Test Drive (Crossroads Book 3) (8 page)

“I wouldn’t think of it,” he said, and then they got to work.

***

They started out doing twenty minutes of cardio on the treadmill. Justin jogged at a nice, steady pace but it didn’t take long for him to realize that he sucked at running. Drew had hardly broken a sweat and yet salty liquid burned his eyes.

But the slight burn in Justin’s muscles was welcoming. It made him feel strangely alive. It wasn’t that Justin wasn’t physical, because he was. He played basketball and liked to hike. He didn’t keep himself locked up in the house, but it was a different kind of exercise than this.

When the twenty minutes was over, he stepped off the treadmill. “Well, looks like I have better stamina than you,” Drew joked.

“Oh, no, no, no no. We aren’t going there. I promise you. My stamina is just fine.”

“Just making an observation,” Drew added and then, “Come on. I’m not done with you yet.”

He let Drew set up a workout routine for him. He grabbed a clipboard and wrote everything down for Justin as they went. Every once in a while, he’d stop to talk to a club member—to spot someone, or to show them the right way to perform an exercise.

It was obvious the people here loved Drew. He stopped and spoke to most people or they’d stop him, even if it was just to say hi. Justin could see how much Drew loved what he did and how much the people here thought of him. He wasn’t surprised about that, not in the least, because regardless of the fact that he didn’t know Drew well, he thought a lot of him too.

If he was being honest with himself, he’d admit it was why he came here in the first place. He was acting like a child after his afternoon with Landon, spending way too much time being angry, and he wanted something to distract him from that.

Another dose of honesty? Despite the fact that their workout was ending and he needed to get back to his dad, he wasn’t ready for it to be over yet.

“Can I let you in on a secret?” Drew asked as he wiped his face with a towel. Justin did the same.

“Yep.”

“Pizza is my downfall. I might have some in the fridge in my office.”

Justin cocked a brow at him. “You’re a fake. Talking shit to me about healthy eating and you hide pizza in your office. I don’t know if I can believe a word of what you say anymore.”

Drew crossed his arms and frowned. “When someone lets you in on a secret, you’re not supposed to make them feel like shit about it. Now come on before I regret telling you I practically get off on cheese and pepperoni goodness.”

Christ, he liked Drew’s sense of humor. “Lead the way.”

He followed Drew to an office that he unlocked before leading Justin in. It was… “Ever thought about cleaning this place? I heard you should do that at least once a year.” There were papers everywhere. Stacked on the desk, on the shelves—folders and papers and sticky notes and anything else you could think of.

“Hey. Fuck you. I know where everything is.” Drew closed the door and Justin couldn’t help but think about how different this was from Drew’s home. It had been incredibly clean there, everything put together, yet this place looked like a goddamn tornado had run through it.

“I think it’s impossible to know where everything is in this place.”

“Sit down before I regret bringing you into my inner sanctum.”

As he moved toward one of the chairs, he realized how sweaty he was. “I should probably just go. Some asshole just ran me ragged out there.”

“Sounds like a smart asshole,” Drew replied. “And sit down. I own a gym. Like I give a shit about sweat.”

So he did.

Drew grabbed a small pizza box out of the fridge and put two pieces on two paper plates. He popped the first one in the microwave, then grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and tossed it to Justin. “Eat pizza but drink water. I’ll hook you up with some good protein drinks as well.”

Fucking protein drinks. What in the hell was this guy trying to do to him?

When the microwave dinged, he gave Justin the plate and then popped his own in. A minute later, they were sitting across the desk and mountain of papers from each other, eating pizza and drinking water.

“How was your day?” Drew asked him.

He shrugged. “It was okay. Landon and I went out to the restaurant his buddy owns. I’ll work there a day or two a week. Joy will help with Dad. Got my paperwork filled out and looks like I’m ready to go.”

He felt a pang in his chest.
It’s temporary,
he told himself, but the shorter the time he had to spend at Nick’s meant the shorter time his father was around. He had no reason to stick around here once he was gone.

Gone.

Christ, that word made his gut ache.

Drew finished chewing and then swallowed some water. “You’ve temporarily changed your whole life. You left your home. I hope people see that. The sacrifices you’re making.”

