Jack's Back

Chapter 1

Chapter 1Last week in October

Jim “Boy” Menetti’s perfect eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he piped the last of the cream cheese icing rosettes onto the three layered Carrot Spice Cake. Moving his dark brown hair from his eyes he looked at Brian.

“That’s perfect.” Brian Murphy examined the cake from all sides.

“I hope so, cub, tonight Reed and I will be together, officially, three years.” Jim bit his lush lower lip, and began chopping roasted pecans to decorate the sides. Brian watched him. Biting his lip was Jim’s tell. Something was very wrong in Jim’s world.

Jim threw a tray of pecans across the stainless steel counter.

“Here, make yourself useful and pick out three that are perfect for the top.”

Brian sorted through the fresh, roasted pecans in a furious search for three unblemished nuts. “What’s with you lately, anyways?” Brian asked. “I’m the nerd with the nerves. For someone celebrating an anniversary, you look kind of bleak.”

Brian was genuinely concerned. He wasn’t a gossip. Brian proved that on the memorable night Jim gave Brian a tour of Indiscreet, the Gay b**m club to which both, he, Jim, and their partners Bear and Reed belonged. Something was afoot because Reed called Bear at the unheard of hour of seven a.m. on a Saturday. Reed knew that Bear liked to sleep in on Saturday mornings, and a Bear who had his sleep interrupted was one cranky Grizzly.

Brian c****d his head and waited for a response. He knew Jim needed to talk to someone and it looked as if that someone wasn’t going to be Reed. Brian watched his friend. If he didn’t talk to someone soon, there would be no lip left to bite.

“Spill!” Brian demanded.

Jim sighed. “It’s a long story.” He looked away from Brian and continued to chop the pecans.

“So, tell me already. It’s not like I’m gonna tattle to Reed.”

“I know, it’s just…”

Brian saw the moisture gathering at the corners of Jim’s eyes.

“Okay, sit.” Brian grabbed Jim’s arm and pulled him over to the end of the long stainless steel countertop. They were in the club kitchen which Jim ran like an emphatic drill sergeant.

“Want some tea?” Jim asked.

Brian saw the offer as the delaying tactic it was.

“Not really, but I’ll brew you some if that will help put a smile back on your face.”

Brian picked up the white porcelain teapot kept on the shelf over the gas stove and took it over to the commercial urn. Brian warmed the inside with hot water as he’d been taught and retrieved Jim’s favorite Earl Grey from the shelf. Deftly, he spooned the tea into the strainer. He then poured the water over the tea and brought it back with some sugar packets and two mugs.

“It has to steep…now spill.” Brian put his elbows on the counter and held his face in his hands. It was Brian’s seriously attentive pose.

“It’s Reed. Jack’s back.” The threatened tears began to fall in earnest.

“Who the hell is Jack?”

* * * *

Reed Davis was a big man. The Parisian Club Chair upholstered in antique leather had been custom made to fit his six-five, two-hundred-twenty pound frame. Its twin sat on the opposite side of the fireplace where his best friend, Bear Drummond sat sipping on a cup of fresh brewed Kona coffee. Bear knew Reed had made the coffee himself, which was unusual in itself. He saw Reed pull out his stash of fresh blueberry scones. He had to have asked the chef to make them the night before in anticipation of their talk. If Reed got Bear out of bed on a chill October Saturday morning, he knew to make sure there was plenty of Kona coffee and blueberry scones on hand. Reed ran his hand through his close trimmed blond hair. Bear could see that Reed was unsettled by watching him twitch. It was something Reed only did when he was about to confront Bear with something unpleasant. He fidgeted. Bear looked over his cup and caught the intense stare of grey eyes boring into his own green ones.

“So what is so important that you had to see me right away and deny me my morning blow job?”

“It’s complicated…”

Bear sipped his coffee and bit into the scone.

Reed and Bear went way back. They both grew up in the Chambersburg area of Trenton where Reed’s British parents settled after emigrating to the US. Bear went into real estate right out of high school while Reed had gone on for a degree in Hospitality Services from the University of Delaware. Bear gave no indication that he was also gay with the same proclivities as Reed until Reed returned from college. As soon as they could put the money together, they entered a joint venture to establish a high class b**m club, Indiscreet, where Bear, except for training Doms, remained largely a silent partner.

“What’s complicated? The last time I saw your ugly mug with that expression, Jack Leary was in town.” Bear thought for a moment then growled, “He’s back, isn’t he?”

* * * *

Reed sighed. Talking to Bear about Jack Leary was his Hail Mary pass. He could usually depend on Bear to sort things out for him when he went head over heels for Jack Leary.

“Last I heard he was saving the world in Sudan. Did he get tired of being the new age Albert Sweitzer?”

“He’s finished his contract with the United Nations,” Reed replied. “He’s been granted a Chair at Temple, and funds dedicated to research Infectious Disease. He’ll be in the area on a permanent basis.”

