “We’ll see. I’m not sure how things are going to go with my dad. I have your number. I’ll call you.”

Drew nodded. He understood but also felt a knot in his gut at the same time. “You can call for more than that, too. I think I might like hanging out with you, Sleeping Beauty.”

Justin nodded, nudged him with his elbow and replied, “Right back at you, Cinderella.”

Drew watched as Justin opened the door, got out, and then slammed it. He made it a few steps away before he stopped, turned around, came back and opened the door again. “Thank you. For letting me drink, and taking me home with you. For the talks, breakfast. Just…thank you.”

Before Drew could tell him no problem, Justin closed the door. This time, he didn’t turn back, and Drew didn’t look away. Not until Justin climbed into his car and disappeared from sight.

“Thanks for coming out here with me.” Justin glanced at Landon in the passenger seat. They were almost to Nick’s, the restaurant Bryce’s partner owned where Justin would be working as a waiter. It wasn’t his dream job, but hey, it would work. It would get him out of the house, which was something he desperately needed.

“No problem. Figured it would give us some time to hang out.” Landon’s voice was similar to their father’s. Justin wondered if he realized that. If he knew that when Justin closed his eyes, he could swear it was their father speaking. Not their dad now, but the way he’d been when he was growing up.

He’d been told that about himself as well. Justin didn’t hear it. Did Landon hear it in himself? Did he hear their father’s voice in Justin? Did he think they sounded like each other? “Check us out. We’re doing the brotherly bonding thing.” Justin played it off like it wasn’t a big deal. As though he didn’t feel conflicting emotions and fears where his family was concerned.

“Better than punching walls,” Landon added and they both chuckled. When Landon first discovered his dad was back and his sibling status had changed, he hadn’t been happy. They’d spoken, just the two of them, and the day ended with Landon breaking his hand on a wall, and Justin taking him to get it checked out.