His head snapped up and his eyes locked with Drew’s blue ones.
Thank you
was there because he really fucking appreciated Drew saying that, Drew feeling it, but he just shook his head. “It’s not a big deal. You do that shit for family.”

“It
is
a big deal, though. Maybe some people do those things for family but others wouldn’t. That doesn’t change the fact that you’re here and you’ve sacrificed things. You should know that it’s important, and I respect you for it.”

He’d needed to hear that. Fuck, he really had. Part of Justin hated the fact that he did but it soothed some of the pain inside of him. “Thank you. I appreciate you saying that.”

They looked at each other again and Drew nodded. “It’s true. And family is a funny thing. I think we both know that. Some of the most complicated relationships are with those we’re supposed to love the most. Those who are supposed to be there for us through thick and thin.”

Justin got that. He could see that Drew did as well. They both felt it because of different circumstances in their own lives. It connected them. Made Justin feel like he had someone here who had his best interests at heart. Or maybe he was being dramatic and he should just think of it as actually having a friend here.

Yes, he had his father. He had his siblings, but they had each other in a way Justin wasn’t a part of. Justin had more time with their dad, but as much as he hated feeling that way, he thought he owed Shanen and Landon this time because of it. This time to fix their relationships, which left Justin on the sidelines.

Much like Drew seemed to feel in his own family. Drew got that part of him that probably no one else could.

“I should probably go.” Why the fuck did he just say that? Still, he tossed his plate in the trash and finished his water. “Thanks for the workout and the food.”

Drew finished his drink and then stood as well. They both walked to the door together, Drew behind him. Justin reached out…grabbed the knob…and stopped. “Fuck,” he whispered before leaning forward and letting his forehead rest against the door. “I had a shitty day. Not the whole thing. It was nice to be around Landon. To get to know him some more, but then—Christ this is hard. There are no rules for this. I’m jealous when I shouldn’t be and angry when I shouldn’t be. I just…” he shook his head. His brain told him to shut the fuck up but he didn’t. His mouth just kept moving.

“I came here because I somehow knew you’d get it. Nothing in Virginia feels like it’s mine—the house, the job, my family. My dad doesn’t even feel like he’s mine anymore. This friendship is the only thing that feels like it belongs to me.” What the fuck was wrong with him? Justin didn’t do shit like this. Didn’t get emotional like this. Hell, this was only the fourth time he’d seen Drew and here he was making a declaration like that? Especially when the truth was, even this friendship wasn’t really his. Not when you looked at it. Drew was Shanen’s brother-in-law. That was more important.

“My head is all fucked up. Can we pretend I didn’t say that?” He pulled away from the door and stood straight up. When he turned around, Drew was there, closer than he had been before.

Drew reached his hand up and cupped Justin’s cheek. Then his other hand was on the other side of his face. Drew was holding him and then leaning forward, his tongue swiping at Justin’s lip.

It was a different kiss than those they shared at the club. Slow and exploratory. Still fucking hungry as his tongue probed Justin’s mouth. As Drew moaned into him, ground his body against Justin’s, pushing him against the door.

But it wasn’t a
fuck-me
kiss. Not that the erection against him didn’t say that. Still, it was passionate, and honest, in a way Justin wasn’t sure he’d ever kissed anyone.

He wanted to drop to his knees. Wanted Drew’s dick in his mouth. Drew’s come on his tongue…but this was nice too, really fucking nice. Drew’s hard body against his and the slight scent of sweat teasing his nose.

Drew’s lips slid from his mouth, down his throat, and then he licked Justin’s collarbone. Shoved his face in Justin’s neck and nipped at the skin there before pulling away completely.

“I want to see you again. Outside of here, I mean. I know you have things going on that are much more important than hanging out with me, but if you have time, I want to see you.”

“Yeah,” Justin told him. “I think I’d like that too.”

“It was your closing argument that sealed the deal, Jacob. That was incredibly powerful stuff.” Drew glanced at his father, who sat at the head of the table. It wasn’t often they had family dinners like this. His parents traveled a lot, but they’d been home more recently. He thought it might be because of Shanen’s family, and what she was going through.