“Until the next time he feels the need to save the world. Reed, I don’t understand you. Jim is a good boy who adores you; puts you and your needs before anyone else, including him. Why would you want to throw that kind of devotion away for a man who waltzes in and out of your life like some kind of bloody temp? I know Leary’s a nice guy. I even know that he loves you in his own way. But Leary can’t give you what you need. Jim can and does, every day. You’ve never been as happy as you’ve been the last three years. Now Leary sails in and poor Jim is getting thrown out with the rubbish!”

“It’s not like that,” Reed roared back. “Jim Boy knew the score right from the beginning. I told him I was in love with someone else. I told him I would never love him, and not to fall in love with me. He was my sub, nothing more.” Reed gulped his coffee, banging the cup onto the saucer and placing both on the table.

“You asshole. You collared him. It’s been something more since the very beginning. You’re just too much of a pigheaded Brit to see it. Leary is a great guy to worship from afar, but you two can’t live together. What the f**k is wrong with you? Ever since we were kids you’ve been running away from yourself. I’m supposed to be your best friend, and even I don’t know what’s chasing you.”

Reed got up from the chair and began to pace, deliberately avoiding Bear’s eyes.

“Nothing is chasing me,” Reed snapped. “I love Jack. We lived together for four years as roommates.”

“Yeah, roommates…What about after college? You two didn’t make it together for six months at any time in the thirteen some years since you graduated. And stop pacing, you’re making me dizzy.”

“He went to medical school, I had to go to work, you know that.” Reed was already weary of the argument.

“…and after that he went to Serbia, Iraq, and Afghanistan, then the Sudan. He doesn’t remain in one place long enough to be able to settle down with anyone.”

Reed sat down again and picked up his coffee.

“You don’t know how it is between Jack and me.” Reed needlessly stirred the cup of coffee with the clubs monogrammed silver spoon.

Bear exploded, jumping from his seat and getting into Reed’s face. Reed’s cup rattled with the roar. “How the hell would I know? The bastard never stays in one place long enough to even hang his hat.” Bear backed away, sighed, and sat down again. “Look, Reed,” he said in a more gentle tone, “we both know why you called me to come over for breakfast. You want me to talk sense. How about I do that and you just listen, okay?”

“Yeah…but…” Reed wriggled around the seat cushion. He knew he wasn’t going to like what Bear had to say.

Bear held up a beefy hand. “No buts, listen. You and Leary have tried to get it together no less than six times since college. The last time was just before you met Jim. Each time, one or the other of you has walked. Look at you and around you. If I’m a sensualist, you’re a pleasure slut. Everything about you is over the top. You scream decadence and style. You play golf in Armani, he buys his shorts at Old Navy. He enjoys camping, for Christ’s sake. The first person you hired for Indiscreet was Jim so that your meals would be prepared exactly to your taste. You’re a Dom and Jack will never be a sub. Jack hates this club, it’s your life’s blood. Get real, Reed. Jim is perfect for you, and you are already in love with him. What are you running away from?”

Bear sat back and took a long swallow, looking into those grey eyes. Reed looked down and away from Bear.

“You bastard, you’ve already made up your mind, haven’t you?”

“I spent last night at Jack’s. I was going to talk to Jim this morning.”

“You f****d Jack before you had the decency to even tell Jim?” Bear asked in a menacing tone. He shook his head in disbelief. “You know that Jim Boy really runs this place for you. You may deal with the Doms and the business end, but Reed, I hate to tell you, Jim Boy owns the back of the house. You do him dirty and all the unattached subs who count on him to look after them, all of the kitchen help, your suppliers—hell, everyone—will be pissed.”

“How could you think I’d let Jim go?” Reed shouted. “I wouldn’t fire him, I need him here.”

“How could you be so stupid as to think he’ll stay and watch you shack up with Jack? How ignorant and selfish can you be? Why would Jim want to stay around and see your mug every day?” Bear’s expression turned belligerent.

“That’s why I asked you to come over, asshole. I want to give him part of the business so he’ll stay and help me run it. I need you to tell me how to set it up.”

“Has Jim agreed to this lunacy? Have you even approached him with this insanity?”

“Haven’t said anything yet…Thought I’d talk to you first.” Reed looked away from Bear’s glare.

“You didn’t need to talk to me. You already knew what you were going to do, and even worse, you f****d Jack without saying a word to Jim, leaving him to play guessing games. All right you f*****g bastard, I’ll let you dig your own grave.

“You call him up here with Brian. He’s going to need my boy’s support. Get this straight, buddy, I’m here for Jim Boy, not you. From now on, go cry on someone else’s shoulder, I’m done. Don’t call me until you’re ready to face whatever it is that’s grabbed you by the balls without using damn Jack as a shield. Unless you do, you’ll never be free.”