Pride gleamed in his father’s eyes as he looked at Jacob. He had to admit, it had hurt a bit when he was younger—the fact that whatever he did would never be as good as what Jacob did—but he’d come to terms with it now. They were different people and wanted different things. Drew was damn proud of what he’d accomplished.

“Thank you,” Jacob replied before taking a drink of his wine. Shanen sat beside him, gleaming at her husband, and it made him think of Justin. He’d been doing that too often since Justin left his office the week before. They’d exchanged texts a few times since then, and he’d seen Justin one other time at the gym, but they had yet to spend more time together.

Maybe he shouldn’t have asked Justin when he had. Maybe spending time with Drew would just be something else to add to his list, but he hoped not.

Jacob added, “Raymond never would have been charged if he hadn’t been black. You and I both know that. It was important to me. You know how I feel about that kind of injustice.”

And it was true. Despite their rocky relationship, Drew highly respected Jacob. He fought for what he believed in. He was fair. He’d taken the case he’d just won, pro bono because it was the right thing to do. Jacob believed in the law. In following the rules. In right and wrong and justice prevailing when it was the
right
thing, and not just to win.

In that moment, when the burn hit his chest, he realized how much it really did bother him that they weren’t closer. That they didn’t know how to speak to each other. “Congratulations, Jake. I’m proud of you,” Drew said, and he really was proud of his brother.

Jacob looked his way and gave him a quick nod. “Thank you, Andrew.”

Jesus, he wished his family would call him Drew. He’d always preferred it to Andrew, but with his family, the name had never stuck.

“What about you, Andrew?” his mom asked. “Are you keeping a steady number of memberships at Invincible?”

Drew almost laughed at the question. Again, not that he wasn’t proud of what he did, but the glaring differences between him and Jacob were a bright, fucking beacon that you couldn’t really miss.

“It’s good, Ma. Thanks for asking.”

She rolled her eyes, but had a playful smile on her lips. “
Ma
. I almost expect you to give me a high five when you talk to me like that. It sounds like you’re speaking to one of your friends.”

He winked at her. “Sorry, Mom. But things are good. I’m implementing this new—”

“Oh, Jacob, I’ve been meaning to ask you, about the Charleston case,” his dad interrupted and the conversation was officially off of Drew and back to Jacob. He didn’t mind. Not really. They weren’t passionate about the same things, and that’s just the way it was.

Drew took a bite of his salad, and when he glanced up, Shanen looked at him, a sad smile curling the edge of her lips down. She tried to smile at him, but she felt bad for him. Drew could see it in the way she looked at him. It was a surprise but he wasn’t sure why. He gave her a quick nod, trying to say it didn’t matter.

He wanted to ask her about Justin. Wanted to tell her he was hurting, because he wasn’t sure Justin let any of them know he was. Obviously, they had to know his father’s illness pained him, but did they see that his life had been turned upside down as well? Did they know the sacrifices he’d made?

He wondered how they would feel if they knew he and Justin were becoming friends. Shanen wouldn’t mind. There was no doubt in his mind about that. Jacob would feel Drew was encroaching in his territory, in his life, there was no doubt about that either. Landon, he wasn’t sure about. He assumed the man wouldn’t have a problem with it, but he didn’t know much about Landon other than the fact that he was Shanen’s brother, and that he loved motorcycles and his boyfriend.

He let his eyes drift to his family. Watched as they spoke about Jacob and another case. How would they feel if they knew Drew was bisexual? His family was fairly liberal. They really were good people, but they also sometimes judged without realizing they were judging. They also likely wouldn’t understand that Drew was attracted to men
and
women. They were very black and white, left or right, right or wrong. They sometimes struggled with things that weren’t one or another.

“How’s your father doing, Shanen?” his mom’s soft voice asked when there was a lull in the conversation.

That caught Drew’s attention immediately. His pulse quickened and his stomach rolled.

Shanen didn’t answer right away. Jacob wrapped an arm around her shoulders. The air in the dining room changed, got heavier. They were eating on expensive China and the room was decorated in expensive things. The table sat ten, the other half empty. Everything in this room was perfect looking at it, but in the grand scheme of things, none of it mattered. What mattered was family and friends.